sullenclown's cove

Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part IV

2011-04-12T10:20:00.000+08:00

Part IV of the Dissidia Level 1 Character Challenge!

Haven't updated the Character Challenge lately since I was busy trying to beat the Level 130 Feral Chaos with as many characters as possible :D

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part I, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part II, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part III, go here.

Now just a recap of the equipment used for this:

Level 1 infinite assist/Smiting Soul build

Level Gap 90
Level 1-9
Hatless
Armorless
Gloveless
Weaponless
Near Loss
Safety Bit
Smithing Soul
Side by Side

+EXP->HP from abilities gives you:

You break your foes brave with every attack
You gain 1 assist bar charge with every HP attack landed
You will always survive a HP attack if you have more than 1 HP
Every HP attack you land will heal you (so you no longer have 1 hp)
You can also use your Assist to block any attack that would kill you if you do have 1 HP.

By VCP from gamefaqs

Alright, now that we have an idea as to what build I was using, let's see which characters were able to beat Feral Chaos this time around!

Level 1 Tidus vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Zidane vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Kuja vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Bartz vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part III

2011-04-09T09:20:00.002+08:00

Part III of the Dissidia Level 1 Character Challenge!

Haven't updated the Character Challenge lately since I was busy trying to beat the Level 130 Feral Chaos with as many characters as possible :D

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part I, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part II, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part IV go here.

Now just a recap of the equipment used for this:

Level 1 infinite assist/Smiting Soul build

Level Gap 90
Level 1-9
Hatless
Armorless
Gloveless
Weaponless
Near Loss
Safety Bit
Smithing Soul
Side by Side

+EXP->HP from abilities gives you:

You break your foes brave with every attack
You gain 1 assist bar charge with every HP attack landed
You will always survive a HP attack if you have more than 1 HP
Every HP attack you land will heal you (so you no longer have 1 hp)
You can also use your Assist to block any attack that would kill you if you do have 1 HP.

By VCP from gamefaqs

Alright, now that we have an idea as to what build I was using, let's see which characters were able to beat Feral Chaos this time around!

Level 1 Warrior of Light vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Lightning vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Yuna vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Cecil vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part II

2011-04-09T09:18:00.002+08:00

Part II of the Dissidia Level 1 Character Challenge!
Haven't updated the Character Challenge lately since I was busy trying to beat the Level 130 Feral Chaos with as many characters as possible :D

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part I, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part III, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part IV go here.

Now just a recap of the equipment used for this:

Level 1 infinite assist/Smiting Soul build
Level Gap 90Level 1-9HatlessArmorlessGlovelessWeaponlessNear LossSafety BitSmithing SoulSide by Side
+EXP->HP from abilities gives you:
You break your foes brave with every attackYou gain 1 assist bar charge with every HP attack landedYou will always survive a HP attack if you have more than 1 HPEvery HP attack you land will heal you (so you no longer have 1 hp)You can also use your Assist to block any attack that would kill you if you do have 1 HP.
By VCP from gamefaqs

Alright, now that we have an idea as to what build I was using, let's see which characters were able to beat Feral Chaos this time around!

Level 1 Kain vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Laguna vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Terra vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Vaan vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part I

2011-04-05T20:53:00.005+08:00

See, I was browsing through GameFaqs one day and found an article that contained tips on how to grind for Experience, AP, KP, etc. Now in this article, there was also a build that revolves around the character being Level 1 having infinite assist + Iai strike (100%). An idea was formed. No, I think it was more like a challenge was issued with this build. Can you beat the Level 130 Feral Chaos that has 125k+ hp using only a Level 1 character? The challenge was issued, the stage was set. Time to get it on.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part II, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part III, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part IV go here.

Now before any more gets said, here is how the Level 1 infinite assist / Iai strike build is laid out:

Level 1 infinite assist/Smiting Soul build

Level Gap 90
Level 1-9
Hatless
Armorless
Gloveless
Weaponless
Near Loss
Safety Bit
Smithing Soul
Side by Side

+EXP->HP from abilities gives you:

You break your foes brave with every attack
You gain 1 assist bar charge with every HP attack landed
You will always survive a HP attack if you have more than 1 HP
Every HP attack you land will heal you (so you no longer have 1 hp)
You can also use your Assist to block any attack that would kill you if you do have 1 HP.

By VCP from gamefaqs

Now when I accepted the challenge, I only thought of fighting Feral Chaos using Level 1 Cloud, but of course, I wondered whether I can find OTHER characters who can beat Level 130 Feral Chaos. Here's what I came up with...

Note: This might get updated once I beat Level 130 Feral Chaos with other characters. So stay tuned. :)

Level 1 Shantotto vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Squall vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 The Emperor vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Level 1 Cloud vs Level 130 Feral Chaos

Duodecim Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy

2011-04-04T13:02:00.000+08:00

The forces of harmony against the forces of discord. No this is no longer the demo that was posted here last January, this is the real deal. The original Dissidia focused on the 13th and final war. Dissidia hinted that the warriors of Cosmos lost against the warriors of Chaos during the 12th war. Exactly how did the warriors of Cosmos lose the 12th war? Let's find out.

As stated in the Prologus review before, Duodecim features the 12th war in this battle of the gods. In Dissidia's secret reports, we find out that the manikins were created by Cid when he was trying to summon warriors. Those failures are the manikins that we battle. Now as stated in the reports for Duodecim, it appears that the first description was retconned. Cosmos was now revealed to be a Manikin whose memories of Cid's wife were successfully transplanted. The Manikins who failed to take on memories were deemed failures and were sealed in the Rift.

Exdeath, a warrior of Chaos who has some control over the Rift, releases the Manikins to fight for Chaos. Now these Manikins are considered "foreign entities" since they were not summoned by either god. Those who the Manikins have killed can no longer be revived in the next cycle of the war.

   Characters from the first Dissidia return (11 heroes and 11 villains) with the newcomers who are inexplicably absent in the 13th war. If you take a good look at the characters there you'll find Tidus, Terra and Cloud are on Chaos' side this time. You'll find out how they were able to switch sides in the reports.

   Now not to nitpick about the game but the 12th war storyline was a bit shorter than I expected. This doesn't mean that I didn't like the storyline. I think Duodecim's storyline is better than Dissidia's storyline. A bit tragic, but awesome nonetheless. (By the way, what is with Square Enix giving all Final Fantasy prequels a sad / depressing ending? I mean, look at Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus(?), and now Duodecim).

   Oh right, I did say that the 12th war storyline was a bit short. Now once you are done with the 12th war, the game surprises you by saying that you can play the whole 13th war storyline with the new world map, battle mechanics, etc. (I went like O.o when I found out about it).

Also, you can unlock a different storyline in the PP Catalog called "Chapter 000: Confessions of the Creator". You can bring a party of five (a mix of heroes and villains is allowed). In the end of this Chapter, you will be able to fight against a feral version of Chaos from the 13th war aptly named "Feral Chaos". Oh and did I mention that Feral Chaos that you will be fighting is Level 130 and has around 125k health points? I didn't? Alright then. Don't worry though, you have a party of five battling anyway, so every character only needs to deal 25k HP damage to Feral Chaos. Once you defeat Feral Chaos, you get to unlock him in PP Catalog, and he becomes a playable character once you purchase him there.

I thought Dissidia was awesome before and I sometimes wondered whether it was possible for a sequel to improve upon what made Dissidia an awesome game. Now it's reality check, and I have to admit that it Square Enix was able to improve Dissidia into Duodecim.

Story	I can honestly say that the 12^th war storyline of Duodecim was more tragic than the first game. I think some fans of the heroes from their respective games shed some tears when they saw the FMV of what happened. Sad, but awesome.	10
Gameplay	Gameplay has improved since the first Dissidia. While it is still a fighting game with RPG mechanics, the new mechanics helps Duodecim raise the bar even higher. For Final Fantasy fans, this is a must-get.	10
Sound	God in Fire, enough said.	10
Replayability	As I mentioned in the Prologus review, “Think about it. Having around 30 characters to level up to 100 if you’re a completionist WILL take a long time to accomplish.” My status on that quote? 28/30 characters are at level 100. ^_^	10
Overall	Duodecim gives Square Enix another solid game to work with, although I have read some articles stating that this will be the last Dissidia… Here’s to hoping that it’s not true, and more characters to come.	100%

A video? Why I most definitely have a video. Remember the Level 130 Feral Chaos with 125k hp that I was talking about earlier? I fought it with a Level 1 Cloud and won. Yeah that's right, I WON. Enjoy the video :)

No Heroes Allowed!

2011-01-29T10:21:00.000+08:00

To be honest I don't know how to classify this game into a genre. It can be Real Time Strategy, Simulation, Action or even RPG (gamefaqs lists this as an RPG).

No Heroes Allowed is the third installment of this strange series. Along with What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? and What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2, No Heroes Allowed is about you, the God of destruction, helping the overlord Badman conquer the world one dungeon at a time.

"Dungeons again? Surely you've spent enough time talking about ZHP last time". Well yes, ZHP was the only dungeon roguelike I have played in the PSP. No Heroes Allowed is a different game with a different way of using dungeons (well, you're the one making them). No Heroes Allowed follows up the previous game by having Badman discover that the world that he conquered was a small part of a bigger world. So he decides to conquer this bigger world too.

Yeah, so he decides to conquer this bigger world too. There's just one problem, You, the god of destruction, are the one who will do everything in your power so that he, Badman, will be able to conquer this new bigger world. Yeah, he's that lazy. Fear not though because YOU, the God of Destruction, will help him conquer this bigger world! With the help of your trusty pickaxe, all heroes will falter under your deceptive and creative power!

At least, that's what we want to happen. Truth be told, this game is challenging. Let's see... You have a defined number of digs for the first level and you need to make a dungeon where in monsters can survive, reproduce, evolve and beat the heroes senseless. You can also upgrade those monsters up by consuming dig points after every stage. You gain more dig points depending on how fast you beat the heroes and your remaining dig points. This makes you choose whether to improve your monster's stats or to increase your dig points to build a bigger dungeon. A real Real-Time-Strategy game if you ask me ;)

There are new things included in this game aside from its title (the first game was called "What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!?"). These new things include a new evolution system for the monsters along with God of Destruction skills. During WDIDTDTML2 (shortened it up ;D), you, the God of Destruction, can only dig. This new feature gives you a skill depending on which pickaxe you equipped (it also gives you bonus pickaxes if you happened to have a complete save file of WDIDTDTML and WDIDTDTML2 ^_^).

Gameplay is pretty much the same with the addition of water and water monsters. The original monsters will not survive in water while the water monsters won't survive in land (duh). This new addition offers gamers to experience a new aspect for micromanagement in this game. Also, there are times when you will see glowing orbs in the dungeon. Once you collect a certain number of orbs, you will be able to acquire newer and more powerful pickaxes for your dungeon.

Believe it or not, even though this game is not that graphically awesome, it's very famous in Japan. But since we're here and they're there, I can't say whether it's going to be popular here. The difficulty level is high. Strategy is required for you to enjoy and beat this game. Besides, if it wasn't that popular, why does it have a third installment of the series? ;)

Story	The whole take over the world story... blah blah... Heroes will try to stop the overlord. Good thing he has you, the God of Destruction, his ace in the hole to conquer the bigger world. Yeah, that's about it.	7
Gameplay	It... is... challenging. That is a given. Micromanaging things is very challenging for me, but seeing heroes get defeated by the dungeon I made gives me the giggles (^_^). It's not that hard, but not that easy. Challenging.	10
Sound	I mean, I'd want to give this a better score, but there's just so much replicating an 8-bit game can do (that includes 8-bit sounds by the way)	7
Replayability	You will enjoy this for a long time. Even if you have successfully beaten it once, you might not be able to beat the dungeon again for a long time. That's how this game retains its replayability. You think the game is easier since you already beat it once, but since the dungeon you make is random, you never know when the next time you'll win again (Kind of like gambling, but with no money).	10
Overall	I recommend this game (then again, I only post games here that I recommend anyway ^_^). You can enjoy it once in a while or even try to do a marathon playing only this. But its a good game. Definitely a must-get.	85%

This is one of those weird games that you first think is too weird for you but then when you play it you feel that this game is so underrated. So... enjoy this video. Keep on gaming people!

Lord of Arcana!

2011-01-28T15:31:00.000+08:00

"A warrior from an unknown land was able to conquer this country in nine days..."

Fast forward to now, that warrior is long gone. Many have tried to step up to take his place and failed. Now it's your turn. Could you become the Lord of Arcana?

I won't spoil much about this game since you might want to find out about this game while playing it so I'll just talk about my initial reaction to this game. This new game from Square Enix feels like a hybrid of the Monster Hunter Portable and Tales series (Tales of Phantasia, Symphonia. The map and exploring feels like Monster Hunter while during combat it feels more like the Tales of series. It's nice really. The combination works. You explore the MHP-like world but when it's combat time the game switches up nicely. Your skills level up based on the way you fight. If you cast magic a lot then you get more experience in magic proficiency. If you attack with your weapon a lot, your weapon proficiency increases. You have five different kinds of weapons (1h sword, 2h sword, axe, spear and mace) to choose from and each with their own proficiency.

Coup de grace. A death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. Yep, sounds just about right. If you lock onto a creature and attack it constantly without letting that lock go, you get an option to do a coup de grace (think of it like the "Finish Him!" moment in Mortal Kombat) to your opponent. I'm impressed with this feature. Not only are the motions fluid, but every monster that you fight has a different coup de grace designed for it. And we haven't even delved into the bosses yet. Once the boss you fight is about to die, it won't give you a coup de grace option (or else it would be too simple, don't you think so?), instead you get a battle sequence where you are required to push specific buttons in during specific moments of the battle sequence. It's really good.

Using the power of the Arcana, you are able to turn monsters into monster cores when the time is right. You can then use the cores to improve your equipment so that you can further kick some monster back sides. It's a tenacious cycle that one won't get tired of quickly. One thing that I didn't like though is that you can't straight up buy potions for healing. Instead you need to collect two items first THEN convert it into potions. Some people may like that, I don't (^_^).

Sound feels realistic (although I wouldn't know what sounds those monsters make anyway). It makes you feel that the sword is actually cutting through the monster's flesh (gross right?). You will see blood in this game. From the Coup de grace to the duels for bosses. There will be blood.

TL;DR? Scores ahoy!

Story	I can't say much about the story, you get to the new world trying to be the new lord of arcana, you accomplish missions, fight arcanas, gain their power, level up, get new equipment, fight some more. That's about it.	8
Gameplay	Gameplay is good. In fact, gameplay is very good. Other people say that the game is a rip-off of Monster Hunter and I can't blame them. I see hints of Monster Hunter here and there. But this game pretty much tries to do things that Monster Hunter does not do, like the combat system and arcanas.	10
Sound	Sound is realistic. It's not that bad. Although I can't say I can give it a high score. All I know is that, while listening to the sound, you feel like you're really into the fight.	9
Replayability	Yeah, you can replay it over and over. You can try another weapon or even try another kind of magic. This game offers replayability as well. Some quests have difficult monsters that can only be beaten once you've gotten a whole lot stronger, so yeah. Replayability, yes.	10
Overall	This is one of the games you need to play once it comes out. It’s a new feel for Action RPG games. I’d say yes. This game is a must-play. It’s challenging, it’s fun, it’s a lot of things packed into one game. Enjoy!	92.5%

If I'm going to rank it up, I can say that this game is on the borderline of being a great game. I think the only reason that it doesn't get higher is because some of the things you see in Lord of Arcana feels like it's already been done (Monster Hunter series). But it's not like I'm giving this a low score. This game is good. It's damn good. Here's a trailer of what you can expect from this game. Enjoy, keep on gaming!

Into the Vault again! Half-Minute Hero!

2011-01-25T17:36:00.000+08:00

If you have 30 seconds left before the end of the world, what will you do? Why save the world of course! Oh then you get your rear side whooped and you're defeated. 30 seconds ain't enough eh? Not to worry, believe it or not, time is on your side!

Ever played RPG games before? Half-minute Hero is an RPG injected with too much caffeine. Imagine having your hero level up, get decent equipment AND beating the stage boss in 30 seconds (hard to imagine ain't it?) Well this is pretty much what happens in this game.

They actually look like this in-game XD

You have your character brave (or probably stupid) enough to stop a boss from casting an "end of the world" spell in 30 seconds. Then you have to do every tedious thing that you usually do in an RPG game in those 30 seconds because if you don't? The world will end and game over. Harsh.

But remember, time is on your side. No i'm not making fun of you, time really is on your side, although I'm not sure whether it's just because she can earn money from it. Who is "she"? Well, "she" is the Goddess of Time, who will allow you to restore time from how much time you have left back to 30 seconds... provided you pay for it (greedy bi... let's move on). Each time reset will cost more than the previous reset. It won't carry over from one stage to the next, the cost will just increase on the stage.

Goddess of Time

Hero 30 deals with you, the hero, trying to stop bosses from casting the "end of the world" spell. Gameplay is like this. You level up, fight monsters, get equipment, beat boss who wants to cast the "end of the world" spell for reasons that makes sense only for them. Rinse, repeat, and you will have completed one part of Half-minute Hero.

Hero

The next part? Princess 30. There's a princess who wants to heal her sick father, but in order to get the items that might probably heal her father, she needs to go outside the castle along with her knights (knights who do nothing but carry the princess). In order to protect herself from monsters outside the castle, she is given a crossbow (which for reasons unknown changes her personality from a kind princess to a very scary bloodthirsty princess >.>). Since the game is still called Half-minute Hero, you only have 30 seconds to fend yourself against monsters, go to the area to get the item, return home before the castle guards lock you out (why the princess decided to always go out of the castle 30 seconds before her curfew is beyond me). The Goddess of time is also here in the form of time carpets that you can walk on that restores your time slowly while draining the gold that you earn (I told you she was a greedy bi... *deep breathes*) Let's move on.

Princess

There's also another part of Half-minute hero that focuses on one mid-boss that you encounter on the Hero part. Evil Lord 30. You are on a mission to restore your girlfriend back to normal! You summon monsters to defeat the enemy monsters, in a rock-paper-scissors kind of way. You have (that's right!) 30 seconds to beat all the other monsters before the sun rises and your girlfriend (who was magically transformed into a bat that you use as an umbrella) faints from sunlight. Luckily, the selfish bi... I mean, the Goddess of Time allows you to restore your time back to 30 seconds for a price of course.

Evil Lord with his Bat-Umbrella girlfriend

Now once you finish the three unlocked parts you get a new part, Knight 30. The Goddess of Time is dead (Ha! serves you right!... I mean... oh crap) and everything is in ruins. A knight (that's you) is on the verge of death but is revived by a sage. Sage says she needs knight's help to stall the monsters while she chants her "win the stage" spell. Only problem? You guessed it, 30 seconds to cast the spell. Now you as a knight need to protect the sage until you save the day.

Sage

After you finish Knight 30, you unlock another challenge, Hero 300. The bi... Goddess of Time is dead, you have 300 seconds to do all that you did in 30 seconds before. No time reset, no time restore, no nothing. Time to gather all your allies and fight like you're running out of time (which you are by the way).

And once you've defeated the big baddy, you unlock one of the most challenging err.. challenges in the game! Hero 3! Fight monsters, get equipment, beat boss who is just about done casting his "end of the world" spell in 3 seconds (O.o). Yes, count with me... 1, 2, 3, end of the world. Can you survive this challenge? Will you win? Good luck ;)

TL;DR stuff here ;)

Story	The story combines funny dialogue and events. In the end, you just need to beat the bad guy before he casts his “end of the world” spell, reach the gates before they lock you out, beat every monster before your girlfriend faints from the sun and stall with all you’ve got before the monsters get your win-game caster.	8
Gameplay	Gameplay is diverse. It lets you play as the Hero, Princess, Evil Lord and even a Knight. Each part is different. The only common thing that each part has is the 30-second time limit. The gameplay is one of a kind. It’s enjoyable. It’s nice.	9
Sound	Sound? Hmm, It’s got an 8-bit feel to it. I appreciate the part of nostalgia. I won’t give it that high of a score, but I won’t give it a low one either.	8
Replayability	Well, once you’re done with this, that’s pretty much it. Although there are some parts of Hero 30 where paths split up, and you just might be tempted to complete those stages but all in all… not a lot of replayability here :c	7
Overall	I don’t think it’s that low. It’s just that once you’re done with this game you’re pretty much done with it. Although I must admit that I had fun playing it and finishing the stages especially Hero 3	80%

This is a good game. I've played with this game and it amuses me how good this game feels without it using the high-quality graphics and all. It's a good deal. You might want to try it. Good luck with Hero 3, seriously, you're going to need it :D.

Zettai Hero Project! Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman!

2011-01-25T00:49:00.000+08:00

From the makers of Disgaea comes another weird, wacky and witty game. This game is none other than... (inhales) Zettai Hero Project: Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman! (phew! let's just call it ZHP!)

Darkdeath Evilman

The world's savior Super Baby (just bear with it) has been kidnapped by the Demon General Darkdeath Evilman! It's up to the Unlosing Ranger to beat Darkdeath Evilman and rescue Super Baby and save the world! But then he gets run over by a car (eh?). The dying Unlosing Ranger then hands his belt over to you, a weak bystander, and asks you to fight in his place, then he dies. As the fight of the century begins, Darkdeath Evilman fights you, the weak bystander and pretty much whoops your back side. Wow, game over? Nope, not really. True to its word, ZHP only has one climactic battle, it just doesn't say how many times you have to fight that climactic battle (XD).

Absolute Victory Unlosing Ranger

This pretty much screws you up from here on. Now you get to face Darkdeath Evilman! You lose painfully. Good thing you get transported to Bizarro Earth (a parallel earth on the other side of the sun, so you don't see it). So Bizarro Earth is where Hero wannabes train to become Real heroes. Where do they train? In dungeons of course! Dungeons you ask? If you are wondering whether this looks a little like pokemon mystery dungeon then yes, it does. The difference? Well, add in references ranging from the conversation to the attack movements and even parodying characters (Say hello to Brick Oldllama!)

I had fun playing this game. It reminded me of Playstation games like Azure Dreams and Chocobo's Dungeon 2. I played those for hours and hours as well. These two games and ZHP have some things in common, namely:

- player adventures in dungeon

- player loses energy while adventuring in dungeon

- player always starts at level 1 in dungeon

- traps, lots of it

- when player dies, player loses all items he has in the current run

Remember the thread about Disgaea 2 about the maximum level being level 9999? In this game, you can get to level 9999 and then some. It stores your total levels accumulated and it gives you some bonus stats to go along with it. That means even if you start at level 1, you're still stronger than the level 1 before you enter the dungeon

Did I mention references? Lots of it. Here's one for you:

Take a guess? Anyone?

I think I forgot to mention cosplay (O.o). Yeah, I said it right the first time. COSPLAY. You feel like your controlling other characters (but in reality you're still the original character dressing up as other people). There are lot of costumes you can try out.

Yeah, I know. It messes up the blog space. It's a small price to pay though. Onwards!

Oh right, there is also a dark clinic that allows you to get additional stats. (Sounds good? Let me show you how it's done)

Once you finish the game, it unlocks alternate endings for you. But if you get bored with unlocking the endings there are still things you can do. There are Hero Mastery Dungeons and Dengeki Dungeons. Hero Mastery Dungeons are pretty much stand-alone dungeons unrelated to the story. Dengeki Dungeons are dungeons with the boss being a character in anime/manga. If you checked the costumes above, you'll get to fight those characters(?) after a witty dialogue. Do know though that there is a side-story regarding the Hero Mastery and Dengeki Dungeons. If you want to find out about it, then try unlocking and completing the Dengeki Dungeons to unlock one more stage.. ;)

This game has a whole range of equipment. From basketballs to plump bosoms, this game has it. Oh, and the awesome thing about this is that you can see the equipment that you wear. Speaking of equipment (you wanna know a secret? check out your status bar before and after changing your equipment ;D). Sound? ZHP has good enough background music in your story-related dungeons. It gets better in the Mastery Dungeons. The default background music is the Unlosing Ranger's Theme Song Medley. Medley? Yeah, equip one thing, it changes the lyrics, equip another, changes the lyrics. Let's see whether you can get them all :D. For one theme song, it sure has a lot of versions. There's a (insert unlosing ranger song types). You can also by the different versions in the music store if you are able to get the whole version playing in the Mastery Dungeon. Good luck with that :)

Breaking the fourth wall is common practice in this game. Having one of the characters mentioning that the reason the boss battle screen looks like crap is because the main character sucks cracked me up big. After each dungeon there's also a segment called "The Way of the Hero" where in two of the characters talk about what it means to be a real hero. Don't skip it :)

Yeah... He sucks...

TL:DR? Scores below

Story	Now if you read through the whole storyline of ZHP, you should know that it’s a good plot. Sure it’s about saving the world and all but there’s also the story of how the weak main character becomes the new Unlosing Ranger. It’s nice, very nice	9
Gameplay	Gameplay is pretty much the same as other roguelikes but it also adds some stuff of their own. The levels that you gain every time you go through a dungeon are accumulated and added to your total level which also boosts your stats. A nice deviation from standard roguelikes.	10
Sound	I was kind of hesitant to give this a 10/10 but hear me out alright? This is the only game I have heard of that has more than one theme song (Just so you know… It has 10 theme songs… 10!!). You don’t believe me? Check it out online. Each theme song is awesome. You need to unlock it to play it, but it’s so worth it.	10
Replayability	Consider this. Unlocking the theme songs mentioned above takes time. Finishing the mastery dungeons takes time. Even unlocking the Dengeki (Anime) Dungeons takes time! This game is jam-packed full of things that you won’t get bored for a long time. You get tired of one thing and there’s always something else there that keeps you playing.	10
Overall	A very high score if you ask me considering this is one of those underappreciated games that have been released. This game has been received positively well by most gaming review sites. It’s kind of sad that not a lot of people play it. So try this game out. It’s fun and it’s enjoyable :)	97.5%

I spent close to a month playing this and only this. A word of warning though. NEVER put your psp to sleep when adventuring in a dungeon. Chances are your psp might turn off instead of just sleep, causing you an accidental game over. NEVER quit game because you are losing. The game will consider it a defeat and you will still lose your items. I lost a few good items because of that :c. But once you know this problem with ZHP, You will have fun playing this game (I think I also lost a few good night's sleep because of this). It's still on stores now :) Let me leave you with the trailer for ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman from Machinima.com. Credits to them for this video. Enjoy and see you next time! (Watch out for the jiggly boobs in the video!)

Into the Vault!

2011-01-23T16:25:00.001+08:00

Since I don't have any new games at hand. I think I'll wind back time and review some of the games I have played.

This little game known as Disgaea 2 can be compared to the highly popular Final Fantasy Tactics series. The difference? Well... Let's imagine Final Fantasy Tactics is a lime (wait.. what?), I said imagine. You got that in mind? Good. If that's what Final Fantasy Tactics is like, then Disgaea 2 is a lime injected with steroids and a tinge of Nitrous oxide (laughing gas). This isn't to underappreciate what Final Fantasy Tactics have brought into the Strategic Role Playing games (S-RPG) genre though. This is simply a review to revel in what the Disgaea franchise was able to achieve even WITH Final Fantasy Tactics in the same genre.

(Adell)

The plot? Pretty much the same as the plot from the PS2 game Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories since Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days is actually a port from the PS2 game mentioned above. Our main character Adell is the only human left in their world (which is in an alternate netherworld from the original Disgaea by the way) and believes that the only way to lift the curse is to defeat Overlord Zenon. Adell's family helps him summon Overlord Zenon by using their own life energy (gee, thanks mom) but for reasons unknown (well, at least until you finish the story ), you summoned Zenon's daughter Rozalin instead.

And because of the summoning ritual, Rozalin is stuck with Adell until his mission is over. Will this unlikely team even have a chance to reach Overlord Zenon? Regarding the plot, do know that there are a lot of different endings that you can get depending on the way you play the characters (I was personally disturbed by the Japanese voiced Worst Ending of this game... You can always go look for it in Youtube or something... )

(Rozalin)

Now I feel you need to know this simple fact about Disgaea 2. It doesn't actually require you to try and level up as much as you can, it only gives you the option to do it if you want to. The final boss, without powerleveling, is only around level 300 and considering that the maximum level a single character can reach is level 9999, that's saying something. Oh and I forgot to mention that you can level up every single equipment in Disgaea 2. All you have to do is to enter the item world, go to the next floor, item levels up per floor you go through up to floor 100. The item world consists of randomized floors with the number of floors depending on the rarity of the item. The combat system is a complex one. It requires practice for you to be able to use (and abuse) the combat system to your advantage.

One of the many shoutouts in Disgaea 2: The Prism Rangers!

Oh yeah, just like Final Fantasy Tactics, you can choose to have monster characters along with humanoid characters, but then Disgaea differentiates itself yet again with Magichange. what is Magichange you ask? This new feature taken from Disgaea 3 allows monster characters you control to change into weapons for your humanoid characters to use. Not only that, but the humanoid characters gain new attacks from the Magichanged weapons. An example would be this one:

Magichange Prep

Magichange done

Have I already mentioned the references in some of the attacks?

Magichange skill: Dragon Flash

Looked familiar? If not, kindly direct your attention below

Hehe, a shout out to DBZ from Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days. Pretty clever if you ask me.

Now for those who think Magichange is awesome enough, you ain't seen nothing yet. Ladies and Gentlemen, Magichange 2! A secret ability of Magichange that can only be unlocked by going to a secret room (that only gives you a small chance, considering how many different kinds of rooms there are) in the item world. What does Magichange 2 do then? Think of a skill your monster character uses. After Magichange 2, you now get the skill as your own (With a turn limit though). Awesome ain't it?

Magichange 2!

For even more hardcore gamers (yes, there's more!) There is also a place called "Land of Carnage" which gives enemies a +2100% plus 200 level boost. Yeah, that much. For those who want to level up like crazy this is a perfect place to be. But just like Magichange 2 above, there are things in the item world that you need to do to unlock the "Land of Carnage" (things that are better explained in gamefaqs or something).

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days is a game that combines quirky dialogue, a so-so plot and awesome gameplay. I have no question about its replayability. You want proof? How about around 191 hours worth of Disgaea 2 DHD? Here's a screenshot of my savefile:

TL;DR? Scores are below

Story	The story’s not bad, although I think it fell short. This is not saying that I enjoyed the game though. I didn’t spend more than 191 hours of my life playing Disgaea 2: DHD because of the story anyway.	8
Gameplay	This. This is what got me addicted to it. Lots of things to collect. Lots of levels left until level 9999. This made me spend that amount of time playing this game. ‘Nuff said, perfect 10.	10
Sound	When playing Disgaea 2: DHD, the sounds can become repetitive and boring. But it does have a nice beat to it. Problem is, 190~ hours hearing the music over and over kind of gets to you at some point	8
Replayability	I wouldn’t have played this game for that long if it didn’t have an awesome replayability factor. Plus, maxing out your character’s levels is a challenge in itself. Two thumbs up	10
Overall	I like this game, I still have it on my PSP and I still play it. I don’t plan on hoping for a Disgaea 3 port anytime soon. But if it does, I’ll be sure to play that too. Interestingly, even though this is merely a re-release of a previous PS2 game, it can hold its own with its new features and new unlockable characters. Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days = awesome	90%

If you haven't played this game yet, you should. Comparing it to the Final Fantasy Tactics port for PSP, I will have to give Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days the win here. Its over the top fight scenes (like when you punch an enemy so hard it creates a black hole?) and diverse cast of characters help Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days. With 39 generic humanoid and monster characters (with six tiers each... so 39x6= 234 generic characters) and 27 unique characters (including the DLC characters), you can't go wrong in choosing this game. Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days are still available for purchase so if you don't have this game yet, buy now! I'll be leaving you with the trailer for Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days before it got released, enjoy! :)

Duodecim 012 Dissidia Prologus

2011-01-22T23:59:00.008+08:00

UPDATE: For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy full game review, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part II, go here.

For the Duodecim Dissidia 012: Level 1 Challenge Part III, go here.

The clash of good and evil will begin again... Yes yes, I know this review is about another demo but just like Patapon 3, I'm really excited for this game! Chances are you might have guessed what game I'm going to be reviewing today (and just in case you haven't, don't worry, you'll find out). Yeah, it's Duodecim 012 Dissidia. Dissidia and even Duodecim takes its roots from Final Fantasy (The first one that was supposed to be the last one but then it wasn't?... yeah, i know). After taking root from Final Fantasy, it branches out and takes two characters (in Dissidia, it was the main hero and the main villain) from the games Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy X and puts them in a no-holds barred throw-down. But since this is Square Enix, the company that focused on RPG, there are also RPG elements in Duodecim.

Since it looks like Square Enix is a fan of Star Wars (why they decided to start the franchise with Episode 4... I have no idea), the war that we played through in the original Dissidia was apparently the 13th war (the final war). Duodecim 012 Dissidia, as you can see from the number 012 and the Latin word "Duodecim" which also stands for 12, is about what happened in the 12th war between Chaos and Cosmos. Now I played through the first Dissidia game and I read in the storyline that the Chaos side won the 12th war. How Square Enix is going to fix this, I don't know (how I wish I do though).

Returning in Duodecim are the 22 characters from the original Dissidia (11 heroes and 11 villains) along with some new characters. As of 1/22/2011, the new characters included in Duodecim are:

Kain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV)

Laguna Loire (Final Fantasy VIII)

Yuna (Final Fantasy X)

Vaan (Final Fantasy XII)

Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)

and of course

Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII)

*shameless plug* by the way, there's another blog talking about Tifa as well *shameless plug*

http://anothergeekyalien.blogspot.com/2011/01/saturday-lady-day-tifa-lockhart.html

And that's not all. During the release of this demo, hackers have been able to get some character images regarding two new characters... Namely....

Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy V)

Prische (Final Fantasy XI)

Playing the demo Duodecim 012 Dissidia Prologus has made me realize just how awesome Duodecim might turn out to be. Fight scenes are more fluent than before and with the new assist system in Duodecim gamers like me are expecting this to be an excellent game. Of course let's not forget about the storyline. Final Fantasy games are not just famous for being RPG games but for having awesome storylines. I have been lucky enough to have played Final Fantasy up to Final Fantasy IX. The plots for the games are deep. I mean if you really want an example we could always go with the tear-jerking moment in FF7 when *spoiler alert* Sephiroth kills Aerith *spoiler alert*. This makes me excited as to how Square Enix will tell the story of the 12th war without fans getting disappointed of the story since we know that Chaos' side will win and the likes.

Pros

+ more fluent and realistic battle system, even trying to evade enemy attacks is harder now than the original game.

+ Assist system is one of the best new additions to Duodecim compared to the original Dissidia

+ Characters' alternate costumes are definitely better than the original alternate costumes

+ Well, adding in more characters (maybe succumbing to what the FF fans want?) is a big pro there

+ It's going to be released this March (wow, same month as Patapon 3)

Cons

- Not necessarily a con, not really a pro either, but the difficulty has increased. The characters you are fighting against have very competent AI. yay harder time!

- Since it's just the demo, i assumed they would have let us play with the characters that were already in the previous Dissidia, but they didn't :c (they only let us play a handful of characters while we get to fight characters not playable in the demo!)

- Honestly? not so much. Can't wait for this one to get released

- Two months to go then... :(

TL;DR? Scores Ahoy

Story	Yeah yeah, I know. It’s kinda low (for now). That’s because I don’t have a clue as to what the story is about in the demo, and this is just the demo that I’m reviewing anyway. So either I’ll edit this review or I’ll simply post a new review once the full game comes out	8
Gameplay	Back when I played the original Dissidia, I was hooked. Now I’m worried that I might get hooked again. Having characters level up to 100 is satisfying and with more characters, that only means more time needed for me to level them up. Controls are responsive. Battle system is nice. Even minor details like evading opponents have been polished. Two thumbs up!	10
Sound	The music is good I can give you that. Taking background music from the original Final Fantasy and turning it into an orchestrated version of is awesome. It gives me goosebumps thinking about just how far the final Final Fantasy have come.	10
Replayability	Think about it. Having around 30 characters to level up to 100 if you’re a completionist WILL take a long time to accomplish. There are also items that you can collect, challenges that you can accomplish. You can play this game for weeks and weeks without getting bored with it. Count on it. For this demo though… not so much	8
Overall	Once again, since this is a demo, I can only gauge so much. It doesn’t have any noticeable flaws in gameplay. The problem with my review is that it came AFTER the Patapon 3 demo review. When comparing these two games. I’d choose the Patapon 3 demo, but not by much. Can’t wait to see it released in March, 2011 J	90%

A video you say? oh yeah, I have one. Although it doesn't have any subtitles yet. But it lets you take a look at the gameplay and provide a sneak peek for some secret assist character in there somewhere ;) happy searching.

Duodecim 012 Dissidia is set to be released in stores on the following dates: 03/03/11 for Japan and 03/22/11 for North America. Released dates for Europe and Australia have not been announced during the posting of this blog. So mark our calendars for this one. March is going to be one hell of a month for us gamers! Onwards to our Final (yeah, right) Fantasy!

SALUTATIONS!

2011-01-22T13:29:00.002+08:00

yeah... how stupid of me to forget. soooo....

Welcome one and all!

Seeing that I have nothing better to do except play games, I have decided to review the games that I have already played. PSP games to be exact. And well, maybe I can put in some other topics like manga and stuff. But as of now, PSP game reviews would be my focus.

Also, I apparently introduced myself AFTER I posted a review >.<

Pata-pata-pata-pon!!

2011-01-22T01:31:00.001+08:00

Our favorite humanoid tribe returns on March, 2011 for Patapon 3. During the end of Patapon 2 we see a treasure chest that hasn't been opened yet. Well... now we know what was inside that treasure chest. 7 evil generals have escaped from the treasure chest and turned all of the patapon army into stone. Is it the end of our favorite humanoid army? I think not! As luck would have it, along with the 7 evil generals that were freed was a silver Hoshipon (a star like creature) who returns Hero Patapon to normal. Normal you say? Let's just say he got a massive powerup from the almighty and the patapon spirit that the player chooses from the beginning (now he's a SUPERhero Patapon... no seriously). Too much info? Spoiler alert? Sorry 'bout that. let's move on.

Well technically the game hasn't been released yet. so i'll be doing a review on the demo that was released just this month. Having only played the demo (japanese which I did not understand :'c) it wasn't long before I got used to hearing those four cute words in my head again (pata-pata-pata-pon!). This game has improved so much from the first game. This is coming from a guy who was able to play Patapon 1, Patapon 2, and now the demo of Patapon 3 (take a guess which one i'll pick). Improved gameplay makes it easier for the newbies (considering how easy it was to get the perfect beat almost always. )

Pros

+ This game is solid. Rhythm and Beat plus some Strategy along on the side = cute carnage
+ Superhero Patapon and pretty much every unit can level up and change Patapon army classes too. Not only that, but there are skills that they learn aside from leveling up.
+ Being able to transfer your save file from Patapon 2. That is awesome
+ There's now a decent multiplayer mode. Compared to the one that Patapon 2 had, this one is better. Way better.
+ If the demo offers this much... makes me giggle how much more Patapon 3 will bring this March of 2011.
+ Graphics are much better than they were in Patapon 2 (and definitely Patapon 1)
+ Did I mention Superhero Patapon? who can change into every single kind of Patapon in-game. that's wicked sick.
+ coming soon... March 2011!!!

Cons

- No pause function (yet! we're still not giving up on that! you hear us sony??) seriously. is it too much to ask for a pause function?
- instead of the usual Patapon army we are down to a single patapon per unit. *sadfaces*. no more raining arrows on opponents :c (but they level up too!)
- maybe it's just the demo, but it's kind of hard acquiring the skills. (takes a long time, a lot of quests required)
- well... no North American second demo :c (yet!)
- coming soon... March 2011!!! (why'd it have to be so far away!)

Overall, this game is a must-get. If you haven't played any of the Patapon games, how can you call yourself a psp gamer?! For a series to win 2008 AND 2009 IGN's PSP Game of the Year, that's saying something. Patapon 3 hopes to make it three for three. So after delaying this much, I expect to be as worthwhile as I think it is. Patapon 3 will be released on March 9, 2011 for the US, March 14, 2011 for Australia, April 6, 2011 for Europe and April 28, 2011 for Japan.

TL;DR? Here are the scores:

Story	The Chekov's gun (thanks tvtropes!) that was the treasure chest got opened and the trouble starts. For now, I'll give it an 8. Once the full game gets released, this might go higher :)	8
Gameplay	Rhythm and Beat game? Yes please! It has strategic elements too? No way! Gameplay is simple and easy to grasp. You don't believe me? My ex's five year-old sister already learned to play Patapon. But that's where strategy comes in. Once you learn the basics, you need to adjust, adapt and attack :)	10
Sound	What's a very good Rhythm and Beat game without epic sounds? Patapon 3 not only returns with the cute sounds of "Pata-pata-pata-pon" and "Feeeevvvaaaahh!" but also adds in a little more rock into it. Having played the demo, I see that they made a great idea.	10
Replayability	Even Sony is confident enough to say that the demo will give you 100 hours of game time (heck, maybe even more!). Having played the demo, I don't think they can reach that long (as long as they don't try to unlock everything hidden there). Patapon 2 lasted close to a 100 hours in itself for me. But I still play it every now and then. You can't go wrong with Epic Replayability dude.	10
Overall	Patapon 3 is definitely going to be in the running for IGNs PSP Game of the Year Award, but it's going to be a challenge for it to win. Duodecim 012 Dissidia is expected to be released a few weeks after Patapon 3. Who knows? Square Enix is going all out with Duodecim. But I don't think Patapon 3 is going to be a letdown. We'll leave it up to the voters to decide then ^_^	95%

Here's a little video uploaded by yours truly showing how awesome Patapon 3 is from the trailer alone.