I'm from a new land, I come to you and...
Jul. 5th, 2009 04:30 pmI picked up Shadow Hearts: From the New World (it was... it was on sale at Amazon, ok?)... so far, I'm a little annoyed about how obtaining new abilities is a fucking minigame or sidequest for every character. Everything in this game is a minigame! Attacking, using skills, performing combos, buying items!
I hate, hate, hate, hate the way they do chests and items in this game. For the most part, chests are hidden by the camera angles (literally, if you can't see a corner because the camera is obscuring it, you'd better check it for a chest!), and there are plenty of hidden items you can't see, meaning it winds down into a "Bump up against every surface in the area while pressing X" fest.
The game is (so far) kinda meandering forward with no real purpose. It's like the characters just kinda bounce across North America and getting caught up ZANY events that have no real connection to each other. Allegedly, they're supposed to be hunting down some guy, but the game hasn't given me a particularly compelling reason for me to be doing it.
There's also the mysterious alleged "serial killer" (that looks like a terrible J ROCK/generic JRPG reject) and his lady friend, who I guess are going to be important. I say "serial killer" because I've seen no indication that he's actually a serial killer. And really, chasing a serial killer (that actually kills people) across the United States would've been a far more interesting approach then what's going on now.
I hate, hate, hate, hate the way they do chests and items in this game. For the most part, chests are hidden by the camera angles (literally, if you can't see a corner because the camera is obscuring it, you'd better check it for a chest!), and there are plenty of hidden items you can't see, meaning it winds down into a "Bump up against every surface in the area while pressing X" fest.
The game is (so far) kinda meandering forward with no real purpose. It's like the characters just kinda bounce across North America and getting caught up ZANY events that have no real connection to each other. Allegedly, they're supposed to be hunting down some guy, but the game hasn't given me a particularly compelling reason for me to be doing it.
There's also the mysterious alleged "serial killer" (that looks like a terrible J ROCK/generic JRPG reject) and his lady friend, who I guess are going to be important. I say "serial killer" because I've seen no indication that he's actually a serial killer. And really, chasing a serial killer (that actually kills people) across the United States would've been a far more interesting approach then what's going on now.
 | Johnny Garland is our intrepid hero. He's a detective working in New York, he has stupid hair (really stupid hair), has a camera to take photos (Snap Cards) of enemies, and sucks in battle and I hate that I have to use him in boss battles to get Snap Cards. He can manifest a glowing red sword, but no one's really commented on it yet, even though the big, horrible magic power of cosmic horror in the game is a glowing red energy. I guess it's a refreshing to not have every character saying "WOW JOHNNY THAT'S SOME MYSTERIOUS POWER YOU GOT THERE!" |
 | Shania is a Blonde, Blue-eyed Native American Princess, and I know, I know, they're building up to some SHOCKING PLOT TWIST where we find out she's not Native American at all! She can transform into elemental spirits by visiting |
 | Naten is Shania's protector and proof that Shadow Hearts is a-ok with giving men stripperific costumes, too. He's your standard issue "Big Silent Native American" fella, and half the time he doesn't even appear in cutscenes. He's the opposite of Johnny in that he excels in all areas of combat. He's probably my favorite character, because he's the only one (so far) that haven't wished would die in fire for their own stupidity. It helps that he acts like an adult. |
 | Frank is an Brazilian Ninja that protects the United States. He's also the first of many characters that appear to have been created through mad libs in an attempt to make everything ZANY. That being said, I kinda like Frank. He's goofy, yet it's strangely endearing. I think I started liking him when I obtained the Cactus Saber by examining a cactus in the Grand Canyon, only to have Frank stick a hilt on it and make it into a weapon. All of his weapons are like this. |
 | OH GOD WHEN MAO OPENS HER EYES IT IS HORRIFYING. |
 | Just Us Guys: They're Gay, lol |
Packing, packing, packing
Jun. 18th, 2009 01:45 amI decided, after much consideration, that I should go ahead and start getting stuff packed up, since I'm gonna be moving soon.
...going through and packing up stuff I've accumulated over the past three years is kinda depressing. So far, I've cleaned out my dresser and my book shelves, and started on one of the closets. The book shelf was the worst because I had a ton of notebooks and binders with stuff from my whole college career and before. I'm not even sure why I still had it, but trashing most of it provided a horrific reminder that I'm a grown up now.
I did find a sketch book that had stuff dating back to the year 2000. Not only did I used to draw, I drew in pencil. Wild. There were a couple of other things scribbled in notebooks related to projects I had started a while back and never got around to. Big surprise there. I think I actually will draw something so I can post it on that community because geez its been nearly a year since anyone has.
While cleaning out my dresser, I found a Christmas card from![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bitchcakes that said to stop drinking so much.
On the happier side, there's something vaguely relaxing about being able to see the floors and walls of your closet.
...going through and packing up stuff I've accumulated over the past three years is kinda depressing. So far, I've cleaned out my dresser and my book shelves, and started on one of the closets. The book shelf was the worst because I had a ton of notebooks and binders with stuff from my whole college career and before. I'm not even sure why I still had it, but trashing most of it provided a horrific reminder that I'm a grown up now.
I did find a sketch book that had stuff dating back to the year 2000. Not only did I used to draw, I drew in pencil. Wild. There were a couple of other things scribbled in notebooks related to projects I had started a while back and never got around to. Big surprise there. I think I actually will draw something so I can post it on that community because geez its been nearly a year since anyone has.
While cleaning out my dresser, I found a Christmas card from
bitchcakes that said to stop drinking so much. On the happier side, there's something vaguely relaxing about being able to see the floors and walls of your closet.
Minotaur dooooown
Jun. 13th, 2009 04:27 pm
I can't spell my name right, apparently
Here is my summary of Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei 1:
Fight through dungeon, gain levels, die and get kicked back to last save point.
Fight back through dungeon, gain levels, pick up an ally or two, die and get kicked back to last save point.
Finally have high enough levels/enough meatshields that you can go toe-to-toe with boss of dungeon. Defeat boss and proceed to next dungeon, wherein you go back to step one.
The boss of Daedalus, the Infernal King Minotaur, went down like this:
Beast Cancer takes the first slot and does nothing but defend to help absorb damage.
Hero (equipped with the best stuff from Vahalla) takes the second slot and attacks the whole time.
Shadow Stolas in slot three, using up the last of its MP to heal with Di.
Fairy Bogle in slot four spamming Zanma every turn.
Heroine (also equipped with the best stuff from Vahalla) in last place, healing with Jewels and Di whenever necessary.
Currently slogging my way through level 2, Bien, and getting my ass kicked by Medusa's Shadows, and its looking like I'm just gonna have to kick the bucket so I can get back to town and do some fusing.
New friends:
