An initial impression of “Breath of Death VII : The Beginning” for the Xbox 360
The reason I’m writing THIS instead of a full out review is because I’m kind of stuck in a part of the game and kind of need to start over again. Although that’s not a bad thing against the game, it’s more my inability to play RPGs … I have only played two RPGs to completion my entire life and those are the original Dragon Warrior for the NES and Super Mario RPG. Why have I only finished that many? Because I don’t typically like RPGs that much. They’re entirely too long and too repetitive. I don’t like all the little subtleties in them and I hate grinding with a passion.
Unfortunately, this game seems to require some grinding because the place I’m at in the game my entire party can just BARELY make it through the REGULAR battles in this particular dungeon … let along stand a snowball’s chance in hell against the boss of this area. So I have elected to grind the hell out of the overworld before I really start on any of the actual story points, which you don’t have to worry about my spoiling … because it DOES have a story that I’m not even going to get into here. From what I can tell so far, it’s not going to win any awards, but it has made me laugh a few times which is always a good thing because there aren’t many games that LITERALLY make me laugh storywise.
Bargain Bin games you should get : Phantasmagoria
I had always heard about this game ... even today. Recently it tried to get inducted into Retro Gaming Roundup's top 10 horror games ... but the other hosts (having never played it before) didn't really see it and it, unfortunately, didn't get in. The game came out for DOS IN 1995 on seven cds. Later ported to Windows and the Macintosh ... and a console but only in Japan I think. And it's a horror game, obviously.
Back when this came out, I didn't have a PC that was anywhere near good enough to run the game, and with all the negative press it was getting at the time regarding it's rather graphic content I don't know how well that would have went over at home ... despite the fact I was playing games like Mortal Kombat at the time. Go figure.
The entire game uses real actors standing in front of a bluescreen where the designers could then put in whatever type of backgrounds they wanted. And no, this isn't a full motion video game, this is quite a bit more like an interactive movie than that. It's a point and click adventure game that plays very similarly to games like Space Quest, King's Quest, Police Quest ... you get the idea if you've played these before. If you haven't then what the hell is wrong with you.
I'd highly suggest trying this one out, it's got the gory deaths, a rape scene (that would actually seem a bit tame by today's standards actually) though I will say it starts off rather slowly to show a feeling of just normalness. By day 2 shit really starts to hit the fan and get interesting.
It's definitely not the prettiest game out there by today's standards. But it's still definitely worth check out and can be had over at Good Old Games for $9.99.
Demo Impression for Torchlight
I initially completely ignored this game because, well, I’m on a netbook most of the time. And these things are notorious for not being very game friendly. That and I’m kind of a purist. I still play the original Diablo to this day (on rare occasions). And I even go so far as to fire up Rogue from time to time, mainly because I love me some dungeon crawlers. Then I read somewhere that there’s a netbook mode for the game, so I hopped on Steam and grabbed the demo.
Adventure Atari 2600 Reboot
Adventure for the Atari 2600 ... I have memories of a square (your hero) running around mazes and getting keys, arrows (swords) killing off giant ducks (dragons). This was one of the first games I played when we got an Atari 2600 when I was a kid, and it still holds a special place for me. Hell, this game was home to the very first easter egg in a game. Adventure Atari 2600 Reboot aims to be a graphical overhaul of that old game. And so far it's looking pretty good. Adding in 16 bit style graphics, music and sound. Hit the jump for a couple more screenshots, a gameplay video and the link to the site where you can download it.
Gauntlet Revisited - Unless you didn’t guess, this is a Gauntlet remake.
You have been chosen by the Gods ...
Select your avatar - Warrior, Valkyrie, Wizard or Ranger - and fight your way through the mythical Gauntlet. On your journey you will find food to keep you healthy, many wonderous magical potions to help you fight, treasure to plunder, keys to unlock chests and doors, and many, many monsters... Guard well your keys and potions, watch out for traps, fight well and maybe, just maybe, the Gods will name you Champion!
Overall, not a bad remake. though the level design is a bit flawed. But I'm not that far into the game yet. And the hitboxes for the enemies are a bit too small. And for some reason, when my health was down and I ran over food, it didn't get picked up, which lead to an early death. From what I can tell so far, two of the coolest features are strafing (you'd be surprised how much that helps in this game) and weapon powerups. The one I got made my weapon into a Contra style spread shot. :) But one problem I've found is that the strafing, you can ONLY strafe. You can't circle strafe. And maybe it's just because I'm very early in the game, but it's much slower paced than the original. Still, not bad. Hit the jump for screenshots and the download.
Legends of Murder Vol. 1 : Stonedal Castle
I remember playing this when I was younger ... and I'm going to eventually pick it up again. I do remember liking the game, despite the fact that it's got quite possibly the ugliest graphics on the face of the Earth. But it plays like a text adventure, which I find admirable because even though I've never been any good at them I still like them. Some more info after the jump.