Mass Effect -- A Universe of Information.

I am twenty-four hours into Mass Effect. I have spent most of that time doing side quests. I've completed thirty or so side quests. I've only done two of the story missions beyond the Citadel. I've been trying to do every side quest possible before being forced into a story mission. That's how much fun I'm having merely existing in and exploring the universe of Mass Effect. At first I was a bit saddened to hear the game was a fifteen to twenty hour affair. It's been great to find out that those people are rushing through the storyline and not much more. And that they're on crack. Because what's there in the universe and story of Mass Effect is something I'm enjoying immensely. I've been savoring it and taking my time. Mass Effect's story is really standard sci-fi fare, it's just exceptionally handled and well written. The best part about it for me is early on the game sets up a wonderful sort of detective vibe and it hasn't abandoned it. Mass Effect's universe is a little on the dark side which only adds to the tech-noir in space feeling for me. Little bits of insight into the overall story come from everywhere in the game. They're there for you to find or not. The more thorough out there will be rewarded with a richer story. And the depth of story is amazing. There is a large amount of lore fleshing out the background for the universe of Mass Effect. There is a ton of detail to be had on the history and the technology and the species and worlds of Mass Effect if you want it. I'm personally enthralled with all the detail involved. Someone else on the other hand would probably find the abundance of information a nuisance. Luckily for me I'm finding the story itself and the universe of Mass Effect to be downright fascinating.

Mass Effect -- Initial Impression.

We're moving on to another of the major releases this holiday season with Mass Effect for the Xbox 360. Mass Effect is the next game from BioWare, makers of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's Gate among others. Mass Effect is a science fiction theme action role-playing game. If you were to boil it down, Mass Effect is supposed to carry over everything from Knights of the Old Republic as far as character interaction and freedom in character upgradability are concerned while adding in a truer action based combat. You know, being able to walk a good, bad, or indifferent path while picking only the skills you want for each of the characters under your command so you can pretend you're having it your way. Only this time actually having to aim those shots in the combat this time around. BioWare is famous for making glitchy but good games with deep storylines and character. Based on my time spent playing the game it seems like there is great potential for good characters and a deep story. But it also seems they're still not making the most stable of console titles. Nothing fatal so far, just characters getting themselves stuck and being unable to regroup. The combat seems like it's going to be more enjoyable than the combat in Knights of the Old Republic with its illusion of action based battles. But just how deep is this combat going to be? And how deep are the characters and story going to get? Mass Effect is the first entry in a supposed trilogy of games. Hopefully the first entry leaves me wanting more. Only one way to know for sure, as always...

Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus -- The Expansion Arrives.

The expansion to Phantasy Star Universe has arrived. We're playing on the Xbox 360 version of the game and the expansion itself came without a hitch for us. The download arrived on Xbox Live Marketplace exactly when it was supposed to as did the title update that allows you to access the new content. And SEGA had the servers back up from the maintenance when they said they would. I'm typing this during an unscheduled maintenance though as it seems the PSU players who didn't get the expansion have been locked out of the X360 servers. So they've shut down the servers to fix the problem and allow them back in. The expansion adds a ton of new content. Most importantly new missions with new creatures and bosses and also rare weapons and armor and units and character classes. We've all spent the first day fiddling around with altering our characters and our rooms. Some of us are testing out new classes and weapon types. I've found or purchased some new synthesizing boards and have managed to create a bunch of new weapons. I've even found a new armor type. All of this new content is just great, but SEGA didn't just add new things to the game. They've seemingly fixed every issue people had with the game and a bunch of things we didn't even know needed improving. The stuff like moving to lobbies previously visited is great, but the stuff like warping to the lobby from block three of a mission instead of to block one is even better. Just about every system has been overhauled for the better. Nothing seems left untouched. And it all seems to be improved upon. I felt a palpable sense of the collective being impressed with the expansion thus far. Everything just seems groovy. Hopefully SEGA fixes the issues for the cheap bastards who didn't buy the expansion so the rest of us can get back to playing.

Super Mario Galaxy -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Super Mario Galaxy with one-hundred and twenty stars and have seen the true ending along with unlocking Luigi as a playable character. Super Mario Galaxy does a lot of things right. One thing I noticed while playing the game is the format of going from planet to planet has cut out the filler, and that's a great thing. You move from one planet to the next. From one challenge or puzzle to the next challenge or puzzle. You stay focused the entire time. The level designs are brilliant. Another area where the game excels is in the boss battles. They're great fun to play and surprisingly varied. Each and every one of them. The only complaint you can level at some of them is they're too easy and over too soon as you'd like them to last as they're that much fun. The graphics in the game are a mixed bag. The art direction is top notch. The worlds look amazing and have the classic Nintendo look to them while remaining fresh and interesting. No complaints about the aesthetics here. However the HDTV and Wii factor comes into play again. You can see the seems in places. The edges of characters and such suffer from jagged lines. It's especially noticeable in the cinema sections of the game. I do understand this fault lies with the Wii itself and that I should get over it because it's going to happen for the rest of the console's life but it still annoys me and most likely will continue to do so. The music is awesome. A wonderful mix of great new themes and arrangements of classic Mario music. It's great to hear selections from Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World. The sound effects are perfectly fitting and also classic Mario. The overall game really is Super Mario 64 part two with heavy influence of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. It's like they took the best from each of them in creating Super Mario Galaxy. They fixed most of the flaws found in Super Mario 64. The camera has been fixed. The camera is never an issue. The only real issue in the game is later on during some of the tougher stages where the playfield changes its orientation the controls sometimes lag behind or otherwise get mixed up causing deaths.  It causes some level of frustration that detracts from an otherwise perfect game. I'm thoroughly impressed with Super Mario Galaxy and most importantly it fully recaptures the feeling of charm and wonder and joy present in old school Nintendo games. The Wii has its true feeling Mario game, something I can't say for the Gamecube. Welcome back, Mario. I'm giving Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii a 9.5.

Phantasy Star Universe -- The 1-Up Cup: Wrap-Up.

We've reached the end of the 1-Up Cup within Phantasy Star Universe. The month has been good to us overall. There were some frustrations at not being able to get everything. Mostly rare items like the Blackbull dropped from the final set of boxes in the EX missions. S-ranking them proved harder than anticipated. We come away from the event in rather good positions going into the expansion come Tuesday. We're all at the level cap. The event allowed Riddel and Neo to catch Magus and myself. They wouldn't have likely been able to do so without it. Most of us are in S-rank armor and we've got some S-rank weaponry. Stuff available before the event but stuff remaining out of our reach previously. We're also all considerably more wealthy then we were before the event. I came away with eleven million Meseta. We've all got boards for armor and weapons waiting to be synthesized. We're awaiting the bonuses awarded to us based on our communal point total. We got further than expected in that regard with over four-million points. We unlocked all but the final bonus. We've got our unique event rewards like clothing and special weapons and armor as well. I would call the 1-Up Cup a great success. In the four days we have before the expansion we'll be taking it easy and just messing around with our alternate classes and counting the days.

Super Mario Galaxy -- Controls That Are Just...Super.

I'm just over one-third of the way through Super Mario Galaxy with forty-one collected stars. Mario has always been rather agile since Super Mario 64 and he remains ever more so with Super Mario Galaxy. All of his Super Mario 64 moves return in Super Mario Galaxy. You get his jump, triple jump, backwards somersault, side somersault, long jump, wall jump, and ground pound. They're essentially done the exact same way as in Super Mario 64 which is most likely the reason that Super Mario Galaxy is so pick up and play friendly right off the bat. You've been there and are comfortable with the controls instantly. The very first thing I did initially in the first level was run straight through all the moves listed above and they were executed flawlessly the first time and all within seconds of starting the game. Everything just felt so right. Not everything is as it was in Super Mario 64. There are some new additions to Super Mario Galaxy that of course change things around. The introduction of the spin attack as Mario's primary attack over the ground pound makes things new and interesting. The ground pound definitely has its uses like getting coins out of an enemy to refill some health but it's now the second string attack. The spin attack with enemies will result in causing them to give up Star Bits. The purpose of the Star Bits is as currency to be used at purchase points to further open up new areas in the game beyond those accessed by the stars earned from levels. The spin attack is done by waggling either the Wii Remote or the Nunchuck. Just a little shake. There is a lot of subtle context sensitive waggle in Super Mario Galaxy. Nothing too precise with the waggle, and that's why it works flawlessly. The controls are masterful for the most part. Every now and again because of the spherical nature of some of the platforms you can switch your direction unintentionally. It's relatively rare and truly a minor flaw. Super Mario Galaxy is another Wii game you can put in the controls great category alongside Zelda: Twilight Princess. The controls are tight and responsive and Nintendo of old feeling.

Super Mario Galaxy -- Initial Impression.

Next up for me is Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. This is normally the Thanksgiving game, for us adults and teenagers anyway. It's the Christmas game for the kids. You know the one, the biggest Nintendo release of the year. The one normally launched the week of Thanksgiving has come a week early. I have played the game through the first four stars. That's through the first story based training star and the three main stars of the Good Egg Galaxy within the Terrace section of the Observatory. What have I learned so far? I've learned that I'm going to end up hating the SDTV aspect of the Wii and how that plays out via HDTV. Scratch that, I already despise it. But that really doesn't matter at the moment because of what else I've discovered so far. I've discovered that Mario is back. Already I can tell just from the little bit of the game I've played. All of the charm and wonder and excitement and joy of first playing Mario 64 is present in Super Mario Galaxy. Everything that was sorely lacking in Super Mario Sunshine is once again there. It's good to feel this from a Nintendo game again. That old magic. That old charm. At least initially. Let's hope it remains throughout the full game. As always, there is only one way to find out...

Final Fantasy 12 -- Final Opinion.

Roughly one-hundred and ten hours later the final credits have rolled on Final Fantasy 12. I went ahead and just ended the game leaving a lot of what I wanted to do undone. The game is all around exceptional. It is without question the best Final Fantasy title since Final Fantasy 6. It pretty much does everything right while avoiding what's been wrong with Final Fantasy seven through ten. The story of Final Fantasy 12 is on the surface a story of politics and the behind the scenes positioning and maneuvering of the key characters involved. But in actuality Final Fantasy 12 is yet another tale of the crystals. There has been a lot of complaints that the story of Final Fantasy 12 doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy by so-called fans of the series. After having played the game I can say that those people are insane. Final Fantasy 12 retains the classic feel of Final Fantasy throughout. In fact, it's the game in the series most aware of itself in that regard. There are countless nods to every single aspect of the series and even other specific games. The characters in Final Fantasy 12 might be the issue here. They're actually great. They are however, not whining teenagers bemoaning the existential why of it all. They're predominantly adults who are entirely sure of who they are and what they have to do. And I couldn't welcome that more. The script is great. It's written in an almost Shakespearean level of flowery English speech. But it's not pretentious in any way. It's a smart script that moves along assured of itself and is always to the point. The only aspect that might take from the story is in that the game is so full of extra stuff for you to do that you can sometimes step away from the story in the game for ten to twenty hours or so. It might not be a constant in the game depending on how you end up playing it. The battle engine and all of the related systems are the best in the series. Everything works perfectly and has depth and remains fun throughout. The graphics are as good as the PlayStation 2 is ever going to produce. The sound is very well done. All of the classic Final Fantasy sounds are in place. The music is very well done and Sakimoto wisely avoided trying to mimic Uematsu's style. The score fits the differences present in this Final Fantasy quite well. A couple of classic Uematsu tracks like the end of battle fanfare work their way into the game of course and he did compose the ending theme. The voice acting is exceptionally well done. Each of the characters are unique and the voices fit. My only complaints with the game are minor at best. There are an awful lot of palette-swapped monsters in the game. Not the RPG standard of three or four, but each of the monsters might show up as ten or more variations. I thoroughly enjoyed Final Fantasy 12 and even after a hundred and ten hours I still want to go back and finish everything off. That speaks volumes as to how well I liked the game in my opinion. I would have done so, but bad timing and all that. I'm giving Final Fantasy 12 a 9.5.

Final Fantasy 12 -- A General Update.

I'm one-hundred hours into Final Fantasy 12 and am up to searching out the Ridorana Cataract. I've been spending my time earning license points and filling in the bestiary and doing the hunts. I have a couple of characters fully completed on the licensing board. I've earned the title of Knight of the Round in hunting and only have a few more hunts left to complete. I regret starting Final Fantasy 12 when I did. If I had started it in summer it would have been the ideal time. I could have taken my time and fully completed it as I wish to do. I wasn't expecting to take to it like I have. But I didn't start it in summer, I started it in the middle of the holiday season. And now I'm torn between shortchanging the game to get it out of the way of everything else begging to be played this season. I'm just going to have to get it done before Super Mario Galaxy arrives on Tuesday. I'm high enough level to finish the game up now, so it won't really be an issue. I just sort of feel bad about having to do it...

Phantasy Star Universe -- The 1-Up Cup: Week 4.

We're entering the fourth and final week of the 1-Up Cup in Phantasy Star Universe. We were able to once again earn all of the points across each of the difficulties. We were rewarded with ninety Rappy Feathers, a unique weapon in the Song For Death, and the long sought after Rappy Suit. We spent our feathers on various reward items available in the trade mission. The Colony EX missions were a bit tougher than we were expecting. We weren't able to S-rank either of them, although we did manage just a few rare drops. Again mostly for Riddel. On the bright side everyone is now at the level cap of level one-hundred. The final week of the cup brings with it the previous missions with an extra EX mission for each. They're offering new creature sets with new rare drops. And we'll be able to go back and farm for rares we missed originally. It should prove a good distraction for a week. Then the torture of awaiting the expansion for a few days begins.

Virtua Fighter 5 Online -- Initial Impression.

I've started messing around with Virtua Fighter 5 Online for the Xbox 360. Magus and I spent some time knocking each other around in online versus battles. Right off the most obvious thing comes with the game's title. Virtua Fighter 5 Online is just that, it offers Virtua Fighter 5 with online matches. I'm not going to double-dip for a lot of games. In fact it's very rare for me to do so. I've done it here. I own the PlayStation 3 version of Virtua Fighter 5 and I've bought Virtua Fighter 5 Online. The online aspect is just that big. Another thing that's immediately apparent with the time I've spent with the game is that it's absolutely gorgeous. It's an amazing looking game. Both in the character models and the background stages. The game is just filled with little touches and graphic special effects like the puddle you're fighting in splashing water off of the fighters whenever they're doing any moves or the snow deforming based on where the fighters move. The game also has a booming soundtrack. The game's score and hit sounds and character voices all burst from the speakers loudly. As all fighters should. The goofy character phrases return showing that Virtua Fighter might be the best fighter ever made but they still have a sense of humor. They do the combat in such exquisite exacting detail but have fun with absolutely everything else. From our initial session Magus and I both didn't notice any lag and we had fun knocking each other around. It's safe to say we both came away impressed. I'm rusty beyond belief though. Virtua Fighter is one of those games you have to learn over again each time a new iteration comes around. At least for me, as I don't constantly play. It's definitely a use it or lose it skill set.  I'm looking forward to getting back to fighting shape.

Phantasy Star Universe -- The 1-Up Cup: Week 3.

We're entering the third week of the 1-Up Cup in Phantasy Star Universe. We were able to earn the ten points for the Neudaiz mission on each of the three difficulties. That leaves the final ten points on all three difficulties for the Colony mission that happened to go up today. Once we've done that a bunch of rewards will be open for us. We're looking at a unique weapon, clothes and parts, and a whole lot of Rappy Feathers. We're also slowly but surely moving along in the communal points where we'll be given bonuses like unique weapons, clothing shop discounts, and boosted weapon and armor synthesizing rates should we be able to earn the needed points to unlock them. The Colony mission brings with it a bunch of new rares that will drop in both creature and box drops. We'll be hunting those. Hopefully we'll be as lucky as Riddel was with Neudaiz, she got just about everything she wanted, save one item. Magus and I will be building skills and bullets while Neo and Riddel chase the level cap. They'll more than likely reach it this week. The 1-Up cup is still a smashing success. We have one more week after this one and then about four days off before the expansion Ambition of the Illuminus arrives. Can't wait.

Final Fantasy 12 -- Ivalice.

I am seventy-three hours into Final Fantasy 12 in the imperial city of Archades with my primary party members at level fifty. The world of Ivalice is lush. It's far more full than any other Final Fantasy before it. There is a great amount of lore to be found that expands on the history and cultures and creatures of Ivalice. You can get this information from the non-player characters roaming the villages and cities as well as filling out the bestiary. When you fight a new creature it is entered into the bestiary along with a needed number. This number refers to how many creatures you'll need to kill of that specific type to earn some extra lore that will reveal some more information about Ivalice. It's good stuff that just adds a better understanding of the world in which the game takes place. It also helps that Ivalice is a world spanning many games with numerous races and classes with a far more interesting dynamic than previous Final Fantasy worlds. It's a far more colorful palette at their disposal used to paint the story of Final Fantasy 12. Next time should cover the story and characters of Final Fantasy 12...