Ark of what-now? + !
Okay, I know it's a bit late, but:
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
No, that's not Solid Snake, and yes, he's running around the jungle. In kabuki facepaint. Naked. No, I'm not joking, just messing with my camo. After the near-disaster that was MGS2 (the scene where the President grabs Raiden in the "important parts" sticks out), Kojima and co. went back and re-tooled the game. So what do we get? Well for starters, they sent us back in time. The first MGS (PSX-Konami) was set in the late 90's, MGS2 was set in the beginning of the 21st century, so it follows that MGS3 would be set 10 years later right? Wrong. MGS3 is set in the 1960s, during the height of the cold war. I won't spoil many secrets, but there are at least 2 surprises in the game. The boss fights rock though. They're the most imaginative fight in the series since Psycho Mantis back in MGS1 (where you had to switch the controller to port 2 so he couldn't "read your mind"). In my mind at least, the battles against The End (a sniper battle that can last for hours) and The Sorrow (a surprising battle, one that is probably an hommage to a certain battle from the original Prince of Persia) are the best. The battle with The Fury really shows of the PS2's processor power, and the battle against The Fear is great for re-creating moments from the first "Predator" movie (ugly motherf****r). The creative and (at times) downright insane camo outfits/paints are really worht looking for, if only for the benefits and the bragging rights. Each boss has at one camo outfit, and each provides some kind of bonus (like The Sorrow's outfit for example, which keeps you from being heard by guards). The Snake Vs. Ape minigame is worth playing, if only for the hilarious intro ("Why don't you just send Sam or Gabe to do this?" - a reference to Sam Fisher of Splinter Cell and Gabe Logan of Syphon Filter) and the appearance of the monkeys from Ape Escape. The in-game cinematics wow, and so does the music, which is subtle when you're sneaking around but then kicks in when you've been spotted (series vets will be glad to know the "!" above the guard's heads is still there). The lack of an onscreen radar really helps keep you on your toes, since you now have to crawl and sneak a lot just to avoid being spotted. My one complaint with the game though, is the camera. It's very obstructive sometimes, and got me killed a few times. Maybe Konami should make a more Splinter Cell-esque camera? But that's nitpicking. Another thing to loom for: try looking for the hidden EGM in the game (hint: it's hidden in one of the guardhouses before you fight The End). The fact that the members of the Cobra unit (The Fear, The Fury, The End and The Pain: you don't actually fight The Sorrow) explode when they are beaten is a reference to old kaiju shows like Kamen Riders, a fact that Kojima himself explained. Ingenious game design and boss fights, amazing music, breathtaking locales, a plot like something out of a James Bond movie, and a bevy of secrets, hidden items and at least one "special" minigame (it's a Devil May Cry style game. Try finding it) will keep most people stuck to this for a long time. Buy it if you don't have it already.
I think it's say to say you've been spotted.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Stealth/Survival
ESRB Rating: Teen
Platform: PS2
Length: 20-30+ hours
Difficulty: Adjustable
Ys IV: The Ark of Napishtim
A series that first debuted on the Turbo Duo (also known as the TG-16), and one of the many attempts to top Nintendo's Legend of Zelda franchise (and if you don't know what that is, you have no business reading this. I mean it) now on the PS2 (it's pronounced "Ease" by the way). So we have a Zelda-esque combat system, which is fine. I like the fighting in Legend of Zelda. The enemies can be cheap at times (I got killed by a raccoon a couple of times), there's no fast way to get between the only two towns in the game (Quatera and Rimorge), the game is bloody short and some of the lines are really corny. The voice acting is superb though. You'll really grow to love some of the characters (Issha, Olha, Terra, Geis, August, Quval, etc.) and really hate some of them (Admiral Agro, Emilio,Silva, Rose, etc) based on their voices. The fighting is fun too, once you get enough Emel to start levelling up your weapon's powers. Too bad you only get three weapons (cliche: a fire, lightning and wind sword) and a few shield and armors. Plus the massive item limit, the fact that you can only use one kind of item during boss battles really dragged it down for me too'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">me too. An active-inventory system might have killed the number of frustrating moments, as would raising the number of items you can carry would. Word of advice though: you get nothing for solving Alma's Trials. Nothing save for a choice of Emel, Money or Experience. No rewards, no uber-secret item, no nothing. Character design is very minimalistic. You get tiny in-game characters, which are basically clay models, a character sprite when you talk to them, and a few times in the token FMVs. Disturbingly though, Issha and Olha have some kind of magnetic attraction about them, even though a) they both have elf ears'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">elf ears and bushy tails, and b) Issha is still a little girl. Blah, I like Terra and that Emel-swordsmith girl better. And like I said the game is bloody short. I finished it in less than 40-hours, which is half the amount of time it takes to finish a Legend of Zelda game, if you just blaze through the game, and a small fraction of the time it takes to finish your average Final Fantasy game. Not a must buy, but something to try out if you like Legend of Zelda.
Ys IV: The Ark of Napishtim
Publisher: Sony CEI
Developer: Falcom
Genre: Action/RPG
ESRB Rating: Everybody
Platform: PS2
Length: 40 hours
Difficulty: Adjustable
Waiting for my Final Fantasy: Advent Children DVD to arrive in the mail so I can rant about that. Plus, Resident Evil 4 comes out (PS2 version. Gamecube version is out already) in about 8-9 months.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
No, that's not Solid Snake, and yes, he's running around the jungle. In kabuki facepaint. Naked. No, I'm not joking, just messing with my camo. After the near-disaster that was MGS2 (the scene where the President grabs Raiden in the "important parts" sticks out), Kojima and co. went back and re-tooled the game. So what do we get? Well for starters, they sent us back in time. The first MGS (PSX-Konami) was set in the late 90's, MGS2 was set in the beginning of the 21st century, so it follows that MGS3 would be set 10 years later right? Wrong. MGS3 is set in the 1960s, during the height of the cold war. I won't spoil many secrets, but there are at least 2 surprises in the game. The boss fights rock though. They're the most imaginative fight in the series since Psycho Mantis back in MGS1 (where you had to switch the controller to port 2 so he couldn't "read your mind"). In my mind at least, the battles against The End (a sniper battle that can last for hours) and The Sorrow (a surprising battle, one that is probably an hommage to a certain battle from the original Prince of Persia) are the best. The battle with The Fury really shows of the PS2's processor power, and the battle against The Fear is great for re-creating moments from the first "Predator" movie (ugly motherf****r). The creative and (at times) downright insane camo outfits/paints are really worht looking for, if only for the benefits and the bragging rights. Each boss has at one camo outfit, and each provides some kind of bonus (like The Sorrow's outfit for example, which keeps you from being heard by guards). The Snake Vs. Ape minigame is worth playing, if only for the hilarious intro ("Why don't you just send Sam or Gabe to do this?" - a reference to Sam Fisher of Splinter Cell and Gabe Logan of Syphon Filter) and the appearance of the monkeys from Ape Escape. The in-game cinematics wow, and so does the music, which is subtle when you're sneaking around but then kicks in when you've been spotted (series vets will be glad to know the "!" above the guard's heads is still there). The lack of an onscreen radar really helps keep you on your toes, since you now have to crawl and sneak a lot just to avoid being spotted. My one complaint with the game though, is the camera. It's very obstructive sometimes, and got me killed a few times. Maybe Konami should make a more Splinter Cell-esque camera? But that's nitpicking. Another thing to loom for: try looking for the hidden EGM in the game (hint: it's hidden in one of the guardhouses before you fight The End). The fact that the members of the Cobra unit (The Fear, The Fury, The End and The Pain: you don't actually fight The Sorrow) explode when they are beaten is a reference to old kaiju shows like Kamen Riders, a fact that Kojima himself explained. Ingenious game design and boss fights, amazing music, breathtaking locales, a plot like something out of a James Bond movie, and a bevy of secrets, hidden items and at least one "special" minigame (it's a Devil May Cry style game. Try finding it) will keep most people stuck to this for a long time. Buy it if you don't have it already.
I think it's say to say you've been spotted.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Stealth/Survival
ESRB Rating: Teen
Platform: PS2
Length: 20-30+ hours
Difficulty: Adjustable
Ys IV: The Ark of Napishtim
A series that first debuted on the Turbo Duo (also known as the TG-16), and one of the many attempts to top Nintendo's Legend of Zelda franchise (and if you don't know what that is, you have no business reading this. I mean it) now on the PS2 (it's pronounced "Ease" by the way). So we have a Zelda-esque combat system, which is fine. I like the fighting in Legend of Zelda. The enemies can be cheap at times (I got killed by a raccoon a couple of times), there's no fast way to get between the only two towns in the game (Quatera and Rimorge), the game is bloody short and some of the lines are really corny. The voice acting is superb though. You'll really grow to love some of the characters (Issha, Olha, Terra, Geis, August, Quval, etc.) and really hate some of them (Admiral Agro, Emilio,Silva, Rose, etc) based on their voices. The fighting is fun too, once you get enough Emel to start levelling up your weapon's powers. Too bad you only get three weapons (cliche: a fire, lightning and wind sword) and a few shield and armors. Plus the massive item limit, the fact that you can only use one kind of item during boss battles really dragged it down for me too'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">me too. An active-inventory system might have killed the number of frustrating moments, as would raising the number of items you can carry would. Word of advice though: you get nothing for solving Alma's Trials. Nothing save for a choice of Emel, Money or Experience. No rewards, no uber-secret item, no nothing. Character design is very minimalistic. You get tiny in-game characters, which are basically clay models, a character sprite when you talk to them, and a few times in the token FMVs. Disturbingly though, Issha and Olha have some kind of magnetic attraction about them, even though a) they both have elf ears'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">elf ears and bushy tails, and b) Issha is still a little girl. Blah, I like Terra and that Emel-swordsmith girl better. And like I said the game is bloody short. I finished it in less than 40-hours, which is half the amount of time it takes to finish a Legend of Zelda game, if you just blaze through the game, and a small fraction of the time it takes to finish your average Final Fantasy game. Not a must buy, but something to try out if you like Legend of Zelda.
Ys IV: The Ark of Napishtim
Publisher: Sony CEI
Developer: Falcom
Genre: Action/RPG
ESRB Rating: Everybody
Platform: PS2
Length: 40 hours
Difficulty: Adjustable
Waiting for my Final Fantasy: Advent Children DVD to arrive in the mail so I can rant about that. Plus, Resident Evil 4 comes out (PS2 version. Gamecube version is out already) in about 8-9 months.
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