How resource intensive is WoW (Chart)

 Infographic by Lorena O'Neal at OnlineClasses.net

I was linked to this info graphic that I found pretty interesting.  Specifically the time spent playing Wow, since it's comparable to holding down a job.


Source:Video Game Design Colleges


Related Posts:
History of lolcats on the internet (chart)

Merits of the dating sim genre

Well, I write about what’s on my mind, and since I’ve been playing a dating sim a lot, guess what’s on my mind?

What is a dating sim? The best way to describe it would be an RPG without all the violence. Instead of leveling up stats like attack and defense, you level up stuff like intelligence and charisma (although being buff is helpful, it’s not nearly as important) and the goal is (usually) not to save the world, but instead win the affection (well, some NC-17 versions exist, but I don’t really play those) of some (or all, for the pimp machines out there) person in the game. While this is not as action oriented as a lot of games out there, it plays quite similarly to the talking portions of games from Bioware (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, e.t.c.) or like the non combat portions of Persona 3 or 4. It should be noted that a well crafted game in the genre should top sitting around and chatting in those games, because you usually can’t take out a longsword and bash some skulls in because you’re bored. If you feel that desire in most dating sims, that’s a strong sign that game isn’t very good.

Anyways, there are a lot of things that make the genre unique. Most importantly, it’s the blend of anime and video game elements into a unique experience. While the story telling is similar in style to an anime, the video game elements allow a bit of interactivity, preventing the mind from stagnating and just letting the screen do all the talking (not that I object to that, that is what makes anime fun) while not being too demanding on the reflexes.

This makes the genre great for non gamers as well as beginning games, as the play style does not actively demand knowledge of how to play video games or tons of technical ability, as many video games do (Alright, I’ll admit, I remember learning to play video games as well as I remember learning to walk, but some n00b gamers I’ve met have trouble with some of the most basic things…) meaning that a new person can pick one up and know what their doing quite quickly. Most of them require the reading ability and comprehension of an online chat room anyway.

This is not to say that advanced games cannot have fun with the genre. I know that although I’ve survived some of the most hardcore games and told tales about them, the lack of difficulty doesn’t bother me.  This is due to the anime esque aspects, which take focus away from the gameplay which might not be very challenging. From this perspective, the genre becomes more like an anime you have some control over.

Well, if you’re interested, this site has a link to download a lot of freeware to try the genre out. If you want to commit to something, professional companies work on games with higher production values. I wanted to write at one point (Well, it was going to be less of a dating sim, and more of a Captain Kirk sim) but am actually being a beta tester for one at the moment… Pretty fun, I posted a review HERE.

Note: Ren’nai is just the Japanese word for visual novel, dating sim, or whatever. I feel that the English terms suffice and are easier for my tongue to pronounce.

Related Posts:

Shira Oka: Second Chances REVIEW

Do skills learned in dating sims transfer to real life?

Being in a harem anime sucks (when you aren’t the lead)

School Days: The big review (HEY, this anime was based on a dating sim, even though it was a sadistic dating sim that seemed to enjoy giving the player horrible endings where people kill each other horribly)

BryAnime presents: Top 10 most attractive video game females

 Previous Top 10: Top 10 most attractive anime females

Well, my idea of raving about which girls from which anime where the most attractive actually netted me quite a few page views, hence leading me to do another article on the most attractive women in video games. Like the last one, lets shut up and get to the PICS NAO (click to Enlarge)

10.) Mitsuru Kirijo (Persona 3) The party dominatrix in Persona 3, famous for having her final summon use a whip. It should be noted that she rides a motorcycle and wears those delicious long boots.

9.) Samus Aran (Metroid) Although she has been taking her armor off a lot lately (remember back in the day when it meant something when Samus took her armor off?) Samus still manages to be one of the most alluring women in video games. I’d say it’s mostly because of the mysteriouness she maintains by wearing the mask most of the time. As you can tell, I care very little for Zero Suit samus being a playable character in Super Smash Bros. (Artwork made by AndrewDickman)

8.) Rise Kujikawa (Persona 4) Talking to me you may not realize this, but there are other girls in Persona 4 besides Chie. This is where Rise comes in, as the party’s mission control person. Her general job is to boost party morale and hit on the main character. Also, the dual pigtails are hot.

7.) Kasumi (Dead or Alive) Dead or alive is notorious for having a wide variety of femme fatales that will satisfy your every fetish. Hence leading us to Kasumi, who along with Ayane enforces the rule that all female ninjas are to be incredibly attractive. While Ayane maintains her title as hottest girl in the Dead or Alive series, Kasumi maintains the title as the prettiest.

6.) Paine (Final Fantasy X-2) Where would this list be without Final Fantasy? Here we have FFX2’s resident goth chick, who comes in sporting the least revealing outfit out of the main characters. This is good, because most of that party dresses in an obnoxiously revealing fashion, to the point where you just facepalm. While some would suggest that Lulu from FFX go here, I find that her “assets” are so big as to be a turn off. Mainly because they make me go “wait, what?” when she bends over.

5.) Princess Zelda (take a guess) Well, she’s attractive, elven (Hyrulian, whatever), and enjoys long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, and getting kidnapped by Gannondorf. The closest thing she’s shown to being able to do anything about Ganondorf was not in the Legend of Zelda series, but in Super Smash bros. when I find her much easier to fight as.See that sword? The only time it appears in a game is when she throws it down to surrender!

4.)Chie Satonaka (Persona 4) OMG Chie~ chan ^_^ Anyhoo, what’s so great about Chie anyway? The first and foremost staple to my argument is that her personality manages to be interesting, while not weird enough to alienate a person. This is a major contrast to a person like say, Haruhi Suzumiya, who is interesting, but I’m quite certain she would break several of your limbs if she was bored enough. Furthermore, she isn’t exactly boring, and occasionally throws out something the rest of the characters can use for comic relief. Now then, if she actually learned some good attacks between levels 40-67…

Oh yeah, she’d be higher on the list, but she lacks a lot of things that make her more physically attractive. Instead of having an identifiable moe factor, she just made me think green jackets are hot. *sigh*

3.)Ayane (Dead of Alive) I believe it violates some rule somewhere if a female ninja is NOT incredibly hot. Ayane here does not do anything to violate that rule in any way whatsoever, and I declare her the sexiest girl in the Dead or Alive Series.

Based on these lists and the winner of the last list (Yuki Nagato) It can generally be agreed that I find purple hair hot.

2.) Kos-Mos (Xenosaga) Kosy Wosy goes through quite a few appearances throughout the Xenosaga series, but my clear favorite out of all of them is the version 4 look. I believe it is my favorite due to the headgear, which compliments Kos-Mos’s appeal very nicely. Also, long blue hair man. That makes everything better.

1.) Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile) IT SHALL BE ENGRAVED UPON YOUR SOUL!

Ah, the party leader/Paladin in the first Valkyrie profile game. You know, if fighting alongside her in order to prevent Ragnorok is what awaits at life’s end, I really don’t have to fear death. Her most attractive features include her ridiculously long silver hair, and wearing platemail, which I always find attractive for some reason. Lets not forget about the headgear. The feather design is nice, and I find it strangely attractive.

Once again, Opinions here represent nobodies outside of this webiste, and if you intend to argue with me, don't do it without pics. Otherwise, your arguement is stupid

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess review

           Allow me to say this first: I loved this game. It was stupid hella fun, and provided hours of entertainment. I only seem nit-picky because of a few minor details. 

        Anyway, here we are playing as Link again, in another generic village, when he encounters his heroic destiny AGAIN! This was driving me nuts until his home village was finally attacked by Orcs, and Link was dragged into another realm, which caused him to transform into a werewolf. Aside from the Werewolf thing, the plot to this game was essentially Orcarina of Time all over again, but I'd like to ignore that. Anyway, this game gets good about the time Link turns into a wolf, as stuff starts happening there. At that part, you feel like you've been taken from your life as a rancher, and thrown into something big. It even was a bit difficult for a while. After that though, things went wrong. Once I got used to the Wiimote, (first game using it >_>) the difficulty went straight down by a large margin. Aside from a couple of sidebosses where I didn't find the weakness in time, it was essentially shooting fish in a barrel. Anyway, I don't wanna give away all the fun stuff, so we’re going to move on

       Best part of this game was the dungeons. And the dragons. By Dragons, I mean bosses. These were all incredibly epic, (except none of them were as tough as they looked.) however, I really wanted more of a fight from them. If I'm trapped deep underwater, being attacked by a giant sea monster, I wanna feel like I'm gonna die. Instead, I was able to sit down during some boss fights (not good when using a wiimote hehe) The sidebosses were great. Although I liked to take on giant monsters using wits and crazy tricks no human could feasibly perform, the sword using bosses felt more in-depth. The giant things, although awesome, just felt like another puzzle in the dungeon, only with a timer. By timer, of course, I mean your health. Also, I'd really like to see an end to flashing weak points. They make things WAY too easy. The side bosses were quite fun, and I loved the mounted combat bosses (There should have been more.) because they felt epic. Sadly, although the fights appeared epic, I felt less like "Yes, I finally killed it!" and more like "lol n00b! Learn to fight" Anyway, other than the bosses, there was more depth to this game, despite the fact the main rason I played the game was for the really epic boss fights.

        The Dungeons. These were great. They had all kinds of weird stuff. Also, you get AWESOME equipment. The Wiimote makes aiming quite easy. This makes the hookshot even more fun to use than usual (I want one!) and making aiming the bow easy. Some of it doesn't get as much use as I would like (GIANT WRECKING BALL!) However, the dungeons all had their unique twists and turns. However, if you've played any other Zelda game, you will see a lot of it coming. On the other hand, some of it will make you go “ohhhhh…” It's all really entertaining. I especially liked the tomb, and the volcanic mines. 

Outside the Dungeons: Overworld looks nice, and there are lots of little secrets. After you find a new toy in a dungeon, you'll definitely want to go try it out across the land. One thing I don't like though is the money, for there is way too much of it, and nothing to use it for. Sure, there's one suit of armor, but that's about it. It really just sits in your wallet , which is now full, while you just keep finding more of it. However, this game has a rich over world, if you take the time to explore it.

Overview: Buy this game. Seriously, it has a lot of gameplay, and a lot to explore. I wish it was more difficult, but it is fun. And quite epic. Furthermore, it is quite cheap now. You should go try it if you haven’t already.

Please Comment and Subscribe!

Related Posts:
The Legend of Zelda Cartoon

Quit playing single player games at multiplayer parties

<-Street Fighter II, the quintessential game for multiple people to play. Notice how it has room for two players, and allows them to rotate quite easily

At the most recent party I attended, I noticed a strange tendency among they gamers in the room present. They all seemed to be surrounding a TV watching one guy play a single player game. Now then, this room contains like 4 people and a large TV. Furthermore, there were more than enough controllers present for everybody to play. This left me wondering why the bloody hell anybody would stand by and allow this to happen.

Sadly, I do know the attitude that allows for such atrocities to happen. It’s a state of sheer apathy and lack of desire to compete that is possessed by many people who enjoy sitting around and watching their friends play games at parties. This both offends me when I am playing the game and watching a person play such a game, for this activity does not promote any growth in the person sitting there watching another person game. Furthermore, it I’m the person watching, it offends me that this person has the gall or narccisstic tendancies to think that I find sitting and watching them play a game without me remotely entertaining. This si the very reason that games like Halo, Dead or alive and Street Fighter were invented, so friends can beat the stuffing out of each other in parties, without feeling left out. Yet, many nerds tend to continue in this fashion of leaving people out of gaming matches in favor of just having one guy get all of the fun. This was a silly issue, such as when I was hanging at a friends house and they wanted to play Arkham Asylum instead of Mario Kart Wii, even though 4 people were present (those people had bad taste anyway.)

To this I say to people! Stop making social events just so you can all play the games you would sit around and play by yourself! Sure, if you go to a friend’s house and play their games, they will probably kick your ass, bus so what? They didn’t get good by sitting around watching you play games, so have your bro falcon punch you in Super Smash brothers. Nobody cares how many points you can get on a level, or what level your char is at, or exactly how good you are at some single player game! Multiplayer was invented for a reason, and people need to start using this ability. 

Does is bother anybody else when people gather in order to play single player games?

Please comment and Subscribe!

Nintendo of America and Rockstar announce Grand Theft Auto: Saffron City

<-Nintendo and Rockstar are teaming up to make a Pokemon game about Giovanni's rise to becoming the leader of Team Rocket

Lately, a common complaint about Nintendo is that the majority of their games are “too kiddy.” In response, Nintendo of America has announced its intent to create a darker and edgier Pokemon game, due to incredible demand. This caused them to collaborate with Rockstar, the creators of the infamous “Grand Theft Auto” series, in order to make a Grand theft Auto game in the Pokemon universe.  A trailer was released on Youtube, but immediately taken down because Youtube deemed it “too awesome” and wouldn’t allow its release.

An anonymous writer leaked certain details on the plot, characters, and things you can do, summarized here:

Basic Premise: This game will take place before Red Blue and Yellow versions, although it will incorporate in various elements from later released games. Players will take on the role of a younger Giovanni, future leader of team Rocket, and attempt to muscle their way up the criminal ladder. Players will fight other gangs, steal Pokemon from other trainers, and attempt to make the newly founded Team Rocket the biggest, toughest gang in the Kanto region. The player will be allowed to run rare candy brackets, run a gambling operation in the game corner, and the creators even hinted at the player getting to pull the takeover of Silph co. performed in red/blue/yellow.  The game will take place in Vermillion, Cerulean, Celadon, and Saffron cities, with some areas in the surrounding routes and Lavender town. The creators have stated that although the area is only the central block of Kanto, they are promising this game will have more places to explore and detailed locations than any Pokemon game ever released.

New Mechanics An innovative new feature never before seen is the removal of hidden machines, and making every move usable outside of combat. For example, flamethrower can now be used to commit arson and during the trailer we see a scyther using swords dance during an interrogation. Later on in the trailer, we see a trainer command his Haunter to hypnotise a Nurse joy into doing a lapdance for him. I think this will add a new layer of depth and freedom never before seen in Pokemon games. Furthermore, this game will not feature gym badges, and Pokemon’s loyalty will be based entirely what it thinks of you. This was shown in the trailer when Giovanni commanded his Rhydon to smash a police car, but it instead decided to throw him into a building. Furthermore, Pokemon that don’t like you have a chance of running off, giving players motive to treat them well. Furthermore, as Giovanni’s criminal reputation increases, he’ll have to start evading Officer Jennys, or just start attacking them. During the trailer, Giovanni was shown having a Gyarados launch a Hyper Beam to bust through an entire police blockade.

The Pokemon: Many pokemon from various generations will be making appearances, although not all of them will be in. It has been confirmed that Pikachu will be in, shown both by a scene of Giovanni battling Ash in the middle of the street with lots of property damage, and another scene of Giovanni sending his own Pikachu inside of a bank to short circuit the alarm. It has been confirmed that a few Legendaries will be in the game, and the trailer shows a Moltres burning down city hall in a city, with Giovanni walking away smiling. Furthermore, we saw a rival gang leader flanked by a pair of Machokes being used as bodyguards. Most notably, we see an entire gang run by trainers that have been brainwashed by a rogue Alakazam. This suggests that some Pokemon have realized their potential to crush humans and started using it for their own ends. Also, it should be noted that Giovanni did fund the creation of Mewtwo, suggesting that he may be obtainable in a sidequest or something similar.

Overall, I’m really exited for this game. Rockstar has confirmed that it will be rated M, and although it has no official release date yet, it will be released in the States before it will be released in Japan. It has been confirmed that several characters from the anime and games will be making cameos, such as Jesse, James, Wes (Colosseum) and Silver(Giovanni’s son from the games.) I personally am looking forward to the game, and will keep you updated on any news about it.

Please comment and subscribe!

Related posts:

The World of Pokemon is just plain stupid
Fox announces it's new teen Drama: Olympus

Local Artist: MoonyMonster

Check out the Trailer for Persona 3 portable

I was flipping through this guy's site when I saw an article on Persona 3 portable.



Seeing that I loved Persona 3, this was entirely relevant to my interests. Now then, the entire concept of remaking it, and adding new content awakens the fanboy within me. I'm even more exited, because apparantly they are retrofitting the game with concepts from Persona 4, which is pretty much one of the best PS2 games EVER.

Now then, I notice that the most noteworthy feature of this rerelease is the addition of the option to choose a female protagonist. I find this delightful, since dating was a major aspect of Persona 3, meaning that Atlus added in new content just to accommodate this. Early reviews from import gamers suggest that this game is awesome , and allows you to have S-links with your party members, allowing you guys to unleash your bromance in combat. Furthermore, you will be able to directly command the other party members. That's right gentlemen, this is going to be Persona 3, combined with the awesomeness that Persona 4 in order to make one little UMD disc of aweseome.

On a side note, does anybody else get the same vibe as Pokemon Crystal version when it came out? I mean, lets look at the similarities here: both games introduced the option to select the gender of your main character (first to do that in BOTH series.) Both of these games feature a protagonist recieving a monster in order to go out and conquer other monsters, both involve these monsters leveling up and having a limited move set... My point still stands. Shin Megami Tensei is definitely Pokemon for adults

Please comment and subscribe!

Related Stuff:
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Shin Megami Tensie: Nocturne

RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY!

Shin Megami Tensei : Nocturne Review

It’s like Pokemon, but every bit as Satanic as Christian fundamentalists make it out to be.

Well, I haven’t had much time on my hands to play video games with. Alas, a while ago, I managed to scrounge up enough spare time to play that one game I’ve been meaning to play, see title. Nocturne is another game in the Megaten series, that Persona spinned off of, hence meaning I HAD to play it. Overall, I actually found it to be the polar opposite of Persona, where every character is fully developed and you life in a mostly peaceful world. Not in this game though, haha.

This game takes place in a post apocalyptic Tokyo overrun by demons (further referred to as “mons.” Don’t ask me why most the angels from Judeo-Christianity are listed as demons >_>) where the main character must fight his way through hordes of demons to find a meaning to his existence in this bleak and barren world. Will he recreate a newer, better world? Will he bring back the old one? Will he let it remain the way it is? Will he team up with the forces of hell to slaughter the last pathetic remnants of creation? (why yes, this is an option) Who knows, it’s entirely up to you to decide! I absolutely love the setting of this game, as it gives you a huge world to explore, and you get to see wrecked landmarks from Tokyo in reality. The world itself is massive and beautiful, but….

It’s inhabitants are disgustingly one-dimensional. Really, they say a few lines, then vanish. You’re best bud from the old world? He comes up to you, says hi, tells you where he’s going, then ditches you. Never mind that he’s a normal human wandering out into a demon infested wasteland. Nope, he’s definitely not asking YOU for help, you half demon half human with a gang of big tough demons. Why would YOU be able to help him? The only people who decide to up and join you are already big tough demons, who don’t really need you for protection. Such as the cameo character, Dante (yes, the one from Devil May Cry) who’s sole purpose is to kick ass and take names. HE joins you, (based on circumstances) but you’re high school friends with no superpowers? Nope.

Plot is actually kinda dumb. Well, conceptually it is really neat. Also, it is very epic. Alas, the execution is really dumb. A few times during the plot, I’m asking myself why I’m fighting these guys. Heck, at one point I wanted to betray the person who sent me for the person he told me to attack. Alas, I was not given an option to do that. Despite having multiple endings, there isn’t much um… freedom in the plot. At some points I wanted to smack the main character silly for his apathy. Although you are given a lot of dialogue options in the game, a lot of them don’t seem to matter that much until the last minute.

Gameplay is pretty neat. Despite plot characters having the personality of a cardboard box, you’re allowed to negotiate with you’re enemies to have them join you’re party (gotta catch em’ all) and you can level them up, and some even evolve (like Pokemon) Alas, mons level up slowly, so the trick is to fuse you’re demons into bigger, tougher demons. You can have three demons fighting alongside the main character, from varios mythologies, leading to some… interesting combinations (Michael, Beelzebub, and Thor team up to conquer earth!) Of course, if you DON’T do this, you’ll be slaughtered by one of the games stupid hard bosses.

Ah yes, the difficulty. This game seems to enjoy kicking you’re ass. It even got its picture on this TV Tropes page. Bosses usually have some weird trick that if you don’t counter it immediately, you’re DEAD. I strangely enjoyed this, because unlike Final Fantasy, you REALLY get to learn a lot of tricks to fight enemies. It pushes you’re limits as a game. And the battle system…. Like the Persona series, it’s all or nothing. You get a critical on an enemy? You get to attack again. Hit their weakness? Go again. Get an attack reflected back at you? You’re whole party’s turn is over and you get you’re ass kicked. Fortunately this applies to the enemy too, so random fights are all or nothing. Then there’s death magic. Both light and darkness cause instant death. However, raising resistance to one often gives you a weakness to another. Hence, it is mandatory that you be cautious while applying you’re resistances.

So, if you want an epic plot with cardboard characters and a battle system that enjoys killing you, pick this game up. If you wanted Pokemon to be more mature and have an actual danger element, this might be the game for you. If you want a challenge, pick this game up. It’s pretty solid, despite its flaws

Summary
+fun
+challenging
+EPIC

-frustrating at points
-bland characters

Related Games:
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

Recent rerelease of this game has driven the price WAY down. Great time to buy

Pixel Lust

Ever since I’ve been blogging, I’ve always felt the need to do a valentine’s special.

Usually I moan and bitch about how stupid this holiday is, But this year, I’m feeling extra optimistic. This year, I’m feeling pretty optimistic. I’m going to focus on the positive aspects of romance, and discuss my opinions on several subjects.

Oh wait, this is me. That means I’m going to discuss my favorite fetishes, and discuss which video game/anime chicks I find HAWT. YAY ^_^

Fetishes

Robot Headgear- Oooh, yes, something that almost always gets me exited. I can’t explain why, but I find big, antennae-like pieces of metal to strangely arousing. I particularly like the ones that look sort of like Elven ears, such as Kos-Mos ver.4. Another good one is Chacamaru(sp) from Negima. They really bring attention to a girl’s face, which is one of the main reasons I find robot chicks hot.

NEXT- You know what I find really hot? A girl with a large, round pair of….. glasses. Yeah, the bigger the better. I like the big ones, Like what Naru from Love Hina wears. Their freakin’ awesome, for some of the same reasons as the robot headgear. Perhaps I’ve grown to like them because they’re associated with bookworm types, which I find cute. Or perhaps it’s because whenever somebody has a makeover, glasses are the first thing to go. Which is stupid. Glasses are very cute, and quite often greatly amplify a cute face, bringing somebody from pretty cute to OMGFREAKINKAWAIII!

Gothic Lolita- Y’know, I’m kinda funny. Most guys seem to get exited the less clothes a girl wears, but I get more exited the more useless accessories and more elaborate an outfit is. Bikini? Woop de doo, I can get that in a sports magazine. Maid outfit with dozens of ribbons and buckles, stockings, lacy gloves, and other useless accessories…? *drools* Well, I guess you can say it’s the thought that counts…. Those outfits take FOREVER to put on. It’s probably a bigger pain in the ass than putting on that cross academy uniform in my closet.

People

Haruhi Suzimiya- Our lord and savior, her will be …. Wait, what am I doing? Gah, Haruhism, you stupid fake religion! Anywhooo…. Haruhi is awesome because she’ll rape you if you disagree. She does what everybody else wishes they were brave enough to do, and if you got a problem with it, TOO BAD! The world will know how to live an awesome life, or suffer the consequences. It’s hard to tell if she’s the protagonist or the antagonist sometimes, but that’s part of the fun with that show

Lenneth Valkyrie-(Valkyrie Profile) IT SHALL BE ENGRAVED UPON YOUR SOUL!
Odin’s warrior of justice, sent to slay the undead and evil people among the world., and to gather powerful warriors to fight when Ragnarock comes. Yeah, it’s an RPG where the main character is both female and a warrior (Paladin or archer actually, but whatever) and I like it. Seriously, the main girl in a JRPG is usually a healer, and it gets stale. Now then, a goddess of death gathering the souls of the world’s best warriors? FREAKIN’ AWESOME!

KOS MOS- (Xenosaga) Ah yes, how did I discover my fetish for robot headgear? Why, we can thank Kosy-Wosy for that. She’s wonderful, because of her robotic attitude, which often manages to triumph over any foe. Spock would be very pleased with her. Whether it’s her attitude, her long blue hair, or her ability to solve all problems by shooting things, she makes a wonderful impression on anybody playing Xenosaga.

Chie Satonaka- (Persona 4, Girl in the green jacket in that picture up there) Y’know, actually, this girl’s been driving me crazy. She has like… none of the things I normally find attractive. No glasses, no giant headgear, her hair’s pretty short ( I normally like it long) hell, her most defining feature is a green jacket she always seems to wear. So why do I like her so damn much? Because… her personality’s pretty cute. There, I said it. She’s cute because Persona 4 is a 60+ hour long game where you really get to know the characters. Chie just happened to grow on me. And really, out of all these people mentioned, she’s the one I wanna date the most. All of those weird things she does. The obsession with meat (meat flavored gum….wtf?) Her complex with people. Her jealousy over her best friend. Oh yeah, and she quotes Bruce Lee a lot, so you can tell she’s a keeper. She’s by no means perfect, but she does her best to defend those she cares about. She livens up the party, and often has great ideas (Okay, she usually just suggests that we kick their asses) Have you ever heard an RPG character suggest that we go powerlevel for the sole purpose of beating the shit out of somebody? Her personality’s perfectly believable which is a plus. Her weirdness, her bravery… shes just so… just…. CHIE CHAN! *fanboy squeal*

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 review

Yeah, yeah, I know, where the hell have I been for the last three weeks? Well, I had final exams and they were fairly stressful. After that….. Well, I went to the mall and bought a copy of Persona 4. And played it nonstop It was pretty freaking awesome. Imagine if they took everythincg great about Persona 3, made it better, gave it better plot and characters, and released it. That’s pretty muh what Persona 4 is. And it’s pretty sweet.

This game (like 3) is one of the strangest gaming experiences I’ve ever had. It’s a bizarre fusion of a dating sim and an RPG. Although this appears to be a major genre clash, this game manages to mesh them in a method that enhances both genres. The dating sim helps you care about the people you’re fighting evil with…. And the fighting evil makes you actually care about these people. I guess you could say it’s like a superhero movie. Spider man is more relatable due to Peter Parker, and you actually care about Parker because he has Super powers. The two become inseparable, and the end result is quite entertaining. This time around, the party functions much better, feels closer together, and feels more alive than in Persona 3.

Oh yeah, the main plot. People are winding up dead. At the same time a urban legend is believed to show people their soul mate. The main character investigates this, and finds out that the two are connected. This leads to you entering an alternate dimension inside the TV… where you gain the ability to summon an alter ego known as a “Persona.” The plot manages to be more personal than most RPGs, and revolves more around the characters than the universe around them. It’s not about a freaking apocalypse (at least not until the end) which is pretty cool, cuz I’m getting sick of the apocalypse. Better yet, the plot has multiple layers, and just when you think you have it figured out, it throws another curveball at you. Probably one of the better plots I’ve seen in a game.

I like this games method of awakening a Persona user much better than the one in Persona 3. Hypothetically, anybody in this game could summon a Persona, while in 3, you had to shoot yourself in the head. (Thanks to that game, I’m entirely unphased when somebody sticks a gun to their head) Instead of just a few chosen to use Personas, anybody can use them, assuming they are strong enough to survive a certain encounter in the TV realm.

Gameplay: Well, it works. You live your life as a normal high school students, make friends, hit on girls (Chie-chan ^_^) and fight crime. You have two separate sets of stats, your combat stats and your social stats. Social stats are important because they dictate whether your character is a loser who has no friends, or the guy who knows everything and hot women fall in love with on sight. Also, it dictates whether or not your character has the spine to do stuff (Like, I dunno, tell somebody off, crack jokes, e.t.c.)… so you should probably pay attention to them. Also, they help you make friends…. And the power of friendship is quite prevalent in this game. If you have a close relationship with your friends, they will do cooler stuff in combat, like to tag team attacks, or heal status conditions. It really makes the party feel like a group of people rather than some numbers. Simply put, S-links have a much larger effect in this game than they did in Persona 3. Combat stats do the same thing they do in every other RPG, unsurprisingly.

Bosses are interesting in this game. They employ vastly different strategies, and keep you guessing. If you don’t know what you’re doing, this game will eat you alive. It’s got lots of side bosses, and the dungeons manage to be about as hard as the one in Persona 3. The design of the dungeons is quite interesting, at least concept wise. What other game will make you fight your way through a steamy bathhouse to rescue a person trapped inside a sick fantasy?

Anyhow, this game manages to take a brilliant idea (Persona 3) make it BETTER, and releases it.

Related Articles:
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

You can purchase the game on Amazon here:

Persona 3 Review

Hey… I have a gun and a monster is about to attack me! I Know! I’ll shoot myself in the head!

Ah, the Persona series. The very reason that I haven’t been making any new blog entries. I actually played this game about two years ago, when it first came out, but I’m going to talk about now… to prepare people for the MASSIVE FREAKING PERSONA 4 Review that I’m going to write. Until that time though, I’m so freaking addicted to Persona 4 that it’s ridiculous.

Persona 3 is a very… unique game. It’s part dating sim, and part dark RPG. ….yeah, those two we’re definitely meant to go together. This weird combination creates a wonderful gaming experience that is relatively unforgettable, although it comes with some flaws…. Some expected, some aren’t.

First thing I like is the gameplay. In many games you get to be a super powered-person, but you don’t really get to control what that person does in everyday life. This one let’s you cover every aspect of your character’s identity. It’s not as open ended as say, Morrowind, but for a Japanese RPG, there is little competition. The other part, the combat, is also pretty interesting. It’s very deadly, where a single mistake could send you back to the title screen. Hence, you are always thinking on your toes. Unfortunately, this means if you get hit by a Death attack, you will lose a few hours of playing. Also, it has an intense combo system that enemies will employ against you. Every time you or an enemy uses an attack that the target is weak against, you get a free attack. Some enemies are merciless about this. Worse yet, you get a game over if the main character dies, regardless of whether or not the rest of the party is still standing. You can employ these tactics against your enemies though, making this one of the most hard-core RPG’s I’ve ever played.

The Persona system: I’m not going to discuss shooting yourself in the head to cast spells here. By the end game, it becomes about as significant as any other spellcasting animation. What’s more interesting is your ability to gather several different monsters known as “Personas” and fuse them into other monsters. Combining these allows you to create versions of monsters with all kinds of weird abilities. It’s fun, and will keep you busy for a while.


The S-Links: The dating sim part of this game is known as S-Lnks…. Or the people your character is friends with. By building relationships with people, you can get various bonuses, mostly in the form of EXP while fusing personas.Some of the people are pretty interesting, others are less so. If you build a strong enough relation with somebody, you can create even MORE powerful Personas. Yes, this game has mechanical benefits for using the power of friendship.


The characters: Best overall cast ever. At least on the hero’s side. You work with an entire team of characters who are likable, developed, and interesting. And it gets better! You know how in RPG’s they railroad the main character into a relationship? This game doesn’t do that? Go ahead; date one of the NPC girls for all it cares! This game may not have any character that sticks out as the best, but the cast is well rounded enough that together, they compete with the party in Xenosaga. Well, most of the cast…. Koramaru doesn’t count.

The problem with having a great cast of heroes is that you need a cast of villains to match them. These villains are not present. There’s a few guys who try to match you, but they sort of start sucking towards the end. Then…. Ugh… don’t get me started on the last boss. Every bit as exiting as wet cardboard…. She has a nice theme song, but she does NOTHING to earn it. At the end it’s all like “uh yeah, we need a main villain, so this big mean thing is bringing the apocalypse.” OH NOES…. *sigh* C’mon, these guys needed the Joker or something, not what was given.

Should you buy this game? Heck yeah, since it’s pretty unique and interesting. If you want an RPG that leaves the Final Fantasy mold, by all means try this one. It started at 40$ and has only gotten cheaper. It may drag for a few parts, but it does give you your money’s worth, and it is a really refreshing experience.

Now, I’m going back to play Persona 4. Imagine everything good about Persona 3, but MORE of the good stuff. Expect the fanboy infused report soon.

Related:
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 review
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne review

You heard me! Buy this game! Fes version is cheaper and comes with post game content. Original version is cheaper and comes with an art book