61 - GrimGrimoire (PSN)

Genre: RTS
Rating: E10+
Developer: Vanillaware
Publisher: NIS America
Platform: PSN (PS2)
Release Date: 2007

For some reason I never got around to purchasing or playing GrimGrimoire. Despite being a crazed PS2 fan from 2004 onward I skipped over a lot of gorgeous-looking games (Eternal Poison, Odin Sphere). Why? I think there wasn't enough money going around for me to pick up each and every cool game. So, it was super lucky for me that the game recently came out on PSN. I grabbed a review copy of the title and finally got to experience it. Review can be found here.

First thing that must be mentioned about any Vanillaware game are the graphics. The game looks fantastic. The 2D character portraits appear to be painted and even if they aren't it is extremely pretty. They also "breathe" and emote more interestingly than most do for other games employing the same static character technique. The in-game RTS battle stuff at first looked kind of like a gussied-up Flash game but I got over that. By the time I was halfway through I was totally immersed in strategizing and stopped noticing the slightly lower quality of the monster sprites.

There were some weird things in the game. Like, it may have just been me but there appeared to be some LGBT subtext between certain characters throughout the story. If that really is the case then I'm impressed since it's not pointed at as some odd token thing. It's just there... somewhat. Perhaps I just had my gaydar turned up too high.

Overall I'm sad I missed out on this game when it first came out. It's super fun and a pretty good challenge too. I'm mostly surprised they managed to make a RTS game that doesn't suck on a console. I'm still on the lookout for a physical copy of the game but until then my PSN one will have to do.

Would I play again?: Yes!

53 - Two Worlds (360)

Genre: RPG
Rating: M
Developer: Reality Pump
Publisher: SouthPeak Games
Platform: 360 (Also: PC)
Release Date: 2007

Two Worlds is a game I knew nothing much about. I know that it came out and was always compared to Oblivion. Because of that, everyone said it was terrible in comparison. I mostly ignored those statements because why focus on comparing two games? A game by itself may have its own merits. So, with that idea firmly planted in my mind I picked it off the shelf and started playing.

Oh my god Two Worlds is so strange. I knew something was terribly wrong the moment I saw the main menu. As is customary, I usually go into the options and check out things. On the options, it had button mappings for changing an option, leaving the menu, and whatever. However, this button mapping information obscured some of the actual options. This terrible main menu scheme wouldn't pass any inspection in bigger games, and shouldn't pass in any game. The main menu isn't important though as gamers should only spend a few seconds there before jumping into the game.

Starting it up I was greeted with really amateur text overlaying the opening video. Again, this doesn't mean anything aside from the fact the people who made this game are not pros. That's fine. Getting into character creation made me sad because there were very few options. There was no facial modifications, either in shape or general styles. In fact, the only thing you could change is hair color, style, and eye color. Oh, and the height of your warrior. At least that meant I couldn't create a horrifying face like often happens in Bioware games.

Finally taking control of my warrior I discovered the true quality and terror of the game. It appears that the developers made a brand new engine for the game. At the very least, it isn't any popular one out there. It felt like my console must have been breaking the way it ran. The camera for the game world is extremely strange and made me a little motion sick. It's awkward and something that any gamer would instantly recognize as slightly "off". The character models were okay, but everything else felt half-done. Animations were all really strange and at times laugh out loud funny.

Really though, the main reason I talked so little about the actual game was because I got killed by my first orc confrontation. Apparently it's not a forgiving game either!

Would I play again? No.

50 - Vampire Rain (360)

Genre: Action adventure
Rating: M
Developer: Artoon
Publisher: AQ Interactive
Platform: 360
Release Date: 2007

This game is awful. You are part of some squad who investigates vampire activity. However, for whatever reason the team is horrendously ill-equipped to take care of the vampire menace. From what I experienced, you had to be stealth around them. When being spotted by a vampire, there's only a few seconds to hurry out of their site or else it's instant death.

This isn't the only game that's so strict. I can't think of what other games are so tough at the moment but there definitely are others. However, this game is just way too dorky and boring. The story is uninteresting, the characters are bland, and even the graphics aren't exciting. The gameplay feels more like a PS2 than anything else. What this game seems like is one of the Simple series in Japan (Earth Defense Force and Onechanbara are some Simple series titles).

Really, I couldn't even get past the first vampire without dying. Because it annoyed me to die so quickly in the game (a tutorial mission!), I attempted it again and again. However, I must have been overthinking it because death kept coming. Basically, if you ever see this game do yourself a favor and avoid it. The only reason to get it is if you collect crap games.

Would I play again? No.

49 - Skate (360)

Genre: Skateboarding
Rating: T
Developer: EA Black Box
Publisher: EA Games
Platform: 360 (Also: PS3, mobile)
Release Date: 2007

Skate caused a reaction in me that I haven't felt for a while. I really wanted to play it. The thing is though that I absolutely hated it. From the moment I started playing to when I finally put the control down I was cursing and gripping the controller much too tight.

Unlike the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series, this skateboard game feels a lot more realistic. In Tony Hawk games there were always some goofy things going on. The physics were strange and millions of tricks could be pulled off easily. Skate feels a lot more down to earth. Basically, Tony Hawk is like dream skateboarding and Skate is more down to earth. It isn't as if Skate isn't goofy at all either, but it tries a lot harder to be a more of a replication of the sport.

The control method is really cool. You use both analog sticks for movement. You must flick up the left analog stick in some direction to jump the skateboard up and do various tricks. The right stick controls the skater's body. You use them in sync to pull off tricks and it's not nearly as easy as it should be. In fact, the game is damn hard and the map is confusing.

Most of the stuff about the game is fine, except that the control scheme is so hard to take control of. It felt like playing Stuntman, which also requires near perfection from the player to get anywhere in the game. It is so hard. It's too hard. Somehow, I found myself playing it and failing over and over to simply get somewhere in it. I wanted to prove myself to the game. I don't think I'll pick it up anytime soon in the future, but it was one hell of an experience while it lasted.

Would I play again? Maybe.

34 - Bioshock (360)

Genre: FPS, Horror
Rating: M
Developer: Irrational Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Platform: Xbox 360 (Also: Mac, PC, PS3)
Release date: 2007

When this game came out I was super psyched. It looked like an incredible shooter with horror elements. What mostly made it seem so fantastic to me was the style. The world of Rapture was a dirty, crazed art deco dream and I wanted to live in it. God damn if those initial preview videos and screenshots didn't tantalize my younger gaming self. This was without me having ever played the System Shock series, which it was a spiritual successor to. The game just looked damn great.

I can't say I remember too much about playing it those few years ago. All I really recall is the gaming audience at large shouting about how creepy the game was when my thought was "you call this scary?". Obviously everyone takes to "scary" stuff differently but it was anything but. Despite that dismantlement, the game was a dream to control. I still feel that way about the controls. They're very tight and responsive for being a console game. Maybe the difficulty is toned down, but it's not very hard to nail shots.

I still enjoy the backdrop for the game and the controls and the voice acting. The story however leaves much to be desired. I couldn't really care less about what was going on with Andrew Ryan and Atlas and whatever on earth else. It just doesn't seem a very pressing tale - and why am I helping anyway? FPSes generally aren't renowned for the tales they weave, so Bioshock can be forgiven on that count.

Speaking of easy though, this game is terribly so. Yes, I am playing on the easy difficulty but sometimes even then in other games I'll meet with an unfortunate end from time to time. There is just constant opportunity to revitalize your health that it's not worrisome. They really could have just given you health that automatically recharges and it would have been about the same. Overall, I really like the game and am about 3/4th through it right now with no deaths. I'll get back to it after I polish off other games.

Would I play again? Yes (to beat it).

31 - Dai Senryaku VII: Exceed (PS2)

Genre: Turn-based strategy
Rating: E
Developer: SystemSoft
Publisher: Valcon Games
Platform: PS2
Release date: 2007

I first saw this game randomly in the new PS2 game section at Game Stop. I saw it again months later brand new (actually in shrinkwrap) at Wal Mart. I picked it up and almost bought it but then went with Raw Danger new instead. This was only a month ago. What are these years old PS2 games doing brand new in retail stores still? It's a bit of a mystery to me. However, upon visiting the same Wal Mart a week ago the PS2 section was cleared out.

Onto the game. Well, I can't actually even begin to tell you how this game works, because I just plain don't know. It's a turn-based strategy game. You are in control of some Japanese troops and fighting against an opposing army. That's fine but I could not figure out how to control my troops, read the map, or generally stop sucking.

The game ended so fast as my tanks meandered unknowingly into enemy territory time and time again. My commanding was the most shameful affair that the AI had ever encountered, presumably. It was bad. I'm sure if you're someone really interested in turn-based military games then this would be great. But for me? Noooo thank you. Advance Wars will do me just fine.

Would I play again? No.

25 - Chulip

Genre: Adventure
Rating: T
Developer: Punchline
Publisher: Natsume
Platform: PS2
Release date: 2007

A few years ago I tried this game out but never bought it. The idea intrigued me: level up by going around the town kissing people until your true love will reciprocate your feelings! The idea of the game has stuck with me through the years but I'd basically forgotten everything about it.

Playing the game I realized why I put it down so quickly the first time. It's very, very slow. It's very Japanese as well which might turn some people off. There's no murder or car crashes or explosions but just you and your father in a strangely Animal Crossing-esque world. Despite the ponderous pace of the game I really enjoyed playing it.

There were various plot points laid out relatively early in the game and there was always something going on in the town that you needed to take care of. Each character was a specific personality and overall the game oozed with a cute, Japanese charm.

At first I thought I might just sit and play the game to completion for it didn't seem very easy to die. However, finally I was presented with the option to jump down from a higher plot of land to a back yard below. Of course I took that chance and ended up plummeting to my death. It didn't seem that far, I swear!

Would I play again? Sure.

13 - NeoGeo Battle Coliseum

Genre: Fighting
Rating: T
Developer: SNK Playmore
Publisher: SNK Playmore
System: PS2 (Also: Arcade, Xbox 360)
Release date: 2007

This is a pretty solid fighting game. It follows along the lines of some fighting games in the past where you are presented with a stack of characters from various different games all brought together in one brawl. There are guys from Samurai Showdown, Metal Slug, King of Fighters, and more.

Something funny about this game is that the group hosting this coliseum fighting contest is called WAREZ, which is of course a term used to name pirate goods. SNK Playmore has said that piracy was a huge hindrance to them and part of the reason they ended up closing. This tidbit of information reminds me of Segagaga and makes me need it so much more than I already did. But, back to this game!

I got to the 2nd  last round of fighting with my Iori/K team before finally getting my ass handed to me. Going by the rules i set up for these posts, I figured I'd let that Continue screen get the best of me. I'll probably play it again though because I love the characters presented and still don't have a copy of Capcom VS SNK 2.

Something also very worthy of note is that my Iori was in a purple color scheme. I never really know which button to pres for whatever color palettes straight off, but whenever possible I go for a pink or purple coloration. It's especially fun online to bruise the sensitive ego of 14 year olds everywhere when they're beaten down by a pink-clad character.

Would I play again? Sure.