Jak II (Throwback Thursday)

I'm very sorry for the late Throwback, I actually wrote one on Thursday, not one I was going to post this week, so I completely forgot that I needed to write one to post...I'm stupid. This whole blog thing can get stressful sometimes, okay?! Okay.

Anyways, this week I decided to follow-up last weeks (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy) Throwback and play the awesome sequel, Jak II. I know you're all wondering "Where's Daxter?" Well, never fear, because Daxter is in this sequel and he is still just as witty. But why has the title changed so drastically?

Not only is Daxter left out, but there's just a wimpy II, not something epic like The Precursor Legacy. Well, I have a theory. The game is so different than the original that they might have just wanted people to be able to distinguish it better. Does that make sense? I hope so.

On the back of the case they sure sound a bit humble as they explain the game...

"Something BIG is about to unfold in a ground-breaking action-packed adventure from Naughty Dog, creators of the multi-million seller, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy." "A deep and involving storyline with fully integrated gameplay." And other self-compliments that slap you in the face while glancing at this cover.

That's a lot to live up to, in my opinion. If you're going to hype like that, I'm expecting everything to be true and possibly better than you make it seem. So I was ready to beat on this game. Not only for that, but I was also expecting it to be completely different than J&D and not to even possess the qualities of a sequel.

So let's get to it.

My main fear, being that this sequel doesn't connect with the first one, was washed away in the beginning cut-scene. You're back in your home village with Kiera and Uncle, trying to go into a portal (Not really sure what for, though.) and they accidently release this eco monster thing, so while trying to get it back in the portal, Jak and Daxter get sucked in with it. They end up in a fancy pants city, and they get thrown in jail. Daxter escapes, but Jak gets caught. Two years later, Daxter finds Jak, after two years of Jak getting eco pumped into his system, (Eco being the somewhat bad substance of the game, since most monsters are made up of the stuff) So, Jak can Go Hulk and turn into Dark Jak (See picture of disk) when he collects enough eco. So that's new.

Also, arguably the most awesome part of the whole game is when Daxter first finds Jak on some kind of table, and he grabs Daxter by the neck, pulls him close, and yells "I'm gonna kill Praxis!" Did I mention that's the first time Jak has ever talked? Yeah, he was mute beforehand. That gave me chills. EPIC.

One thing that bothers me is this: If Daxter was in the jail looking for Jak the whole time, how the heck did it take two years for him to find Jak? And, if he left the jail to, I dunno, eat, wouldn't it be the smart thing to find a home? Of course, he does borderline rodent, so he could have just lived in the dumpster outside the jail. But still, it bugs me.

After that epic moment, we get to play the game and escape the jail. With no help from Daxter. In fact, Dax hasn't helped at all so far...But whatever. He's comic relief.

The gameplay is pretty well-done, the movement is fluid and just plain nice. A good addition is the giant jump and the tuck-and-roll jump. It's cool and very helpful. Since you're in the city and not in the country, there are hover cars you can steal and ride around. That's such a good addition. It's awful walking everywhere, and driving is super fun. I'm not that good at driving, though, so I wreak them pretty bad and just steal another one. The trick is not to hit a cop or accidently steal a cop car...That causes unneeded trouble.

So yes, the gameplay does live up to the hype in the box.

As for the storyline...It's pretty awesome. Deep and involving? Kinda. It is deeper than you'd think, impressively so, but it's not that involving. I didn't get too sucked in, honestly. It's no Kingdom Hearts, but the storyline is better than most and it actually makes sense. And yes, it connects with J&D: The Precursor Legacy.

But it is so different than the first one. The city atmosphere is a huge change from the "country" atmosphere. Seriously, very different. I can't stress that enough. And the biggest addition is you get guns. Yep, it got all Black Ops up in here real quick. Also, you get to join this secret underground organization whose against Praxis, and that's just super cool.

One word to describe this game: Cool.

The new additions and atmospheres just make it cool. Not to mention fun and awesome.

Naughty Dog is at it again with a good sequel and an even better game. I would recommend this game no question to anyone who likes shooting people, joining underground rebellious organizations, riding around being awesome on a hover board, and being and angry jail-breaker on a mission to murder the guy who got him in jail and turned him into a dark werewolf-like Hulky thing. Yeah, it's worth a second look.

See you guys next week when I play the finale of this awesome trilogy, Jak 3.

Nuzlocke Challenge! Episode 2

 

 

And you all thought I quit, HAH.

 

 

 

Day THREE:

 

 

Not much excitement happened. I trained a lot, and caught yet another Zubat. That makes three caught, two lost. This Zubat is officially named Please Don't Die, I Love You. It dominates at a whopping level FIVE. YEAH!!!!! ...This challenge is going to be harder than I originally thought.

 

Day FOUR:

 

 

On my journey from Jubilife to Floaroma, I not only caught PDDILY (P Dilly) I almost caught It's About Time Shinx! Through this challenge I've wanted a Shinx so bad but hadn't been lucky enough to have one as my first seen Pokémon in a new area...Until now! Hurrah!

 

AND, I had my first run-ins with Team Galactic. Through a battle of wits and passions...Or something of the like, I came out victorious always. But I lost a good man during the process. Not As Nifty Starly fought hard, but wasn't successful. DANG IT, he was one of my tough guys...Currently I have Ponytail Ponyta at level twelve, Mofo Magikarp at level ten, It's About Time Shinx at level nine, Prinplup at level seventeen, and P Dilly Zubat at level six but quickly escalating. Yeah, you could say I'm pretty snazzy. Just kidding...

 

Star Captain (opponent):

 

Day TWO:

 

Nothing to report yet. TO BE CONTINUED

 

My apologies for the late post...At least I got it close to Monday. See you people next week, check back in the next few days for SC's updates. Over and out

 

 

Review: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

From what I understand Metal Gear Rising is the sequel to Metal Gear Solid, featuring the all-famous Solid Snake. I never played any Metal Gear Solid, but I looked up the ever-so-winding storyline so I could understand where this was coming from. Metal Gear Rising features Raiden, a past teammate of Solid, who has these really awesome weapons that he uses to defeat cyborgs...Amongst other things.

The first thing that stuck out at me was the graphics. I swear, graphics these days never cease to amaze me. It's average for this gen video games, but the animations is really pretty that it almost gives you chills...Well, maybe it was just me.

After a pleasantly short beginning cut-scene you get to start training. Of course like any video game the beginning tutorials are annoying, and in this case they're not all that helpful. You learn how to use your snazzy sword, which you can slice things in slow motion...Which is epic, but it's pretty difficult to slice things. Then you learn there's an easier way which they didn't teach you. Very helpful? I think not.

That's probably one of the downfalls. The fighting is a bit difficult to get used to. At least it was for me. If you can get used to it and become a master, kudos to you, my friend.

One thing that was somewhat disappointing was the lack of stealth. MGS games were known for the fun stealthiness, I Mean c'mon, you know that whenever you're sneaking around you call yourself Snake in your head. If you're like me you picture him in Super Smash Bros. Brawl when he first makes his appearance. That's just cool. And for the most part, being a ninja assassin isn't needed, and in fact makes things harder if you attempt such things. The makers even intended for stealth not being used all that much in-game. WELL THEN, I'll just have to be a ninja assassin in real life.

Something that's both refreshing and aggravating is the difficulty level. The first boss was so hard to beat...It was insane. And I wasn't the one beating (or lack there of) that boss, so you can't blame it on me being a noobish gamer. (Which I am not, thank you.) A very experienced gamer was playing and having a hard time. Of course this goes with getting used to the controls, and later on you get better weapons and sub-weapons (Heck, we didn't even know how to throw our grenade...) so this may be enigmatic. On the other hand, some games are way too easy, hence the refreshing part.

Going back to the storyline, I love storyline games. Anyone who knows me knows that. So of course I was excited for this. I love huge, winding and confusing storylines. Which is exactly what this is. If you like that, this is the game for you (You will need to explore Wiki for all the backstory, though...), if you hate storyline, this isn't for you, go play Call of Duty. If you ignore the storyline all together because you don't give a crap and you just want to slice off cyborgs heads in slow motion, then HECK YES this is for you!

I had fun for the short time I played this game, but I could truly see myself playing it a little more than dropping it forever. Probably rage quitting because I couldn't figure out how to throw a stupid grenade. I could be wrong, something in the storyline could get me forever engrossed, but I don't see that happening. It's not really my kinda game. I love blood and gore, but constant (Repeat: CONSTANT) fighting and battling doesn't sink my ship. Because of that, I give this game the grading of D+. The plus is because of the pretty pictures including lots of blood, and because the fighting is fun. Just not constantly. Think of it this way: When playing Pokémon, is it really fun to have battle after battle after battle? No! Talk about repetitive. That's kinda what it's like in MGR: Revengeance. Go download the free demo and tell me I'm wrong in the comments below, if I am. Or agree with me, that would be swell.

It's awesome in the same sense that every game with cool graphics is awesome. But it's no The Last of Us or Kingdom Hearts. (I haven't played The Last of Us, because I lack a PS3, but one day my life will be made...One day...)

Oh, and Happy National Video Game Day! Be proud of your gamerality.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Throwback Thursday)

 

 

 

This week we're talking about one of my favorite PlayStation 2 games, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, the first game in the Jak and Daxter series. I have extremely fond memories of this game from my childhood, I can't even explain. It's very near and dear to me, and it's one of the video games that contributed to the start of my gamerality. Yes, that's a made-up word...

 

So, I was actually pleasantly surprised when I opened up the case and found that the manual flips open into a super cool poster:

 

 

Yeah! That's going somewhere in my house.

First things first, when you get all started you have to watch a really long string of cut scenes. I'm not complaining, heck, I'm a KH fan, I'm used to cut scenes. You learn about the somewhat backstory and watch as Daxter falls into a huge bowl of black "ego" and gets turned into that weird foxy animal thing where (spoiler alert...Not really) he never gets changed back. In fact, I didn't even remember that he was a human before he was a...Whatever hybrid he is.

After the beginning cut scenes you’re thrown into your home village, where you’re told the only way to fix what you messed up is by seeing the three sages. But to get to the first sage you have to cross lava…Which you can’t physically do, so you meet Keira, who offers to build you a flying contraption with a heat shield. But is it that easy? No, of course not. You have to get twenty power cells. How do you do that? By asking the villagers, of course! Will they just give them to you? No, of course not. You have to do a task to earn your power cell.

Yeah, it’s that kind of game. You have to do a million things to accomplish one thing. But that adds on to the awesomeness, in my opinion. There is never a dull moment in Jak and Daxter’s life. That’s kind of sad, though. They never have time to eat, sleep, murder people…But at least they’re pestering villagers for power cells. That’s a plus.

Anywho, after obtaining those power cells, (Which involves going to beaches, jungles and an island...No walk in a park, btdubs) you get to Rock Village to meet Blue Sage…But of course you need more power cells (45…And you just lost 20 for a heat shield) to energize a levitation device and…Yeah. Like I said, it’s that kind of game.

But the storyline, surprisingly, makes sense. It makes perfect sense, actually. I applaud the writers immensely. It is very well-written. It’s no Kingdom Hearts, with miles of backstory and yadda yadda, but it’s solid and actually there. Can you say that about all rpg’s? I don’t think so.

Speaking of applauding the writers, I also applaud them for the characters. Naughty Dog, the creators, can really put together a good game in general, but their characters stick out the most. Thinking of Crash Bandicoot, (refer to the Throwback Thursday of two weeks ago) which Naughty Dog also took part of, their characters are truly unique. Crunch Bandicoot is this big gnarly dude with a catch phrase of “Yeah baby!”, Coco Bandicoot is the perfect teenage girl character, and Crash Bandicoot is just cool all around. I guess what I’m saying is, they’re not bland. They’re thought-out and well groomed. That’s just the same with Jak and Daxter’s cast.

Apart from that, the controls are really good. After experiencing Frogger last week, or should I say The Only Frog Who Can't Jump and The Only Game Where You Can't Turn The Camera Sufficiently, I was very thankful for double-jumping (Which is easy to handle) and being able to turn the camera with the right joystick. Hear that, Frogger? THAT'S THE WAY IT FREAKING SHOULD BE. The only problem, which is so miniscule it shouldn't be mentioned in this blog, is the auto turn on the camera can every once in a while be annoying.

Oh, and let me just mention the music. It's so beaty and fun, it makes my soul happy. Continue.

 Another slightly annoying thing is the difficulty of the game. I might just be I'm stupid, but I find this game hard at times. Not all that challenging, but difficult. Yes, there's a difference. I mean, I almost always know what to do next, I never get stuck, but I die...WAY TOO MUCH. And it aggravates me to death. Haha, think about that. I didn't even write that on purpose. Heh.

So for that small reason, this game doesn't get a 10/10 or five stars. I give it a good four Daxters out of five. It would have five if I didn't feel like plucking my eyes out of their sockets, throwing them on the floor and going at them with a tomahawk every five seconds out of irritation. But because of that setback, this game is stuck at four. Not bad for a game, though.

In fact, I'm bringing the rating up to four and a half, because of a really nice addition: Mini games. Throughout the game you have to play these really fun and addicting mini games. Fishing, hitting swamp rats with fire balls, and my personal favorite (And oddly enough one of the hardest things to do) racing on your weird flying contraption. The racing is the most addicting. I think it's because of how hard it is. You just are pushed to this point where you have to win, but at the same time it's so much fun. Yes, it is worth half a star...Or in this case, a Daxter. Sorry for that mental image.

This game is just the perfect mix of adventure, whimsy, humor and seriousness all wrapped up in one. Daxter is hilarious, some of the people you meet are so crazy you can’t help but smile, and everything is just plain entertaining.

One word to sum up this game: Entertaining.

Not in the barrel full of laughs kinda way, but in the you enjoy yourself kinda way.

I spent hours upon hours playing this game today, totally enjoying myself and being entertained. I actually created a save file (After clearing my memory card) so I could continue on with the awesomeness later. There's something about games of my childhood, or maybe it's just good fun games in general, that keeps me more engrossed and entertained than even Arkham City or Kingdom Hearts 3D. It's really good, in my mind. I recommend this game to any rpg lover, it’s definitely worth a second look.  

Frogger: The Great Quest (Throwback Thursday)

Throwback Thursday...On Friday? Let's just go with it.

Oh Nostalgia Lane, I walk down your path again...And is there a better way to prance merrily down Nostalgia Lane if it isn't with the iconic Frogger? Oh, you're thinking of the "Can't cross the road" PC Frogger, aren't you?

YOU'RE WRONG.

I'm talking the incredibly epic, RPG Frogger. Yes, there was such a thing. And it was epic.

 

 

In the beginning you join Frogger at his home swamp. Like any other frog Mister Frogger wants to go on an adventure...But after overhearing two boys, he wants to go on an adventure to find a princess, to kiss him and turn him into a prince.

Yeah, it's a total Princess and The Frog rip-off. But you can easily forgive it.

Firstly, the thing I was somewhat scared off when revisiting this game was the graphics. For some reason I feared the worst. And because of that, I was severely surprised. The graphics are actually really great, so I sat back and enjoyed the opening cut-scene.

After of course giving myself a name.

Yeah! I like how it says "Enter Your Game Name" I find that pretty awesome.

Anyways, on with it!

One kinda "downfall" is the storyline. It's something someone with really little creativity wrote. In the first cut-scene not only is The Princess and The Frog rip-off mentioned, but Froggers Fairy Frog Mother comes into the picture. Basically everything in the storyline is ripped off something else or not creative in any way, but it's still whimsy and strangely entertaining. I ain't complaining.

So you're thrown into action. Fairy Frog Mother shows you all the controls, things are easy, life is good, and then...You have to jump.

UHG.

Anybody play Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Did you play as Link? Did you fail miserably because the boy can't jump? This is the opposite. Frogger is such a good jumper, it's extremely difficult to land on small platforms; he over-jumps. And all you have to land on (For most of the game) are small platforms! Nostalgia Lane quickly turned into Aggravation Boulevard.

Actually, I remembered vividly how aggravating that game was form my childhood. Do you know how many times I raged quit back in the day? DO YOU KNOW? If you played Frogger, you know.

So after you really get used to the controls and move on, you no longer need to jump. You can guess how pleased I was.

In fact, minus the horrible jumping skills, everything else is really easy. To some of you that might take all the fun away, but for me it made it fun and relaxing almost. You can figure out a way to "Cheat" (that's not really cheating) to kill off enemies without getting harmed and there really isn't strategy put into it. It's one of those games where someone asks you to go get this for them, then this for them, then they'll do exactly what you need them to do, then you have to get the next stuff and do this for the next person...That sort of thing. There's really little challenge in the whole thing.

You might be thinking "So the game is boring and repetitive...Yeah, good call on a game."

WRONG SIR.

They change things up every time, so it is not repetitive. And I somehow or another played for five hours today and found myself really enjoying myself, so it is not boring. There's something about gliding through a game that was extremely difficult to you during your childhood that's super rewarding. I didn't beat the game, but I got just a few levels away. I officially feel accomplished.

I distinctively remember HATING with EVERY BEING IN MY BODY this one part, where you had to jump (Remember horrible jumping skills?) up and spit a froggy spitball at a bell to ring it...But you didn't just have to jump, you had to balance on the railing, jump up and spit at the right angle to hit the dern bell. Here's a pic for those of you who may have played the game: (Excuse the bad quality)

But guess who did it on her second try? THIS GAMER. I kicked my childhood problems in the butt today...This Throwback Thursday has been a success.

So yeah, apart from the jumping thing and the really uncreative storyline, this game is really fun. I was glued to my television for five hours. It's been a long time since I've gamed for that long. I really wish my Memory Card wasn't full and I could have saved it to finish it one day...But oh well.

I definitely encourage you all to go down Nostalgia Lane and Aggravation Boulevard once more and revisit this game. I give it four frogs out of seven.

Have great weekend dudes!

Nuzlocke Challenge! Episode 1

 



Greetings! Now, before you go judging me on how I titled this blog post episode one, I urge you all to scroll down and read PG: Summer Challenges! That will tell you all what a Nuzlocke challenge is, if you don't already know. If you do already know, congratulations, you've just wasted your time reading this paragraph. Foot licks.

What?

I don't know either. It's late. I get...Weird.

Aaaaanyways, on with the challenge.

Day ONE:

Well...I didn't start out too great. I started a new game (After trading my super awesome Pokémon to Diamond, that is), names myself Pure since there wasn't enough room for Pure Gamer, named my rival/friend LULZ, and chose a Piplup. Now, I thought about my next move carefully. I thought: I need to train...Yet, one of the rules is "You can only catch one Pokémon per area; it must be the first one you encounter" but I had no Pokeballs. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???!!!

I'll tell you. It means, I went to Valor Lakefront and trained my super awesome Piplup. But I can't catch a Pokémon there now. Get what I mean? ...Yeah, I'm a little too proud of myself for doing that. Anywho, then I go back to my abode, only to learn that I can't save my game...Since I didn't properly delete my old saved game...So that was just peachy.

And so, I properly deleted my saved game, (Up + Select + B...The more you know.) and started again. I did the exact same thing and progressed all the way to Jubilife. By now, I had my super awesome Piplup, extremely nifty Starly, and outrageously spectacular Bidoof. Let me tell you, the one Pokémon per area crap is ANNOYING. I didn't think that would be as bad as releasing Pokémon when they faint, but it is that bad! I won't say worse, but yeah, it's bad. Here is where I had my first tragedy. I lost extremely nifty Starly and outrageously spectacular Bidoof.

You really do treat battling differently when the cost of losing your Pokémon for good is on the line. Like you count how many XP's a move is worth, you strategize, and you go to the Center A LOT. And you hoard A LOT of Potions.

Moving on, I caught not as nifty Starly and mofo Magikarp. I haven't moved on to Oreburgh because I'm trying to get my newbies up in levels, but I am NOT looking forward to it. I mean, I have Piplup so I'll be fine, but the fear of Pokémon death just adds a whole new element to the game. I applaud whoever came up with this challenge. It's fun, anger, fear, aggravation and adrenaline wrapped up in one. Who wouldn't love that?!

Day TWO:

Not as exciting. I spent mostly the whole time training. In the process I caught and lost stupid Zubat. Also, I caught ponytail Ponyta. So as of now I have a somewhat promising team. The last thing I did was beat the gym, otherwise, I only trained. You train WAY MORE in a Nuzlocke challenge then you EVER would.

Star Captain (Opponent) Stats:

Day ONE:

He didn't do much. He caught a Starly, and lost the Starly (KO'd by a Bidoof, what a jerkface Pokémon), and caught another Starly. He made it to Jubilife, saved his game, put it down, picked it up the next day, and it has mysteriously disappeared. Let's just say, Star Captain was not a happy Pokémon Trainer...Needless to say, he's not very far in the game...

SO I'M WINNING. HAH.

Watch for Nuzlocke "episodes" every Monday! Stay classy.

Crash Nitro Kart (Throwback Thursday)

Hey yall! Welcome to the first ever Throwback Thursday segment!!!

 

 

Crash Bandicoot is arguably the BEST racing franchise in existence. Although this blog post is about Crash Nitro Kart, not CTR (Crash Team Racing) which is the best the best racer, as far as I'm concerned. Originally I wanted to play CTR, but unfortunately, it has died. It lived a long life. RIP CTR.

 

One reason why I love the Crash Bandicoot franchise is because of its characters. It has all original characters (Crash, Coco and Crunch Bandicoot, to name some famous ones), the controls are simple, the items are randomized so unlike Mario Kart you can get the best item (Oogla Boogla, basically an invincibility star) even if you're in first place, and (also unlike Mario Kart) you don't have to worry about matching the right wheels with the right kart and whatever because every character has the same kart. Granted, some of the characters are faster, but the fastest one is the hardest to control, and vice versa. I dunno, I guess I find it more challenging than Mario Kart, and other racers haven't impressed me. Add the nostalgia factor, and you've got a freaking awesome game.

 

I grew up playing Crash Bandicoot, so I have fond memories of kicking butt and being awesome. Of course when I put the game in, I wasn't very good. It's a pretty intense transition back to PlayStation 2, believe me. But after I got the hang of it, I started Adventure Mode. In Adventure Mode, your world is basically being attacked by some other world, so you have to go to various worlds and race many races to progress. This is how you unlock other characters. It's actually really challenging and incredibly fun.

 

I had such a great time revisiting this game. If you have a Crash game lying around, definitely go play it and engross yourself in the best racer ever.