Reject!

Well, I've been rejected from Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Myer and JB Hi Fi. If 5 years of electrical goods and video game sales retail and an IT qualification can't get you one of these jobs, I don't know what can.

Guess I have more time for games then!

Xenogears Disc 1

Platform: Playstation 1
Year released: 1998
Previously played: Yes (partially), but not this actual copy.

I figured that if I was going to go back and play some old games, I should probably start with those ones that I played through the first half of, and never finished. Xenogears fits the bill nicely. It's a classic, and I only ever got part way through. It never came out here, but back in the day I had a pirate version and a chipped psx. Years later I actually purchased a genuine copy online somewhere, that I had actually never cracked that one open. Until now.

Like I said, Xenogears is one of those classic games that people remember enjoying immensely when it was new, but has it stood the test of time? Graphically, hell no. Playing it on my parents 127cm plasma screen only highlighted this. My mother was annoyed by all the text she could see flying by from the next room. “Why don't they talk?” she asked. Because this is 1998, I replied, hoping that made it obvious (I don't think it did.) Though aside from the giant pixels (I recommend playing on the smallest screen possible) this game is still awesome. Square don't really do them like this anymore and it's a shame. It used to be that is you took the time to talk to everyone you were really rewarded for it.

I only have a few fuzzy memories from the first time I played it (must have been at least 7 years ago), and they are mostly along the lines of, 'oh I remember the desert, it was a pain in the arse' and, 'that's right, you have the go through the underground caverns, I remember that bit sucked balls.' So why play a game that I remember being sucky? Because although sometimes battle after random battle gets to be a bit much, the story in between those bits makes up for it. I don't really remember the story very well, so it's all new and exciting for me.

I think the biggest (and perhaps only) mistake Square made with this game was the 3D environment. For starters, it looks like rubbish. They didn't have the technology to do it well back then, so they shouldn't have bothered at all. Pre-rendered backgrounds would have looked much nicer. Then there is the fast that half the time you can't see where you are, where you are going, or where doors are without having to swivel the camera around constantly. There are also times when you need to make jumps or move carefully across high places and the scenery gets in your way when you are trying to do it. Big mistake.

I didn't enjoy the gear battles much. I've never been a fan of the little mini games, I don't want to play cards, Blitzball or go snowboarding in the middle of my nice turn based RPG. If I wanted to play Virtual On, I'd dust off my Saturn.

So the game continues, and it's pretty awesome. The story is suitable confusing, the gameplay entertaining, the random battles not unbearable and the deathblow system gives a nice incentive to wander around fighting more battles, in order to get all of them. I even had a notepad next to me trying to keep track of how everyones death blow skills are leveling up. Sign of a good game, if I go that far.

The bits that were familiar stopped after 30 hours or so, so that is obviously as far as I got when I played this in the past.

But what happened to those anime cut scenes? You get a few in the first couple of hours, and then they disappear completely, only to return over 50 hours later at the very end of the disc for a few seconds of footage. You get another scene that isn't anime (and is better) but not the same as what we have seen thus far. Uh, continuity? It's like they totally lost interest in that aspect of the game, then sort of remembered it again later.

So I finally finished disc 1, at the around 55 hours mark. Awesome.

Potential Job

Well my days of unemployment might be ending soon if all goes well! I had an interview with JB Hi-Fi today for a job in the games department. It's only part time though, so stil plenty of time for gaming and not enough money to buy more games. Backlog gaming continues!

Suikoden IV

Platform: Playstation 2
Year released: 2005
Previously played: Never, still wrapped in plastic.

I figured I should start by opening of of those games still in their plastic wrappers. The first one I got my hands on was Suikoden IV, so I figured that would do. All I know about this game is that number 3 was awesome, though I never played it, and that I also own number 1 or 2 for the psx, though I'm pretty sure I never played that one either. Moments after ripping the plastic off something occurred to me. This game was released in Australia in very small numbers. If I had left it sealed, I might have been able to sell it for an ok amount of money. Bummer.

First impressions of this game weren't great. For starters, it's ugly. Now a few weeks ago I was playing FFXII which is a very pretty game, but even if I wasn't coming straight from that, I still think I would be un-impressed with what I am seeing. The landscapes are too bare. They need to put in some pot plants or something, seriously! Add some pretty rendered backgrounds even to pretend there is more out there than there is. It's a pretty barren world.

The story is not great so far, but some games don't really get going until you are a few hours in. I remember wanting to quit Final Fantasy Tactics Advance because it was boring, but I played a little longer, changed my mind and have since racked up over 100 hours. I think it holds the record for the most hours I have spent on the one game. Oblivion would probably be in second place.

Anyway, looks ugly, story sucks, but hey, I've played worse. Oh and it gets worse. You see in order to get around you have to sail from place to place and sailing, is balls. I rejected the tutorial, then regretted it because I can hardly steer the ship. I'm not sure if it would have helped though, every review you read on the game bags the shitty sailing system and the too-frequent random battles while sailing. Nothing like fighting seaweed every few virtual centimeters.

I got up to the second mission, which involved sailing to an island, and thought, screw this.

So this game is now on hold. I hear it is actually pretty short and does have a good story, so I might go back to it, but for now it's back on the shelf.

The purpose

So I used to be a hardcore gamer. I still am, deep inside, but a few things have been preventing me from being so hardcore these last few years. Money, location, and movement mostly. I counted that in the last year and a half I have moved 8 times, living in 6 different cities in 3 different countries. Not an ideal situation to be lugging a few consoles around. Hell, my gargantuan laptop was enough of a pain in the arse. Regarding location, I lived most of the last 3 years in Japan. That might not immediately jump out as a problem, after all, isn't Japan the video game homeland? Sure, if you want to play games you've never heard of and can't understand. Which I did, but with only limited success. Why I though I could play a game like Final Fantasy Tactics in Japanese, I'll never know. Very over-ambitious. I then moved to New Zealand, which while the same region and language as my home country, I couldn't really buy games because I lived in the middle of nowhere. Hell, I couldn't even buy cereal without having to travel for at least half an house to a town that had a supermarket. You get the picture. Then comes the big one, MONEY. I'll admit that for a year there I did have enough money to be comfortable, though I mostly blew it all on alcohol. Then came the time when I became poor, and that has lasted for the last 16 months. I was even earning only AU $128 a week for a few weeks there last winter. Which after rent of $99 was taken out, well you can do the maths.

Well two of these things have changed, allowing me to play games again. I have a house with space, I'm in an English speaking country with game shops nearby, I don't have money, but I do have plenty of TIME. And lets face it, that's what you need the most. In Japan I did have a Dreamcast with a collection of easy-to-play-in-Japanese games but I hardly ever touched it because after I made some friends I got a life, and didn't have any time to sit around at home. Yeah I said it, I GOT A LIFE! Am I saying that you gamers have no lives? No no... of course not... *cough* but seriously, if you are going out to party 5 nights a week, you really don't have time for much else except sleeping, eating and feeling hungover.

But now, NOW! I can safely say that I have no life once again. Here's the current situation:

* I'm unemployed.
* I live with my parents.
* I'm broke.
* I don't have many friends.
* I have a lot of spare time on my hands.

So this means Game On. With one small problem. I'm broke. Oh sweet 360 sitting in the shop window, I fear we will never be together...

But all hope is not lost! See back in the day, I had money. In fact I must have had a lot of money, because I was buying games faster than I could play them. A cursory glance into my old bedroom reveals no less than 7 PS2/Xbox/GC games still in their original plastic wrapping, and plenty more that were brought second hand and never played, or has less than 30 minutes of total play time spent on them. Crazy I know, but there you have it.

So I will go back through my collection, and play all those games I spent my hard earned money on and this time, I will actually finish them! And I will record my adventures thoughts here. That is the purpose of this blog.