SteelAttack said:

The second one discouraged me. Having to beat a crapload of people in 70 seconds or so with no weapons, and TWO hammer guys plus one ARMORED CYCLOPS. Fuck it.

Grab a grunt and run into the armor guys and try to push them off the arena. Thats it.

Dvader said:

Grab a grunt and run into the armor guys and try to push them off the arena. Thats it.

 That's what I've been trying! Fucking FUCK. 

Dvader said:

Steel is kicking my ass in the games beat department, wow.

 It's nice to see you enjoying your games though more (seemingly).  I'm up to 12 or 13 this year already, which is bizarre.  Since I got out of the competition at RoF I'm actually freeing myself up to replay games I've played in the past and also make different choices about the games I start -- and ironically this has resulted in a much higher completion rate).

Dvader said:

I can write a whole essay on this but no time now. DMC is the originator of the 3D action games we mostly have now, I was there from the start so I compare almost all action games to it and almost none can match DMC in straight up action gameplay. DMC is almost all about the combat and getting high combos to get high ranks in each level. It is not so much about finishing the game as it is mastering the game. The difficulty modes cause sweeping changes that require more and more mastery of the combat system, its not just increased damage. Replay value is not an extra, it is part of the gameplay experience, your first playthrough is almost a tune up for the modes ahead.

GoW1 borrowed from DMC heavly but made it very cinematic and mixed the actions with puzzles. Sadly the combat system was no where near as deep. GoW2 completely embraced  the adventure aspect and made a more balanced action/adventure game where it wasn't about action. As an action game GoW is not at the same level as DMC but as an overall game it is probably better cause it does everything right.

 Thanks for that.  I went straight into DMC2 after beating DMC1 and it didn;t take for me.  I'm not sure many games can sustain a back-to-back sequel play through.  I'll definitely get it done this year though (and then eventually 3 and 4)  Of the DMC's which is the best?

phantom_leo said:

Still feeling very drained, but Thanks for asking. I have scheduled a vacation near the end of April (coincidentally around the release time of MH3 and SSFIV), so I am holding out 'til then.

Yes, that's Mega Man 9. Splash Woman is the first, best boss to beat with just the Mega Buster.

Have you been finding Strange Journey "demonic" in your opinion? I know a few years ago you wouldn't have gone anywhere near a game like that, so I was wondering if NOW you find it offensive or not as bad as you would have originally thought.

SMT feels less offensive so far. I haven't played too much yet, but so far it doesn't feel as bad. I think offensive is the wrong word, more like disturbing or uncomfortable. I think the past SMT's sort of turned me off because of the undertones in the games. But Strange Journey feels like I'm just a space marine adventuring in a mysterious world, which is interesting.

I got try and beat Mega Man 9. I told myself not to get Mega Man 10 until I at least beat 9.

And hope the vacation helps you recover.

phantom_leo said:

^ You can't get much more Demonic than THAT! The Shin Megami games are equal parts EPIC and Blasphemous!

I don't think they go that far in Strange Journey, but with the Megaten games, YOU. NEVER. KNOW!

I don't mean to offend. I LOVE those games though!

No offense taken.

How far are you in with Strange Journey? No spoilers please, but if I do come across something weird, I'll find out for myself. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy the game as much as I can. The number one reason why I got it was it plays like Etrian Odyssey but with a story.

And yeah, those past SMT's are crazy, IMO. I'm sure they're very good JRPGs but I think I'd be too creeped out to play them.

Dvader said:

GoW2, cause it was a big improvement over GoW1. GoW3 is just as good but its too similar.

That's what I was thinking as well. I'm hearing a lot of people, including fellow VG Press members like you and Steel, say that GoW3 plays it a little safe.

I'm sure it's a great game but with the PS3's power and big budget, I wonder how much more they could've done with the game if they tried a little bit harder to go all out instead of being confined to the past two games?

It's still a must-play game though. Hope I can play it someday!

gamingeek said:

The February 2010 issue of the Japanese gaming magazine Nintendo Dream came packaged with a 100-page Zelda art book, featuring artwork from the original Legend of Zelda all the way through Spirit Tracks. I'm happy to announce that we at ZeldaPower have the full book scanned and uploaded for your viewing pleasure!

http://zeldapower.com/index.php/features/articles/nintendo_dream_zelda_art_book.php

Thank you much for this!

Love artbooks, especially Zelda! Nintendo is like a secret covert op developer. I never seen artbooks based on Nintendo games. I seen Square-Enix artbooks, other JRPG artbooks, I even own a few of these, but for some reason, Nintendo always keeps their concept art away from the public.

This is the first time I've actually seen official concept art from Nintendo, and not just any game but a Zelda game! Seeing these scans, it proves that Nintendo has some of the best concept artists in Japan! Sadly, they don't show their work that much.