Big Update

Okay, wow, so it's been a while since I've posted anything on here. No, I didn't forget, as I've been thinking about posting on here for quite some time now, just never got around to it. Once again I'm going to apologized in advance, as I may be jumping around quite a bit, I've got a couple of items to discuss.

First off, I finally finished Just Cause 2, or at least I finished the story and missions. Overall I'd say it was a worthy purchase, considering that I'm still playing it after the story has concluded. And so, after finishing the game, I can go back and think about my previous thoughts and comments. I complained quite a bit about the writing and plot, and I'll be honest, my feelings there haven't changed much. I didn't even find out the full extent of the plot until the very last mission of the game, so that was a little disappointing. And the title of the game also didn't make sense until one of the very last lines in one of the last cutscenes of the game. At least that was a good line, so I can give the writers that tiny bit of credit. I just wish there were more than seven total story missions, as I feel they could have easily expanded upon the story, and made some incredibly epic missions (besides the ones they already put in the game, like fighting on inbound rockets). Maybe I'm just used to GTA stories, which are long, deep, and have many missions to go with it. As far as my complaints about controls, I retract some of my statements. The cars still control like crap, and would even take the worst of the GTA cars over the JC2 vehicles. Aircraft, on the other hand, control much better than I originally thought, they just needed some time to get used to. No, they're still not as good as GTA IV or GTA: San Andreas controls, but still good enough to pull off some epic maneuvers and stunts. I still have the game on my play list since I'm hoping to get as close to 100% completion as possible. For a reference point, I'm at around 68% complete now, and finished the game at 51%, so it could take a while.

Moving on, I also finally finished Picross 3D. And when I say finished, I mean I 100% completed the game, beating every puzzle in good times with no mistakes, achieving three stars on each. I would definitely recommend the game to any avid puzzle gamers, as it's quite addicting. I'm honestly not sure which I enjoyed more, Picross DS or Picross 3D. They both (I'll admit) have great control schemes, are similar in some regards (both being picross puzzles), but also completely different at the same time. Picross DS required quite of bit of counting and using a trial and error mode. Picross 3D had smaller overall puzzles, but made for more twisting and turning using logic to figure out which blocks could be removed, and also a few guesses, since there was no trial and error mode in that one.

Before I go into what games I'm currently playing (for those paying attention, that list has completely changed), I'd like to switch subjects to books for a moment. My currently reading list has also changed. While I am currently in the middle of a handful of books, I decided to take those off the list, since I'm not actively reading them. However, I finished Pygmy (by Chuck Palahniuk) and thought it was a pretty good book. Not a great book, but a good book. As far as where I put it in comparison to Palahniuk's other fiction novels, I'd put it somewhere near the lower middle. Not the best, but not the worst. The fact that it's completely written in a way that a foreigner is trying to speak english (not well) gives the book bonus points, as it felt more engrossing. While I'm talking about where I rank his books, I'd like to finally put the books in order from the best to the worst, all in my opinion of course, since I've read them all up until his newest novel (Tell All) which I will not buy until it comes out in paperback.
1. Lullaby
2. Invisible Monsters
3. Fight Club
4. Haunted
5. Diary
6. Snuff
7. Rant
8. Pygmy
9. Survivor
10. Choke

Enough about books, let's get back to games. Last week I went on a shopping spree on Xbox Live, and ended up getting five games for $23. A pretty good deal if you ask me. I got Shadow Complex for $5, Turtles in Time: ReShelled for $5, Breath of Death VII (an indie game, by the way) for $1, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for $5, and Kodu (another indie "game") for $5. I should have plenty to play for the next few weeks, if not months.

Shadow Complex is a Metroidvania game, a side-scroller platformer with upgradable weapons, hidden areas, and block-like maps. I really don't know how to explain the games, and if you don't know what a Metroid or Castlevania game is like, then you've missed out on some fantastic games, and a huge cult genre. I haven't played much, but it's fun so far, though not as good as any 2D Metroid (besides maybe the original). Aiming the gun can be a pain, I prefer the directional controls of Metroid and Castlevania games. While the graphics are very nice, having depth in a game like this just isn't a good idea. Maybe my view will change later with some really cool boss or something, but so far it's really annoying having to aim to shoot a guy in the background. And having items hidden behind foreground objects could prove to be a pain later in the game. I like the fact that it's based off of an Orson Scott Card novel (author of the Ender's Game series), even if the novel and sequel didn't sell very well (and didn't seem very interesting either from reading the synopsis).

I bought Turtles in Time: ReShelled because it was pretty cheap, and Nate wanted another game for us to play over Xbox Live (playing Perfect Dark over Xbox Live with Nate has been pretty fun by the way). The developers took the old Ninja Turtles arcade game, overhauled the graphics, and tweaked the gameplay. It's still as cheap as it used to be, with almost unavoidable traps, but the gameplay is still just as fun. It's a game where I actually wouldn't mind trying to get all the achievements. Now, I'm not an achievement whore, but I do like to get achievements, just for replay value. Unfortunately, most games have achievements that are extremely difficult to get, stupid, or just lame (I don't feel like playing a game over and over again on different difficulty levels just to get another achievement).

Breath of Death VII is an indie game, so it was made by a random person out there who is not a big time game developer, and is selling his/her creation for cheap. It's a RPG, and if you can't guess from the title, it likes to poke fun at all sorts of videogames, from RPGs to other random games. Sometimes it's a name or a line quoted, and other times it's a cliche game idea implemented. The gameplay is fun, and is a little unique with power-ups in mid-battle, which is nice. While it may only be 4-6 hours long, it is well worth the $1 so far.

I've only played a small bit of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but I'm liking it. I don't normally play or like Castlevania games, but that's because I find them to be too difficult for my tastes. SOTN was cheap however, and since you can level up (and it's a classic game, duh), the purchase seemed like a good idea. We'll see how far I can get before I get too frustrated, and if I actually finish the game.

Finally, my last purchase was Kodu, another indie game. Except it's not really a game. Instead, it's a program one can use to create other games and mini-games. The examples I've seen online are pretty basic, and it may seem like a dumb purchase, but most people don't get to see the programming involved. It took me over five minutes just to figure out how to make a character move forward when I pushed the control stick forward, and turn when I pushed the control stick one way or another. It's a program that will take some serious time and effort to produce something even small, but I think it will be a fun tool to fool around with.

And no, I have not put any more time into Persona 3 yet. Haven't been in the mood lately. As for the other games I had on my playing list, I just haven't played them at all, so they're taken down for now. I'll go back to some of them later.