REVENGEANCE is Officially Heading for PC

You know how sometimes there's news for a game that you -really- want to talk about because it's something that you're really excited for, but the news is essentially a single sentence?  Like, "Metal Gear Rising: REVENGEANCE is getting a PC Release" and that's really the whole of the news available for it?

Yeah.

This is one of those times.

Of course, me being me, I want to be able to say more than just that because of the reason why I bring it up in the first place.  That being:  REVENGEANCE is sweet-as-hell and you should all buy it because there's literally no excuse now.  Er, soon.  No excuse soon.  Ish.  Unless you're a weird person who solely games on Nintendo things. But, as stated, those people are weird. (I'm mostly kidding, clearly)  Really, with the game soon-to-be-available on all of the major platforms (Wii U notwithstanding) then there really is very little reason that you could not pick up the game, though whether or not you -should- is clearly where the question lies.  If you will allow me, I would like to make a very strong argument as to why you -should- buy it on PC if you truly do not have the means to have already purchased it on PS3 or 360.

Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE is probably my Game of the Year at this point.  That I haven't actually sat down and written about it in a manner that befits it is criminal and I don't really know -why- I haven't done that aside from creative barriers and the like that have suddenly cropped up.  However, I have meant to, and I have alluded to that fact several times by this point.  It doesn't make up for it, of course, nor does it excuse it, but it at least makes it less of a 'surprise' at this point.  In all reality, it might be that I simply have a hard time quantifying what I feel when I actually play REVENGEANCE and, hell, when I -remember- playing the game.

When I say it's probably my Game of the Year at this point, I say that with full knowledge that I've actually played quite a few new releases already this year with many more on the horizon.  I say it because there are few words that can effectively convey the fun and joy that I experience when I actually play it, though I suppose mentioning fun and joy is a good start.  Playing the game, actually playing it....is just a dream.  It's less about playing the game, about the mechanics, about anything than it is about using everything you have to just have as much fun as you can.  Every room full of enemies is a new chance to pull off some sort of amazing combo, if not in numbers, but in executions.  A chance to dismember every one of them in a different way if that's your thing, or a chance to find new and exciting ways to take them out as you get new weapons added to your armory.

The thing about REVENGEANCE is that, despite its fairly linear structure by nature, there's a staggering amount of freedom when it comes to the fights because of how freeform it can be.  Not only with weapons, with sub-weapons, but with little things like appearance and style as well as the Wigs that enhance your abilities in some fashion.  Throw on the Brown Wig and become a Grenadier.  Stun everyone with whatever's handy before you eviscerate them.  Stay back and pelt everyone with rockets because you have a rocket launcher in your pocket and you ain't even -care-.  Do whatever you want.  Do whatever makes the game fun for you because there is a way for that.  I cannot fathom someone playing REVENGEANCE and not, eventually, finding a way to play it that makes it an enjoyable experience for them.

Beyond actual confirmation from both Kojima and Platinum saying that REVENGEANCE will be on PC, there's...really nothing else that we know.  No release window, no price, no anything.  If it's towards the end of the year, we could probably hope for a Not-$60 pricetag or, if it has one that the Sam and BladeWolf DLC packs are included with the purchase.  Being that they're both already out -now-, it stands to reason that they are going to be part of the porting process and, one would hope, bundled with the game to make it a more enticing purchase.  But regardless of any of that, the game should be an enticing purchase because it is friggin' Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE.  Buy it when it comes out.  Enjoy it.  Because it's a hell of a ride.

I still recommend "The Frank Jaeger Experience" as a method of playing REVENGEANCE

Good News and Bad News for Zone of the Enders

So remember when the Zone of the Enders HD Collection was announced and I was all "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee~" because it's friggin' Zone of the Enders in HD?  And then remember when it came out and was, er...less than well-received because of speed and framerate issues which are absolutely debilitating to fast-paced action games like this?  And then it was...largely unspoken of from any angle as they just went ahead and did other things?  Well, there's where the good news comes in, as there's a patch for the game in the works.  For the PS3 version.  And....maybe don't click that link just yet.  It'll become a little obvious as to why in a few minutes here, so just bear with me.

In reality, the article makes it seem like the patch is already more or less 'done' and they're just testing it out and such before it's released.

Zone of the Enders HD Collection’s transition from 30 FPS to 60 was not as smooth as Kojima had hoped for. While it wasn’t as noticeable to first-time players, those who enjoyed the original seamless fast-paced games were able to feel the choppiness. (For a comparison, check out Spencer’s playtest.) Kojima believes that such action-heavy games deserve nothing but the smoothest gameplay to fully enjoy. Due to this problem, Kojima and his team have re-programmed the entire game, and will release a free PlayStation 3 patch that should fix the problem and greatly enhance its performance. There won’t be a patch for the Xbox 360 version for the time being.

It's hard to tell if the 360 version won't be patched for the same "technical reasons" as the Silent Hill HD Collection or if it's just because it didn't sell well at all, but in either case, I'm not too sure there'll be the same Konami out-reach for people who have purchased the 360 version.  Which is a shame, of course, and I might be wrong, but it's reasonable enough to think as much considering how low-profile this whole thing really is coming across as.  And to be fair, I'm not quite sure the extent of the issues with the ZoE Collection versus the Silent Hill HD Collection, while knowing that the latter has been described as 'dire' at times.  Which is, you know, a Bad Thing™.  Still, issues are issues and I haven't personally played my copy of the ZoE HD Collection (that I literally picked up for the REVENGEANCE demo and then never played), but knowledge that it might become 'flawless' in comparison to the originals sparks an excitement in me that only the original announcement managed to get.

So that's the good news.  But, as stated, there is bad news and....well, bad news might be under-stating things a bit here.  In similar fashion to the good news, remember when The Enders Project was announced?  As in the threequel in the Zone of the Enders series where actual, literal models of the robots were being made and then scanned into computers and rendered with the FOX Engine to look badass as all hell while also being fully-functional and such as a regular model?  Well, er...okay, now you can click the link above (or this re-link).  Maybe also sit down if you're not already.  Because, well, The Enders Project might just be cancelled.  Or at least postponed for a while which...might ultimately lead to the same fate as that sometimes happens.  Regardless of the future of it, the present of it is that the game has entered a period of re-evaluation, which is never a good statement to hear.

Not only has this incident prompted Kojima to work on a patch to fix the problem, but it has also put a halt to the Enders’s Project which was announced last year as a Zone of the Enders sequel. The entire team behind the project has been dismantled, as Kojima would like to re-evaluate the franchise before moving forward, he says. Furthermore, he also wants to re-evaluate fans by asking once more, whether they would still like to see a Zone of the Enders sequel.

Obviously the most worrying piece of that is the statement "The entire team behind the project has been dismantled" as that really hammers in the idea that it's just out-and-out done.  Yet, as the eternal optimist, I can't help but say that maybe it was just dismantled to be...you know, reassembled, reconfigured at a later date once they know for sure whether or not they're going to go forward with the project.  Which will most likely be once more work on The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes has been done, since, well, I can't imagine Kojima Productions has enough manpower for three AAA-Quality games to be worked on simultaneously, or at least not to the degree of quality that we expect from the studio.  Because, especially with the FOX Engine involved in all three projects, it's likely a bit tasking to work on all three games, no matter how many people are around (though it's likely not enough, as stated).

Yet another piece of optimism that I can't help but attempt at is wondering if this realization of the HD Collections issues, and the subsequent work in re-programming the entire game, has been the reason for the radio silence on the announced Vita version of the collection.  Obviously, it's easier to say that it's just been quietly cancelled and that could very well be the truth to it, but the issue was likely apparent right from release and the programming work probably didn't start right away, but as soon as it was feasible, meaning a 'hold off' order on the Vita version for the...ahem, very busy High Voltage Software, if they, indeed, were even tapped to work on that version as well.  Or if anyone had been tapped by that point.  Basically what I'm saying is now that the PS3 version has been entirely re-programmed and it's apparently very easy to port from PS3 to Vita that perhaps the game -will- see a release on the handheld, given Kojima's support for it, if nothing else.

Unfortunately, this is something that we might not ever really 'know' about, in the realm of it actually being announced.  If the game actually comes out on the Vita eventually, well, we'll know, but if 2014 rolls around and there's still no word on it...then, well, we'll probably know that way as well.  Still, it doesn't hurt to have some -hope- for something like this, as a portable version of Zone of the Enders:  2nd Runner is always something to hold out hope for.  Without an official statement, it'll be something that I'll consider a possibility for a time yet, and it'll only be when the time for 'timely' release has come and gone and left the house cold that I'll accept anything less.  Since, as stated, a fully-functional version of the HD Collection on PS3 (as well as the very loose release window of it) could very well mean good things and a simultaneous announcement.  We'll just have to see how KojiPro handles it, really, but the patch is certainly something to look forward to for PS3 owners.

in all seriousness, I will choke a bitch for ZoE HD Vita

Well, This is Something - REVENGEANCE Trophy List Mentions "PS Vita"

Earlier today, after I got my Platinum Trophy for Guacamelee! I checked my trophies just for posterity and noticed something....strange.  Something new.  As you see above, the entry for Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE suddenly has PS Vita listed in its trophy section.  A quick Googling reveals that, no there isn't any news about this that I managed to miss, but I am not alone in noticing it either.  Obviously the idea is that this points to a possibility that REVENGEANCE will see a Vita port despite past suggestions that it would not, but it could just as easily be some kind of error.  And while I obviously would hope for the former, I'm not going to suggest that the latter is the more obvious of the two possibilities.  Even though the former would be really, really cool....in theory.

So let's play around with the theory for a bit.  Let's say that, despite all previous indication, Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE is indeed heading for the Vita in some form.  That right there is the first question - what form is it going to come in?  Physical and digital is almost a given, but more to the point, I meant what state of being.  Since the PS3 and 360 versions are already out and have DLC put out for them, is the Vita version going to come afterward and include all the DLC to justify a stand-alone price?  Or is there going to be some sort of Cross-Buy/Cross-DLC situation so people like myself who are already entrenched in REVENGEANCE financially don't have to shell out an extra $40-60 for that entire experience on the go as well?  Mortal Kombat and Disgaea 3 on the Vita have sort of set a precedent for the former, if nothing else.

Honestly, doing stand-alone would probably be the easier and smarter option for everyone.  Much as I would like to avoid making my entire Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE investment ~$210 by buying the Vita version (provided it bundled the JetStream Sam and BladeWolf DLC at the very least), I would do that in a heartbeat.  REVENGEANCE is just too good and the ability to play it whenever I want is a dangerous one indeed.  Oftentimes, while playing REVENGEANCE, I only stopped playing because I knew I -had- to because of other obligations, or because I beat it.  Again.  It quickly transcended from "Game I need to play because I want to and I just bought it" to "Game I need to play because oh my god" and all the way to "Game I want to play forever because oh my god".  While I was doing practical things like farming the arms that the game wanted me to pick up and S-Ranking whatever I could, I was -also- stuffing about with things like "The Frank Jaeger Experience" in which I just suited up in the Gray Fox suit with the Fox Blade and ran around cutting things with abandon, yelling "HURT ME MORE".  Also giggling.

The game is just fun.  I could be more specific and I will be some night after I have sat down and played it a bit more (since I have played Tomb Raider, Deus Ex:  Human Revolution, Disgaea 3 and Guacamelee! at least in the meantime since I have played it) and can elucidate my points a little easier, but the general gist is that REVENGEANCE is just a fun thing to play.  And I like fun things.  Fun things are, indeed, fun.  So while I am constantly struggling to keep at least two gigs of space on my Vita's paltry 16 Gig memory stick, I would certainly kick out some of the things I have tried to keep in the off-chance that I will want to play them to make space for REVENGEANCE, should it arrive in a form that would require a lot of space.  Like digitally.  Like in a delayed cross-buy scenario.  Which I doubt would happen, but I am open to the possibility.

In practice, it's a hard thing to imagine, though.  The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection also set a precedent for being a stand-alone, full-investment game that only offered Transfarring (also known as Cross-Save), which I would also expect in a case where REVENGEANCE got a Vita version.  It also set a precedent for being roughly the same price for less game than the console counter-parts (completely lacking Peace Walker in -any- capacity, including a download voucher) which is...less than inspiring in that it makes me think of a scenario where I can only play as Sam on Vita if I pay another six dollars.  I also worry on the technical slant of things because, while the PS3 and 360 versions ran quite smoothly (and needed to, being the type of game that REVENGEANCE is), I'm not sure I have faith in anyone's ability to port it faithfully, keep the framerate tight while -also- not muddying up the visuals a lot, as they did in Mortal Kombat.  The Vita is a powerful machine, make no mistake, and I think it definitely could be possible to do it...I just don't have a lot of faith in developers putting in the required effort to make -it- happen.

Of course, this is all basically just posturing here.  If Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE is announced for Vita, you could just find that gif of someone throwing money at a computer monitor over and over again and that would be me.  (that's a thing, right?  Someone make that a thing)  There is no way that I -wouldn't- buy REVENGEANCE on another platform that I could play it on because it is just that good of a game.  So while I hope for a lot of things, that it would be put out at a reasonable cost, that it would run smooth and look great and that it would justify a late port with more base content, I can't honestly say I would take a moral high ground or anything if it didn't.  I would just buy the hell out of it and play the hell out of it.

Forever.

or at least until Terraria comes out....then I will probably play that for a long time

Music! Metal Gear Rising: REVENGEANCE Edition (For Real This Time)

In the middle of my third playthrough of REVENGEANCE, I've finally come to the realization that it's not only Mistral's Theme that I'm a fan of, but rather the entire soundtrack, now that I've heard it so many times.  It's not a fondness through repetition, nor was it something that is particularly catchy - It's simply that after hearing the tracks enough times, I could pin it down.  When you find yourself humming along with it, or timing your movements to certain parts of the song, well, yeah, you know it well enough.  That I'm listening to them outside of the game is probably proof-positive enough that I enjoy them, I would say.  Especially considering the versions I'm using require more than just listening to the soundtrack I got (since mine was just the instrumentals).

I didn't exactly plan it this way and it is technically a slight spoiler to sort of...state things this way, but I'm going ahead with it.  Of the three remaining boss fights (of the core group anyway, not counting the final bosses, you know the drill), I ended up sort of ranking them, and wouldn't you know it?  I like them in the exact order through which they come up.  Beyond my above-and-beyond enjoyment of "A Stranger I Remain", of course, which is outside of this post anyway, so no worries.  That said the first song of tonight is "The Stains of Time", which is Monsoon's theme, the second member of the 'Winds of Destruction'.  (Mistral being the first)

I'm just using the Remixed versions of every song since, given they're the closest we have to 'Official' as I ranted about, it's just the easiest way about things.  I've noticed that, compared to Mistral, not a whole lot is lost in the three remixes for tonight which is comforting even if they are still way too short by their very nature.  It's hard to really pin down -what- I like about "The Stains of Time", but if anything, I'd have to guess the guitar, because let's be honest, it is pretty damn kickin'.  The vocals are delivered well and fit the song pretty nicely, while the lyrics are actually pretty good as well.  The chorus being the best part of it all, if only for the punctuated delivery you get.  That would be the part of this song I tried to synch things up with when I was fighting Monsoon, but, well, that didn't happen.  Still was fun trying, though!

After the Monsoon fight, actually quite a while after, you end up fighting Sundowner who is the first member of the Winds of Destruction that you're introduced to in the game.  For good reason too, as he's actually the leader of the three of them. Presumably their basic cyborgs as well, but mostly the three of them.  (Mistral, Monsoon and Sundowner).  There's some codec conversations in the game that describe their theme and their name origins which, of course, all have to do with winds and specific regions.  Sundowner, specifically, is some type of wind condition in California or something - honestly it's interesting in the game, but I can't retain that sort of thing.  Still, nice that they put some thought behind it.  Continuing his little theme with 'sun', his theme is titled "Red Sun".

Not gonna lie; the vocals of this song are really what drew me into it.  The opening riff is nice, but it doesn't carry very far into the song.  When it ends, though, the vocals pretty much kick in right then and I didn't even really pay attention to the lyrics the first few times I really started listening to it.  When I did, though....it's almost kind of silly how out of place the lyrics -are-, in a sense.  When you play REVENGEANCE for yourself (and you damn well better if you haven't already) and are in scenes with Sundowner and eventually fighting him, remember that "Only love is with us now, something warm and pure / find the peace within ourselves, no need for a cure" is part of his official theme.  And then hold your head like a Psyduck and get back to enjoying the game.

The last video tonight is the theme of Jetstream Sam who is probably the most featured bad guy in all of the trailers that have been shown for the game.  With good reason - Sam is pretty much awesome, even though is is a bad dude.  Now, I know I said there were only three members of the Winds of Destruction and they all had Wind-themed names and yes, Sam has a wind-themed name, but he's not an official member.  He's just sort of working with them for the bigger picture in REVENGEANCE which I am not going to say anymore about because spoilers and I've spoiled enough as it is.  Still, Sam's theme might actually be my favorite of all four now, and I don't want to stall anymore.  So without further stalling "The Only Thing I Know For Real".

I....am pretty certain that I don't have to explain why I like this song.  Nor do I have to point out what there is to like about it.  I will do the latter point, however, and tell you what is great about the song:

Everything.

There's a really interesting sort of fusion feeling behind it, with the 'whistles' you get that are reminiscent of Samurai duels and the like, along with the rockin' guitar and such.  Which, funnily enough?  There is a reason for it that's openly given in the game in several different ways.  And it is similarly pretty awesome.  When you actually get to hear it in-game, it cranks up the intensity to 11 and makes it one of the more memorable sections.  All of this is purposefully said to entice you to play/buy the game, of course, so please do that.  In droves.  Because I want Metal Gear Rising 2:  RE-REVENGEANCE.  So do you.  But mostly me.

There are other songs on the soundtrack that are equally worth a listen, but these are pretty much the most important ones, by virtue of being the boss themes, so that they're awesome is good.  Quite good.  And really, that's all I wanted to convey.

CUT ALL THE THINGS

If you will allow me one thing before I get started...

Ahem.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!

Alright.

So, obviously, I picked up my Limited Edition copy of Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE (I will be doing a Bonus Post to go over the box, the contents and offering pictures.  Also bragging.) today and brought it home after a few detours that cut into my playing time drastically.  That was not so great, but it's a thing that happens sometimes.  When I did manage to get home and unbox the thing finally, the first thing I did was pull out the Soundtrack and pop that into the ol' PS3 to import it, taking a look at what we were talking about in terms of Video Game OST here.  Since a lot of "included" OSTs tend to be like, 10 tracks when the -actual- OST has like 40.  I figured that would be the case here since, really, how many tracks could the game have, and how many were they just going to 'give away' like that?  So, imagine my surprise when I popped up the little disk icon on the XMB, hit Triangle and hit Import and was first introduced to the 32-Track, 630 (ish) MB, Hour and change long OST.  I will assist you in this venture:  my surprise was vast and all encompassing.  I haven't -actually- listened to it yet, just imported it, but I will because I've already heard some pretty great things in the game itself.

That was not the first, nor the last surprise that I was visited by this game and specifically this Limited Edition.  No, the first surprise was when I walked into GameStop, informed the clerk of my reason for being there, and he reached down and pulled out this massively tall box (comparatively speaking) by a handle on the top of it and placed it on the counter.  "Holy crap", I said, unable to stop myself.  "That is huge."  "Yeah, I was really surprised with just how big they were.", said the clerk with a little grin that I myself shared.  Right then and there, I knew my purchase was 100% justified, yet it would astound me hours later when I didn't even know the half of it then.  "It's blue."  someone chipped in from behind me.  Both myself and I looked back to another customer in line directly behind me, as he was pointing at my box.  "The sword lamp.  The electricity is blue, it's awesome looking.  My friend sent me a picture of it earlier because he knew I had to wait until later to get mine."  He then produced his smartphone, brought up the picture of the arcing blue electricity contained within another sword lamp to which myself and the clerk "Oooo"d and "Ahhh"d over for a moment.  Good times were had by all, I concluded my purchase (After also pre-ordering Tearaway, Soul Sacrifice, Deadly Premonition:  Director's Cut, Tomb Raider and The Last of Us Suvivalist LE since the Post-Apocalypse is all sold out whyyyy) and left, eager to get my foray into REVENGEANCE started.

Hours later, when I got home after the annoying sidethings I had to do, I went through the process described above, popped in the disk and allowed its Day One patch (presumably for the DLC, both pre-order and non) before it then had to install as well.  These times, when these things are downloading and installing, these are the hardest times ever, and it's only when a game like Binary Domain and Metal Gear Solid 4 comes along and -does- something with Install screens that you truly appreciate them for doing that.  Because the install wasn't that big, nor did it take too long, but the minutes stretched into hours and I only steadied myself with a quick couple rounds of Jetpack Joyride on my Vita - the last mission eludes me yet, but I will accomplish it one day.  Eventually, the download, the install were all done and I could finally, finally begin seeking revenge with a vengeance.

Like with the just mentioned Binary Domain, I didn't know quite what to expect, walking into REVENGEANCE, but I did expect something good.  Something fun.  And much the same as with that situation, I got a -lot- more than I expected, finding that at no point in my four hours of playing did I stop grinning, did I stop chuckling and getting excited by all of the wonderfully awesome things on the screen.  The game is beyond fun, it's beyond good - it is exquisite, and it's a whole different beast than I was expecting, but a beast that I've been wanting without knowing it.  I'm only a couple boss fights into the game as it stands, but it has already been a goddamn experience and my mind has gone wild with the possibilities and the realities of just what this is.  And what REVENGEANCE, so far, is, is a game where you do so much cool shit, so much fun shit, that it makes your head spin.  I jumped on a string of missiles to cut a Metal Gear RAY in half.  I remote controlled a Dwarf (those things with the arms) to zap a bunch of guards into unconsciousness where I then went around, cutting them up and absorbing their sweet, sweet electrolytes.  I cut a Gekko into 100+ pieces while wearing a Sombrero.

Cut all the things indeed.

Oh Lord, This REVENGEANCE Trailer

Okay, we are all aware that I am completely and totally hyped for Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE, yes?  Yes?  Of course.  You are probably like "Mogs, I do indeed know of your hype level for Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE because you have spoken of it several times and, in fact, I do not know how you could be -more- hyped for it."

TO THAT I SAY WATCH THE EMBEDDED TRAILER.

I'm not sure I can really put into words, coherent ones at least, what it is about that trailer that gets my blood pumping in the best way, but good goddamn if that's not the game I'm anticipating the absolute most at this moment.  I mean, yes, we still have The Last of Us coming this year but The Last of Us won't let me cut five guys into chunks in the span of three minutes and then also cut two giant robots into slightly larger chunks, but still chunks nonetheless, in the following two.  The Last of Us won't feature a goddamn cyborg ninja driving a car for unknown reasons.  It also probably won't feature gravelly Raiden voice acting that I can't help but like despite the inherent cheese to it, mostly because of the dialogue.  The Last of Us will have plenty of good things, wonderful things, but it won't have these things and these things are what I want right stat now.

The thing I like about that trailer, aside from everything, is that it showed story -and- gameplay right after one another, letting you see how the transition goes which is rather smooth.  The story is going to be all levels of silly, even moreso than a normal Metal Gear game, and that is just fine by me.  I am expecting high action with some intrigue and a few twists thrown in here and there, but beyond that?  Not a whole lot more.  I don't see how I'll be disappointed on that front.  The more batshit crazy it's all presented, the happier I'll be, I suspect as even though it's canon with Metal Gear Solid as a series, this is obviously going to be a wild ride, being a Platinum/Kojima project.

The gameplay though.  Oh man, the gameplay.  I have gotten over my whinging about the classic "I cut stuff and it doesn't come apart" Action game gripe, which is the whole of the combo system, mostly because it seems like your foes will all be non-organic, or at least mostly non-organic.  This?  This I can handle.  And Zan-datsu is obviously a more focused cut, so it will obviously be way more effective than a regular slice and I am justifying this yes, but for good reason.  Because the game looks awesome and fun as all holy hell.  I'm not quite sure, but it seems like Zan-datsu is something you can enter and leave freely (with the express purpose of spine-hunting, of course, but also for cutting ALL OF THE THINGS) which is astounding to me.  Mostly because it serves some utilitarian purposes as well - at one point, if you were watching carefully enough, you'll notice that Raiden sliced a missile in half as it was flying towards him, effectively disarming it.  And you really don't have to cut right for the spine - you can just lop off an arm or leg(s) if you feel like it, and the combinations of all that will be really, really fun to explore.

Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE is going to be one hell of a ride and I honestly am counting the very minutes until it's released on February 19th.  If at all possible, I know now that I'll be shelling out the near-ridiculous price for the badass Collector's Edition, simply because yes, I want it that much.  I want all of it that much.  If not for the super awesome lamp, then for the badass soundtrack that will be full of tasty guitar riffs and high intensity.  But still, mostly for the super awesome lamp that I may or may not ever plug in because it is -too- good.  But one way or another, the game will be mine as soon as it is earthly possible and that day will be a glorious one indeed.  It will really make me wonder what the rest of 2013 can hope to offer in terms of something that will top this.  Because this is pushing all of my buttons in the best way possible.

Metal Gear All The Way Down

So, there was a lot of news that pretty much dropped at the same time that involved all things Metal Gear.  Except REVENGEANCE.  All that got, pretty much, was a handful of screens, maybe a new trailer, but I doubt it.  Which, I say I doubt it because I'm not going to look for it because I am pretty tired at the moment and, thus, lazy.  Regardless, even if there was another trailer, it can't really compete with the other news which is funny because the lid has been slammed on shut to one of the bits of news specifically so it wouldn't out-shadow Rising.  But that's neither here nor there and since I am still excited about REVENGEANCE, I decided to throw up one of the new screens in honor of it instead of throwing down the picture for one of the things announced.  I'm silly like that, I suppose, but also I don't particularly care about the other bits of news right at the moment since they're basically just announcements and only that.  No real meat to sink into or anything of the sort.

The first bit of news up is the announcement of Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops, which rounds out the recent social game explosion quite nicely.  I'm not sure if there's anything at this point that separates Social games from Cell Phone games, or if it's just supposed to be a better term to take away from the Cell Phone aspect or what, but there's been a Persona 4 one, a No More Heroes one and certainly a couple more announced lately, and it is a -thing-.  Not a positive thing, nor a negative thing I suppose, depending on your taste with mobile games, but I do find it a little funny that they keep getting made.  If only because it shows a very obvious disparity in how the developers listen to 'fans' and how 'fans' go about deciding things, righting things with their wallets.

Whenever one of these social games get announced, nobody really seems for them, yet they sell, apparently, and thus more get made.  But with the amount of near-universal backlash these things seem to get when they're brought up, it doesn't quite seem like a 'vocal minority' situation here really.  I'm not particularly sure who is buying these, but it's equally hilarious when you have people arguing that handheld consoles (3DS and Vita currently) don't do well or shouldn't be regarded, because they 'only get watered-down console offerings' yet...well, I could move my hands at the images of these social games over and over in a manner to specifically call them out, but you couldn't see that.  Rest assured, I am doing it.  Not...currently, because I'm typing, but, you know what I mean.  Because if I am doing that to these screenshots, it is pretty obvious where I am going with this.

I'm not sure if the intention was thus, but what is pictured is very obviously something that looks an awful lot like an awful-looking Peace Walker.  I can hear you now:  "It actually doesn't look all that bad!", but, well, that's the thing about smaller images, they hide jaggies and blurries and such that you can see if you open the big picture and zoom it.  Depending on how big of a phone you're walkin' around with, well, it could be very noticeable, and that's just in stills, since we know things can go amazingly wonderful or completely pear-shaped in motion, depending on the factors involved.  Regardless, there's not a whole lot of information beyond what's in those two screenshots.  With the AP and such, one might wonder if maybe it takes on a more turn-based thing to reduce strain, or if that's just a thing and it's all wacky, but seeing as I'm not sure if these social games that have been announced stand a chance of coming out this way, I don't really care to expand too much without details.

I made reference to the joke already with this.  Now we don't have to make it.  Okay?

The next bit is probably just as divisive as the Social Game, but at least this is something that we'll definitely be able to get, or at least that's the -plan- of it.  That much is definite because apparently Columbia Pictures is making a Metal Gear Solid movie, like for realsies.  Avi Arad, CEO of Marvel Studios, was on-hand for the announcement, because he's apparently going to be at the helm of it, rather than just attached to it like the tenuous Uncharted, inFamous and such movies that may or may not see the light of day.  I mean, as far as I know, he hasn't officially been attached to any of those properties in theoretical film version, so I'm just saying his filmography might be a little misleading, if you look him up.  Still, it's hard saying that just because this whole thing is a bit more official than other video game to movie adaptations are in conception, that it'll be a real thing that happens, but I'd put money on the side of more possible than not.

Reactions, as I've said, have been divisive though more on the side that we've more or less been trained to err on with past adaptations, which means there's not a whole lot of good faith out there.  For one, it seems like it's just impossible, these days, to put out a video game movie, based on the last one being...what, actually?  One of the Resident Evil movies, apparently, and before that, Prince of Persia:  Sands of Time.  With Tekken, Street Fighter and Max Payne going before those.  Needless to say, it has not been a smooth road, nor even a good one, for Video Game movies, and nobody is really expecting anything to buck that trend anytime soon.  However, and this is where the only real hope comes in, some people think that if anything can do it, Metal Gear Solid can.  And you know what?  I am solidly in this camp, and it's for a few very simple, very obvious reasons.

Obviously, I am a big fan of the Metal Gear series; I've made no attempts to hide it nor should I because it is a fantastic series.  The main complaints levied at it lie pretty much on the story, which makes it seem like doing a movie which is basically a story with pictures and movement and acting and such is kind of a bad idea.  But here is also something that has been made abundantly clear with the past trends in popular movies:  Nobody cares about story.  You can tap-dance around it all you want and try and move goal-posts or call me ignorant, blah, blah, blah, but things that have been popular lately, things like Twilight (which admittedly seems to be waning a bit), are conceptually awful and play out worse than the roots themselves are.  Nobody cares so long as the acting is good, the actors themselves have at least one big name amongst them, and the movie itself looks good.  If you're Transformers, you can drop the first bit and very few people will care regardless, it seems.

While I'm by no means trying to put Metal Gear Solid's story anywhere near the caste of these 'blockbusters', I'm simply saying that things like Plot Holes, retcons and the other things that people lob at Metal Gear Solid's over-arching story like so many bricks at so many windows, none of them will really matter whatsoever when it comes to a movie.  Give people action, give people good acting, and the spy-drama roots of the story itself will carry it well enough that they won't care if something absurd comes out towards the end as the traditional twist.  In fact, that could possibly even add excitement to it for the inevitable sequel (that, let's face it, we know everybody hopes their movie will be that successful to warrant one) for the most part.  So long as there's nothing super glaringly wrong, I'm sure we folks, familiar with the series as we are, will be fine with it as well.  Provided it is a thing that actually happens.  Which, it has a good chance of that, I'd say.

The last bit and arguably the one to say anything about is Metal Gear Solid:  Ground Zeroes, which is apparently going to be an open-world Metal Gear Solid title running on the FOX Engine.  Just go ahead and re-read that, let it sink in a bit while also remembering that the above picture might just be an image from the game.  It is more likely that it is from the game with some touch-ups, but then again this is the FOX Engine which, as we know, does not fuck around with the graphics from what we've been shown.  Still, we haven't seen it in motion on one of our consoles, so I can't blame anybody who might be a little wary of thinking it came from the game, but let's just run with it.  Because it's nice to dream that the above is possible on the systems that we have now.  (Since, as far as I remember, FOX Engine is supposed to be something to bridge not only PS3/Vita/whatever else development, as it's a multi-platform engine, but it's also likely going to bridge this gen and next, but started on this one.)

What we have here is something that is pretty much as obvious as can be:  another Big Boss game.  Unless there's some sort of MGS2-style twist with after-reveal stuff, Big Boss is taking another outing in the video game scene (note the Militaires Sans Frontiers emblem and the eyepatch strings under the goggles) and pretty much everybody is super excited for it.  I'm....optimistic.  My situation is a bit weird on the games, I admit, since my first one was Metal Gear Solid 2.  After which I played the first which was a wholly different game more or less, and then 3 and 4 when they came out, not to mention pretty much all the other iterations.  Except Twin Snakes.  As such, I've never really had -that- experience with Solid Snake himself (MGS4 was Old Snake, I kind of consider them different because I am a pedant), the one that clicks and feels perfect (I basically ruined MGS1 for myself by playing 2 first), and I've really been hoping that I could get that with a new game that comes out.  I can keep waiting, certainly with another Big Boss game to distract me in the meanwhile.

I've mused in the past that I have honestly no idea where another Big Boss game could really fit unless they just did a straight re-creation of Metal Gear 1, but the title "Ground Zeroes" does....bring something to mind.  Without spoiling the ending for Metal Gear Solid 4 since, after the trophy patch, I'd suggest it is a game that has re-upped its "Do not openly spoil" status, lest you look like a gigantic dick, I think there is something in MGS4's ending that is key here.  Something of a catalyst between two of the characters (Big Boss obviously being one) that could create a very obvious, very Major antagonist for the man, as well as giving the game the backdrop for another Peace Walker-esque Base build-up.  Just what that base will be, I have no idea, as I'm a little fuzzy on the timeline myself, and I could be completely wrong as I am often.  But that's what the sub-title brought to mind, so we'll just have to see when the game actually comes out.  I'd say it is probably the only other scenario that really has not been covered in a game yet for Big Boss.

Metal Gear Solid is kind of one of those things that I doubt anyone -really- can get enough of, despite the whinging of "Oh boy, another one?" that you'll get here and there.  Each game really has its own charm about it, and there's not been a one that could honestly be called 'bad', though I'm sure anyone could disagree with me on that for any reason.  Still, for each game that everyone dislikes, I'm sure that they have at least one iteration of the series that they do really enjoy and sometimes that's all you need.  Just that one, perfect, unspoiled game that does what you wanted it to do in a series that might not have done otherwise.  With any luck, Ground Zeroes won't be the last real game that we see come from it all anytime soon since, hey, we're looking at a new gen in a year or so, I'm sure.  It's definitely a series we want to see make the transition, and it just remains to be seen how it'll look after-the-fact.

Update!:  There is a sub-titled trailer now.  Everything is amazing.

 

Dig it.

Gaze Upon the Metal Gear Solid 4 Trophy List and Weep

So, just a few days ago, there was a Playstation Blog post that gave a 'full' list of Metal Gear Solid 4's trophies in the up-coming (for non-Japan regions at least) patch that was announced last month.  I say 'full' list because, as a person with a fairly discerning eye when it comes to trophies, I noticed that there were only 20 on the list, which is far, far fewer than I think most retail games would be happy with, much less Kojima.  And also missing from the list were the standard "Completed (Stage)" missions which seems to be a mainstay no matter what, which are generally Hidden trophies so that the player can't check the list and decide how much of the game is left.  Which is not to say that it helps with that, since said trophies are generally at the start of the list and after so many Hidden trophies, the visible list tends to start, so you can generally just count out how many hidden trophies are in a row, gauge how often they're giving completion ones to you and figure on a number that way to guess how close you are.  But....that's entirely more meta than it needs to be, and I think I've revealed too much.

Moving on, it was for this suspicion (and the fact that it was confirmed through Twitter in a tweet that I am not even going to begin looking for) that I held off on making a to-do about the list.  Since there is a friggin' to-do to be had about this list which I am going to do (Ha!).  But even more of a to-do with the hidden fifteen trophies since I'll be able to show them off as well as the visible list of twenty trophies, which comprises the much more satisfying looking list of Thirty-Five trophies in all.  I want to just go ahead and do the full list of trophies, visible first, then Hidden and get that out of the way so I can then discuss certain trophies in a little more detail.  So, since I'll be showing off the Hidden Trophies, and I'll bold it with extra clarification, do not read the list if you don't want to know what the Hidden Trophies in Metal Gear Solid 4 are.  Why would you not want to know?  Beats the hell out of me, but I'm quite fair when it comes to anything that might be a 'spoiler' of sorts (and being a hidden trophy falls under this umbrella) so I am just trying to be nice.

Bronze	You enjoy all the killing, that’s why.	Killed many enemies in one area, and vomited.
Bronze	Divine Wind	Caused a “divine wind” using the Tanegashima.
Bronze	Hands Up!	Held an enemy soldier at gunpoint and performed a body check.
Bronze	Emotion Control	Controlled an enemy soldier’s emotions using an Emotive Magazine.
Bronze	Hurt me more!	Shocked an enemy soldier using Mk. II/III.
Bronze	Drum Can Addict	Knocked an enemy soldier flying using a Drum Can.
Bronze	That Tune Is His Mind Control Music	Played Oishii Two-han Seikatsu and made one of the BB Corps dance.
Bronze	Overhead view — just like old times…	Used overhead view on Shadow Moses Island.
Silver	SUNLIGHT!	Obtained the Solar Gun.
Silver	I Just Don’t Fear Death	Caused ALERT status while wearing the Corpse Camo.
Silver	Where I Can See Ya	Located enemy soldiers using the Scanning Plug.
Silver	Ghost Photography Addict	Snapped at least 5 shots of ghosts on Shadow Moses Island.
Silver	FaceCamo Addict	Obtained 10 or more types of FaceCamo (excluding types obtained via password).
Silver	Can you feel my power now!!!?	Took control of an enemy soldier’s body using the Mantis Doll or Sorrow Doll.
Silver	Are you an Otaku too?	Viewed all model posters.
Silver	You’re pretty good.	Got kissed by Ocelot during the final battle.
Gold	Flashback Mania	Viewed all flashbacks.
Gold	Sounds of the Battlefield	Obtained all iPod® tracks (excluding tracks obtained via password).
Gold	I am THE expert on weapons, equipment and cutting-edge technology.	Obtained all weapons (excluding weapons obtained via password).
Platinum	The Legendary Hero	Obtained all trophies.

(Hidden) Bronze	Liquid Sun	Cleared Act 1 (Middle East).
(Hidden) Bronze	Solid Sun	Cleared Act 2 (South America).
(Hidden) Bronze	Third Sun	Cleared Act 3 (Eastern Europe).
(Hidden) Bronze	Twin Sun	Cleared Act 4 (Shadow Moses).
(Hidden) Bronze	Old Sun	Cleared Act 5 (Outer Haven).
(Hidden) Bronze	Laughing Octopus Doll	Defeated Laughing Octopus by non-lethal means, and obtained the Laughing Octopus Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Frog Soldier Doll	Escaped the Haven Troopers in the Middle East by non-lethal means, and obtained the Frog Soldier Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Raging Raven Doll	Defeated Raging Raven by non-lethal means, and obtained the Raging Raven Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Crying Wolf Doll	Defeated Crying Wolf by non-lethal means, and obtained the Crying Wolf Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Screaming Mantis Doll	Defeated Screaming Mantis by non-lethal means, and obtained the Screaming Mantis Doll.
(Hidden) Bronze	Handle with Caution	Broke off the most important part of a statue.
(Hidden) Bronze	Liquid!	Piloted Metal Gear REX and screamed at your enemy.
(Hidden) Silver	Crop Circle	Found a crop circle and heard a mysterious voice.
(Hidden) Gold	Infinite Ammo	Obtained the Bandana.
(Hidden) Gold	Stealth Camouflage	Obtained the Stealth Camouflage.

So it is...quite a list when you add in the Hidden trophies, really.  I mean, it almost doubles it in sheer entry size if not exactly adding quite as much content that is necessary to do.  No-killing the bosses is pretty simple enough, stage completions are a given, and the others are either optional things that are admittedly neat or just buying things (unless you're super awesome in your multiple playthroughs).  Though, the base list itself isn't quite that bad when you take the quick glance across it, mostly because at no single point does it say specifically "Earned the Big Boss Emblem" or anything of that sort.  The problem is....well......you still -have- to get that.  The Big Boss Emblem is the dick-kicker of everything professional about a run-through, especially for Metal Gear Solid because a Big Boss Emblem run-through means beating the game in under five hours with no kills, alerts, continues or restorative items used.  On The Boss Extreme difficulty level which is, of course, the highest one.

What trophies do you need the Big Boss Emblem for, I hear you ask?  Why, the Gold ones, "Sounds of the Battlefield" and "I am THE expert on weapons, equipment and cutting-edge technology" which is a ridiculously long trophy title, by the by.  So there is that at least; I've seen more offensive lists simply for the fact that they award something equally ridiculous with a Bronze trophy as a giant troll-face move.  You see, you acquire the Patriot (a machine gun with unlimited ammo) and the Big Boss song for the in-game iPod upon earning that Big Boss emblem.  And of course, you will likely only be ready for an attempt at the Big Boss Emblem after getting the next highest Emblems (Fox and Foxhound) because those emblems (and the ones you unlock by proxy) will unlock some neat things that will not count against your 'no special item' requirement since the special items in question are basically just the Bandanna and Stealth Camo.  Well, by neat things, I basically just mean the Solar Gun, since the charged shot takes dudes out pretty fast and gets you a lot of items without killing them.

Beyond that, after consulting my Metal Gear Solid 4 Strategy Guide from when I bought the game, I have discovered that you only unlock the "Snake Eater" track after unlocking all forty emblems that the game has to offer.  That is, at minimum, probably five playthroughs since some of them focus on directly opposite things:  Being seen versus being unseen, killing mans versus not killing mans, etc.  Plus some are difficulty dependent and this and that and it kind of makes my head hurt just thinking about it.  According to the guide, you can get the Fox Hound, Fox, Hound, Wolf, Octopus, Pigeon and Scorpion emblems in the first, Big Boss, Mantis, Raven and Little Grey in the second, Twenty-three assorted animals that I'm not listing individually on the third, Tarantula and Assassin on the fourth, and then it's just sweeping the last few of Centipede, Spider, Jaguar, Panther and Leopard in a few runs on the easiest difficulty.  They aren't interesting at all and just basically have different combinations of alert phases, continues and kills that are impossible to total all on the same plays for all five.  Given that there is no difficulty requirement, nor is it barring you from using special items, these last few plays are likely to be pretty fun, if you're not just completely goddamn tired of the game by that point.

I am....not surprised.  There are several other things that I am, but chief among them is not surprised.  Absolutely horrified, acquiesced to the fact that I will never get a Platinum trophy for Metal Gear Solid 4, ensured that my efforts to go against common sense will result in pain, and oddly willing to give it the old try are the other things, mostly, but yeah, 'not surprised' pretty much covers it.  I'm not...not really bitter, I would say, about the difficulty, but I am a little miffed at the delivery since it is just the slightest bit deceptive.  There is a slight bit of difference between outlining the goal to effectively warn the player and just saying "Get this" when the method to get whatever that is is overwhelmingly difficult.  Especially because I'm sure a lot of players will find themselves mired in far too deep in the end-task that, by the time they realize the full breadth, the full scope of the mission, it will either be a challenge that will quickly suck the fun out of what remains, or be the point where they violently rip the game from the console and shelve it.  So if nothing else, perhaps this was a bit of caution thrown your way before you plan on giving the list your own shot.

War. War Never Changes. MGS4 Does.

Back in ye olden days when Metal Gear Solid 4 was considered one of the only titles to own a PS3 for (which was faulty logic regardless) it wasn't as easy a title to recommend to anyone.  At least, that's what it seemed like, as everyone always had their own caveats for whether or not it was a good idea for a person to play the game, insisting that the content only catered to a specific group of people and it would universally be fairly awful to everyone else.  Glad to see that, like war, some things never change.  Regardless, as time went on and on, there were two things in the game that did make it a hard sell to certain individuals, provided they had not been party to playing it already by then.  Since everyone always seemed to have 'that friend' with a PS3, whom just let everyone play the games on it that apparently didn't exist since back in those days, the PS3 had -no- games, you see, which is of course utter truth and not rhetoric that eventually became something of a meme from being parroted off so many times.

Those two issues, of which I'm sure you know which ones I'm referring to, are soon to be a thing of the past as a budget version of Metal Gear Solid 4 is released to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear Saga.  (I assume they're starting at the MSX Metal Gear games.)  "The Best" versions of games tend to be the equivalent of the "Greatest Hits" re-releases we have here in North America, of which I am sure you are familiar with, in concept alone at least.  I'm not going to bother finding out all the different terminologies or anything that are in the different regions or on different systems since we know the practice already:  re-release the game with a slightly less appealing box art (because it has to promote the fact that it sold fantastically) for a low price, generally $20-30 to encourage tail-end sales to bolster the to-dates.  I don't really think they herald changes to the game itself or anything like that normally, however, unless it's the type to pack in the DLC available for it or something.  But changing the game is exactly what Metal Gear Solid 4's "The Best" version is doing.

When the version hits stores, a new patch will be out roughly around the same time that updates all versions of Metal Gear Solid 4 to what's already on-disk for this one which includes the two biggies that have been strikes against MGS4 for quite a while.  The patch and new version adds Trophies to the game, which is something that everyone had rallied for as soon as Trophies became a thing and is only...er....a few years late at this point.  As well as that, it adds something that is definitely a near necessity, and is pretty much one of the few valid complaints people have had about Metal Gear Solid 4.  You see, with each act of the game, there needed to be an install beforehand that would help keep the game from loading every other moment and the like.  These installs did take some time and more or less broke up the mood, even though they weren't completely detached from the game itself and were disguised rather well as the "Go ahead and take a break" signifiers, as was implied by Snake using said time to take a smoke break.  Oftentimes consisting of several cigs.  The issue many derived from it was that it was rather unnecessary when, in theory, those could all have been condensed into one install in some fashion, and that's entirely too difficult to argue against.

Luckily, that's no longer an issue, as a full install option will be available as the second bit improvement the patch/new version offers.  I'm pretty sure patches are not a region-restricted thing, so it's worth noting that even though this is generally just talking about Japan's version of the game, there's absolutely nothing saying we shouldn't expect it to hit our shores as well.  As such, I'm going on believing just that and already trying to think of just when I could reasonably think to play Metal Gear Solid 4 again to give a good run at some of the trophies on top of just...well, enjoying the game once more.  Since it's a fantastic game, and one that I don't believe I have popped in much after the acquisition of my TV with an HDMI port.  Yes, I started my PS3 playing with an SDTV and I still thought games managed to look absolutely brilliant on it.  One of the games I fully enjoyed in that method was MGS4 and if I played it fully on my HDTV after I got it, I entirely forget the experience, so when I do replay MGS4, it should be...quite the experience, for sure.

So it seems that the question still remains:  Why the long, long, long wait?  I doubt it'll be a question that's ever answered in any sort of formal manner, so I wouldn't waste too much time on speculation and looking a gift horse in the mouth.  However, there -is- all sorts of speculation that one -could- do, and if I were the type, I would suggest that maybe it had something to do with MGO.  It certainly seems a bit strange that a little over a month after MGO goes offline, this comes out, but it could just be a step taken to renew interest in people who might have only been playing the game for MGO anymore.  I simply think that there could have been an issue with game versions and connecting to the MGO servers, since they were not PSN servers and that that was pretty much something that could've caused a lot of headaches.  Of course, I don't quite remember if MGS4 had been patched since its release and whether or not it had could certainly blow all sorts of holes into that theory.  Regardless, it doesn't matter a whole lot, as we have a great game still, along with two big reasons as to why we should give it another go, veterans and otherwise alike.

I Should Be Doing a Big E3 Post...

....But I can't help but watch this Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE trailer.  Again and again and again and again.  Honestly, though, can you blame me?  Just watch it yourself and tell me that either A) That is not something you would watch over and over again or B) You at least understand why it's something that I am compulsively watching and re-watching.  Because at least one of those two responses has to be true for you unless you're just a new reader who just so happens to dislike the direction in which REVENGEANCE (all caps every time) is going with all the freedom of being a side-story that doesn't feature Snake as a main character can offer.  In which case, Hi!  Thanks for reading.  Now tolerate my incoherent ramblings of how much I love everything about the game, or read any of my other non-Metal Gear Rising related posts, of which there are probably hundreds at this point.

If it's not obvious by this point, I have pretty much grown to love everything about REVENGEANCE since the last time I talked about it which was basically when it was revealed.  Since that point, I've grown more and more giddy for the game by the day, and with this new trailer for the game, it almost seems like sweet sweet vindication for being so excited about it.  Granted, I doubt a whole lot has -really- changed, aside from it seeming a lot faster paced (certainly the hitting things who don't instantly fall apart is there - see the part of the video where Raiden wails on that guy with....a naginata?) but it does do a good job of being high-intensity.  So much so that I feel like I have to calm down from watching it (be it my enthusiasm or because I'm drawn into it that much) to be able to actually write anything about it as I am now.  And even now, it's still running....just in the background.  So I'm just listening to the narration of it alongside Depeche Mode's "Wrong" out of friggin' nowhere.

I will applaud the trailer's usage of the 'zan-datsu' mode that has managed to stay in the game and be utilized properly despite the drastic overhaul of the core gameplay.  Even though I -know- that I won't be able to do that to -every- enemy (at least, not before wailing on them ala "Every other Action Game"), knowing that I -can- do that eventually is quite the payoff - especially since they've shown it used in some stealthy ways.  On top of that, the speedy parkour, the aerial juggles, the spinning a Gecko by an unbreakable chain, it's all wonderful and was used rather masterfully if I do say so.  This is pretty much the perfect "Get Hype" trailer, though I admit that I am incredibly biased in saying that considering, well, I just love this game already, despite not even really being well-versed in Platinum Games.....games.  I have yet to grab Vanquish, my copy of Bayonetta sits un-played considering it's the PS3 version, my backlog and the fact that I'm not playing my PS3 until we get some cool days, and my time with MadWorld has and continues to be short, but rather sweet.

Maybe it's that level of unfamiliarity that makes this perfect for me, however.  I can go into this unspoiled by their previous works to just take what's here at face value because I can have that faith.  I'm told Platinum Games are rather masterful with action games, as the constant praise for Bayonetta being 'the best action game to date' will attest to, and they certainly know how to make a trailer.  The game mechanics are solid in that you -cut- and things -die-, wherein the challenge and the gameplay comes in to describe the how, the difficulty to do that, and to etch out just how satisfying it will be.  Going into this with nothing, I can just take it as it is and imagine it's very satisfying considering that, unless something changes from now and release, you can at least cut a few things in the environment to whichever angle you desire, making anything a tool of destruction in your capable hands.  Again, I point you to the trailer at the point where Raiden cuts through a pillar to cut a guy in half, as well as the part where the leg of a radio tower or something gets cut up and then it moves to something big (presumably the thing that just had its leg cut) falling onto a car.  Presumably because it was cut.  By Raiden.

I think it's indicative that, out of -everything- that's been leaked, announced and said as a possibility, this is the -only thing- that I can talk about tonight.  I can't form cohesive thoughts about anything else because I'm just stuck on this trailer, so I'm not going to try.  I can't even say anything about Resistance:  Burning Skies, despite beating it today, because it's like "Psh, whatever, REVENGEANCE TRAILER".  So, yeah, I hate to say it, but that's all for me tonight.  I'll be playing Burning Skies again ala the New Game+ and will likely get through it again so I'll be well prepared to talk about it tomorrow.  Or...at least, that's the plan.  I'm not sure if it'll be a review or just a straight-talk about the game because it doesn't really....invoke a whole lot.  I'm sure if I were assigned to review it, it would be a challenge, far beyond simply finding the words, which makes me hesitant to attempt it.  We'll see what formulates, however.  For now, I'm just going to watch this a few more times and imagine all the ways I will cut fools with this game.

Update!:  It's worth mentioning (which is funny considering I've meant to mention it for two nights in a row and forgot to edit it in) that anyone who purchases Zone of the Enders HD Collection gets Early Rising Demo Access, but whether that's in the form of the disk containing the demo, or merely coming with a download code is unknown at this point.  I'm hoping for the former, of course, since the demo is likely going to be a couple gigs, but it will likely be the latter.  As such, it won't have any impact whatsoever on my intention to get the Zone of the Enders HD Collection (Though it might push me to double-dip as I was starting to think I might just wait for the Vita version, and barring some terrible porting I am -definitely- getting the Vita version), but if the stars align and I get to play the demo just by putting in the disk, then that would be a great bonus.  Definitely something to keep an ear to the ground about.

Zone of the Enders 3 Is a Thing In Development

Now, while it might not officially be called Zone of the Enders 3, as ZoE 2 was simply called Zone of the Enders:  Second Runner, the game that is in development is likely a third game in the main ZoE series.  Well, okay not -likely-, as the above image of the newly re-designed Jehuty means definitely and I just....I couldn't be happier about it.  I contemplated actually writing about it yesterday because that's when the news of it broke, but I held off because I imagined that something like this was outside of the realm of possibility, an impossibility if you will, and figured that it would come out that this is all just for something else, but nothing of the sort has been mentioned and in fact it just looks more and more like a reality.  Just the way the situation unfolded seems like one of those things you talk about with your buddies and say "Wouldn't it be cool if" and then talk about how a company, in anticipation for something, announces something related to it to build off the hype because it actually makes sense.  Yet it never happens.  Except, well, this time it did.

As it's simply an announcement of development being started, there is practically zero information about it, but at this stage, the fact that it exists is quite enough for now.  Semi-officially, the game is being called simply the "Enders Project" for now and whether that will end up being the game's subtitle or have nothing at all to do with what the game is called (aside from having Enders in it) is up in the air because of the lack of outside information.  That means platforms, time-frames, setting, all of that is just non-existant at this point, which makes it hard to write down anything other than "Eeeeeeeeeee!" and other such exclamations of excitement.  On the other hand, I don't want to just bullet-point the two pieces of information on the game and then run off, since that just won't do.

They did state that the game might potentially be developed using the Fox Engine which does mean a few things as a base, of course.  First off, I would suggest that this is your first reason (if you didn't have one already) to be excited for the next round of consoles (that likely won't come out til 2014, not counting the WiiU) since the Fox Engine has been stated as a 'High-spec' engine, which cuts a few things out right off, like the 3DS and the Wii if not more.  Considering that the game was just officially announced as being a thing and thus will likely be in development for a few years, I wouldn't expect it on the PS3 or 360 since those consoles aren't likely to be kicking around for -that- much longer.  Second off, that sort of explains the above picture of a sculpted model of a Jehuty with a slightly new look to him.  For the Fox Engine (not specific to all projects, but at least with this one) they're making models of the Mechs used to be scanned in as a base to work off of for the animation and modeling.  Which is just....-awesome-.

That's pretty much the entire gist of it, unfortunately.  "Enders Project" is a Zone of the Enders project that features Jehuty and is almost definitely a third game in the proper Zone of the Enders series.  (We don't count Fist of Mars)  It's almost certainly going to use the Fox Engine (slight editorial on my part, but -come on-) and as a first step towards that, they're crafting models of the Mechs to be scanned in so they can be worked with in-engine.  With all the foresight in the world, they decided to announce this right alongside a release window of "Fall" for the Zone of the Enders HD Collection (for the Consoles, at least, apparently the Vita version might not be same-day unfortunately) and now I'm just looking forward to getting my hands on the Vita version (sometime) and playing the hell out of it whilst I wait for more information on all this.

Of course, since Kojima seems in the mood to make dreams come true, I'm just going to float the idea of Metal Gear Ac!d 3 on the Vita (or digital versions of 1 and 2 or an updated twin-pack or -something-) and doing something video game related with Snatcher.  You know.  Just leaving those two things on the table here, feel free to do whatever you want with them, Kojima.

Just sayin'.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Vita Has a Release Date

So, another sort of weird title in the future of the Vita officially has a release date and, unsurprisingly, it's the date that was leaked a little bit ago:  June 12th.  And also unsurprisingly, nobody is going to acknowledge that it's a fairly big boon for the system for several reasons, the most of which being that it's just a Vita title and anywhere you look will have you believe that they simply don't exist, because that gets in the way of the doom-saying and rhetoric and all.  Of course, there are a few valid points of contention to have with the Vita version of the Port which I'll get to eventually.  I will say, however, right up that the MGS HD Collection for the Vita is simply not a game that I'm going to invest money into this year.  It's rather unfortunate since I have, actually, been looking forward to the prospect of re-familiarizing myself with Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 in portable form, mostly for the convenience factor of course, but, well, therein lies the problem with the game:  It's only Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.

"Only" is a pretty misleading word, of course, as both titles are the 'enhanced' versions of themselves, meaning Metal Gear Solid 2 is a game and a half with VR missions and Snake Tales, and Metal Gear Solid 3 is actually three games with Snake Eater as well as Metal Gear 1 and 2 - The 'good' versions, even.  I mean, any way you look at it, the game is full to the brim with content, but the problem here is comparative envy.  As we all know, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection's appearance on the Vita is not its first - it first appeared on the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 with the content outlined above as well as Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker, the port of a portable game, remastered in HD.  And therein lies the rub; the portable port of a collection of ports does not have the portable port ported in the collection of ports.  (Ports)  It boggles my mind in bad ways that you could release a collection of Metal Gear Solid games for a portable console and exclude the game that was made explicitly for portable gaming.

So, knowing that there is an entire game missing, one has to go on and wonder -why- and the answer is....well, pretty sloppy, really.  The 'fan' answer is that there's probably not enough room on a Vita cart because that's not actually a bad idea, and from my little digging, I don't know the min-max space of a Vita cart.  But in that case, you could just throw in a voucher code for Peace Walker and call it a day, right?  You still get all three games for your $40 (which, s'far as we can tell, is how much MGS HD Vita is going to cost, the exact same as the PS3/360 versions) and everything's all spiffy.  Of course, that's not the official response, as the official response is:  'Why port it? It's already on the PSN for download, and the Vita touches it up already'.  Which is...uh....well, first off, that's a less-than-friendly way about it, and second off, it's not.  I have my Vita right in front of me and I cannot look up Peace Walker for purchase nor download.  Yes, you can get it on the PS3 and transfer it over, but that's not the point at all.

Maybe they assume the people who want to play Peace Walker on Vita already have the HD Collection on PS3 (since everyone who owns a Vita owns a PS3, clearly) which came with a download code for Peace Walker's PSP version to make use of the Transfarring feature.  So they want to pay another $40 for two of the games on the go because clearly in the -months- that the Collection's been out on the PS3 and 360, they haven't beaten it yet and they really really need that 'on-the-go' factor.  So they figure "Hey, they have Peace Walker HD on PS3 already, and a code for Peace Walker on PSP, they'll download it to their Vita and go and be awesome."  Which is....where the second problem comes in.  The second problem being that Peace Walker can't Transfar to the Vita.  So if you follow everything as is, buy both versions of the Collection and play the PSP version of Peace Walker on the Vita 'as intended' (to prevent from using resources that are so vital elsewhere) you don't get to enjoy the -one- feature that is -most- important for the Portable game that isn't in the portable collection.

This is some pretty gigantic fumbling going on here, unfortunately.  Fumbling enough that's it's dutifully pushed the game off my radar which seemed pretty impossible honestly.  On one hand, I'm pretty relieved by that, since that's $40 that I can spend elsewhere, but on the other hand, I really wanted to play Metal Gear Solid 3 on my Vita sometime soon.  I still will -someday-, but I can only hope that E3 brings about some happy Vita news from Konami to kind of make up for this.  Since it's just a bad look no matter which way you go at it.  Regardless, someone without access to a PS3 or 360 would probably be best served picking the game up if they desire; like I said, it's not exactly lacking for content, so much as it's simply lacking for the content of its big brother version.

Metal Gear?! 5?!

Metal Gear Rising might not be the only game in production at the moment with the words "Metal Gear" in the title, as the upcoming Official Playstation Magazine - UK reveals, though not on the cover in small font which makes me a bit fussed.  You'd think "Metal Gear Solid 5" would be a big enough deal to actually print on the cover in big giant letters, but what do I know apparently.  There's really not a whole lot of information beyond the fact that it exists, unfortunately.  Hideo Kojima, unsurprisingly, will have a big hand in the title despite previous claims that he would like to step away from the series (similar claims being made between 2 and 3 and 3 and 4 I believe), though I imagine he's going to ween himself away from it so he can work on his other projects that he's excited about; specifically "Project Ogre" which is mentioned vaguely with nothing beyond that.

If I had to guess, I'd say that "Project Ogre", whatever it is, is his first FOX Engine game made primarily for PS3 and Vita, though what it'll entail or revolve around is probably more up in the air than anything else could be.  If anything's clear about anything, it's that Kojima will make what he wants which is something to be commended, yet also means that it's impossible to really predict.  Between Metal Gear Solid, Policenauts, Snatcher, Boktai and his work with Castlevania:  Lords of Shadow, it's clear that he's got a -lot- of range, so you can't even narrow down the possibilities.  Whatever it is, it'll be distinctly Kojima and that's about all you can say for it beforehand.

As far as what Metal Gear Solid 5 is going to be, well.....that too is also as up in the air as anything could be.  I was under the impression (as I figure many others were as well) that Metal Gear Solid 4 would be the end of Solid Snake's story, which despite Peace Walker originally being branded as Metal Gear Solid 5, still makes sense.  As such with what's said about 4, I was also under the impression that Metal Gear Rising would be the Raiden answer to MGS, so a "Metal Gear 5" wasn't entirely necessary.  Thus with those two characters both (theoretically) tied up, does this mean another run for Big Boss?  There's still a lot of ground that can be covered with him, but I'm not really sure if I want another Big Boss game.  I mean, yes, I do, but I just feel like his explained story is good enough.

It's kind of another God of War 4 situation in that there's really no reason to continue the branding with any of the existing characters, yet to make a new character would undermine the reason for making it another notch in the continuity.  I just don't see a reason for Metal Gear Solid 5 in that I want another Metal Gear Solid game, but I don't want it called Metal Gear Solid.  Rising is fine enough, it's its own entity and has its place in continuity but you know that it's going to be an entirely different game.  As I imagine MGS5 just might be unless they (unfortunately) find a way to shoehorn another adventure of Solid Snake or Big Boss into the timeline which, I only say unfortunately because I imagine doing so will do more harm than good.

It's kind of like the difference between what I want and what I know what's 'responsible' and I want more Solid Snake and Big Boss, but I know it's not likely a good idea for more.  I think that's the point that I'm trying to make here and I mean, at the end of the day it's all just games so it's not like it's going to 'undermine' anything, including itself, by hashing out.  The most likely scenario for Metal Gear Solid 5 that I can see (without a new main character) is that it takes place as Big Boss right after Peace Walker and has the player setting up Outer Heaven proper which would probably rock out loud.  Even moreso if they go the extra mile and re-imagine Metal Gear 1, placing you into the boots of Solid Snake for the 'second act' as it were.  It would be awesome but wholly unnecessary narrative-wise since it just sets up a 'second beginning' for a character that was closed up fairly well enough.

But I would buy twelve copies is what I'm getting at, here.

Update!:  So, I guess this is all kind of unconfirmed as Joystiq had another article about this that suggests they did not, in fact, read the magazine that had the bold declaration on the cover before reporting on it.  Which is just fantastic, of course.  But basically, it states that Kojima says "We'll -probably- have to make MGS5 sometime" and that if/when that time comes, he would like to be involved, but not at the helm.  As he's said a few times now.  So, there's that, I guess.  GJ Joystiq.

Now I Must Wait for TGS with More Anticipation

Since I'm tired of Vita Stock Pictures.

It was just recently said that Sony will be showing off 31 Vita games at TGS, not to mention some PS3 and PSP games as well in what I can only call a brilliant plot to destroy me completely and utterly from the wait.  Okay, not really, but the knowledge that A) there's going to be 31 Vita games shown off as well as B) More than half of them (18 out of 31) are 'Previously unannounced' games.  Now, I want to believe that we're going to see even more new IPs and new games and whatnot announced, but I know a few of them are going to be, and, well they just -have- to be, games that are already sort of 'announced' but not officially announced.  Things like anything with "(Working Title)" in them during previous teaser videos and the like.

Now, to fully predict and/or plot out what I figure these 18 games to be, I have to first post the list of 13 that are -going- to be shown at TGS.

• Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend
• Dynasty Warriors Next
• Asphalt: Injection
• The King, the Demon King, and the Seven Princesses: New Little King's Story
• Mahjong Fight Club
• Shinobido 2
• Virtua Tennis 4
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Gravity Daze
• Hot Shots Golf Next
• True Night of the Kamaitachi
• Disgaea 3 Return
• Ridge Racer

So, nothing we haven't really seen yet except True Night of the Kamaitachi that I...hadn't even heard of before now.  Excuse me a moment...Aha.  It seems to be a...really cool sounding murder-mystery game with multiplayer modes centered on racing to solve the case first.  Iiiiiiiiiinteresting.  Anyways, looking at that list, it's basically stuff we've seen already in the trailers and the like and/or have just been recently announced.  Mahjong Fight Club and Asphalt:  Injection don't ring any bells with me, but I'm not really about to go look them up right now.

So, I'm not really sure as to what I'm guessing will be there as an unannounced-but-you-know-about-it-already game and what will be new, but at the top of that list (and not because of my obsession) would be LittleBigPlanet Vita.  So far, it's had some real show-off time and some trailers, but I just can't help but think the final name isn't going to be "LittleBigPlanet Vita", so bringing it to TGS to show it off with a finalized name would be the time to do it.  But...I'm just not sure what that would be.  With only three main installments so similarly named (LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, and LittleBigPlanet for PSP that is just called LittleBigPlanet) I'm just not sure what they could do to it except confuse it more by, again, just calling it LittleBigPlanet, calling it LittleBigPlanet Portable or by giving it a subtitle that will draw away from the name recognition.  But...after saying that, I guess I -could- see it being named "LittleBigPlanet Vita".

Resistance:  Burning Skies is mysteriously absent from the list, but given that it's already been announced, it can't be one of the 18 games.  (Unless unannounced simply means "We didn't put it in the Press Release")  However, Killzone, which we've seen a trailer for, hasn't been officially announced to my knowledge, so having that would only make sense to reinforce the, aherm, "Hardcore" line-up.  That's not said with any malice or anything of course, as I don't begrudge the games.  Just that my only exposure was a short-lived attempt at playing the first which...didn't go well, and the surprisingly decent, but still unfinished runthrough of Killzone:  Liberation on PSP.  Granted, different type of game entirely, but it was a proper entry into Killzone cannon, so it counts.

Following in the tracks of LittleBigPlanet as it always seems to, I don't believe ModNation Racers for Vita has been properly named either, so having that there with a final name and showing off more extensively with the track-making and the like seems like a good idea to give people the idea of just how easy it is.  I never really got into Modnation Racers since I played the Beta and...well, I just wasn't feeling anything beyond the creation aspect (then again, I don't generally like Racing Games) so I've sort of steered clear of news for it, but it's one of those things that just isn't 'for me' and as such, I'm not prepared to call it poor or anything.  But on the same note, Modnation Racers Vita is likely a miss for me, so I'm not about to get excited at the prospect of it being announced.

While there's other games I could throw out there, like the unannounced version of Mortal Kombat and the Bioshock game Ken Levine informally announced at E3, those are...well, pretty damn western and TGS is a Japan-centric event.  (Expecting the games I mentioned above might even be pushing it, especially with Killzone)  So if that's all I can figure on the what we know already, but aren't 'announced' yet games, what about the other 15 games (if I'm proven right).  The answer is largely, "Well, I don't friggin' know", but I do have some ideas.

Given that it is a Japan-centric event, as I mentioned above, and it's a Playstation anything, the first thing that comes to mind is Hideo Kojima.  Now, I would be willing to bet anything that he will be there to announce something, but the something is fairly up in the air at the moment.  He could just formally announce the Zone of the Enders HD Collection (And/or Metal Gear Solid HD Collection) for Vita, since the Collections will be utilizing 'Transfarring' and that mostly seems to mean "Moving saves from Console to Portable and vice-versa".  Given that we know this, but we don't know, officially, what capacity ZoE/MGS will be playable in on the Vita, some sort of announcement at TGS seems like the most prudent decision.

Still, I can't help but hope for a little more.  Give us something surprising, Kojima!  Announce a remastered Metal Gear Solid 1 for the Vita to complement the rest of the collection.  Bring back Snatcher.  (Note:  This won't happen)  Make Metal Gear Ac!d 3.  Do something that I can hear and then go "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh" for hours and then post frantically about it here!  It will please me.

Given Squeenix's long-standing support of Sony's Platforms and general enjoyment of Handhelds in general, expecting an announcement from them for a Vita game is pretty much a guarantee.  Again, the what is a little difficult to pin down, since the possibilities are endless, but we can make a few broad guesses here.  Given that it's Squeenix, a port is the highest possibility here, perhaps of Final Fantasy Type-O or something older like Crisis Core which wouldn't exactly be unwelcome in either case.  Then again, something 'new' isn't out of the question, and in that case, I would guess something Dissidia related since, well, that's just what they're doing at the moment.

I'm sure there's likely more to be guessed at, but that's about all my brain can muster up at the moment.  Still, it's exciting to just think about what could be.