Kami's "Played in 2012"

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:34:49 GMT

Another Beat'em Up...with DEADPOOL!
One day I woke up and realised that it's been a long time since I've played my last Beat'em up. So why not lend one?
That way I had to kinda rush through it and had a certain time limit but I didn't want to pay more, even less buy it.

The game controls weren't as difficult as in Tekken or Street Fighter and I really enjoyed the selection of characters. My highlight was Deadpool.
I had forgotten how awesome this characters it, in a way.
My adoration for him was rekindled and in the game his "Merc with a Mouth"-character was perfectly depicted (thank you once again, Nolan North :D). What also positively surprised me was the selection choice of Amaterasu from Ôkami (although I had read about it before).

Unfortunately I couldn't beat Galactus in the end because I lacked the sufficient skills in this limited timespan of 3 or 4 tries. After that I had return it to the rental store. But the story wasn't all that important anyway.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 still has the feature of choosing 3 teammates and swapping them at will, if not even starting a triple attack.
My favourite and most effective combination in this game was the trio of Zero (Megaman), Albert Wesker (Resident Evil) and Dante (Devil May Cry). Zero is awesome in general and has nice combo attacks and manageable controls. Wesker is simply so overpowered that even a noob like me can win easily with him. And Dante comes close to Zero.

Well, the game entertained me and it was a great feeling to play some of my favourite game characters. I don't need more than that. Beat'em ups will always remain ephemeral for me but that's just fine.

Silent Hill 2

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:31:48 GMT

An awoken fascination
Horror in general is a subject that I often consider to sound and look so interesting and miraculous but unfortunately I cannot deal with it very well and easily tend to develop long-lasting fears because of it. I'm always yearning to play survival horror games but I think my psyche couldn't handle it if I were to play them alone. So I get myself some backup from time to time.

Silent Hill: A series whose complex stories, inventive monsters and perfectly frightening atmosphere had excited my curiosity for a very, very long time.
My friend is a big fan of the series and brought SH2 to my place. "I brought the game guide so you can fully enjoy the game's story. Let's beat Silent Hill 2 today!", she exclaimed, and that we did. Well, she played and I provided directions, item locations and a constant "Oh no-Oh Sh*t-GEEZUS what is that?!-I'm scared!-Gaaah!".
I even held the controller once and got the key out of that toilet.

And I admit, just watching this game creeped me out. The music is brilliant but so f'n scary, the claustrophobia is maddening and every little sound in this game freaked me out. And yet I got completely drawn to it.
As soon as I had seen the first enemy I wanted to know why he looked the way he looked, I became way to fascinated with Pyramid Head, I researched the background stories of every character, looked up all of the endings and why you can reach them in that certain way, caught up on small details that hinted at events in the game or were crossover references and I listen to the soundtrack again and again although those sounds haunt me in my dreams and my daily life.

[Just today my family and me were sitting in a café and some barkeeper was making coffee with a very loud machine, but the only thing that I heard were Silent Hill noises from when James is in the flooded corridors in the Lakeview Hotel...I told you, horror has negative influences on me...]

Now I'm in love with that game and once again impressed that the smallest things continue to be the most frightening. But I will never be able to play any other Silent Hill Game nevertheless. That's what my friends are for. ;)

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:34:10 GMT

Making amends for my fangirl heart
One or two might have noticed that I like manga and anime. Naruto is one of those I am interested and actually I never really thought that the games were that good. Licensed Games, as they usually are.
Because of that it's been a long time since I've dared to play another one (after I had played the terribly disappointing Uzumaki Chronicles).
But finally I was disabused.

When I vivisted a friend of mine it turned out that she possessed Ultimate Ninja Storm for her Playstation 3.
And we decided to play through the whole story mode, passing the controller after each fight.
But at first I got the chance to practice the controls and all. And oh, how great my joy was when I saw that I could use all my favourite characters from the Naruto universe. Hidan, Deidara, Kabuto, Neji, Kakashi...Yes, the character selection was rich in variety as well as very advanced concerning their skill. The controls were actually not so hard but one has to get used to them (what I didn't manage till the end). It worked out nevertheless.

Characters with swords are slowed down in their speed and combo performance, so Ninja Storm 2 also makes use of the well-known weight system (heavy, medium, light) even if not officially displayed in the game.

The story pretty much followed the anime, even adding some sequences from it in several cutscenes. The game starts where the Shippuuden Arc begins and ends with Konoha's destruction through Pain and Naruto's battle against him.
In between you get many side quests and chances to upgrade and gather items. One could already call it an "Open World", which is a refreshing change from the fighting.
As the story moves further along the fights become quite tricky aka difficult even in "super easy" mode.
But to be honest, I certainly prefer that over the way too easy predecessors.
What appealed to me the most were the incredibly beautiful graphics. Most of the time it looked like the actual anime or a movie, even a bit more stylish and detailed. Cutscenes as well as fights.

That way I could enjoy a Naruto game that is actually well done, serves the fangirl-heart appropriately and also provides fun with a multiplayer option.

Mass Effect

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:34:27 GMT

I'm a Spectre. I'll save the galaxy for you.
As Mass Effect 3 was released this year I began ask myself why I hadn't played even one of those games till now. It was always in my subconscious, wanting to be played, and now I finally moved my lazy *** to become even more lazy and sit in front of the TV screen the whole day.

The first thing that made me happy was the customisation. That's how Kami Shepard acquired the looks of a Russian war prisoner.
Right from the start I began to immerse myself in the world of ME step by step. I ran around doing 'side quests', listened to all sorts of people's talk, got to know my crew and was very disappointed that I couldn't start a romance with other men.

After K. Shepard had become a Spectre and I had learned to hate the Citadel Council I explored all kinds of different planets, found secret hideouts, seldom resources and overaggressive Thresher Maws attacking my vehicle (which I affectionately named Marco due to its actual titling M35 Mako).

The story excited me. It wasn't all that spectacular but yet a sci-fi adventure that really managed to capture me right from the start. Saren, the villain, was of course a character I sympathised with right from the beginning. And I greatly enjoyed chasing after him, not knowing how tremendously important and dangerous this mission would become.

First I fought my way through the snowsquall of Noveria up to Peak 15, where the nearly extinct species Rachni and an unexpectedly hard and exhausting fight with Asari Matriarch Benezia awaited me. The journey up there was long and even felt as cold as the weather that surrounded me. But it was rememberable.

The next deed of heroism entailed rescuing an asari researcher named Liara from Prothean Ruins on the planet Therum. Having gained another crew member Shepards ship. the Normandy, set off to Feros.
And without having any evil intentions I was reminded rather ungently that these were violent times as I set foot on the planet and was immediately attacked by some Geth. They had invaded the planet and of course only my team was competent enough to get rid of them. On my way to the ExoGeni Headquarters I met some more aliens like the fishdog'ish Varren and the corpse-like Thorian Creepers that yearned to kill me. But this mission also ended successfully, because...well, Commander Shepard is a friggin' spectre. He killed the Thorian and got some new information on the Conduit artifact and the Reapers, the ultimate enemies of the galaxy that will bring forth terror and genocide. Great, even more responsibility to bear.

Nevertheless I gladly flew to the next location, called Virmire, where Saren and his geth army were expecting me. But when I landed, the first thing that astonished me the most was the beautiful environment. It looked like a Tropical Island, with endless mass of water. Driving too far into it kills you though, unfortunately.
So with this holiday'ish atmosphere around I went to face the big, bad Turian. A small army of Salarians joined our team to distract the enemy from Shepard's "Team Shadow" that would plant a bomb inside Saren's base.

And that was the part where it got really emotional as well as even more thrilling than before. At first, Wrex was confused about what was the right thing to do. He randomly shot the water with his shotgun which scared me evey single time since I first didn't know the cause of the shots and thought that some enemy was arriving. Eventually I had a talk with him and he decided to stand by my side. I was moved.
Then, when the infiltration was imminent, the Salarians declared they were ready to die and that I had to send one of my crew members with them. I knew for sure that I wouldn't see that person again. I had to choose between that one guy, Kaidan and that one gal, Ashley. I never really liked Ash but I didn't want to sacrifice her because of that. But I had to think logically and Kaidan had the skills and the responsibility to set off the bomb and that way Ashley had to go....
The infiltration made me all nervous and frightened of what was to come but it was so much fun to play. With the constant pressure of hurrying and still trying to save everyone and successfully plant the bomb and not dying myself weighed on me. With me were Wrex and Garrus.

So I happened to meet the 'Reaper' and learn a bit more about the whole Galaxy-Conquest.
Then the damn game gave me some hope of saving Ash but on my way to her I had to make a choice. Go back and defend the bomb from being destroyed by the enemy or go save Ashley and the remaining soldiers. I wanted to save her so desperately at that point but I knew that the few people near the bomb couldn't defend it by themselves and then everything would have been for nothing. That moment when I had to apologise to her...it was the worst thing ever and I regretted it. I knew of her family and her values and ambitions in life but I couldn't do anything.

I went back, Saren showed up, we fought, he fell back as the bomb began its countdown and while sitting safe and sound in the Normandy I could see the massive explosions. *sob* I'm sorry, Ash. I'm sorry, salarians. You won't have died in vain. (My team members took her death surprisingly well though...)

I returned to the Citadel, hated on the Counsil even more, stole my own ship (wait, what?) and was taken off guard by an even more impressive environment on the plantet Ilos. I learned even more about the Conduit, got to know that I am "the only one who can break through the cycle" and the "oh-so-very-special-hero". No pressure. I rushed down a long waterslide, following Saren to the Citadel again. The catastrophe was in full swing and after I had fought my way up the gravity-lacking Citadel tower where my companions showed some frustrating incompetence (which they never had before) and I had to snipe my way through an immense battlefield. Thanks, guys. But I still love you.

Saren Boss Battle 1 emerged. It wasn't that hard. Saren Boss Battle 2 emerged. It was tediously long but not really hard. But I was very content that I had achieved so much. The Sovereign aka the Reaper was defeated, I decided to not save the Counsil, pity pity, and although I had gathered so many Renegade Morality Points (not on purpose though) I still turned out to be a good fella. Well, my war prisoner Shepard had decided to side with the aliens or at least not be a patriotic earthling after all.

This game really was a great expierence. I was very pleased with the competent AI of my team comerades as well as the other NPCs, the interaction was interesting and believe it or not, the German dub was actually passable if not even "okay"!!! It's funny that male Shepard's voice in the original sounds very likeable and in the German version it doesn't, it's rather strict. But hey, the dub didn't make the game worse at any point so I won't be too critical.

[The hardest parts: The fights against Benezia
Well, this fight swiftly acquired a rather negative undertone because I died frustratingly often because of the Asari's stupid Biotecs...
After what seemed like an eternity I made it to the second cutscene just to get another fighting sequence running in which I died a couple of times AGAIN.
When the Matriarch was finally beaten I still had to take care of her underlings and that's when the real good thing happened. There was one last Asari left, barely alive but so was I. As I fired my shotgun I could see how she was shooting at me as well. "Great, now I will have to start over again!", were my thoughts but before her bullets reached me the soldier conveniently died of my shot. I had been a milisecond faster and before I got my chance to die the next cutscene began.
It's been a long time since I've been so lucky and relieved after a fight. And I still let that Rachni queen go...how kind I am. xD]

Mass Effect 2

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:51:51 GMT

The Spectre is reborn. Off to fight more evil aliens.
Mass Effect 2 introduced many changes in controls and design. No more unlimited ammunition and a slightly different cover system. The font was smaller than ever before and even though I wear glasses I had to sit really close to the TV (but it's a very small TV so maybe that's also an influencing factor). The map's usefulness had drastically decreased and never was any help to me in any situation.
The loading screens looked more impressive but also lasted a lot longer. These things weren't much to my liking when I started playing but in the course of the game I actually got used to it very quickly. Running in ME2 worked and looked better though.

ME2 already starts off with a crisis and immediately sets the game's mood in my opnion. The Normandy is attacked by an unknown enemy, your crew evacuates but good old Joker, the pilot, has to be forced to leave by Shepard. And again it becomes clear that the commander has to to everthing around here.
By sacrificing himself he ends up in a biennial coma after the organisation Cerberus has rescued him from space. That way the player is able to customise Sheppy once again or also import his appearance (,achievements and backgrounds) from the first game. And so my Russian war prisoner, spectre and commander had been resurrected. And I can't tell you how happy I was because I had become attached to this character very much somehow.
Right after waking up, Miranda, a new character which I hated from the word go, gave me a tedious tutorial. I understand that it is be neccessary to get to know the controls but I can find out on my own. Just press buttons and see what happens. Tutorials like these just get on my nerves, mainly because it seems like that woman never shuts up.
Fighting through the building one faces a new enemy type, the MECHS, and gets to know another new character, Jacob. Fine, didn't care too much about him till the very end.

Shepard was now with Cerberus, if he liked it or not, since he owed his life to them. Still I didn't get myself to like their shady motives and its leader, the Illusive Man, who never does anything but sit around, smoke and lead my team into deadthtraps and suicide missions.
At that point of the game I was very depressed to hear that I had to get together a new team that would risk their lives for world peace. I terribly missed my old people. But I had to get moving. Now with an advanced Normandy 2.0, the ship's AI EDI and at least Joker back as the pilot.

The galaxy seemed different. Exploring planets wasn't what it used to be. No more Mako, driving around in wonderful and odd landscapes and swearing at way too rocky mountain chains, no more entering deserted basements, picking on cybermonkies and nerve-racking fights with thresher maws, no more manual resource exploration. Instead one could now scan the planet, send probes or land when there's an anomaly which starts a quick side mission. And although these small missions are really well done considering atmosphere and design I still miss the actual exploring of the planets by yourself. It took longer and you never knew if you had gathered everything, sure, but it was more fun that way.

But there are still a couple of new main planets to investigate.
On a planet named Omega I found a salarian professor named Mordin to accompany me, the prision ship Purgatory offered a chance to recruit a tough human biotic named Jack, on the run-down Korlus I saved the genetically engineered krogan super soldier named Grunt from being destroyed before he had even awoken. And the best thing that could've happen to me is the reunion with Garrus, the Turian from my old team. Had I chosen to play as a girl, I assure you, he would have been my love interest.

The main goal of Shepard's team and Cerberus is to stop the Collectors, who have been kidnapping human colonies, and get their hostages back. On Horizon Shepard found the Collectors Ship but came too late to save anyone. On that occasion he also met Kaidan, that fella that survived because of me, and when I was just happy to see another one of my old comerades he behaved like an a-hole and abandons his old commander. Charming, I'm not coming back to save him. Well, at least I have Garrus. *sniff*

Somewhere in between the whole recruitment, side questing, and resource gathering I also decided to stop by at the good old Citadel. That place had always felt a little bit like home in ME1. Now most of it wasn't accessible anymore and the player was forced to move in the neon-lit, dark areas. Only when visiting counselor Anderson in his bureau one could have a look at the bright bridges and houses like in former times, but nothing more.

So then, off to go recruit some more team members. On the fancy metropolis planet Illum I found two new members: the asari justicar Samara and the drell assassin Thane, whom I liked from the first time I saw him. His species is rare and fascinating and he has a nice character.
And because the Illusive Man has to act out his authority every once in a while my men and me went onto a Collector's Ship after this to gather information. And surprise, surprise, it was a trap.
After what seemed like a hundred enemy waves Shepard and company finally managed to escape the deathtrap. And I was pissed. I knew that'd I'd take the first opportunity to backstab or disobey the Head of Cerberus as soon as there was one.

Before I dealt with the next suicide mission he gave me I recruited another one of my old team members, Tali.
Unfortunately I didn't know about that fortunate turn of events, otherwise I wouldn't hadn't started a romantic relationship with Jack but at that point it was already too late.
The Cerberus mission faded even more into the background as I dealt with every member's personal issues to gain their loyality and got around in the galaxy a bit more. Unfortunately Miranda and Jack had a bitchfight and I took Jack's side of course. After all the things I had done for her and her sister, Miranda stopped being loyal to me and, as it later transpired, that fucked up everything even more in the very end. Oh, how I hate that woman.
So, with at least 3 people from the old crew and Thane I was confident to go get the Reaper IFF System for the Normandy SR-2 so that I'd be able to enter the Omega 4 Relay. My team got onto a derelict reaper which didn't seem to be a good idea in the first place anyway. Luckily I managed to get off unharmed and even recruit yet another team member, the Geth named Legion. Quickly I had gained his loyalty as well and now I really was ready to rumble. But the developers didn't let me yet.

K. Shepard and his people left the ship for some reason while the IFF installation was running. But the world of Mass Effect is still as cruel as always. During that time the Collectors hijacked my ship and took the team hostage. I was able to play as a limping Joker that had to turn off EDI's security lock and restart the core of the ship while remaining undetected. And that was when my heart was racing like crazy and I was shouting "This can't be happening!" and "No!" all the time. Seeing how they were dragged away while screaming in terror. I wished I could have done something. When me and my team returned everyone but Joker was gone. Now I couldn't hesistate any longer and entered the Omega 4 relay to go beat some Collectors. And that is where the final began, together with my nervous breakdown and emotionality.
I knew from the first game that there probably had to be made some sacrifices but deep down in my heart I only yearned for Garrus, Tali and Thane to survive. I mean, I wanted everyone to live but to these 3 I had really taken a shine. But everthing went wrong.

Inside the Collcetor's Ship you have to assign tasks to every member every now and then and of course I didn't pick the ones that were the most precious to me, like the first game had taught me. How could I have known that ME2 would do everything differently?
Only very few members of the hostages had survived which made me very sad. Then the constant splitting up and the fear of losing someone started and my heart raced so much I could barely handle it. Why do I always get all the responsibilty to bear in the end?
And then it started. Legion died. Grunt died. Miranda died. And even worse, Thane also didn't make it. When I saw him being dragged away by these Collector Swarms I first was in disbelief but as I realized what had happened it was hard for me to move on. Yet I had to.

I believe I fought the end boss with Garrus and Tali by my side. The final enemy was a humanoid Reaper that looked like the Terminator. I decided to destroy it, mainly because it opposed to the Illusive Man's orders and just seemed the most logical thing to do. It wasn't particularly hard but I wouldn't call it easy either.
Oh, and like you might have guessed it, the rest of my team got out alive and mentally prepared to face the Reapers that were announced to be in the next game. I was a nervous wreck and as the credits roled I sang "Amazing Grace" in rememberance of Thane (mostly).

Somehow at the end of every Mass Effect one is confronted with extreme helplessness and a sudden rush of thrill and emotions. Later I found out that I could have saved ALL of my team members if Miranda hadn't been all touchy touchy and I had picked the right people for every task/situation.
But how the the f*** am I supposed to know that for sure when the previous game handled such situations completely different?
Despite how much I felt in ME2 I never got over the fact that I didn't have my old team anymore. I loved all these guys from ME1 so much. And although I was able to have another encounter with Wrex, Kaidan and Liara I still missed them a lot on my ship. Story-wise the game was still great, the graphics have improved a lot and the fact that you could do a data transfer was what impressed me the most. Mass Effect 2 really made me realize how much I had become attached to the first game...

But there's something that really disappointed me. And that's only directed at the German Version of the game.
They failed the dubbing. The content wasn't the problem. But they changed almost everyone's voice actor (except Garrus' and Joker's).
I had gotten used to all the voices, why change them now and destroy some of the atmosphere with it? Of course you get used to them again but it doesn't seem very reasonable, especially concerning the protagonist.
And what was up with the sudden anglicisation? In ME1 they went with pronouncing everything the German way. Geth were pronounced "Geht", and Saren was known as "Zaaren". Again: why change it now? Stick to one thing, people!

[I'm planning to replay the game (maybe on "Hard" difficulty this time although it already was pretty hard on "Normal") so that I can save every person on my ship, go out with Tali and can confidently go save the World in ME3. But one playthrough takes ages so I'll have to wait a bit longer so that I'm not too shaken up by the whole thing anymore and won't get bored.]

Ib

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:01:09 GMT

I'm so in love with this game. It is so simply and yet so fascinating. Made in RPG Maker 2000 the graphics are 2D, but still the characters and surroundings seem more alive than any 3D survival horror. In this game you take over the role of the little girl Ib, that visits an art gallery. Soon she gets herself lost in a strange world with disturbing paintings and statues chasing after her. The game has so many good aspects that make it so very addicting. The characters are very unique and likeable from the start. The music is simple, beautiful and atmospheric, achieved with just an acoustic guitar.
The puzzles are fun and smart and clever and even after solving them once they don't get tedious. The whole journey is very symbolic, may it be concerning colours, paintings, the character's personalities and actions or the different levels of the museum... The player can reach several endings depending on how one treats the few character Ib meets on her way. And hell, it is frightening..being all alone in a nightmarish museum. When black hands suddenly clutch at you from the walls, dolls become alive and you know that something unknown is chasing you, leaving behind trails of blood and corpses.
One of the greatest and probably also most underrated games I've played in 2012.

The Mirror Lied

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:02:42 GMT

"Hi birdie. Are you here yet?"
One of the weirdest games I've ever seen. It's one hell of an interesting experience that one should definitely make but after you've finished the game after ~20 minutes it is like you're brain has been overcharged. Mirror Lied forces you to let you come up with the wildest interpretations and that is also the game's appeal. You don't know what just happened to you or the character, you just know there was a little girl and a "birdie" involved. The gameplay itself involves walking around in the house, finding items and putting them to use, and being confronted with the bizarre plot.
The soundtrack consists of one song and to be honest, it couldn't be more perfect. A very nice game, especially when it comes to messing with your head.

Hatoful Boyfriend (はーとふる彼氏)

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:35:00 GMT

"I must return to my people with the spoils of war, lay my bloodied sword at the feet of my great king, and celebrate my conquest of all the lands from here to distant Macedonia"
I don't even know why this game is so awesome?
It's basically a parody of all the Otome Dating Sims existing. You're a girl that attends a school for doves and are presented with 6 beautiful birds, one of them soon to be your lover. And actually you don't do that much in the game. And still it is so addicting.
The different characters are so absurd and unique that you can't help but love them, and the fact that you are dating pigeons...it's just so hilarious it's good again. The doves also have different theme songs which fit them nicely and one can get surprisingly emotional by the different stories presented to one. Eventually i found myself at this point where I was saying to myself: "You are crying over pigeons. What happened to you?" And yes, after I got involved with HatoKare there was no going back. I can never encounter pigeons the same way again.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:41:29 GMT

Half-Life 2

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:41:46 GMT

Half-Life 2

Rating: 8/10

Pokémon White Version 2

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:41:54 GMT

Pokémon White Version 2

Rating: 9/10

The Witch's House

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:47:19 GMT

The Witch's House

Rating: 9/10

Assassin's Creed III

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:47:37 GMT

Assassin's Creed III

Rating: 8/10

Halo 4

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 17:17:46 GMT

Halo 4

Rating: 8/10