New Lollipop Chainsaw Trailer!

Well, I was all set to write up a nice meaty post about Digital Distribution (which I only got a paragraph into) when I got distracted with a rather silly conversation that completely wrecked the mood I was in to write it.  As such, I've got it saved as a draft and will just pick it back up at a later date, like tomorrow or the day after.  To make up for it, I did want to offer at least something and, after seeing it on Siliconera and The Games of Chance, I wanted to feature the latest Lollipop Chainsaw trailer as well.  It is, so far, Japanese Only so unless you speak that, it won't make a whole lot of sense, but I would suggest that, given the context, it probably wouldn't make much more sense in English.  Would still be as awesome, however.

Looking at it, I can't help but notice just how far it's come in the animations since it was first shown off.  It's not completely seemless yet, but it is a lot smoother, which is impressive given the amount of variety in control that the game seems to offer.  All the different types and ways you can attack and link in with combos, I kind of start to wonder just how you'll be able to keep it all straight, but I'm sure it'll be fine.  I am, however, a little bothered by the idea that the blaster might have replaced the Grenade Launcher attachment we have seen in the past.  (Go ahead, look in the past trailers, I think it's in one of those)  Do I have any evidence of that beyond considering a Blaster transformation might render an attachment redundant?  No.  Does it matter in the grand scheme?  No.  Just the pure absurdity of having a grenade launcher attachment was a little amazing to consider, so I will be a little sad if it's gone.

Regardless, it's looking spectacular.  Knowing the writing and design chops behind the game lets me be excited for that half of it, so it really all comes down to the gameplay which, so far, looks like it will be high-action, high-versatility enough to keep me (and other gamers) entertained for its duration and hopefully beyond.  I only wish it came out sooner; partly because I want to play it nowwww, and partly because I really don't want to accept the fact that I might have to drop $100 in the same day for this and Gravity Rush and then have the difficult task of deciding which I play when.  Since my gaming time tends to overlap in most points, as I play portable games pretty much at home as well.  That's....not the point, though.  The point is that I'm still -so excited- for this game and I can't wait for it.

Treasures of Montezuma Blitz - Free....at a Price

So, this last Playstation Store Update brought several things worth of note to the store; the most pressing of them being Persona 3:  FES.  It....also brought the game pictured above known as Treasures of Montezuma Blitz which touted itself as a Free-to-Play game.  And to its credit, it certainly is free to download it and play it which does, of course, mean that it is Free-to-Play.  It successfully fulfills the parameters that it sets in advertising itself in not only that, but in announcing itself as a fast-paced puzzle game that you can play on the Vita.  All of this is, indeed, truth.  So there really shouldn't be any problem and I guess the next couple of paragraphs will be explaining how it plays and everything ri-oh, that post title isn't good.

So, while the above picture is how you can expect Treasures of Montezuma Blitz to look whilst playing it, that visage doesn't last long.  Long before the short stints the game allows (which I will elaborate on a little bit later) become truly satisfying and enjoyable, you'll undoubtedly encounter this screen which is basically a gigantic brick wall between you and some sense of elation that you can only get from playing a game.  I'm sure you already know where I'm going with this, but let me direct you to this image real quick to say two things.  First off, tangentially, look how fucking good I am at this game.  36,800 points where my next competition is 6,700 - feels good, man.  Second off, and this is the important bit, slightly above my score and to the left, you'll notice five heart outlines; as you might be able to infer, these are the 'lives' the game requires to allow you to play it.  As you might also be able to infer, to continue playing in a day past this limitation requires you to buy more lives.  With real money.  I believe the going rate is $0.99 per refill (which I also imagine refills all five lives, not just one.) which....is not cheap at all.

You see, Treasures of Montezuma Blitz can basically be explained like this:  Do you like Bejeweled but hate how the rounds seem to go on forever?  Then you'll love this game!  That does seem a little strange and intentionally so because the earlier statement of 'fast-paced' is certainly literal - matches go by really fast to say the least.  I'm sure if I bothered to time them, they would only come up as one or two minutes, thus not really allowing a lot of time for anything beyond short bursts of jewel-shifting in chunks that have to be budgeted per day.  At every point in considering that statement, I had to wonder "Why wouldn't you just....buy a Bejeweled game?" and the only reason against it is the fact that Bejeweled does not exist on the Vita yet, so of course we're just left with someone trying to profit in the meanwhile.

I can't fault them of course, nor can I say that the game is bad because it, in itself, is not.  What makes it bad is the lack of enjoyment it offers, because this freemium thing is the quickest way to suck the fun out of anything, especially when the 'free' portion of it is so lacking.  The reason why the freemium model works elsewhere, particularly in Facebook games with the variety of -ville titles and the like is because those games generally offer a lean-to-healthy amount of things to 'do' without forking over a cent.  As I said here with Montezuma, the matches seem to last a mere 1-2 minutes and, doing a little quick math, that means with the five lives you get, you're looking at somewhere between 5-10 minutes of content a day.  The way it's broken up doesn't help either since, as a Facebook might only offer somewhere around 15 minutes, it's a constant 15 minutes which makes it feel longer in some circumstances.  Montezuma's shortness leads to a sort of 'blink and you'll miss it' feel for it, and I think it really only works in its own detriment.

Am I saying that The Treasures of Montezuma Blitz is a bad game, however?  Of course not, it's a fairly by-the-numbers clone of an enjoyable game.  There are some Vita-specific things involving the touch screens in interesting, yet annoying ways (having a smoky screen, for instance, necessitates using the back screen to try and part the smoke while you look for combinations that will, in turn, lessen the cover) that take away/add to the flavor, but it's pretty much just what it looks like.  I would even go so far as to say that it probably requires a download of your own to see if it's worth those 5-10 minutes of your day for you.  What do you have to lose, after all?  I'm merely saying that it doesn't really work for me, for the reasons I've listed above.  At the very least, it might hold you over until a more capable puzzle game of this sort graces the little handheld I can't help but love.

Demon's Souls Servers Are Dying, Can't Find Their Bloodstain

If you wanted to experience the unique blend of horror, deception and brutality that is Demon's Souls' Multiplayer one last time before the servers were taken down, then those plans need to materialize before May 31st as Atlus are finally pulling the plug on the servers for the game.  It's been a long time coming, unfortunately and in all reality the game was on borrowed time already since the second extension last year.  Of course, this doesn't present a large problem for people looking to explore every facet of Demon's Souls in a single-player aspect; the game is fully functional as an offline title, given that the Online portion only added intrigue coupled with hints (helpful or non) as well as an extra layer of danger (the fear of being invaded), which is pretty reassuring to me.  While playing Demon's Souls obviously wasn't in my forecast between now and June (goddamnit, June), I suspect it might have just found a way to worm in as I would like to experience the multiplayer first-hand at least once.  See all the bloodstains and notes, witness the ghosts of the fallen and maybe even understand the several layers to invasion.

I've talked a big game with Demon's Souls, even going so far as to decide my character prior to opening it, and now that there's a timeline attached to the game, in a sense, I really do feel a sense of wanting to hit it.  Which is a bit bothersome as I still have Yakuza:  Dead Souls to beat (again, like Yakuza 4, I doubt I'll bother going for the Platinum, though it does seem much more attainable), as well as the weather possibly not cooperating with long-term PS3-play.  Still, I don't need to play it a lot, just enough to really experience it and, hopefully, enough to really talk about it as I would like to talk about this game that's kind of been on my radar for a year or better without being something I've jumped into.  Is it possible that I'm slightly intimidated by the game?  Most certainly; I think I am.  But I'm going to trust in the words of everyone else and go in thinking that the game is not 'bullshit hard' as some would call it.  'Punishing', 'really difficult', 'something to master' perhaps, which are all varying degrees of acceptable are what I've been lead to expect.

I really gotta hand it to Atlus on this one, though, since they really have been and continue to be really on-the-ball with this whole thing.  It's a little obvious that Demon's Souls was a bigger hit than they, or anyone for that matter, expected when they signed on to localize it, but they've handled the whole thing with ease. respect and class.  While I imagine the extensions for the servers were purely for fan support, as they were likely within periods where the game was still 'proving its worth' in regards to the servers as it were, two and a half years is still quite a while to have that level of commitment and I'm sure lesser companies would've axed the servers long before now regardless.  Not only that, but they've had events, fan polls, and all levels of interaction for the game and continue to do so with regards to the "Tendencies" of the world.  Even the finality of the servers going down is being handled with a lot of attention and care for the players, which is something everyone has come to expect.

In writing this (and discussing the online with someone during writing this, I really should stop doing that), I do think I've built up quite a bit of thirst for the online mode as I understand it.  It just seems so....unique, or at least it's something that I don't believe I've experienced personally.  Indeed, I haven't even experienced Demon's Souls personally, despite watching and reading about it quite intensely, especially now with the going offline.  Writing about it now feels a bit moot; I imagine some people reading this would just be saying "Just go friggin' play it already" at this point and, well, I might just do that.  As I said, I do want to finish Yakuza:  Dead Souls since it's probably around 1-2 hours left of gameplay max, and then following that I am....technically free on PS3 games that I 'have' to play.  I could go back to the grind of Dynasty Warriors 7:  Xtreme Legends to work towards that Platinum, or I could go back to Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, finish up the friendships and the last online battles, or I could return to Just Cause 2, which I might not ever finish.  Or I could play any number of the other games that I own but have not started.  I don't think that there is anything 'pressing' between now and June (goddamnit, June), is my point, so I am 'free', so to speak.

Whenever I get to it, I'm sure that I'll be coming here with my results, of course.  That is what I do, after all, and I enjoy continuing to do so.  Talking about Demon's Souls will likely be particularly amusing for others since, well, I will probably be double-bad at it to start, at least to people who have played the game.  (I imagine the people who read this blog -have- played it already, at least.)  My intent is to fumble through the game as intended and while I've sought help before now, I really don't remember any of it, nor will I be looking for anymore from now.  I guess we'll just see how Mikhail Metzinger's journey unfolds during the course of my playing.

Nobunaga's Ambition X Pokemon Now Pokemon Conquest

So, uh, this was officially made a thing whilst I was on hiatus and while I was a little skeptical when the Japanese version was announced, I more or less figured on it being a reality.  Of course, without proof, I can't really prove that, so you'll just have to believe that I became less of a skeptic and this is not me being full of hot air.  Regardless, it had a pretty good shot just being a Pokemon product of some form, so that it's coming out in America (and PAL Land as well) isn't too much of a surprise.  The only thing to wonder about is just how well it's going to sell since the Pokemon name will give it legs, but not for everybody of course.  I imagine it's different enough that people won't be buying it on blind faith alone, and the Strategy aspect might turn off some of the more casual players of the game (which I imagine is a good bit).  At the same time, maybe the twist will go over more smoothly than I think.

Being a title in June however is, well, a problem.  Hell, being a DS title is kind of a problem for it for me, since I honestly don't really use my DS that much anymore, but even if I loved playing my DS and was hungering for a new Pokemon game (which, obviously, neither is true), I wouldn't be buying the game at launch because there is just no time whatsoever.  Depending on how it reviews and word-of-mouth, I might pick it up for the latter portion of the year, provided I'm not full of -other- new games to play, but, really, no guarantees here.  Which is pretty wild to imagine; not being able to buy new games because I have too many new games already.  I mean, I have too many games that I haven't played at all or at least not enough, but I haven't had a situation where I've literally bought a few games and just went "Shit, what do I play first, screw you every other game".

I guess talking about purchasing the game might just be a little premature, however, since I really don't even know what Pokemon Conquest is, in a manner of speaking.  Yes, I know it's the Sengoku Era of Japan, except everyone has Pokemon and the wars are thusly fought with Pokemon battles that take place on a wide map as opposed to just one-on-one duels, but I don't know the rest of it.  I guess asking for a 'why' is a bit much, but I guess a 'how' would work.  As in, a better showing off of the mechanics, not only with the battles themselves, but overall.  How will you get more pokemon?  You should likely be able to get more than just the Eevee to participate in the battles, I mean, and even then I imagine you'll be able to evolve said Eevee at some point.  And I still don't really know how other people are going to be set up with their pokemon either, since some have 'favored' ones that aren't actually the ones they've been showed off with or something.

I guess what I'm saying is that there is still a lot about Pokemon Conquest that is a mystery.  At the same time, that's probably a good thing since such a weird thing as this cross-over would be a little disappointing, I think, if it could be explained with ease.  However, part of me is just so curious since it's no secret that I enjoy KOEI's take on History, despite them making it really fucking difficult for me to like it, and that's basically what this is:  KOEI's take on the Sengoku Era, ala Samurai Warriors, plus Pokemon for absolutely no reason.  Not that a reason is necessary of course, since it'll be pretty fun regardless; just where it falls on the 'wackiness vs. good' scale it lands is hard to tell.  Based on my exposure to the battle system in Nobunaga's Ambition, it should be fun enough if it follows along with it.  Though it might be a more stripped down version since the one I played was free-move where this is grid-based.

Even if I probably won't be buying it right off, I did at least want to bring it up since it's something that I -would- have written about had I not been on hiatus.  Just because it's a KOEI thing, it's a Pokemon thing and it's both of those at the same time as well.  We all know that's just a recipe for my genuine interest more than many things could hope for.  Well, unless it was Yakuza and Feudal Japan but Sega would never....oh right, but at least they would localiz....oh..right.  Now I've made myself sad.  I guess I'll just bide my time by drawing up a pool of the next crossover game to be announced from Japan since that seems to be a thing for now.  Strike while the iron is hot and all that.  I'm only partially kidding about the pool, though.

Music! Persona 3 Edition

As promised yesterday with the write-up of my experience with Persona 3 so far, I decided tonight would be the best time to do the first installment of Music!  Persona 3 Edition (because I will assuredly need to do at least one more) since I've been playing the songs in my head all day.  Also listening to them through my Vita's speakers.  But mostly in my head.  Of course, this isn't a recent development; ever since I got the original Persona 3 with the soundtrack included (at least, the 18-track one America got), I've listened to the music of Persona 3 with joy as it is fantastic, so this is pretty much just me getting re-familiarized with it as I actually play the game.  In all honesty, as is usually the case with these Music! segments, I find it really, really hard to just narrow it down to three songs to feature, but I don't want to throw down the whole soundtrack and just say "There you go, it's all amazing".  Even if it is.  I'm sure you can understand why.

The first song I picked is the first song you'll likely hear if you're playing Persona 3.  Because it's the song that plays during the intro bit.  In a way, it's not actually one of my favorite songs on the soundtrack, but on the other hand it's such a good theme that I can't help but like it.  I'm not sure if I'd say that it sets the mood for the game, as that is kind of a hard task to do, but it certainly does set -a- mood.  It's inviting and interesting; the whole of it is just pleasant to listen to if you're not paying attention and if you are, there's something to grab you.  If you're me at least, because hearing, "I once ran away from the God of Fear" grabs my interest real fast, even if it's just an abstract thing tossed out there.  Which...with Persona, I'm not too sure if it is.  Regardless, the first song here is "Burn My Dread (Opening)".

Like I said, it's not mind-blowingly great, nor is it particularly extreme in any fashion, but it's a nice, inviting theme, and I think that makes it the best choice for the opening track of the game.  Even the 'engrish'-y bit doesn't really stick out once you've heard it enough times, though I'm not particularly bothered by that in the first place.  If Persona 3 was a bit easier to pin down in mood (which, I assume, would make it a little less good of a game), I'd say this probably captures it well, but with the extremes, it really just can't touch all of the game, so it's not going to give you an overall just like that.  But as something to play before the start menu, it works nicely and is just...well, pleasant to listen to.

The next song is one that will kind of show off the 'other side' of Persona 3, as it were.  This sort of paints the picture as to why it's hard to capture the entirety of the game in just one or two songs, and why it's hard to point out three that are good to listen to while also giving a good approximation of the game itself.  "Deep Breath Deep Breath" is a song that plays during more combat-oriented scenarios, namely some of the "Operations" you undergo in the game (as well as an Operation quite unlike the others, which makes it kind of hilarious) and does well enough for that as well.  If I had to say anything about the whole of the soundtrack, about something that carries all throughout it (aside from quality), I'd say that it all has some level of "Funk", or another similar word that means kind of that.  Even the above song has that sort of quality around it, and that type of catchiness pervades the entirety of the songs contained, and that's a good thing.

I think it's kind of hard to point at another song on the soundtrack (Aside from the last song I'm going to use) that is as opposite in mood from "Burn My Dread" really.  Where "Burn My Dread" is light and, I hate to say 'cheery', but I'm sure you know what I mean, "Deep Breath Deep Breath" is darker and a bit more mysterious, perhaps conspiratorial even.  (Once again, that's appropriate in both main situations it's used in, amusingly)  I do think it helps accentuate my 'funk' theory at least, since it is quite a track for that.  I think the rap helps with that, but just the way the song goes, it's pretty prevalent to me at least.  It's just something about the song, I guess, but it really grew on me and is definitely one of my favorites.

The last song, though, is probably my favorite track off the whole OST.  If this is not your first "Music!" post of mine, then you'll notice I generally like Battle Themes, especially when they're done well and Persona 3 is no exception in this.  As for this particular song, there's really just no part of it that I don't like, though I'm sure it's a little easier to understand why after you listen to it yourself.  And I -do- expect you to do so, if you don't listen to the others, at least listen to this one.  It's "Mass Destruction" and as I said, it's the general battle theme for the game, thus you'll be hearing it a lot.

I honestly think that, without such a good battle theme, battles in Persona 3 would become a chore at a certain point.  Even with it, they tend to come along that border, but not quite as close as it would without the song.  This is probably my ultimate example of the overall 'funky' level that goes through the whole OST, though, since this song just -exudes- it with the female vocals scatting about.  It's jazzy goodness, despite the, again, rap going throughout it and I personally just can't help but enjoy it no matter what.  We just got hit with a Magarudyne that knocked out two members?  "Ooo yeah~"  I'm definitely going to lose this battle?  "Baby baby~"  It's infectious and I cannot help but mouth/sing along with the words even some thirty or forty hours into the game.  I suspect that won't change no matter what, and I hope that the Girl side of the game retains at least that music, since it will ensure the maximum enjoyment.  Since I am planning on doing that side of it.

Those are three of the songs that have made Persona 3 Portable quite enjoyable for me and ensured that I kept on playing it when I didn't think I would because I lost a game week of progress.  Which I'm definitely not bitter about at all, nope, no sirree.  I expect that at some point down the road, perhaps into the Girl course of the game, that I'll do another spotlight on the soundtrack, but I don't hope to get to doing it right away.  While I write in 'Music!' posts, I'm not sure they can always be considered seriously written posts, though I'm sure -someone- might disagree with that.  Regardless, I enjoy it, and I enjoy sharing the music since it is so often overlooked in favor of....well, most other parts of the game.  Probably not so much with Persona 3 in particular, but you know what I mean.

Persona 3 Portable - Hmmmmm...

Persona 3 Portable, as a whole, has been something that is considerably difficult to pin down, with regards to just how I feel about it.  I've been very vocal in certain mediums about the parts I don't like, as I do with anything, but I feel I've been more subdued than normal on the things that I -do- like.  Which is a little odd because overall, I think those out-number the things I dislike about the game by a hearty amount, though it is sort of a 'context matters' situation, of course.  Still this is a situation that I really don't find myself in a whole lot; either I know I enjoy a game, or I know I really really don't; at least by the time I get as far into a game as I am in Persona 3, I have an idea.  Even with Alpha Protocol, I managed to have my 'end' opinion of the game about half-way into it (which was another rare case since I completely flipped from one side to another in regards to whether I liked it or not) but P3P just leaves me....wondering.

I guess the first, and biggest, complaint I could level against the game is what makes up the main percentage of the gameplay in it: Tartarus.  This is mostly a personal thing, I realize, but I am just not a fan of the roguelike method of Dungeon Creation which is just what Tartarus is.  I guess the main difference being that it goes up rather than down, which I don't know if that's an appropriately big distinction to make.  The "here is a general look of a floor, you're going to see a lot of it as maps randomly create themselves for the endurance run" design just isn't inspired and, while I am quite aware that plenty of games do it in a more subtle fashion, just plopping it down like that bothers me.  It feels like Quantity over Quality and, while that's not always the case of course, I'm really not about that in the least.  I've made it up to level 110 in my current game, and I'm sure I have a dozen or so more floors before I hit the next 'barrier' that prevents me from going up to the next copy-paste section of 20-40 floors or so, with mid-bosses thrown in at intervals for no other reason than to remind you that it is indeed, a dungeon, as if the semi-random encounters all throughout were not indication enough.

Coupled with that is the fact that it is really easy to lose hours of progress traveling through Tartarus if you don't abuse the save system and, in fact, sometimes even then.  This is purely because the game doesn't operate under its own logic and instead employs ye olde Fragile Protagonist as a method to bring about a Game Over.  Anyone beyond the main character can be knocked unconscious, taken to the bottom of Tartarus and healed with minimal fuss (though it sets them to 'Tired' which makes them basically useless), though if your protagonist gets knocked out, you're treated to a verbose little statement that basically sums up to "You Died" and are then brought back to the main menu to the horrid realization that you have the task of getting to wherever you just died once more from the last time you saved.  If you're lucky, it was minutes before, and if not then it was hours, perhaps game days prior.  When this happens, it has the strange effect of making you hate everything, because for as annoying as it is to lose progress like that, it's similarly annoying to save every other minute at points that are either too available or not available enough.

The issue here is that, in theory, a save point in Tartarus is never that far away, but at the same time, it is behind quite a terrible barrier.  You see, in P3P at least, every floor tends to have a location that you can use to instantly teleport back to the base floor.  However, if you use that, then it means re-exploring the floor you just used it on which entails re-fighting the respawning shadows that will inevitably be in your way as you re-locate everything on the floor, particularly the stairs up to the next one.  The basic theme of Tartarus and any Roguelike is progress, so giving up any progress, even if it's minimal as the floors are never quite that big, is counter-intuitive.  It's because of that that I've fallen into using the mid-boss floors as 'checkpoints', if you will, but that carries the risk of dying from one of those floors to the next, especially when we get into enemy types that make use of Hama or Mudo attacks; instant kills that, at the moment don't hit very well, but I'm coming upon the precipice wherein widespread and stronger versions of said attacks are becoming available and it puts me quite on edge.

On the other hand, I would be outright lying to you if I said there was not a wealth of good to be found in the game.  First off would be to mention the soundtrack, but there are more appropriate times and methods for me to go on about that, so expect a "Music! - Persona 3 Edition" in the very near future.  So the next thing would be to point out that the strength you'd expect from an RPG, the story and characters, are quite top-notch here.  This right here, this is what you want and Persona 3 delivers it quite capably and in a fashion that will literally require more than one play to experience fully, I believe.  Not only for the fact that it includes the Girl Main Character with an altered story, but simply because there's facets of the game I still haven't explored despite having the chance to do so.  Some of these are for reasons that are, actually, based on the characters themselves (whether because from the little interaction you get at base, I know they're...'trouble', or because I'm invested in another character which would cause a conflict), which is pretty high praise, I should say.

For my complaints about the mechanics of the game, I do have to say that what matters, the battle system, is mostly good.  In fact, it might be a little too good since it reaches the level of being a double-edged sword in that it's perfectly functional and fast and easy to strategize around, but the enemies use the exact same system.  So while it's easy to finish battles in such a way that prevents the enemies from attacking whatsoever (barring a miss), the possibility for them to do the same thing is always present.  Through exploiting elemental weaknesses, the 'down' system, the odd critical hit here and there, and (later in the game) the team attacks that will force criticals, battles are decided quickly and without much fuss, until you find yourself against stronger foes that simply won't go down that easily.  But those are more the exceptions than the rules, and even those follow the same guidelines, though it's much much harder to 'exploit' weaknesses in those cases as, most of the time, they don't have any.

While related to the characterization, I do find myself enjoying the story and the interactions in a way that is beyond simply liking it as a means to go further into the game.  I wouldn't call it brilliant, but it's capable and then some.  There are enough hooks here and there to get you thinking about just where it might go when it's not plainly telegraphed, and despite that, it still has managed to surprise me here and there.  Even in instances where it shouldn't have, by all rights.  I do find some excitement, perhaps most of the excitement in fact, in furthering the story just to see it unfold whether or not I think I know just what's around the bend.  And at the same time, I am looking quite forward to playing the Girl side of the game which will be a completely new experience for me.  Despite being the third time I've bought Persona 3 (got the original with the OST and found a copy of FES second-hand), it is entirely new grounds, as opposed to mostly new grounds.  The girl mode is exclusive to Portable, of course, but still, my point is even though I own the game in three forms, this will be the first time I -really- play it.

I guess if someone asked me whether or not I like Persona 3 Portable, I would say "Yes" and then include a 'but' and point out my two big annoyances.  However, if someone would ask me if it was worth the $20 I spent on it, I would say 'Definitely'.  I do think that's the key point here as, no matter of whether or not I can effectively whine about it, I do like it enough to not regret the $20 I put down on it when I could've, by all means, done something quite different with that money.  With any luck, it's going to be a slow burn and I'm coming up to the point where I really fall in love with it and start to get excited.  As it stands, I believe I can make do with the crafty smiles it brings out of me and the enjoyment I find in it. 

Platinum Get - Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Last week, after grinding for my last bounties, I ran through Uncharted:  Golden Abyss on Crushing, which had been a task I worried about as I worry over every attempt at a game on its hardest difficulty.  In the best cases, they are appropriate tests of your acquired learnings from playing the game on lesser difficulties, and in the worst cases, they're a gauntlet of bullshit strung together for 4-9 hours.  Never has an Uncharted game been one of the latter cases and Golden Abyss is no exception to this in the least; in fact, I would even suggest that as far as the Uncharted games go, this has been the easiest Crushing thus far.  That's not a point against the game, of course, as I'm not the type to actually hope a game would be harder, though a little more of a challenge would have been welcomed, if that makes sense to anyone but me.  As it stands, the only section I really had troubles with was Chapter 11 which, for anyone who has played the game, knows that that's a fault of the section itself, and not the difficulty.

I might suggest that part of the ease of the game came with the extended exposure to its specific mechanics I had, however, since farming bounties essentially turned me into a rather effective killing machine.  Playing each section on Hard does have its benefits of course, and while I was only able to employ my "Nathan Drake Finesse Training" in one section (basically saying I tried to avoid cover when possible and use a lot of Iron Fists and generally dangerous methods of attack), it paid off exponentially.  By the time I made it to the respective farming sections in Crushing, they went by in a breeze which is not something to expect in a Crushing run in the least.  While I won't say they're Trial and Error sections, since that gives the wrong impression, Crushing runs generally do entail learning from one death to another until you can effectively plot out a plan of attack that will leave you as the last one standing.  The real pleasure from that is derived from when it goes right and you stand amidst the guns scattered about, lacking owners, and feel it set in that there isn't going to be anyone coming.

As I've said before and will likely say again several times in the near-to-far-future, the most time-intensive part of the Trophy Set for Golden Abyss was really only the bounty hunting.  While Golden Abyss offers a campaign that is long enough for me to say it is, in fact, 'meaty', my last play-through of the game was over the course of two days purely because I was skipping every cutscene that I could and, well, not screwing up and dying a lot.  In some ways, Bounty Hunting probably took an equal amount of time, but we gauge as much on feeling and opinion as on reality, so to say that it felt much longer than completing the campaign the three times that I did (Normal, Hard, Crushing) is certainly saying a lot.  I apologize for bringing it up so much since I realize I do, but I am just trying to hammer in the fact that it took an amount of time that I really didn't expect from an Uncharted game.

I guess it's because of that that I'm not really bemoaning the fact that Golden Abyss offers nothing outside of a Single-Player experience.  Sure, you can trade bounties over Near, but that doesn't count in the least for multiple reasons.  In a sense, I guess it would be nice if there were Co-Op offerings in the same vein as Uncharted 2 and 3's respective ones, and it's a rare day when you don't hear someone clamoring for Competitive Multiplayer in everything no matter what, but most people refer to Online methods of the above as 'padding' and really, that's all it would be here.  Golden Abyss offers a really, really great experience, a hint towards the level of quality we can expect in the future (both on par with GA and above) and, most importantly, I feel it has quite enough content to justify its existence without opening the doors to Online profiles, Multiplayer matches against people who are level 53 and the like.  That is my opinion of course, but this is coming from someone who routinely spends 100+ hours in Dynasty Warriors games just to achieve the ultimate goal of thoroughly 'completing' them; I would suggest I have a pretty good grasp on the bang:buck ratio.

Still, at the same time, directly after Platinuming Golden Abyss, I saw no real point to keeping it in my Vita and switched it out for Dynasty Warriors Next without any real intention to play it.  With access to four other games on the Vita itself (Legend of Heroes:  Trails in the Sky, Final Fantasy Tactics:  War of the Lions, Persona 3 Portable and MotorStorm RC), I don't see why I -shouldn't- have Next in on the off-chance that I get the urge to play it, but, much like most of my games, when I am done with them, I am simply done, so perhaps it's just more me than anything about GA.  At the same time, Multiplayer didn't hold my interest in Uncharted 2 or 3 for much longer after the Platinums for them were attained, so I guess I'm just more focused on Single-Player things yet.  Part of the dying breed, as it were.  At any rate, with this Platinum, I'm up to 18 and am thusly reminded that I haven't gotten one of these baubles since Drake's Deception.  I have been getting lazy, apparently.