9 hours 9 persons 9 doors

i beat it.... but wait... why didn't i call this completed?

well see the game has 6 endings.... i happened to get a bad end on my first try (thats what i get when i go with the flow~) but still the game is great and i wanted to say if you can find it go buy it now...

it is one of a handful of games rated M on the DS but seriously it's worth it.... but again.... i'll talk about it more once i've finished it all...

First Impressions: Lux-Pain

I live fairly close to a game store and every so often I find myself there looking for a new game.... despite the pile of half finished games I have waiting for me...
anyways thanks to this i have picked up a few games that most of my friends haven't heard of and can't give me an opinion on... So i tend to take the gamble and most of the times these games are around 10 bucks so it's not expensive for me....
i've gotten good results (Avalon code, the entire Falcom series of games) but i've also gotten burned (a witche's tale, hoshigami remix.... i'll have to write about these later.) the gamble has become part of the fun when it comes to playing a new game....

Now i will specify that this is 'New to me' game.... not necessarily the game that just came out...

So the other day i found myself at the store once again lookign at games and one jumps out at me...
"Lux-pain"

why would this random sounding title jump out?

1) anime styles character.... yes it's common on the DS but the art looked interesting and thats almost always what gets me to pick something up.... I judge things by their cover.... i can't help it... and i'm pretty sure you can't either.

2) Ignition Studios Logo... i can't remember that game i've played by these people off the top of my head but the recognition of the logo made me pick it up... and finally the last reason was...

3) There is katakana under the title.... you almost never see this on north American releases cause.... foreign languages scare people? It says (phonetic translation~) Rukusu - Pein.... so...yeah thats fun

so yeah.... i thought why not....
now when i said most of my friends won't know about the random games i pick up there is one friend i have who always knows it.... i held off on telling him i bought it until i had started to play.... i didn't want to hear anything good or bad to colour my opinion of the game.

So first i had to charge my 3ds.... i know playing ds games on a 3ds is not pleasant but my DS was signed by someone and i don't want to rub it off so oh well~ anyways i charged it and popped the game in.

Now i'm used to games giving some kind of tutorial so i didn't read the instruction manual cause i get tired being told the same thing multiple times..... yeah that wasn't terribly smart.

This game doesn't hold your hand at all... there is damn near nothing (so far) that comes close to any kind of tutorial

You are Atsuki, a boy with ash hair and black eyes who is part of something that is hunting an original carrier for silent and you need to find terms from worms and residual seiren and
WAIT---- this is too much to throw at someone who just put in the game.... you get damn near all the information before doing anything. I am alright with being thrown into a world as long as it is explained.... but just handing me a stylus and saying "okay you take it from here!" is a bit overwhelming.

so thanks to the info on the top screen you can pretty easily figure out what to do.... but not really how to do it.... more on that in a minute.

when you scratch away at reality you come across these 'worms' that kinda float around and if you remove them you get terms.... terms seem to be left over emotions and every time you find one your granted this cool typographical artsy cut-scene... the other characters explain that these worms are cause by a virus known as Silent which thrives on negative emotions and is the reason for many suicides and crimes being committed.

great.... a game dealing with a plague.... well if i can handle the trauma center games then this shouldn't be too hard...

anyways your goal is to find the original carrier of silent and to stop them in hopes of stopping the outbreak since it seems to get weaker the further away it gets from the original... it has brought you to this town and eventually a school within the town.

anyways you meet some characters and eventually try out all your tricks that the game has to offer and then finally save and head to the next day.... Hurray it takes place in October.... wonder what crazy things will happen on my birthday~

so i play a little into the second day.... this girl needs to have me extract her terms and so i scratch away at the screen lookign for this hidden on (didn't know it was hidden at the time) and i get a game over despite having a minute to spare...

So i'm all "what the hell did i do?" and the games like "destroyed her mind silly.... try again.... oh you didn't know that you could save? to the start of the day missy~"

so i closed the ds and read the damn instruction manual. apparently the bar at the top wasn't a timer like i thought but instead a mental bar that if 'scratched away' nets me a game over.... i also learned how to save, a little more of the backstory and things like searching the area for hidden worms.... the game of course explains none of this but hey.... whatever.... it's cool.... i can read....

so i flipped it open.... got back to the spot and tried again... success~ yay
i felt like i had more then enough to write something quick about it after all that.

so some good things and bad things...
The voice acting isn't bad and it's pretty odd hearing voices that i'm 99% sure are Monica Rial and Greg Aires in video games
maybe i'm mistaken?
*research time*
Nope i'm right~ they are in this game

anyways so the voice acting - good..... writing? bad bad bad bad bad bad BAD
well okay it's not that bad but it has two things going against it.... game specific terms.... that it expects you to just know and understand.... and the Voice acting doesn't follow the script.

but wait.... a second ago i mentioned the voice acting was good.... but it doesn't follow the script?

okay we've all (well okay maybe not all but just level with me) played games that have poor or awkward translation into english.... be it spelling or just grammar choices that don't seem right.... well it seems the english VAs realized that the script was awkward and clunky and they change almost every line.... but in a way that makes more sense.... all the information from he line is still there it just feels more believable. so yeah....

also if you hadn't guessed by now..... the plot is extremely complex.... at least for now... i'm sure the further in i get the more the story will make sense but right now i am confused.

Also I'm surprised this got brought over... cause this is barely a game.... granted i haven't faced a silent yet but so far all i have done is scratch away at reality and turn worms into terms and then click the terms.... very very very chill game and i like that so far...
people call it a 'visual novel' style adventure game.... i've not played one this intense yet but so far so good... i look forward to unraveling this mystery...

 HOWEVER this game is panned by critics, no one seems to like it since the translation is so badly done.... we'll see how this goes~

also it's funny.... i bought it 'used' but i found it odd that there was no save file.... i have a feeling the person who owned this before me screwed up and destroyed the mind of the person who you meet in chapter 00, didn't know they could save.... had to start from the start of the game and gave up... or erased their save file before trading in the game.... i like my first theory more cause it means i beat that mysterious person! and if anyone remember the layton stories.... i don't tend to beat previous owners of the games i buy *le sigh*

alright... this was a very long first impression of a game.... sorry about that

Completed: The Ace Attorney Series

well seeing as i have no more queued reviews i figure why not dip into things i have completed in the past, This is mostly be for games cause i have a tendency to re-watch shows or re-read books but i almost never replay a game.

I may get some details wrong because for a lot of these it has been a long time since i beat them but I promise to do my best.

A little back story~

Back in high school there was a lot of buzz about this point and click game where you play a defense attorney and how it was surprisingly good.
Then I didn't hear anything about this series for a few years.... and I completely forgot it even existed... Until one of my friends was talking about the plot and it sounded really fun, we were at a con and i happened to come across a vendor selling the first game in the series for 5 or 10 bucks.... so i took a chance and bought it.

And thats where this whole thing began.
To date the games in this series that have been released are...
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for all
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trails and Tribulations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (the first series in the game to not have Phoenix as the main character)
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (the first game where you was around... i'll get into that)

So as you can probably tell, if your like me and sort things alphabetically.... this series throws a wrench into that. it's one of the few series where i just do it in order instead of alpha.... *sighs*

The first game in the series introduced the main cast.
You play Phoenix Wright, a young defense attorney fresh out of law school... and a bit of a moron, luckily you have your mentor beside you to help you along the way--- what? she dies in the first not tutorial mission? well.... that sucks..... oh but she occasionally possessed her little sisters body to help out.... well that is nice of her.... 
Anyways the game is broken up into two main parts. Investigation where you look around the crime scenes to search for clues and evidence and Court room where you have to present evidence to prove your client innocent.

Investigation is easy but can be frustrating...  the game wont let you progress till you've gotten all the evidence you need... and if you miss one tiny little thing and you have many maps to look over it can be annoying to try and find whats missing... and it tend s to lead to a lot of yelling at the DS things like "but i looked there already!"

The courtroom is the only place you can take damage (in the first game at least... and again it's been a while so i don't remember if this is entirely correct) In the first game you have 5 exclamation marks... get five answers wrong and you start the day over........ unless you did what i did and save before every answer and if i got five strikes just reset the game so i could jump right back in without restarting.

I personally enjoy the courtroom more then the investigations but you do tend to have a few situations that can be annoying.

one is you'll know how to solve the case right away but you can't prove it till the game allows you.... almost everyone i talk to feels this way about the Steel Samurai case.

The other is when the game goes "oh i know how to prove this, it's so simple" and you as the player just think "it's great that you know Phoenix.... wanna fill me in?"

but still the story is cute and i love all the characters.... but since this is a poitn and click game.... there really is only one way to beat it and that means no re playability.... the closest thing you get it lending it to friends and having them come ask you for help.... but sometimes you even forget... oh well...

The second game puts Phoenix's name first, why? i don't know.... probably to upset people who order things alphabetically.

There are a few changes to this game, instead of 5 exclamation marks you get a bar, some questions will do more damage to you.... some even will take away the entire bar if you screw up... the other change is that you can now take damage when investigating.... kind of... see your given a megatama by Maya Fey, the previously mentioned younger sister of your dead mentor.... this allows you to sense when people are hiding something, you go into an alternate scenario where you see the locks people have put on this secret and your job is to break through the locks without putting them on edge. this is really fun since it takes elements from the courtroom which i like and puts it into the investigation segments which aren't as fun....
that begin said when you see multiple locks on a persons secret you kind of whimper cause you know you have to find a way to get all that info out of them.

this one also has a lot of great character development especially in the last chapter which makes up for the fact that i believe this is the shortest of all 5 games.

the third game has the best story and characters by far.... as well as more character development and that's probably why i love this series so much.... yes the game play is fun but the story is really engaging.... also i love that each characters cellphone ringtone is a midi version on their overall theme, i have a friend who tends to use Pheonix' cellphone ringtone as his own and it makes me laugh every time.

Then we get to game 4.... and everything changes.
First game made exclusively for the DS.... that's right the previous three were ports from the GBA...
the first game to star a new defense attorney.... in fact this game takes place many years after the third game and Phoenix is pretty much a hobo after being disgraced by one of his cases....
it also mean no megatama.... no locks to break.... instead Apollo has a bracelet that tightens when people are lying.... it's your job to find their nervous twitch.... i really like this.... but there was one i got stuck on for a long time and i actually had to gamefaq the answer.... i was so upset with myself. 
despite all the changes i really liked this game.... but i think Phoenix is better then Apollo.... but i guess i just need to give it time...
also there's a lot of forensics in the game... which is something we only got a taste of in game one and i think it's a welcome addition.  

finally the last of the released games.... and the most different out of all of them...
i've technically done a completed of this all by itself... but i'll mention things here. 
this is TECHNICALLY a spin off since your playing a persecutor.... not a defense attorney.... also as the title suggests... it's all investigations.... no court... you still do all the things you would have done in the court on the outside but still... no judge.... : (
it's also the first one to let you walk around the scene... before you were just a cursor hovering over an image.... it's fun and the story was nice... most people like Edgeworth more the Wright so i geuss there's that as the bonus.... there is a sequel on the way and i can't wait to too how they have tweaked it since each game tries to add something new.

there is a cross over planned between this series and Prof. Layton... it hasn't come out over here so i can't talk too much about it other then i really really really really want it. i love both series so much and i'd love to see how the two mix.

Also there is a stage play based off the game and a movie being shot... haven't seen either so i can't talk about them but i do hope they are good.

alright, the TL;DR is if you like point and click games then this is a really fun on to pick up, most places sell it cheap. all 5 games are for the DS but the crossover game is slated to be for 3ds.

so yeah.... go play it

Completed: Tales of the Abyss

this is the 3ds Version that was just released not the Ps2 version but i may comment on the slight differences.

To date i haven't played very many Tales of Games, i have played Phantasia, Symphonia 1&2, i tried to play destiny but it wouldn't play on my console and now i can add The abyss to the list.

So i'll start by saying Next to Falcom games the Tales of Series is one of my favorites. Tales of phantasia was the first rpg that i beat, i mean lv 99 all summons all magic all items.... 100% so the games are near and dear to my heart. However they aren't perfect.

So lets look at the good and the bad of Tales of the Abyss (in my opinion of course)

Opening:
Right off the bat this intro is amazing, i could tell right away it was the instrumental version of a song which made me kind of sad... especially when i heard the original version with words.... which makes a really good song even better... but it's in Japanese so i understand why they changed it. but yeah really good song, it's called Karma by BUMP OF CHICKEN. The lyrics fit the story perfectly and the music adds so much to the mood. but we just get the instrumental in North America.... i'm just happy to have a tales game in general.

Story:
We begin with Luke, a spoiled brat with long who seems to just be existing... he hasn't left his mansion in 7 years since he was kidnapped and doesn't remember his past. but he's not completely alone. Guy his servant/friend is always by his side ready to cause trouble within the mansion as well as he is trained by one of the Oracle Knights, who goes by Van, in fact he's the leader of the Oracle knights.

However one day during training the mansion is broken into and a mysterious girl attacks with odd magic Luke has never seen before but as the girl goes to attack Van Luke rushes in to fight her off. When there weapons hit there is a bright light and next thing Luke and the girl know they have been whisked away to unknown lands.

And thus our story begins. Unfortunately this is where all the in world gargain gets thrown at you in full force. Normally i hate when characters throw around words and expect you to just understand what that is supposed to mean *gives a sideways glace at FFXIII* but this game takes the approach of Luke knows nothing of the outside world so when other characters are explaining things we get the "oh right the main characters a moron who's been extremely sheltered, this is what all that means" this works pretty well for the most part. but yeah... lots of in world words thrown at you really fast.... to name a few: seventh fonons, Yuliya's Score, Fon Master, Field of Fonons, Fonons, Lorelie, cheagle. now having played the game through all that makes sense but at the start i just kind of stared at the screen.

after a while we find out the murderous girl, Tear, is actually pretty nice and didn't mean to take luke from home and will help him get back...  we meet someone called Fon master Ion, essentially he's the most powerful position of this world religion, his Guardian Anise and their Escort Jade. prety soon after that Guy shows up again and they all work together (kinda) to get luek back home.

But this is an RPG.... things are never that easy.
without giving away much more the main world mechanic is that there is this thing called the Score, a prophecy given mostly once a year but you can go in a get it done more if you want... anyways personal ones are vague... but the one known as yuliya's Score actually is quite clear and so far 100% accurate.
Unfortunately when things are already set in stone for you... you tend to rely on it and not try to do anything on your own.... and that's is really the crux of the story.... how to deal with yuliya's score.... both those who follow it blindly and those who try drastic measures to get away from it. It also deals with the sleeping God Lorelei and the fact that Luke seems to be able to talk to him (kinda)

and that's all i'll say without giving away spoilers.

so.... i really like the combat system... a more linear action based game BUT you can move around in the fight area... the characters are all really well developed... every bad guy has a story and a reason why they stand for what they stand for.... all the protagonist have an arc... (thought there is a section where luke starts warming up but then he goes back to being an jerk almost out of nowhere.... i'm guessing it's the task getting to his head but yeah... that was odd) and as shallow as is seems.... it has costumes in it... i love when games allow you to change costumes.... it's just fun.

the things i didn't like seem to be constant through all Tales of games.
"go here, it's south west of where we are now.... now go here.... past the desert east of us...." there is a lot of navigating.... which on foot is okay.... but once you get the airship....
"go to this town" the game states smugly
"but i've never been there and i don't know which direction it's in.... hm... maybe the people know? nope.... oh a skit? maybe? well it reminded me where i need to go.... oh oh oh i know *check synopsis*" and of course if it's not there... off to game faq just to find out where i'm supposed to go.... also don't tell me "it's on the content of Rugnica!" and expect me to remember which content that was.... but yeah especially in the third part there is a lot of "go here, then here, back to where you came from, go tell the church, now the kings, back to the church... for funsies..." which is fine at that point cause you have a jump opinion but still... it gets a little annoying traveling from cutscene to cutscene.

also, the 3ds version has random slowdown on some areas of the map... i found specifically near bridges.... no idea why but compared to the ps2 version the load times are much better.... i never played the ps2 versions but i did see a lot of comparison videos out there.

so other then that... i adored the game, it made me laugh, it made me cry (a few times) it deals with some pretty deep plots and it's hard to tell if what your doing is always the right thing... and that's what games should do.... make you wonder if in fact you are really the good guy... or just a group of racialist... okay it never goes that deep into the plot but it was close.

if you don't own or haven't played the ps2 version and you have a 3ds then get this game.... the entire thing is in 3d and it adds a little dimension but it's not a necessary thing to the game.... so yeah,,, really solid game and i hope more Tales of games are ported to 3ds.... it's nice to have it on the go. I put about 45 hours into my first play through so i felt it was worth the money.... plus that awesome intro song..... so good...

alright time to call it a night, i have a little fanart of luke in the works and i'll probably post it tomorrow.