Bonus Post: Helloween is a Fantastic Man, LPing Nier

I talk about Helloween4545 a lot as we have established in the past, and it's not without good reason.  The guy is a genuinely funny person and a nice dude on top of it.  He also has a copy of Grimoire Nier which earns my eternal jealousy.  All of my eternal jealousy.

Of course, Nier -is- the topic on the table, which is fairly obvious from the post title.  This is just a short post to point out that, as you can tell from the above embed, he has actually begun the undertaking of LPing Nier which, as you know, is kind of my thing.  The Nier part, that is.  It's not a substitution for actually purchasing and playing the game yourself, so I am not advising you to watch this LP in lieu of doing that.  Because look, it's a goddamn wonderful game and it's like $20 if you can find a copy, much like Valkyria Chronicles.  (Unless something happened while I wasn't looking, of course)  It is a game that deserves to be purchased and played, so my plea is that you -do that-.

Though I realize that's not for everyone.  I get it.  I also realize that it's a game you want to experience multiple times.  For both of those situations, the LP is here and I'm not sure of the update schedule (I think once a week?), but it's definitely something to keep an eye out for.  So good on you, Helloween, you are a king among gentlemen.

Helloween4545 Reviews Valkyria Chronicles

Earlier today, thanks to a little twitter conversation with Helloween4545, I was reminded of something that I meant to do up a little post about last week.  You see, Helloween did up a little review of Valkyria Chronicles and since I made a post about the review he made for Nier, it's only fair that I write a little something here about this one as well.  I make no secret of it, but I love Valkyria Chronicles and Nier both dearly, so whenever I can point out something for either of them, I will do just that and happily so.  Funnily enough, during the post I made for the Nier review, I mentioned that he was doing an A-Rank (because I am pretty sure it's A, not S) Run of Valkyria Chronicles and manage to absolutely forget that between then and now.  Presumably because I can be a bit thick at times which we've all seen at various times, but regardless, due props to the man since he actually pulled it off which is certainly something I did not do.  Maybe it will be a goal to strive for next time I play, in the off-chance that I ever, ever find a cache of free time somewhere, but personally, I think I'd just be happy to play the game all over again, no matter what.

I'm going to do my best here to not review the review, but I'm making no guarantees, as I do want to point out some things said in the review.  Nothing really to argue -against-, but maybe just expanding a bit on what's said or voicing how I agree instead of just nodding my head and going "yep, yep, this is also how I feel" like a twit.  I like to add substance to things that are substantial already, as you know, which is honestly not a rare thing either.  A few things of note did pop out that are things what I could comment on, including the burning question of "Why didn't this game sell well?" to which I might have an answer to!  Perhaps several answers!  Because it is a thing that I spent a lot of time thinking about while playing the game, playing the sequel and dealing with the heartbreak in knowing that the sales of both games were not enough to ensure Valkyria Chronicles 3 safe passage to the states.

I would not be surprised whatsoever if the art style, while beautiful, put some people off of the game, since they took a look at it and scoffed.  "Oh, just another anime thing", they likely said and it's an infuriating thought, certainly, but one I probably couldn't put past a lot of people.  If not the art, then probably the story on that front since, regardless of how good it was, and it really was, some people just don't pay attention, they grab on to pieces here and there and use those pieces to just toss the whole thing aside.  I honestly cannot see anyone really disliking the game for the actual gameplay of it unless they just don't really grasp it and don't make an effort to do so, because the itch it scratches is a broad one, and it scratches that itch in the best, best way.  Though maybe, just maybe, the system they had to play it on might've been a breaker as well since it came out when there was still (hell, there -is- still) massive distaste for the PS3, which means being exclusive to that meant losing a lot of sales from people who could not or chose not to buy it for that reason.

I was honestly a little surprised by the comment that the soundtrack was beautiful, but forgettable because I remember the soundtrack being, well, really nice to listen to, certainly.  I also realized that I could not recall a single song outside of maybe a few beats here and there.  It was a pretty strange revelation and I even took a dip into some of the OST tracks on youtube to sort of reconfirm or at least refamiliarize myself with them.  Even still, I could hear the tracks, I could feel 'familiar' with them and such, but I could not remember how they went, nor after I listened to them, could I keep the tune without a bit of difficulty at least.  It's still got me a little surprised and I feel like there are one or two tracks that I am overlooking that are ingrained in my memory for good reason, but whatever they are, I simply cannot recall them right now, even though I really want to, clearly.  So I can't help but agree completely on that front since there is absolutely no way I can refute it, despite feeling like I should be able to.

Really, the review is something that I do encourage you to listen to because it pretty much reaffirms what a lot of us feel about the game already.  Not that we exactly need the constant reassurance that the game that we liked, that I liked, was liked by others, but it's nice.  Especially since there apparently aren't -that- many of us who bought and loved the game, despite it seeming otherwise sometimes.  It's hard saying just what's going to come from Valkyria Chronicles as a series in the near future and if we'll even get to enjoy whatever that is, thanks to the sad truth about VC 3.  Currently, the 'thing' about the series is Duel which will burn bright and fast before it's passed over for the next bright candle, and after that any number of things could happen.  An attempt to revitalize the series with a bundle deal that might actually hit the West, a new installment for any given system across the board, hell, maybe just a steady mange/anime thing that will be missed out on by most of the fans regardless.  We just don't know.  And it's a real shame because VC1 really was as brilliant, as wonderful as people like Helloween, like Chance or even myself would have you believe, but the series has simply found itself caught in hands that aren't as steady as it requires.

Bonus Post - Helloween4545 Reviews Nier

Now, I realize this is pretty different, even for me if just for the fact that there is not a post before this one today, meaning that it is not quite a Bonus Post, but there is a reason.  Well, two reasons, actually, but the big one is going to be pretty obvious if you're a faithful reader of this blog.  Before that, though, I just wanted to say that the reason this is a Bonus Post is because I'm writing it to get it posted up before the review of Trails in the Sky that will also be going up tonight, hence the second post.  I want this first because, quite simply, I want my review to be the top post for at least a night, since I don't know how many casual browsers just check the first post and then move on.  I would suggest that it is a number that is more than one, however, and while this post is important to me, clearly, a review that I'm going to spend hours poring over whilst writing it gets higher billing than a post that will, in the end, take me about twenty minutes to write.

This isn't the first time I've talked about Helloween4545, nor will it be the last, I'm sure.  As I've mentioned, he's a fairly well-known horror-centric 'Let's Play'er and is rather funny and good at what he does.  And it just so happens that he is a man of good taste as well, as, not only has he been A-Ranking Valkyria Chronicles missions on his newly-bought (well, refurbished, YLOD got his first) PS3, but he just so happens to be a fellow enthusiast of a little game called "Nier" which as you know, is kind of one of my favorite games ever.  I've only prattled on and on about Nier and Drakengard (the first, with which Nier shares a bit of connection with) for countless posts including three posts dedicated specifically to tracks off of the OST (which is still fantastic, by the way), so yes, it is kind of obvious, and I make no motion to hide it or anything because, well, why would I?

Anyways, lately Helloween has taken to trying his hand at video reviews of games that he's either LPed already or, well, just games that he knows of in some way, enjoys, dislikes, what have you.  They're reviews, so, that pretty much tells you what you need to know.  Having just finished his Let's Play of Cry of Fear, a Half-Life mod (which, despite its many, man flaws, is a pretty comprehensive mod), he put out a call on his Twitter for game suggestions for review, to which I sort of jumped on.  He was pretty receptive and we chatted about it a bit before it was pretty much just set in stone that he was going to do up a little something for Nier.  Now, I'm not so egotistical to think that I had anything to do with his decision to do that (since he pretty much said he's wanted to do something like it for a while), but I do find it rather cool that I talked about it with him and, well, it happened.  (I'm being link-crazy tonight I realize, sorry about that)  Because it -is- pretty cool.

Unfortunately, Nier is a hard game to try and review because, as I've elaborated on several times here, there's just so much stuff that would actually spoil something about the game or the story, that it's worth it to try and dance around that.  Because the story in Nier is absolutely fantastic and definitely worth experiencing first-hand whenever possible.  However, that's not an option for everyone of course and while a Let's Play would be the next best thing, we can't really expect one from Helloween anytime soon as he simply doesn't have the hardware to capture Console video reliably.  At the same time, because it is honestly part JRPG, it would be a really hard game to LP (not to mention some of the parts in the game are....different.  Incredibly so.), but as a labor of love, it would be something to watch.  Maybe some day he'll get the shot at it, but only time will tell.

I strongly recommend that you watch the review/gushing (Yes, I'm linking it twice) because it is really enjoyable to listen to and Helloween does a good job of trying to skirt around the spoilers and the landmines thereof while broadcasting why the game is worth your time.  Because it certainly is, we are in major agreement of that.  Regardless, I strongly recommend watching any Helloween videos if you're a fan of Let's Plays as he produces some professional, quality ones while also managing to fumble around in the games like only a person playing the game blind can.  It's part of the charm of the whole set-up, however, and some of the games he plays are likely better experienced second-hand, rather than first since....well, not all Horror games are well known for their stellar controls after all.  So go on, watch the review if you haven't already, and if you like it, grab a snack and kick back with one of the playlists for his other LPs.  Particularly the ones of Dead Space and Dead Space 2 might interest some of you out there.