The story of God of War: Chains of Olympus takes place some 10 years before the first God of War (originally released for the PS2). Strange thing: this fact is not immediately apparent and is, in fact, not made definitively apparent anywhere in the game. The game begins without context. The box explains nothing. The so called "manual" contains nothing but a few pages describing basic play mechanics. I finally found the answer to my questions about God of War chronology at wikipedia. It seems a strange, if ultimately irrelevant, oversight given how story driven the game series has been. Oh well, as it turns out, I really don't care so much about back story when gameplay is this freakin' awesome.

Clocking out after 6 hours of gameplay (on easy), Chains of Olympus is a fantastic, but short, game.

Good god, I can't even give this game a full review. Generation of Chaos appears to be some sort of futuristic, magic, anime war game. But I can't be sure. The game provides absolutely nothing in the way of a meaningful introduction and the interface is such a jumbled disaster that I couldn't even be sure what I was doing. I managed to customize some characters and then I was dumped into some sort of tactical screen where nothing made a damn bit of sense.

After about ten minutes or so of quizically examining things, I gave up, and that's all she wrote. Don't even bother clicking through, there's no more to read.

Exit is weird. In it, you play an "escapologist" whose job is to rescue people from buildings. When examined from the puzzle and design angle, Exit is a really neat game. But I found the actual gameplay to be somewhat frustrating, and with a pile of other games to choose from, Exit is in the "maybe I'll play it later pile" which is between the "I'm playing it right now" and the "going to sell on my next trip to the game store" piles.

I really like the modern incarnation of the Prince of Persia series. Sands of Time, Yo. Warior Within, also yo. Two Thrones, yo again. Excellent games, the whole lot. With that in mind, I picked up Prince of Persia: Rival Swords for the PSP thinking "hey wow, I can play Prince of Persia whilst I'm sitting in the doctor's waiting room."

Or, as it happens, not. So far, I've only given up on one hand-held game faster: Zoo Tycoon DS.

I will never understand why it is that developers of handheld games insist on developing advanced effects, high-detail, high-polygon 3D engines for such tiny little screens. D&D Tactics for the PSP looks great with nice spell effects and environments, but the combination of a complex 3D environment with a crazy menu system on a tiny little screen makes the game nearly unplayable. This game would have been ten times better and playable if they focused more on game flow and less on the shiny.

There's absolutely no question that this is the most thorough implementation of the D&D 3.5 ruleset you're likely to see on a handheld any time soon. It's too bad, really, since D&D Tactics is just about the only way to get your D&D fix on the go.

I vaguely recall playing Final Fantasy II on the NES back when it came out. I also vaguely recall not being overly impressed, having been brought up on the Ultima series. But then, we all have the game from way back when which we loved despite everything. I loved Up N' Down and Jumpman, two games which by today's standards wouldn't make it past the first design session.

Before I get started, I just want to note one thing: do you have any idea how dorky you sound when you call up the local Target (because there's no proper game store here in Helena, MT) and ask "do you have Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP in yet?" It's embarrassing really. I might as well be asking to see they have a copy of Poniez in.

With a title only a mother could love, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is a really odd beast. On the one hand, it's really cool and it's got lots of stuff to do and lots of items to collect and monsters to kill. On the other, I just can't be bothered because, somehow, it's more aggravating (when it's not actually boring) than fun. Between the camera controls which seem to be designed to keep you from seeing your prey (or things which consider you their prey), and the rest of the controls which seem to be setup to actively prevent you from finishing your task, you'll find yourself asking why?

The three most important things about Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon are: a:you play a robot boy, b:the robot boy is a farmer, and c:you can play it while watching TV. If any of these things are interesting to you, then keep reading. Heck if they're not, keep reading, I may yet convince you.

In this Harvest Moon title, you play a little boy that is actually a robot. Your creator, Dr. Grain has decided that the best way for you to learn how ot be human is to learn the value of life, and the best way to do that is to run a farm. And you know what, strange as that is, it's not any stranger than anything else that comes out of Japan.

 

Since Every Extend Extra (henceforth, EEE) is by the same people that did Lumines (a game I dream about), I had to pick it up. If Lumines is a dream to me, then EEE is some sort of Sisyphesian nightmare. Which isn't to say that it's not quite good, because it is. This is to say oh my god, I suck at this game like I have sucked at no other game before.

I keep coming back to this game whenever I have a few minutes to spare, but I still haven't made it past level 2.

As someone who hasn't always been a hardcore console gamer, games like Lumines have largely escaped my attention. Until Lumines Live! came to the 360, that is. Since then, Lumines has been eating my wallet, heart and soul in little, square, bite sized pieces. And with an excellent soundtrack.

That said, Lumines isn't for everyone, and every Lumines isn't for everyone either. Here, I'll be focusing largely on Lumines I and II for the PSP with some minor commentary on the Xbox360 version.