Life in Quadrant 4

I’m not totally sure yet, but a friend lent me a gig of webspace for an indefinite period of time, so I guess I’m moving? I’m not sure. I do hope he ups the memory limit on the php.ini there though, 8 mb is not enough at all.

edit: I totally forgot to mention the site itself orz

oh god I lawled.

東方風神録　～ Mountain of Faith (Touhou Fujinroku ~Mountain of Faith) demo is out!
(ttp://www16.big.or.jp/~zun/html/th10top.html)

So onto first impressions…

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Okay, I’ve been busy with a good number of games these past few weeks; hence, my slow post rate. I’ll go by them one-by-one.

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Lumines Plus (PS2)

I’ve heard a good number of people saying it’s a lot worse compared to the original PSP version, but seeing as I’ve approached this game with very little expected (save for good music and such), I’ve been slightly pleased with this game. Slightly.
Basically, this comes with a few modes; challenge mode, basically just one player, but what’s irritating is that you’ll need to start from scratch every single time. Next is time attack (or was that score attack? I forget), which is the same, only with a time limit. We also have two player versus and versus the CPU; both self explanatory. Puzzle mode is basically single player, but with no skins and it requires you to form shapes within a time limit. Seemed simple at the time, but it’s somewhat tough considering you’ll might accidentally create a chain of squares and destroy the shape that was *this* close to completion.
It’s a shame that there’s not really a lot this version adds to the original. It feels weirder to use a controller, rather than a handheld too (even if I never played Lumines on the PSP).
Basically fun, but not really something I’d devote my time to.

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Trapt (PS2)

Another game in Tecmo’s “Deception” series wherein you use traps to kill your foes.
The story was kinda decent, but it seemed somewhat familiar already (or I’ve just seen too much anime). Graphics are pretty good, but considering what FFXII can do, I’m sure they could’ve done better with it. Something that disappointed me was the lack of a tech tree, which was present in “Kagero: Deception 2″; it makes properly developing traps harder to do. Decent replay value, as far as I’m concerned: three endings, two costumes and some other stuff that needs a bit of work to get to. Another awesome thing is that they all speak in Japanese, which was quite a surprise. All the men’s voices were all deep and manly, and Alicia (Allura in the English adaptation) had such a cute voice.
One evident issue in this game is lag. It lagged so much when a whole bunch of traps activated. Lots of errors with the English too, like, “Belfry room key You created.” Shame on the editor or whoever was checking this stuff.
Still, it’s a good, short game to play. About one to two weeks to clear, and then double that for getting whatever other extras are left.
As a parting note on this game, Alicia and Rachel are hot.

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This does not have any relation to the post’s actual topic.

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Gradius V (PS2)

Ah yes, it’s been ages since I’ve played this. Treasure did a good job with this, it feels like a modern version of Gradius, but still retains a good bit of the old qualities that made it good.
Graphics are top notch; the lasers all give off a cool glow and everything looks great. Not too much replay value here though, but then, since when did STGs need replay value? It’s like a built-in feature already. No idea about the previous Gradiuses, but this one had a loop feature. Basically, when you finish the game, you start over but with a higher difficulty level. It’s neat, but doesn’t really pull you in. I got to the fourth loop though, before I quit, so I guess it kinda worked?
Can’t really say anything else about this one, I’m far too biased with STGs nowadays.

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Rez (PS2)

Ah yes, the infamous Rez with its trance vibrator. I didn’t get it, but after playing for a good amount of time, my hands were totally numb from the vibration of the controller.
It’s basically a sensory overload, with seizure-inducing light patterns, a damn good techno/trance soundtrack, and a controller that vibrates along with the music. It’s a short game, one that can be beaten in a couple of hours, but you’ll wanna just keep on coming back to play it over and over again. It’s just the experience from playing it that other games can’t match. There are a lot of things to be unlocked as well, with different endings, nine other modes, and a whole lot of other stuff.

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Neither does this.

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planetarian ~ちいさなほしのゆめ~ (PS2)

Ah yes, the PS2 port of the most wonderful kinetic novel on earth. No explanation is required as to why I’m playing (or rather, reading) this.

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虫姫さま (PS2)

And the final game, Mushihimesama. One of Cave’s most well-known STGs, along with Dodonpachi, Esp Ra. De. and Espgaluda. The danmaku action we all know and love is back, along with two other difficulty levels and an arrange mode, which is so damn fun. Gallery mode is pretty cool too; at least you feel like you’re getting more than what you should normally be getting from an STG release.
Always fun to pick up and play, and Goddamn, the final boss’s patterns still burn my eyes.

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In addition to all this stuff, I’ve recently acquired a nice stick from Hori. It’s their Tekken 4 stick, and it is oooooold. I totally would’ve gotten this better one, but some ass bought it like, half an hour before I went into the store at Virra Mall. Whoever you are, I hope you get assraped and bleed to death and rot in hell.

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Have a Hayate.

Seems like Da Capo II is getting an anime now.
I’m not really a fan of anything Da Capo-related, so I won’t go any further than this. Looks to be promising though, so I might take a gander at it. Maybe.

Lastly, According to Warashi’s site, Alter is making a figure of Exelica. Currently no release date, but goddamn, it looks awesome. (3) Pictures under the cut.

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