Lunar Shards

Ace Combat Assault Horizon
Platform: Xbox 360
Started: October 16th 2011
Status: Completed

Popped the game in and messed with the new ASF-X Shinden II which is one of the new DLC items. The plane is designed by Shōji Kawamori who does the mechanical designs for the Macross series. You can see it in this aircraft real easily. The way the wings morph based on your speed and the plane is highly maneuverable. That being said, Ace mode is freaking difficult! Damage seems to revert back to the Ace Combat style where damage doesn’t regenerate so that means you have to be extra careful not to bounce off things. The game by default allows for accidental collisions but if you do this in ace mode, you don’t get back your health. Almost beat the mission I was trying but I clipped a plane on the final leg of the mission.

Atelier Totori
Platform: PS3
Started: October 26, 2011
Status: Ongoing

I was expecting more of the same when I stepped into Totori after finishing Rorona. Oh man can I be more wrong. The game changes the way you play the game. For the first part, gathering now spends time along with doing battle. No more grinding an entire area just to level like in Rorona. I’ll have to balance this game out a bit more. I only got a little bit in before I had to do other stuff.

Fate/Extra
Platform: PSP
Started: November 1st, 2011
Status: Ongoing

After taking so long to download, my copy was finally installed on my PSP. Funny thing is I have the game in it’s JP format and never expected to get it here. The game is a sorta alternate story to the original Fate/Stay Night series featuring some recurring characters in the series and some new ones all with brand new designs. Combat is very rock/paper/scissor which isn’t bad. Hopefully I can get further. The game has a lot of bad ending situations and I was finding them a lot in the Japanese version because my Kanji skills are poor.

Minecraft
Platform: PC
Started: N/A
Status: N/A

Did a bit more track work. There are now tracks leading to the other towns we found. I need to either build my area up more or find another town.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Platform: PC
Started: August 23rd, 2011
Status: Ongoing

I finally got a chance to play the game after I got back Tuesday and was able to rip through the rest of the Shanghai area. Most of my free time Monday disappeared while playing this game. For the first time I deployed stealth and the landing system… how the hell did I play the first part of the game without them!?

Pinball FX
Platform: Playstation 3
Started: September 2011
Status: N/A

I pulled this out testing out the headset I had picked up. Not the best choice for testing the audio. I should probably pull out Uncharted 2 or something.

The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
Platform: PC
Started: August 2011
Status: Bad ending

I beat the game but got the bad ending while in the hotel. You have to beat the game on one credit (no continues) in order to get the good ending. BLAH… I’ll beat you damn it! I’ve gotten this far!

Minecraft
Platform: PC
Started: August 2011
Status: N/A

A few setbacks, mostly in relation to lava… trying to get a trench of lava to flow towards my base but working with the stuff is a bit difficult. Maybe I should stuff the entrance till I can build it out properly.

Valkyria Chronicles 2
Platform: Playstation Portable
Started: 2010
Status: Completed

I ended up pulling this out during Dragon*Con to play with my friend using Co-Op. I had beaten the game but not unlocked everything. Funny thing is, I’ve beaten the game and had far more unlocks but this was in the JP version of the game. I’m probably going to grind out a bit to unlock more stuff so when we end up playing again, I can throw some new units on the field.

Mercs
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: August 6th
Status: Completed*

This is apparently the true sequel to the Commando game found in the arcade and the NES. I didn’t realize it till I happened to notice the game was developped by Capcom and it had very much the same style of play. It’s not a fair game and designed as a quarter eater in the arcades. This problem extended to the original mode as well which can be a bit unfair. Difficulty in the game was excessive even on easy and would probably frustrate players today especially since the genesis D-pad has a lot to be desired. We ended up cheating to make our way through the games modes. I finished Arcade mode using mostly the flamer and my friend ran through the original mode. There were three points in the final area of the game where intsa-death can occur meaning those quarters would be going away fast if you weren’t aware of this before hand.

Battletech
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: August 7th
Status: Completed*

Surprisingly a good game which sorta looks like Mechwarrior Assault now that I think about it. The game drops you into a Madcat heavy mech and runs you through a series of missions taking place during the invasion of the clans in the timeline of the series. You get to pick your weapons which are limited and some can be pretty devastating. I was able to clear the first mission after a run or two to get use to the controls but we had to employ the cheat during the second since they only give you a limited amount of time to get to two different silos across the map which means booking it and ignoring enemies which is bad considering their shots track. The thing is if your playing clan… why does the starcomm have clan mechs!?

Catan
Platform: XBLA
Started: Don’t remember
Status: N/A

Pulled this out of the chest of old XBLA games I have in my HDD. We played the actual board game Saturday and was still thirsting for more Catan so I pulled this out. The computer can be a freaking cheat sometimes. They also play haphazardly like I had one AI drop the robber on a square he also had stuff a city on just to screw me over. I was able to win a game eventually but it required me to blockade a good chunk of the board by massive and quick road building.

Tenchu Z
Platform: Xbox 360
Started: August 1st, 2011
Status: Ongoing
Demo: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Tenchu-Z-Demo/00000000-0000-400d-80d0-0000465307d7?cid=SLink

Played a bit more Tenchu Z with friends online. We’re diving into missions much further then my single player so I’m earning mostly gold to buy stuff. Some of the later missions introduce enemy ninjas and kunoichi. Argh… the freaking kunoichi don’t hesitate to pull a weapon if they hear something which means very bad things. Still not use to rolling right behind the enemy to grab them. I did try the stand up fight mission, 17 however I’m not good at it yet and got my ass kicked. Its a long mission since you have to clear the place out

Tactics Ogre: Lets Cling Together
Platform: PlayStation Portable
Started: August 4th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

Been meaning to get to this game so I can send it back to Gamefly. The game is very much Final Fantasy Tactics in a sense both gameplay and graphically. That being said it was developed by Square Enix. Of course fans see the FFT game as a offshoot of the Tactics Ogre series. The game is much more complex then anything in FFT and has a pretty good story to it so far. I’m only in chapter 1 but its taking me some time with each missions because I tend to restart and see if I could do better then I did last.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Platform: PlayStation Portable
Started: August 10th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

I actually have owned this game for a bit but I had to start over. I’ve never finished it. The game is the remake of Rondo of Blood using new artwork and a 2.5D design. Its the first time this game has been officially released in the US in an unedited format. The original game Castlevania X is a hacked up version of this game. It introduces Maria to the series who reappears in Symphony of the Night. Speaking of which is also in this copy of the game. I’m still in the process of unlocking it though.

* cheats were employed

Deep Space 9
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: July 30th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

We ran through the first mission of the game. It was a bit rough since the controls weren’t all that friendly. The mission has up get rid of explosives planted on the station however some of the stupid mechanics such as jump control make the game so much harder then it should be. Very much the era’s of games difficulty.

Samurai Warriors 2
Platform: PC
Started: August 1st, 2011
Status: Demoed

I haven’t played a console Samurai Warriors in a while. Been playing mostly the handheld versions. State of War has a very much compartmentalized gameplay since the PSP couldn’t handle full roam mode it seems. The 3DS does have full roam but you play as a custom character. Which isn’t bad. Samurai Warriors 2 allows me to play the featured characters of the era. I ended up play Nene for fun. She’s dual swords much like my custom character in the 3DS game however the mechanic works a little differently for her. I like the game so I pushed it up on my queue.

Tenchu Z
Platform: PC
Started: August 1st, 2011
Status: Ongoing
Demo: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Tenchu-Z-Demo/00000000-0000-400d-80d0-0000465307d7?cid=SLink

I didn’t think I’d like a Tenchu game. The game is a stealth game hands down. Unlike other Tenchu games you build your own character for this one and to through missions for Goda. I have a preference for slow and methodical which means less likely to be spotted in game where as my friends who I play with in co-op tend to go flashier. One friend in particular really does know how to play this game. She practically rolled through half the map while we were busy with the first few guards. I need to play single player more to get some better skills.

Chantelise – A Tale of Two Sisters
Platform: PC
Started: August 1st, 2011
Status: Ongoing
Demo: http://store.steampowered.com/app/70420/

I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time with this game but so far I like it. It’s by the same group who did Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale. So far the mechanics seem pretty easy and the artwork is very cute I’m going to play more in the future.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault
Platform: PSP
Started: July 8th, 2011
Status: Hard mode cleared

It took a god damn long time trying to finish Mission 21A and I had to drop the difficulty down to easy just to do it. The final boss requires obscene luck trying to shot him down with only guns if your running a not so agile plane. I nearly did it with the F-14 however I couldn’t do it. I eventually switched to the MIG 1.44 and was finally able to do it. I’ve now began working on hard missions and others I haven’t done because of the branching path. So far I’ve stuck with the MIG 1.44 as my plane of choice. The weapon options you get for it gives a pretty wide array of choices.

Star Trek Online
Platform: PC
Started: 2010
Status: Captain Rank 4

So I popped the game open to try out Season 4′s update. This introduced a new ground combat system which features third person over the shoulder shooting style similar to Gear of War and the like. I have to say, it has completely changed the way I look at ground combat in the game. It’s fast pace, no more 1 minute battles. I have to say that this is an amazing change!

Ace Combat: Joint Assault
Platform: PSP
Started: July 8th, 2011
Status: Normal Mode Finished

It took a god damn long time trying to finish Mission 21A and I had to drop the difficulty down to easy just to do it. The final boss requires obscene luck trying to shot him down with only guns if your running a not so agile plane. I nearly did it with the F-14 however I couldn’t do it. I eventually switched to the MIG 1.44 and was finally able to do it. I’ve now began working on hard missions and others I haven’t done because of the branching path. So far I’ve stuck with the MIG 1.44 as my plane of choice. The weapon options you get for it gives a pretty wide array of choices.

Terreria
Platform: PC
Started: July 11th, 2011
Status: N/A

Addicting is probably not a strong enough word for this game. Sure enough I’ve been sucked into it pretty hard. The world I’m working on i’m doing with friends so they can come and go as they need to to make the world. I did begin working on a new structure in the world though I’m having doubts with the design. I might just cur it to pieces and make something new instead.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault
Platform: PSP
Started: July 8th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

OMG… damn you Project Aces! This one of the hardest Ace Combat games I’ve played so far! The unlocks for planes is a lot more difficult to deal with since early planes are both too slow or poorly equipped to handle the situation thrown at you. And those damn Aegis ships! Not only do they have near pinpoint accuracy with missiles is a bit extreme. Heaven forbid I still need to play the game in Ace mode to unlock the best planes.

Guardian Heroes
Platform: Sega Saturn
Started: July 7th, 2011
Status: 2/5 endings

So this weekend has been kind of exciting, long, and tiring. On Sunday, I hung out with some friends to kill time before heading home. To talk about what we went through and to have a bit of fun. So out came Guardian Heroes for the Saturn, AFTER we fixed his memory issue. Dead batteries on the system are a bitch since once they die, so goes the save files. Like before I took the healer and turned it into a machinegun punching character. Funny how this is somehow similar to the character from Slayers. Though this time it was a little more difficult since we’re playing this on the harder difficulty. Can’t wait for this one to hit XBLA this year.

Stargate
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: July 8th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

A very old movie game based on the Stargate movie. Although we didn’t get far before the game crashed I was enjoying it and was getting the hang of the game. I would like to play more of this game.

Ghouls n’ Ghosts
Platform: Sega Genesis
Started: July 7th, 2011
Status: Completed*

The last week has really been a lot of retro gaming goodness. My friend pulled this one out after watching Retro Game Master on Kotaku and decided to give this one a go. This is back in the day when Capcom was synonyms with sadistically hard. The furthest we got over the course of the two days we attempted it was the last stage of the first cycle. For those who aren’t aware, you have to complete the game twice, the second time on a much harder difficulty. We broke down after spending a good hour or two in the stage 4 and resorted to the debug mode. It’s necessary since the second run through is much much more sadistic.

Terreria
Platform: PC
Started: July 11th, 2011
Status: N/A

I have to blame my friend on this one! Over the weekend my friend bought the 4 pack copy during the steam sale and sent me a copy of the game. These games should have a surgeon general’s warning label of being addictive. True it’s a minecraft-like game but in 2D and side scrolling but that’s all you need. Coupled with the multiplayer option it’s a lot of fun. My castle (laptop save) is looking pretty good now!

Project Diva 2: Hatsune Miku
Platform: PSP
Started: September 2010
Status: 100% Completion

I pulled this out after spending a lot of time listening to the songs from the Mikunopolis playlist found on Mikubook. I was able to clear 2 songs on extreme but the rest are a bit too difficult. Still a lot of fun to listen to the music in the game. I’m surprised just how many of the songs were at Mikunopolis!

Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infininty
Platform: PSP
Started: 2011
Status: Stories Complete, Side Story Ongoing

Got a few rounds in while on the trip but not many since I was sleepy for a good portion of it. I did find some interesting weapons during the runs but not much I can remember. It’s hard to play on the grassy knoll waiting for Atlantis to launch :O

Monster Hunter Unite
Platform: PSP
Started: I forgot…
Status: Ongoing

We did play a round of the game on the trip but I was so sleepy I had to stop after one run. Also drain the crap out of my system. I forgot how different the longswords work in this game.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault
Platform: PSP
Started: July 8th, 2011
Status: Ongoing

True I did start this game back in September of last year but I had to restart since I didn’t have the save file on hand while on the road. The game starts of pretty mean with some of the slowest planes Ace Combat will give you. It’s not as mean as the canyon run however is probably the most annoying thing to run into in this series so far. They force you to fly a 747-200 through the canyon which unfortunately has much different flight characteristics then anything in the series due to it’s size. Game is fun though but it can be very very mean.

Monster Hunter Tri
Platform: Wii
Started: 2010
Status: Ongoing

We played a bit online and was able to unlock the urgent quest for HR50. Wow… that boss is mean. We then went after Jehn a few tims before I had to call it for the night.

Guardian Heroes
Platform: Sega Saturn
Started: July 6, 2011
Status: 1/5 endings

So while working on a friend’s home server, we decided to kill some time by playing a rather interesting Saturn Game. The game is a side scrolling beat’em up RPG game. It probably started as a arcade game by the way it’s designed with lives and dip switch settings. Of course I picked the silly mage character but apparently you can dictate how to fill in your stats so I dumped everything into strength. Why strength? The mage I had has a very rapid punch attack unlike most characters so instead of playing her as a mage, I ran her as a machine gunning puncher, even going so far as juggling a boss around till it got knocked away by our AI partners.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity
Platform: Playstation Portable (JP)
Started: Feb 28th
Status: Ongoing
Demo Available: http://phantasystar.sega.jp/psp2i/trial/download/ (in Japanese, sorry!)

I picked up the game again to work on Frei a bit. Since I reset her level in the rebirth ability now present in the game, I need to get her up to the point she can handle Maximum Attack. One of the new items in Maximum attack is the Heaven’s Punisher. For those who played Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast will remember, this weapon was one of the most devastating if not broken weapon in the game. The gun in the Dreamcast version only fires it’s special attack during the even beat periods, or the internal time based on Swatch’s idea of internet time. That being said, it hit everything in the room even if you were just standing in the door way. The attack itself is equivalent to one of Dark Falz’s main attacks in the final boss encounter of the game which is what makes it broken. The second most broken weapon was the Frozen Shooter when coupled with the anti-freeze add-in or it’s upgrade, the Ice Queen (it has the anti-freeze built in). Basically means you can’t accidentally freeze yourself while having a high chance of freezing whatever you shoot. Even things you thought couldn’t be frozen before!

Final Fantasy XIII
Platform: PS3
Started: 2010
Status: Ongoing

With PSN down I decided to pull this out and see where I left off. Originally trying to max out my stats early game had me running back and forth in chapter 9 during the airship raid. Good money early on and decent CP gains. That went out the window when I hit the next chapter. The CP costs went through the roof between stage 3 and 4 of the skill tree. At this point I’ve hit a situation where I’m unable to upgrade equipment because I lack funds to buy materials and really don’t know where to farm. The next gil farm location isn’t till I return to Cacoon which isn’t that far from where I am in the story however a lot of the mobs that might carry free catalyst materials are down on Pulse. Hmm… what to do…

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Platform: Sega Genesis, PS3
Started: I don’t remember…
Status: Completed

With PSN still down, I decided to dig through some of the free stuff my PS Plus subscription got me. One of that is the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 game. I’ve been the game with my cousin years ago on the genesis. It was a pain to beat too considering the difficulty level spikes in the game. Doesn’t help that Tails is a ball and chain in the special stages. Even with the state save feature in the PSN version, it’s still difficult since Tails could easily run right into a bomb costing you the special stage.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity
Platform: Playstation Portable (JP)
Started: Feb 28th
Status: Story Mode Completed
Demo Available: http://phantasystar.sega.jp/psp2i/trial/download/ (in Japanese, sorry!)

After plowing through chapter 5, I hit the first road block in the form of Dark Falz. Talk about unfair! Depending on which stage of attack your facing, if your on the wrong level fighting him, prepare for a one hit kill. I’m not quite level 125 which I’ve seen videos of people facing him but I was able to take him out. I eventually went back and fixed the chapter that I screwed up on and unlocked the right ending finally. The second time turned out better for Dark Falz after I proceeded to remove any problems in the first round.

Afterwards is an extra story which features both Emilia and Nagisa and a very truncated PSO experience which puts you in contact with Red Ring Rico. The boss however is a pain. It’s Dark Falz of course but from Episode 2. He’s a lot more unfair in his full form which is screwed up considering you have to spend like 25 minutes getting to him through some of the most mean spirited monsters of PSO. I didn’t bother trying again and played with the stat boosting feature which ups your base stats but knocks you back to level 1.

Front Mission Evolved
Platform: PC
Started: March 25th
Status: Ongoing

I did a few more missions before travelling to KSC this past weekend. Overall the game isn’t bad. A little odd considering it’s origins. I’m enjoying it so far so I’m not sure where all the complaints were coming from. My guess its suffering from the fact it’s a not an strategy game and coming from Square Enix which is experimenting with western developers.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity
Platform: Playstation Portable (JP)
Started: Feb 28th
Status: Ongoing
Demo Available: http://phantasystar.sega.jp/psp2i/trial/download/ (in Japanese, sorry!)

I picked up the game to see more of the game. Still having trouble with some monsters because I haven’t found good armor yet. Armor suffers the same weakness system as your weapons so that means not having the right armor could be very dangerous. So far I made it to Universe 5 which is the last chapter in Episode 2 of Infininty. I’m pretty sure I’m not on the true ending track which grants you Red Ring Rico so I’ll have to go back and double check things. I’m hoping PSN will come back soon. I wanted to get a hold of the Railgun outfit and weapon.