Gears of War

" The game centers on the soldiers of Delta Squad as they fight to save the human inhabitants of the fictional planet Sera from a relentless subterranean enemy known as the Locust Horde. The player assumes the role of Marcus Fenix, a former prisoner and war-hardened soldier. When in cooperative play, the second player takes control of Fenix's best friend and fellow soldier Dominic Santiago ("Dom"). " - Wikipedia Article on Gears of War.

I'll just be shooting around this here corner then...

The gameplay is well thought out and enjoyable as much as squad based tactical firefights can be. Cover is an important aspect of this game; you won't survive long without it. The music fits in nicely with the mood of the game and the graphics are top-notch. Level and character designs are beautiful and effects such as gore and blood splatters look great. The plot isn't much different from any other war-based plot but the characters in the game are well developed and does a lot to flesh out the plot.

Delta Squad earning some extra cash pimping around town

I had a lot of fun with the game even though it was pretty short. Pretty much one of the best games on the Xbox360 you can play and one of the games you definitely need to add to your collection.

Score: 8 / 10

Me and my Xbox360

It was pretty much on a whim that I decided to go get an Xbox360. I was deciding between the Wii and the 360 but went with the 360 in the end. One of the reasons was because I think the quality of the games on the 360 is much better but the real reason is that Devil May Cry 4 is being released on it soon.

My Xbox360 in all its glory

I only got a couple of games, Halo3 and Forza came free with the Xbox and I got Gears and Mass Effect for 50 quid. I've been taking my time playing the games since they cost so much, though I finished Gears of War in like 2 days on hardcore. Right now I'm working my way through Halo 3 and I hope I don't finish it too soon. Can't afford to get any more new games at the moment. I'm planning to get Xbox Live when I go back home so that I don't get any more distracted than I already am. I really need to get some work done and some how I don't think getting an Xbox is helping too much.

The (few) games I got

The morning tide is released

I went for the Morningtide prerelease last Saturday. Here's pretty much what I did all day:

10am: Leave for the Royal National Hotel.
11am: Arrived & chatted with some fellows.
12pm: Played my 1st Morningtide draft....
13pm: and lost horribly. Played my 2nd Morningtide Draft....
15pm: and lost horribly again.
16pm: The 2-Headed Giant event started.
22pm: The 2-Headed Giant event ended and we won!

So that's 12 hours of playing Magic all day. You can imagine how tired I was after the event, I could barely think afterwards. And I managed not to eat all day till like 11pm. At least me and Allan managed to win the 2-headed Giant event (well... technically we won... its complicated). Got a shirt which is way too big (its my PJ shirt now) and 6 boosters each.

Morningtide is a really fun set, lots of new mechanics and even more interactions with creature types. Its really cool that its not only a 'tribal' theme now but also a 'class' theme as well which lets you mix and match more combinations of colors together. Treefolks seemed the way to go but I think Elf warriors are going to be the decks to watch out for in drafts. Milling merfolk is better than ever with the new kinship merfolk and Grimoire thief. Kithkin got a boost, giants not really anything interesting, lots of nice elemental cards came out, goblins got a bit nastier and faerie rogues are probably going to be one of the best block constructed decks now with the new handy 'toy' they got.

That about sums up my thoughts about Morningtide, at least at the prelim stage. Looking forward to drafting LLM soon.

Update: Forgot to put in pictures of the T-shirt I won from the pre-release. Here they are!

The front

And the back

Shinobi

" Raised together within the Oboro Clan, Hotsuma and Moritsune were seldom apart during their youth. Being the younger of the two, Hotsuma looked up to Moritsune, and considered his older brother to be a superior warrior.Eventually, the Oboro Clan commandment was revealed to the two boys after they discovered Akujiki, the sword that would be used in the ritual to decide the clan's leader. The commandment deems that the next clan leader must be determined by a duel to the death between the eldest clan heirs -- in this case, Moritsune and Hotsuma. Aware of their destiny, the brothers trained incessantly, instructed by their foster parent, Kobushi.

10 years passed as the brothers refined their techniques and honed their senses. The duel occurred beneath a full moon, and after a long exhausting fight, Hotsuma finally slew his brother. Not long after, a massive earthquake struck Tokyo, and a mysterious Golden Palace appeared in the center of the city. With the appearance of the palace came the arrival of the powerful sorcerer Hiruko, who summoned hellspawn to wreak havoc upon the city, and all but destroyed the Oboro clan. The city's residents became paralyzed with fear. With the Oboro Clan ravaged and Tokyo on the verge of collapse, Hotsuma placed himself at the heart of the chaos, determined to reach the mysterious Golden Palace and avenge the death of his clan. " - Wikipedia article on Shinobi

Poor sod...

The game is tough to say the least due to most part to the difficult camera angles and the lack of checkpoints in the levels. The soundtrack is repetitive and easily forgotten so there's not much there. The game is very graphical in its killing scenes which is cool at first but just takes up time as the game progresses. The art is just ok I think, nothing to special and some of the bosses and monsters just look out of place. The plot is almost non-existent although developed some what through in-between-levels cut scenes.

Hotsuma killing some shinobi dogs

Nevertheless, I found the game really enjoyable cause of its sheer difficulty; not many games these days actually challenge a player. This is definitely not one for amateur gamers. A good challenge as a 3D platformer though lacking in all other departments.

Score: 6 / 10

New review layout

So I decided to revamp the way I do the reviews... rather than write the sypnosis myself I thought I'd just use the well written ones from other websites. This shortens the review a little I think. Below that would be the usual comments and opinions I have about the game, usually on the game play, artistic values, plot and soundtrack. At the end I'll put in my rating on the game on a scale of 1 to 10. Another thing changed is the titles I put under the pictures, at least it explains the pictures a little bit. Hope this makes the review sections better!

Persona 3

" A teenager who was orphaned as a young boy returns to the city of his childhood. Shortly after transferring to Gekkoukan High School, he is attacked by Shadows — creatures that feed on the minds of their victims. The assault awakens his Persona, Orpheus, his only chance at defeating these creatures of the night. He soon discovers that he shares this special ability with other students at his new school. From them he learns of the "Dark Hour," a hidden time that exists between one day and the next, swarming with Shadows. He joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), and with his new friends, confronts the threat of the Shadows. " - Wikipedia Article on Persona 3

The main character (bottom right) with Akihiko Sanada (bottom mid), Yukari Takeba (top left), Fuuka Yamagishi (top) and Shinjiro Aragaki (bottom left)

The game is mixes RPG elements found in games like the Final Fantasy series with typical Japanese dating simulation games. During the day you're a teenage high schooler, making friends, taking exams and dating girls and during the Dark Hour you fight Shadows. The RPG elements are the same as any other RPG and the date sim parts can get very tedious after a while.

The main character summoning his Persona

The better points of the game lie in its intriguing storyline and artistic presentation. Each character and their Persona are well developed and detailed. The soundtracks fit the mood of the game very well especially with the many different environments the characters would be in (school, bloody dungeons, school trips, dates, deaths, etc.).

Overall, a good solid RPG with a good plot. Good sounds and art but unfortunately may only appeal to fans of the Shin Megami series or hardcore gamers.

Score: 7 / 10

The Pro Tour Qualifier

Well, FYI, I'm an avid player of the trading card game Magic: The Gathering and recently attended the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Qualifier in London. It was a real blast and I managed to scrape through to the finals (barely). Too bad I didn't win though, the first prize was a trip to play in the Pro Tour in Kuala Lumpur which I really, really wanted! Ah well... at least I got into the Top 8! Here's some of the pictures of the event:

The tournament starts...

My two-headed giant & Magic partner, Allan...

... And my other friend and regular Top 8-er, Danial

Me at the Top 8 Table! (3rd from left)

Lost the first round in the finals to the guy on the far right... I put up a good fight at least. For some reason I felt really pressured to perform which made me not perform well, if that makes sense. Got a few booster packs (11 Future Sight packs I think) but I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Right now I'm preparing for the Morning Tide pre-release happening 1st Feb so wish me the best of luck.

Late updates

Sorry again for the late updates. I'll be updating it soon, I just haven't felt like doing any blogging for quite a while and some stuff happened so I've been really... busy. I'll do some posts soon and I'm thinking of changing the review sections a bit.

Also, to my friend going off soon, I wish you all the best and safe journey. I'm proud of how you've grown and who you are now. Keep going at this pace alright? I wish things were different but you need to do what you need to do. I'll always be the same.

So, anyway, I'll need to get back to studying for my Economics exam starting in 2 hours. Best of luck to me...

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria

VP2 follows the story of Silmeria Valkyrie, one of three goddesses of fate serving the Lord of Creation, Odin (god basically - read up on Norse Mythology). Due to her rebellious ways, she was to be reincarnated as a human but due to Odin messing up somehow (don't ask me how) Silmeria ended up sharing a soul with the human she was supposed to be reincarnated as, the Princess Alicia of Dipan. Cause of this, Alicia constantly hears voices (Silmeria and her Einherjar - bodyguard/soldiers/party members) which makes people think she's crazy. That and the fact that Silmeria can surface from time to time and her personality is WAY different from Alicia's... and also that she knows things a 5 year old shouldn't know. Like the affairs of gods. Or the birds and the bees. Yup you'd freak too. So she's locked away in a castle for a long time. Eventually Odin realises that he made a mistake in his spell and sends Silmeria's eldest sister to go kill Alicia so Silmeria's soul can return to Valhalla. Thus Alicia/Silmeria set out to escape Hrist and bring an end to Odin's rule.


The gameplay is really unique for a RPG. It utilises the Action Point system which is used to cast magic or perform attacks. Each character can have up to 3 attacks depending on their weapon. When you engage an enemy, all four characters can attack at the same time as long as you have enough action points. However simply mashing the buttons won't maximise the damage you deal; you'll need to time attacks carefully with that of your other characters. Also, you free to roam the battlefield as long as you don't walk into an enemy's range of attack. The ability to dash makes tactics and strategy really important at times. A complicated but refreshing system.


The graphics are top notch for a PS2 game and the environments and characters in VP2 are really well designed and breath taking. I felt the storyline was a little lacking however. The story was solid and all but the characters were so... typical and stereotyped. Also I can't stand the English voice overs, they piss me off. They make all the characters sound like bimbos. The score is good and suits the game well. If I remembered correctly they recycled some of the music from the first VP. Which is alright by me cause it was good as well. Not the best RPG of 2007 but definitely a good title which deserves to be played. If you can, in Japanese.