Been a while since I've made a post, not really had an idea for the post for the week before Black and White were released, then since then I've been hooked on Black, not really playing anything else. Blame the lack of posts on my missus who was kind and generous to get me a DS and Black.
In the middle of planning a review of Black, but I wanted to use my blog to say my piece about the recent disaster in Japan, not that it means much to the people who have lost their loved ones, or are still unaware of their fate.
My thoughts go out to the victims of the disaster. The survivors, the dead and the unaccounted for. I can't possibly imagine what they are going through and while I have made inappropriate jokes concerning the events on various boards, My thoughts are with them, and I wish the survivors, the missing and the families affected by this tragedy all the luck and strength in the world.
I've seen several Facebook screeenshots of ignorant, hateful 'people' laughing about this, calling it 'karma for Pearl Harbour' or saying that Japan deserves it because of the effect their culture has had on the western world (animé fans, weeaboos etc) and this truly saddens me. Yeah, I mock a friend of mine for the fact she's obsessed with animé, but at the end of the day, each to their own, live and let live. Those facebook statuses though... That's pure hatred, ignorance and utterly inhuman. Japan has suffered a major blow, and now is the time to aid them, not as "Amurikkuh numah won" but as fellow human beings.
I'll be making what donation I can to the cause, I only wish I had the ability to do more.
My prayers go out to the victims and their families.
Dawnwind.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Sunday, 27 February 2011
Back to Basics
When I decided I would start this blog, I tried to nab "Dawnwind" as a PSN account, but i was taken. Today, while fiddling with old accounts trying to find the PSN I had all my Store purchases on, I learned that one of them was in fact "Dawnwind" So I've headed over to that PSN account - not many trohpies now, but I can live with that for now, just gives me more to do.
If any of my readers have a PSN, feel free to add me and maybe we'll play some games together in the future.
If any of my readers have a PSN, feel free to add me and maybe we'll play some games together in the future.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Patch 4.1 and the final nail in the cofffin
As I've said before, I've not really been interested in WoW lately. Today I cancelled my sub.
Yesterday the Public Test Realm notes for 4.1 were released, in them were two nails in my WoW coffin. They are remaking two old raids: Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman into level 85 five-man dungeons, which will be dropping raid level gear. Rehashing and Welfare Epics were a problem in Wrath of the Lich King. Naxxramas was ruined, as was Onyxia, and there were Epics all over the damned place.
Granted, Cataclysm was a huge rehash in terms of 1-60, but that was sorely needed due to the 1-60 content being completely terrible for new players (people were unsubbing before level 10) but rehashing MORE old raids to give MORE welfare epics for the people who don't/can't/won't raid is a bad move, and will only cause more fucking Wrath syndrome.
Admittedly, one of the reasons I was hesitant to get into raids is my skill, the other is the quality of the laptop I use. If I had a decent PC which doesn't drop in FPS while in windowed mode on a heroic 5man, then I could work on the former. However, with new new ZA/ZG dropping epics just like ToC and the Frozen Halls instances, there's a stepping stone I wouldn't want, but would be forced to use in order to get ready for raiding. In 3.3, when I finally got into raiding, I had to farm 5man heroics to get full tier 8.5/9 equivilant gear to get into the new entry level raid, which was in fact the Endgame raid. Catalclysm looks to be going the same way right now, especially with the current vendor raid gear being available for non-raid currency.
the ideal solution for what gearing issues there are is add the proposed new dungeon - the Abyssal Maw - as a heroic-only 5man, dropping heroic 5man level gear for the specs that are suffering from lack of well itemised gear, for example Resto druids, dps clothies etc, and make people go through the actual progression instead of letting them farm five-mans for gear they don't deserve.
That's why I've unsubbed, that's why I'm going to spend my days on my PS3 and maybe a couple of other cheap/free PC games. Blizzard haven't learned a thing from Wrath in terms of handing out free epics and making people work for those purples.
Yesterday the Public Test Realm notes for 4.1 were released, in them were two nails in my WoW coffin. They are remaking two old raids: Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman into level 85 five-man dungeons, which will be dropping raid level gear. Rehashing and Welfare Epics were a problem in Wrath of the Lich King. Naxxramas was ruined, as was Onyxia, and there were Epics all over the damned place.
Granted, Cataclysm was a huge rehash in terms of 1-60, but that was sorely needed due to the 1-60 content being completely terrible for new players (people were unsubbing before level 10) but rehashing MORE old raids to give MORE welfare epics for the people who don't/can't/won't raid is a bad move, and will only cause more fucking Wrath syndrome.
Admittedly, one of the reasons I was hesitant to get into raids is my skill, the other is the quality of the laptop I use. If I had a decent PC which doesn't drop in FPS while in windowed mode on a heroic 5man, then I could work on the former. However, with new new ZA/ZG dropping epics just like ToC and the Frozen Halls instances, there's a stepping stone I wouldn't want, but would be forced to use in order to get ready for raiding. In 3.3, when I finally got into raiding, I had to farm 5man heroics to get full tier 8.5/9 equivilant gear to get into the new entry level raid, which was in fact the Endgame raid. Catalclysm looks to be going the same way right now, especially with the current vendor raid gear being available for non-raid currency.
the ideal solution for what gearing issues there are is add the proposed new dungeon - the Abyssal Maw - as a heroic-only 5man, dropping heroic 5man level gear for the specs that are suffering from lack of well itemised gear, for example Resto druids, dps clothies etc, and make people go through the actual progression instead of letting them farm five-mans for gear they don't deserve.
That's why I've unsubbed, that's why I'm going to spend my days on my PS3 and maybe a couple of other cheap/free PC games. Blizzard haven't learned a thing from Wrath in terms of handing out free epics and making people work for those purples.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Trophies, Trophies everywhere!!!
Over the weekend, I managed to finish off my first Platinum Trophy - namely the one in inFamous - and felt a sense of achievement I haven't felt for some time. Within half hour I'd slid Demon's Souls into my PS3 and went on another trophy hunt, using a Blueblood sword build.
Now, the thing with trophies is that it gives an official rate of completion, even if the game itself doesn't in any submenu. When I first saw the Trophy message on a game I though "huh, fair enough." and carried on playing. After a while, I picked up inFamous, started playing and managed to finish it on Hard difficulty in a Good playthrough - for those of you who don't know, inFamous has a Karma system where you can choose to be a hero or villain, not that it changes the missions.
Once I'd unlocked three trophies in a row after finishing that playthrough, I checked my trophies, I'd managed to pick up about 50% or more. That's when I got hooked on trophies. Each one I collect is closer to the 100% completion I always look for, and yet never attain due to losing interest in a game.
As of today my highest ranked games are:
inFamous - 100%
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - 90% (Only multiplayer trophies are missing)
Assassin's Creed II - 88%
Demon's Souls - 41%
May not be much, but I spent a LOT of time on World of Warcraft, which I have completely lost interest in - I think I've logged on once in the past three weeks, I think it's time to uninstall - and really just playing my PS3. However that's recently changed and so I'm back on the Trophy hunt, and loving every single Trophy alert I hear.
Now, the thing with trophies is that it gives an official rate of completion, even if the game itself doesn't in any submenu. When I first saw the Trophy message on a game I though "huh, fair enough." and carried on playing. After a while, I picked up inFamous, started playing and managed to finish it on Hard difficulty in a Good playthrough - for those of you who don't know, inFamous has a Karma system where you can choose to be a hero or villain, not that it changes the missions.
Once I'd unlocked three trophies in a row after finishing that playthrough, I checked my trophies, I'd managed to pick up about 50% or more. That's when I got hooked on trophies. Each one I collect is closer to the 100% completion I always look for, and yet never attain due to losing interest in a game.
As of today my highest ranked games are:
inFamous - 100%
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - 90% (Only multiplayer trophies are missing)
Assassin's Creed II - 88%
Demon's Souls - 41%
May not be much, but I spent a LOT of time on World of Warcraft, which I have completely lost interest in - I think I've logged on once in the past three weeks, I think it's time to uninstall - and really just playing my PS3. However that's recently changed and so I'm back on the Trophy hunt, and loving every single Trophy alert I hear.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2
Yesterday I took a few games I don't play any more down to trade in, and picked up Raging Blast 2. I'd missed out on the first of the series - which introduced the "what if" forms of Super Saiyan 3 for both Broly and Vegeta so I leapt at the chance to grab this one.
Coming from the old PS2 Tenkaichi games, the new controls were vaguely familiar, but its taking time to get used to using the Right stick for the big attacks, and the new method of transforming, but that will come in time.
Graphics are much better than I'm used to in DBZ games, but that's mostly due to the fact the most recent game I played before RB2 was Tenkaichi 3 on the PS2. Even so, the game itself is pleasing to the eye.
The new Galaxy mode is good, as long as you don't expect it to follow the story of the animé, because it doesn't even attempt to, beyond the "boos" encounters for each character (Goku faces off against Scouter Vegeta, for example, while "Adolescent" Gohan faces off against Broly).
Battle Zone is an interesting game mode, from what I've experienced of it, there appear to be optional paths which lead to the same goal (the zone 'boss' - named the "Climax Battle" which makes the teenager in me giggle a little) each path giving different rewards.
I'm not sure if Burst Limit and Raging Blast had online play, but RB2 has, and I'm looking forward to getting online with other players once I've unlocked the various characters and items.
Speaking of items and characters, when I looked through the trophy list, I realised I had made a huge mistake in picking up Raging Blast 2. There's hundreds of different items, images, BGMs and more to collect. I love that kind of nonsense, I'm going to be playing for months trying to unlock everything.
Overall, after playing it for about a day, I'm having a lot of fun still, and would recommend at least renting this if you're a DB/Z/GT fan like myself.
Coming from the old PS2 Tenkaichi games, the new controls were vaguely familiar, but its taking time to get used to using the Right stick for the big attacks, and the new method of transforming, but that will come in time.
Graphics are much better than I'm used to in DBZ games, but that's mostly due to the fact the most recent game I played before RB2 was Tenkaichi 3 on the PS2. Even so, the game itself is pleasing to the eye.
The new Galaxy mode is good, as long as you don't expect it to follow the story of the animé, because it doesn't even attempt to, beyond the "boos" encounters for each character (Goku faces off against Scouter Vegeta, for example, while "Adolescent" Gohan faces off against Broly).
Battle Zone is an interesting game mode, from what I've experienced of it, there appear to be optional paths which lead to the same goal (the zone 'boss' - named the "Climax Battle" which makes the teenager in me giggle a little) each path giving different rewards.
I'm not sure if Burst Limit and Raging Blast had online play, but RB2 has, and I'm looking forward to getting online with other players once I've unlocked the various characters and items.
Speaking of items and characters, when I looked through the trophy list, I realised I had made a huge mistake in picking up Raging Blast 2. There's hundreds of different items, images, BGMs and more to collect. I love that kind of nonsense, I'm going to be playing for months trying to unlock everything.
Overall, after playing it for about a day, I'm having a lot of fun still, and would recommend at least renting this if you're a DB/Z/GT fan like myself.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
My initial thoughts on FFXIII-2
Yeah, the teaser has been out for a while, but I only found it on PSN the other day and unlike any other FF announcement (except the SRPGs/spinoffs) I felt my heart sink. FFXIII is sat in my collection gathering dust - despite the fact I promised myself I would complete it - because compared to the other games in the series (except FFII) and other games out this generation, FFXIII basically sucks. The graphics and soundtrack awe fantastic - what else would you expect? - The story and characters have good and bad points, but the gameplay is just awful.
Square Enix are trying to cash in on the second worst - in my opinion - Final Fantasy in the main series, rather than one of the stronger games, as well as bringing out two other instalments in the FFXIII series. Now, they milked the most popular game in the series to death - I'm a firm believer that FFVII and Advent Children was enough for the FFVII compilation - and choosing to milk this one is just going to lead to another awful game.
The more Final Fantasy games they release, the worse the games get in terms of gameplay and enjoyment in my opinion. I can't help but think FFXIII-2 is going to be a truly terrible game.
Anyway, I'm going to head off to bed and try to sleep, got a mystery present coming tomorrow and I'm excited. I swear I feel like it's Christmas Eve
Square Enix are trying to cash in on the second worst - in my opinion - Final Fantasy in the main series, rather than one of the stronger games, as well as bringing out two other instalments in the FFXIII series. Now, they milked the most popular game in the series to death - I'm a firm believer that FFVII and Advent Children was enough for the FFVII compilation - and choosing to milk this one is just going to lead to another awful game.
The more Final Fantasy games they release, the worse the games get in terms of gameplay and enjoyment in my opinion. I can't help but think FFXIII-2 is going to be a truly terrible game.
Anyway, I'm going to head off to bed and try to sleep, got a mystery present coming tomorrow and I'm excited. I swear I feel like it's Christmas Eve
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Yet another damned Gaming blog!
This is nothing new by now, but I need something to keep me occupised besides WoW and my PS3, so I decided to try my hand at blogging and hope I get a decent following, which will lead to more frequent posting, and hopefully a fun little hobby for me.
At the moment, I have a crappy laptop, a PS2 and a PS3, so my initial focus will be on PS3 news, along with views on upcoming games and systems. Once I'm working, I'll look into expanding into other consoles/upgrading to a decent laptop/PC.
Currently 'playing' Demon's Souls. I say 'playing' because I keep restarting with different starting classes for the hell of it. Also play WoW for kicks, laptop isn't good enough for raiding.
At the moment, I have a crappy laptop, a PS2 and a PS3, so my initial focus will be on PS3 news, along with views on upcoming games and systems. Once I'm working, I'll look into expanding into other consoles/upgrading to a decent laptop/PC.
Currently 'playing' Demon's Souls. I say 'playing' because I keep restarting with different starting classes for the hell of it. Also play WoW for kicks, laptop isn't good enough for raiding.
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