Top Ten 2-D Fighting Game Characters.

This is something that's been brewing for a while after the suggestion from Cody. I thought about including 3-D characters as well, but I figured they could use their own list. Also, 2-D character designs tend to be much cooler when fighting games are concerned. So, here we go. Pictures alone should explain the coolness, but I'll probably include a few words on the way.

10. Ryu(Street Fighter)



"What?!!?" I'm sure there would be an outcry like that if people actually read my blog. Yeah, Ryu is awesome. Yeah, he was the first guy to popularize the standard karate gi in fighting games. Yeah, he's OG. However, as cool as he is, the rest of the characters are just more appealing to me. Still, I have all kinds of respect for Ryu. He's been one of my favorites since I was first introduced to Street Fighter over ten years ago.

9. Ukyo Tachibana(Samurai Shodown)



He's a samurai, he stands with his back to his enemies, has blue hair, and he freaking fights while having TB. His character gives off that noble sort of feel, which just furthers his coolness. Ah, I have some great memories from when I was little, playing Samurai Shodown II on a cabinet while my mom would shop, which served as my introduction to the SNK realm.

8. Baiken(Guilty Gear)



She's a war-torn, yet somehow still hot female samurai. Plus, she has a chain of sorts attached to her....err..stump, or whatever is left of her arm. Also, pink hair rocks, atleast in her case. She just has great style, along with most of the GG cast.

7. Millia Rage



She's an assassin that kills people using her hair. Awesome. She's also extremely fun to play, and she's been my main in GGXX and #R since I started playing a few years back. Everything about her is cool. Design, moves, stage, and stage theme song...all awesome.

6. Chun-Li



The OG female fighter, and still one of my favorites. Her character design and moves are legendary, and for good reason. She was rocking spiked bracelets way before any teenagers thought they were cool. Only padawans who are willing to dedicate years to learn the Spinning Bird Kick should be allowed to wear them. Also, you all know you throw the peace sign right back at her after each round.

5. Akuma(Street Fighter)



I don't think I really need to explain his position. He's a shoto fighter like Ryu and Ken, but he's so much cooler. No sissy non-killing ideals here, just repeated demon kicks to the face! He might not be part of the triforce of Third Strike, but I play him anyway. Not like it matters, as I suck pretty badly at the game, haha.

4. Setsuna(Last Blade)



Just a picture doesn't do him justice. While I've never played Last Blade II, I used to rock Setsuna all the time back when I played Mugen. He's just the man. He's probably the most pissed off looking character I've ever seen in a fighting game. Also, take note that his katana is black. Black. Own! Awesomeness just oozes off him.

3. I-no(Guilty Gear)



To think that I actually didn't like I-no when I first played GG. I must've been on some sort of anti-cool kick or something at the time, because I-no is the own of female fighters. She fights with a guitar and wears a possessed, witchly hat that spews out harmful musical notes. Yes! Strangely enough, I haven't played her all that much more than a number of others from the GG cast, though I was using her more and more often before I stopped playing much.

2. Iori Yagami(King Of Fighters)



His character design is the stuff, and his fighting style is one of the craziest I've ever seen. He fights using an open fist, clawing his enemies. The amount of blood, and the old-but-cool sound effect that accompanies each hit is so satisfying. Also, he's rather unstable, laughing manically after certain moves. While he and my number one pick might not come from my favorite series, they're definitely my favorite character designs.

1. K'(King Of Fighters)



Thumbs down victory pose FTW! His character design is tops, and he's my favorite SNK character to play as. His fighting style is definied as "violence," and he delivers flying knees to the face. What more needs to be said? He's the man.

I Love War.

I honestly did want to make a post about Gears of War sooner, but it was lost in route to Gamestop and I had to wait a couple extra days to play it. After that I just decided that I would wait until my friend Mike and I played through the entire game before making a post. Also, while I had an awesome time the first time I played, I wanted to play as much as possible and really let things sink in before I talked much about it. Well, we finally finished the campaign last night and here I am.

GoW pretty much did every possible thing right, and instead of gushing over it for a couple pages I'm going to touch on some aspects that were a pleasant surprise for me. You can find tons of reviews all over the net talking about how great the gameplay is, and I can also testify to that being true. The gameplay really did turn out to be just as fun as it looks, and I never found myself wanting to even take a break. The entire game looks incredible. Incredible. I think it's safe to say Gears is the best looking game I've ever played. However, like I said, you can find people talking about these aspects on every gaming site on the net, so I'm not going to go say too much about them.

One thing that Gears really did well was character interaction. While the story could've used more screen time, I really took a liking to the main cast, and this was mainly due to how they interacted in certain situations. I love it when you see characters interacting in real time, when you actually have control over your own character. A good example of this in another game would be in the Metal Gear Solid series, where several examples come to mind. In MGS2 both you and Snake have to provide cover fire for Emma as she crosses between two struts. Just seeing two other characters move around in real time made them seem so much more alive. This type of interaction is presented several other times throughout the game, and also in both MGS and MGS3.

Real-time character interaction like that is also presented throughout Gears of War because you're always running around with members of Delta and Alpha squad. Conversations are held in person throughout the game, and in situations where the group splits up characters will still converse over the radio. These situations really give the chance for characters to come to life, and it was easy to feel attached to them.

Another aspect that I liked was how some enemies would really just show up out of nowhere. By this I mean larger enemies, and they're sometimes introduced without using a cutscene, which is something I've always wanted more games to do. Now, it wasn't done to the extent that I'd like, but the fact that they did it at all got me pretty excited. I'd love to go into more detail, but I don't want to ruin any segments of the game for anyone who hasn't played it yet.

While the campaign mode was really well done, another chapter to help extend the length would've been nice. I wasn't tired of the gameplay in the absolute least when we finished, and the story could've used a bit more fleshing out. Still, I think Epic did a fantastic job with it. It met all of my expectations, which were considerably high by this point. I haven't even gotten the chance to touch multiplayer yet because Mike and I couldn't pull ourselves away from the campaign, but I'm really looking forward to putting some time into it whenever I get the chance.

Another thing that I'd like to mention is the art direction. The planet of Sera really does look war-torn, and I often found myself attempting to stop and look at the scenery(the damn Locust kept interrupting my sightseeing). There are some really beautiful areas in the game, albeit destroyed, and there are others that are just plain cool. I'd also like to applaud character designs in general. The main cast of COGs are the manliest men I think I've ever seen, and you pretty much feel like the man as you're owning the Locust horde throughout the game. The Locusts themselves look great(and ugly!) as well. The designs for even the basic drones are intimidating and very cool, while larger enemies such as Berserkers have you biting your nails.

Finally, I have one last thing to talk about regarding Gears. I know CliffyB is a big fan of Resident Evil 4, so it wasn't too big of a surprise to catch different influences from it in certain areas of the game. First off, and most obviously, is the over-the-shoulder camera. RE4 was the first game I played that used it, and it did so extremely well. Now, who knows if Epic was already planning on using this camera style or not, but I figured I'd at least mention it considering it's also the first thing anyone reading this would think of. Secondly, both games feature a mine cart section. Now, they're actually quite different from each other, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is where the idea came from. Also, while they're set up differently, RE4's version of it was actually quite a bit better. Finally, the last thing that just screamed RE4, and undeniably so, is GoW's Berserker enemy. They're Epic's version of RE4's Garrador, plain and simple. They work great in both games, so I was absolutely fine with it. I'm willing to bet there are some things I'm leaving out, but I'm feeling pretty crappy at the moment, so I'll leave it at that.

Almost Emergence Day.

While not quite Emergence Day yet, which falls on the 12th, the gaming world is practically there with the toted 'killer-app' Gears Of War shipping to certain retailers today. My excitement for Gears literally knows no bounds, and I don't even own a Xbox 360. Of course I want one, and hopefully I'll be able to pick one up around Christmas. Anyway, I've been geeked about GoW for I don't even know how long now, as it looks incredible in every aspect, and it just looks like the type of game I'd love. There isn't really much of a point to this post except to let out some of my excitement to play. IGN's review , the first I've seen for GoW, dropped today. It's full of so many compliments and such enthusiasm that it's all I can to keep from going crazy while I wait to play it tomorrow. Thank God two of my friends are picking it up and I'll be able to dish out some raping to the Locust Horde with them. Well, I'll be sure to post my impressions tomorrow night.

Also, I picked up Final Fantasy XII on Wednesday, and I've been having a blast with it then. I've been meaning to make a post about it, but all my time has either gone into playing it, working, or doing homework. I've put in around 25 hours of playtime so far, and it's been serving up a healthy dose of fun, challenge, political intrigue, and great style so far. I'll go more in-depth as soon as I get the chance.

Top Ten Video Game Soundtracks.

After my last post I decided to compose a list of my top ten favorite video game soundtracks. This was actually pretty hard for me to do because I enjoy so much music from so many different games. To make things a bit easier for myself, I decided on two different things. First off, I would only pick one soundtrack per game series. Secondly, that I was only going to pick soundtracks that I actually enjoy listening to in my free time. Therefore, no matter how great the original Mario Bros. soundtrack was, or how catchy the original Tetris theme was, I wasn't going to include them. And so, with these criteria in mind, I put came up with a list of my ten favorite, though they could realistically change on a weekly basis and what kind of mood I'm in. Well, here it is.



1. Halo: Combat Evolved

I didn't actually think this would end up with my number one spot, but when I started thinking about it I knew that's where it belonged. It's such a memorable soundtrack, and the majority of songs are really standout for me. Hearing the Gregorian chants of the Opening Suite is always so stirring, and probably the most memorable theme in recent years.

Favorite tracks: Opening Suite, Under Cover Of Night, Rock Anthem For Saving The Universe, Halo.



2. Metroid Prime

I actually was expecting this to end up in my number one slot. Anyone who ever talks games with me knows how much of a Metroid fan I am, and the music is one of the reasons that makes the games so great in my mind. The music of pretty much the entire series, Prime included, is incredibly moody and atmospheric. I've never understood why some of the series' music doesn't garner as much attention as, say, Zelda.

Favorite tracks: Title Theme, Main Menu, Talon Overworld I, Magmoor Caverns, Phendrana Drifts.

Runner-up: Super Metroid, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.



3. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty

My first experience with the MGS franchise was actually MGS2. While I didn't understand some of the story until after I had already finished the game, it was still one of the most incredible experiences I've had with any game, and the music is one of those reasons. I usually skip any pre-title screen cinemas too avoid seeing anything that I'll be seeing in the opening of the game, but I simply couldn't stop this one from playing. Also, the track Opening Infiltration is one of the most atmospherically-settings opening tracks in video game history.

Favorite tracks: Metal Gear Solid Main Theme, Opening Infiltration, Russian Soldiers From Kasatka, It's The Harrier.

Runner-up: Metal Gear Solid.



4. Resident Evil 2

As I got into gaming more and more after the release of the N64 I started to become a big fan of the RE franchise, again starting with the second game in a series. The amazing, dark atmosphere really threw me for a loop at that age since I had never really experienced anything like it before then, and the soundtrack is really what helped craft it.

Favorite tracks: Front Hall, First Floor, Second Floor, Basement Of Police Station.

Runner-up: Resident Evil.



5. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

I can only imagine any big Zelda fans who look at this are raising an eyebrow at this one. The OoT soundtrack was the only Zelda OST, that I know of, to not include the series theme music. However, outside of some limited experience with the original Zelda, this was my first real outting with the series, and the soundtrack really blew me away, especially since I wasn't aware that something big was missing. Also, the soundtrack was later recorded using a full symphony, and I'm a huge fan of that version.

Favorite tracks: Bolero Of Fire, Hyrule Field, Kokiri Forest, Gerudo Valley.



6. Final Fantasy VII

While not one of my favorite games of all time, the soundtrack sure lives up to any hype you could give it. Really, I probably don't need to say much here. Most gamers, whether they love it or hate it, have heard some of the soundtrack before. "Seh-fi-roth!!!"

Favorite tracks: One-Winged Angel, Shinra Company, Final Fantasy VII Main Theme, J-E-N-O-V-A. Really, I'd like to list more, but since I don't have the soundtrack in any form it's kind of difficult to do.



7. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

While the soundtrack from the original could be better, I honestly haven't heard it in such a long time that I'm not sure. However, I love the techno/choir/metal-ish fusion DMC3's has. It's just all really fitting for the DMC franchise, and really helped make things memorable in my mind. Unfortunately I don't have the soundtrack on this PC, so I can't list specific favorites.

Favorite tracks: Devils Never Cry, misc. others.



8. Shadow Of The Colossus

Epic. That pretty much sums up the SoTC soundtrack. It simply pounds you whenever you encuonter one of the colossi, really elevating the feel of the battle, and instills such a feeling of sadness when one ends. It's one of those soundtracks you just know is going to be incredible as soon as you start things up.



9. Guilty Gear XX

Definitely my favorite fighting game soundtrack, and one that I've always enjoyed rocking to whenever I'm sitting at the computer. Also, the neo-classical-ish metal sound really favors my musical tastes, simply adding to why I like it so much.

Favorite tracks: Awe Of She, Holy Orders(Be Just Or Be Dead).



10. God Of War

As one could guess from the anger in my last post, I loved the soundtrack of God Of War. As soon as I heard chants of "Kratos!" while I ripped innocents apart for health, I fell in love. As far as I know the soundtrack hasn't been released on CD, so there's no way for me to list specific tracks.

Honorable Mentions: Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, Ikaruga, Silent Hill 3.

A Bad Day For Gaming News.

It's only 2:00 PM on the East Coast, but that's been enough time for the gaming industry to hit me twice in my nether region.

First off, Blizzard announced that World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, their first expansion for the MMO juggernaut, is delayed until January. They're going to extend the closed Beta and continue on combing things over, which is understandable. Still, it sucks for anyone who was hoping to play it next month. Honestly, I don't need it next month considering the console and game releases we'll be seeing then, but I was still hoping to gank fools with a Draenei warrior, or something of that nature. Atleast by then Blood Elves racial abilities won't be so good that everyone will want to play as one of them. And if they are...well, I can't gaurantee I won't be running around with blonde hair and pointy ears. I mean, they are elves, and they do crave dark energies.

The second punch, which brought pain which snakes up into one's abdomen(yes, that pain), can be read about here. Basically, Sony is holding a contest that will allow an unsigned band's song, picked through competition, to be included on the God Of War II soundtrack alongside "other major recording artists."

What. The. Fuck. For those of you who remember, Ubisoft included licensed music(Godsmack) in one of their Prince Of Persia titles, a decision that didn't sit well with fans at all. That decision didn't affect me because I wasn't planning on playing the game in the first place, but I thought it was a stupid idea. Also, the first God Of War was highly praised for it's amazing soundtrack. Pretty much anyone who played through the game agreed that it really added to the experience, myself included. I remember the first time booming chants of "Kratos!" filled the air and I swung the Blades Of Chaos into the faces of my enemies. It could almost be called a religious experience. Seriously, though, who doesn't? Having to hear some crappy modern rock band at any point during the game is really going to detract from the overall experience.

Having a well known artist help work on a soundtrack isn't always a bad idea, though. Marty O'Donnell and the Bungie crew aquired Steve Vai to add some guitar work to the well-known Halo theme, and it turned out fantastic. They also included a Breaking Benjamin song on the soundtrack, but it wasn't included in the actual game itself. Having Steve Vai lay down some guitar to accompany a central melody is definitely different than including an actual song in the game.

While this was just announced, and who knows what Sony will choose when it's all said and done, I had to make this post to express the disappointment I felt when I read the announcement.

Adventures in Nippon!

[Listening to: Tyr - Ragnarok]

So, I've been playing Okami as much as I can manage in between school and work since I picked up just one week ago. I'm somewhere around the 13 or 14 hour mark, and I'm glad to say that I've enjoyed every second of it so far. It's just so beautiful. There's no other way to describe it. As far as gameplay goes, it's been great so far. I can paint objects into being. I've bloomed trees into a state of Bob Ross happiness. I don't swim; I leap to and from astrally-created lily pads. I earn mad respect from feeding hungry animals(including tigers!). Note that I've done all this while serving up a healthy dose of divine ownage to a variety of demons. Needless to say, I'm loving it. Also, I've only fought two bosses at this point, so I'm expecting to log in a fair amount of hours before the adventure ends.

I picked up Mega Man ZX the week before Okami was released, and I had enough time to play through it before Amaterasu came calling. I had a really good time with it, except for the horrible map design. Capcom tried to add an adventure element of sorts to the game, which I'm okay with, but they sort of botched it all with the map. Having a connected world gave a sense of continuity, which was nice, but that didn't outweight cursing at the map when I couldn't figure out where to bring the pain next. However, the map didn't put enough of a damper on things to prevent me from playing it every free moment I had.

The Tokyo Game Show was last week, and while it was somewhat disappointing overall, some great trailers were shown. I really wanted to see a trailer for RE5 or RE:UC, but neither were present. However, Devil May Cry 4 was, and it looks pretty awesome in both the trailer and playable footage I saw.

What really blew me away, though, was the new Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer. It's composed of a lot of gameplay, albeit with some altered camera angles for the sake of dramatics. It looks absolutely incredible. Actually, that doesn't quite express how awesome it looks. Snake is like, the divine weilder of smoking and moustache retribution. And the music featured in the trailer is spellbinding. If that track, or something derived from it, is present during gameplay, I have no doubt that my playing ability will increase tenfold. Atleast in my mind. The entire presentation just gives the feeling that Snake is on some sort of holy mission, and getting in the way is a very bad idea. Watching it the first time caused such excitement that I wouldn't have been surprised had I drawn a moustache on myself with a Sharpie and snuck around the house, or atleast swallowed some glass to sound more like the man himself. Instead of doing either of those I just sat here in awe, probably peeing a little. Seriously, check it here.

Also, I encourage everyone to check out today's post music at www.tyr.net I can honestly say you don't need to be a fan of metal, either. Their new album, Ragnarok, is incredible. I'm talking album of the year quality. I'll be picking it up as soon as it gets to some US distributors.

Well, that's all for now. Night, everyone. Or should I say morning? o.O

The beginning of a literary empire.

Welcome, everyone, to the first post. Pretty much everyone that's going to be seeing these beginning posts already knows what type of content to expect, but let me refresh you anyway. My last blog, located here, was primarily about gaming. While you're going to see a lot of that here, I also plan on covering my other hobbies as well. Without further ado, let's get this going.

Finally, after months of anticipation, the dam which holds the fall game releases has sprung a leak. I've been trying to figure out what titles to go with, and I've finally started to narrow down my list to something slightly more reasonable. Now I only have to sell one of my kidneys. My first purchase is probably going to be this week with Mega Man ZX for the DS. It's been looking good in all the previews I've seen as of late, and reviews are coming in fairly positive(it's averaging an 86% on Game Rankings). Not only that, but it also features an easy difficulty setting. An easy difficulty setting, which, believe it or not, actually is what it claims to be. Gaming manliness be damned, I'm pretty excited knowing that I won't have to made rude gestures at Capcom from halfway around the globe before biting my DS in a fit of reploid-hating madness. For anyone who owns a GBA/DS and doesn't understand what I'm talking about, go pick up a copy of one of the Mega Man Zero titles. Don't play it around people you love.

On the topic of difficult video games, Jeff Green, Editor-In-Chief of Computer Gaming World, had an interesting write-up on just that in the October issue. He talked about how many gamers today believe that games are too easy, and how he disagrees with them. He believes that games aren't getting easier, but that they are becoming more friendly. I wholeheartedly agree. I can think of a number of current-gen games that kick most gamers asses.

Now, I'm not the best gamer in the world(far from it), but I know that Ninja Gaiden is hard. It was an extremely fun game, but it was so hard that I gave up on ever beating it. Most games offer an easy difficulty. Ninja Gaiden didn't. It offered the back of it's hand instead. However, it did offer a training ground of sorts at the beginning of the game where you could get a feel for things before the simulated rape began. It was friendly(it had to lure you into the windowless van somehow). Tips and instructions were made available to you within the first few minutes of game with how to perform a certain action, and you would then be presented with a situation in which to act it out. Many older games didn't offer that sort of help unless you read the instruction manual.

Jeff made use of a much better example that I did, though. He cited Prey(recently released for PC and Xbox 360). You see, you can never actually die in Prey. When your health bar is completely depleted you enter a spirit realm of sorts, and you can enter the regular world momentarily after, enemy damager still intact. This is an extremely friendly environment(sans the game environment itself - biomechanical aliens on a corpse-spewing spaceship). Jeff enjoyed it because the game never forced him to start back from an earlier point again, therefore not having to deal with more loading screens and the obvious repitition.

Admittedly, Prey does sound pretty easy because of this, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Dying and starting a level over can really break up the continuity of some games, and that's something that can hurt when a game is story-driven. Developers today are much better about offering check points close enough together that dying and restarting doesn't become a chore, but this isn't the case for all games.

I've never understood gamers complaints about today's games being to easy. Some are easier, sure, but there are enough hard games(and offered difficulties) out there for anyone who wants them. I, however, want an easy mode included as well. If a game is too hard, or I simply don't have the time to replay levels over and over, I want to be able to switch to something a bit more forgiving. Don't take this the wrong way, though. I want harder difficulties included just as much as I want an easy one. I finish most games on the standard difficulty setting, and I often go back to tackle something more challenging.