Nintendo 3DS

Flok has bought the Nintendo 3DS Aqua Blue version along with Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition on the day of launch, the 25th of march. I didn't know until then what the prices would be, but I wasn't surprised to hear that I needed to pay up 250 and 45 euros for each one.

There is something special about buying a new console or handheld on the first available day regionally, and I have been doing so since the Nintendo GameCube. Before that, me and my brother got the N64 as a gift, while the Super NES was a Christmas gift for my brother, and I can't even remember how we got a hold of the NES and the very first Gameboy, still all lying around here with respect. Suffice to say, with Nintendo hardware, you can almost never go wrong (excluding the bizzare Virtual Boy) , be it by their quality based games or be it by their innovations.

The Nintendo 3DS is of course the latest new generation of handheld gaming, and it comes with an effective visual way that has been tried and tested out plenty of times before. I think I remember that Nintendo started out with 3D as far as the 80's for a particular game, but before that, cinema was all over it during certain eras, such as the 50's with the movie House of Wax(1953) for example.

The 3D effects I have experienced so far are depth visuals, popping out visuals and augmented reality. I am no way an expert of the third dimension and how it works, but I must say that these kind of visuals can provide exciting new gameplay material towards the gamers, especially when talking of augmented reality. And the best thing is that because of the 2 front camera's being aligned in such ways, that we no longer need weird glasses to be able to see it happening. Granted, you have to see it at a certain central position, but that is no problem because this happens to be the typical gaming position.

Familiar features such as internet, wireless, camera's and backwards compatibility return, and pretty much all of them have been improved, such as being able to create 3D photos now. Several small games await you as well, such as the hilarious Face Raiders game, the AR games and those two games found in Mii Plaza which I have yet to try.

It has brought in Wii features such as automatic updating and Mii's as well, and the graphics are a strong improvement over the DS. I cannot say the exact improvement, but it might have even better graphics than the Wii.

And lastly, the launch line up isn't exactly exciting as other launches, but at least Capcom, having been a great Nintendo partner since the beginning, was able to adjust Super Street Fighter 4 with 3D effects and bring it over, making it for me the only must have title.

I will keep it short regarding my first actual 3DS game, but I can tell you that the amount of work put in it is phenomenal, what with 35 characters playable, fluent online gameplay, the 3D overhead mode and even all of those figurines. It does take a while before I get used to such a consistent fighter on a handheld (the same thing goes for the slider), but I am confident that the results will be even more sublime. Simply put, I am amazed at the fact I am playing such a qualified game on the 3DS already, well done Capcom.

There will definitely be exciting announcements coming around at the next E3 scheduled, and I cannot wait for that already. Pretty much all of the announced 3DS games other than the launch line up have yet to state their release date, so that is kind of a let down. I have plenty of trust in Nintendo though and will wait with enthousiasm which AAA title will first be released on the brand new handheld.

Retro Blog: Secret of Evermore

There are a massive amount of Role Playing Games out there. I'd like to play and beat plenty of those, especially from the NES and PSX gaming libraries, but as we know, these games tend to last quite a while before you are even able to beat the game, regardless of side quests. So the time to spend on a potential rich RPG must be well chosen.

Many of the RPG's also play the same fundamentally. But there are some noticeable sub genres sticking out. Examples are traditional turn based, action based and strategy based ones. Each of them come with their own rules regarding RPG gameplay and how various systems, elements and objects work in each title. Some are simply designed and easily picked up if you are familiar, others demand a very deep learning curve. I know of at least 3 RPG titles that took me and many others 1 hour before we understood the majority of how the game is played.

As it stands, RPG's are here to stay. They are well known for detailed or deep storylines, gamelength, various strategies and themed music. Not all of them are a joy to play. And personally, I have begun to dislike random encounters in general, but perhaps I will speak more about that aspect another time.

I'd like to focus attention onto a classic SNES RPG now. At least, that is my humble opinion, because this game isn't exactly cherished by a vast amount of fans. And the prime reason for that is because of a certain franchise which shares the same basic gameplay. More on this further down the post.

Secret of Evermore is an action RPG about a boy and his trustyworthy dog, who through a freak of circumstances enter the world of Evermore, divided into 4 sections which are Prehistoria, Antiqua, Gothica and Omnitopia, each with their own currency, where anything but humans attempt to kill you in battle. As you are acquinted by your main character, you notice how he likes to refer to fictional movie titles at certain moments. And as for the dog, well, he has a mysterious ability to forcefully morph into another form the moment you enter a different section.

The story is about escaping this mysterious world, and uncover the Secret of Evermore, which is the fact that all hostile creatures in Evermore happen to be mechanical, created by a malfuctioned butler robot named Carltron. As a kid uncovering this twist, I must say, I was pretty surprised to get to know this from regular enemies found in RPG's.

The game comes with the effective Ring System, as far as I know first introduced in Secret of Mana, another title created by Squaresoft. As you access this system, it lets you rotate through many things, including obtained spells, armor, weapons and items. You can purchase most of those things, however to acquire spells, you must first find the right ingredients.

These ingredients can range from mushrooms to meteorites, and personally, it was difficult to get all of the spells because of the scarcity of some of those ingredients. Each spell can be leveled up the more you use it. Some of the spells were fun to cast, such as a giant fist slamming onto the enemy, and from key characters you can even get some special spells connected towards them.

Leveling goes the same towards the weapons the boy uses in combat, and like in Secret of Mana, there are delays in the boy and dog's attacks in order to charge up for the next attack. The difficulty is fairly normal and friendly for gamers of all age, but there is a certain boss that can only be defeated with Alchemy (spells), so be warned. The enemies and bosses were both well done and most of all, the bestiality was quite varied.

I think that the best factor towards Secret of Evermore, like pretty much any great videogame, is the music itself, created by Jeremy Soule. For me, it happens to have the most atmospheric soundtrack on the Super Nintendo, it even acknowledges some of it's sounds as ambience in the Official Sound Track. Not only that, but some of the songs in it are very well connected towards the given location. Some of the most memorable and beautifully composed are Collosia Chamber 1, Ivor Town and the very last song, Return to Podunk (but only if you have played and beaten the game). Admitted, the soundtrack isn't large, but a few of those songs are definitely worthwhile to hear. Nothing else on the SNES sounds the way this soundtrack does.

The story itself and it's characters aren't as memorable, but they are not generic as well. I really liked the setting and immersion each section had to offer. Combined with the music and the many secrets scattered around the world, I have wished for a remake or a sequel to be made towards Secret of Evermore for a long time...but it has never happened and probably never will.

Which is very shameful, when also looking at Secret of Mana and it's Japanese sequel Seiken Densetsu 3. Square-Enix nowadays will either port or remake as many Final Fantasies or Dragon Quests as possible, but they do not even attempt to bring out an excellent action RPG like Secret of Mana or Evermore anymore!? The money does not float towards those kind of games and thus, I am sad.

Lastly, the prime reason why Secret of Evermore has been neglected and pushed away as a bad RPG by many is because of it's status as being the reason why Seiken Densetsu 3 was never released in the West. That is what Squaresoft itself stated back in the day. It happens to be a replacement towards another great game. It is also, in fact, an American RPG, created by the American section of Squaresoft. Not that that really matters, because the gameplay here is just as terrific, but it does stand out as being pretty much the only American RPG on the SNES.

It has a bad reputation for being this odd decision of a replacement. But for me, Evermore will always be one of the best RPG's I have played, for it's remarkable setting, immersive soundtrack, mysterious nature, underappreciated status and gameplay just as good as the Mana franchise. There are many RPG's indeed, but to find your favorites ones, you must experience and remember each of them in your own way.

Rating: 9.0

I Saw the Devil

The latest movie which I have reviewed comes from South Korea. And it is finally a great worthwhile one to see again. Asian movies such as Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong are vastly different in culture from the West, but can also show us some incredible movies, how few they may be.

From what I have reviewed so far, which are mainly horror, thriller, crime and action titles, things can get very subtle and intricate. But those can most of the time be executed well. There is plenty of diversity to be found, but what Asians are good at is their amount of insane materials and themes they sometimes can come up with. I will just drop one example and move on to the review itself. Promise you won't take in any drugs when you watch Tetsuo(1989), okay?

I tried to generalize, but Asian cinema is simply too big to compehrend. From Akira Kurosawa's epic and humoristic movies to Takashi Miike's horror movies to John Woo's action movies,  All I can say is, don't be afraid of foreign movies, you would not have a clue about several astonishing movies out there for sure.

#660

This spectacular title reminded me the most of Anthony Wong’s brutal CAT III movies, because the serial killer more or less had the same personality. As he murders a pregnant woman, the cop who was in love with her will stop at nothing to hunt down the killer, tear him apart and deliver to him 10.000 times the pain he did towards her. 

I’m not sure how that is all measured, but I can assure you that this is a very gory movie, which I very much praised. There is too many to talk about, but some of the highlights were the brutal taxi scene with 2 victims, the many head bashing scenes and the twisted ending, notable to be a very effective revenge tactic for the cop. 

As it developed, two monsters roamed and hunted on each other in this pretty long movie. Justice and righteousness were far away from this story, but that doesn't mean it cannot be a great story. Surely, most of the time, the movie felt unnerving, unpleasant and cruel, but that is just one of the many feelings one can have for a particular movie.

It was all about the revenge sequence. Character development wasn't as strong, but there are plenty of intimidating scenes to be found, resulting in phases of murders, then pursuit, more murders and then pursuit again. It's actually amazing how the serial killer managed to survive and escape several times.

I Saw the Devil is also not the most realistic directed, but boy, some scenes still stick in my mind. What you get to see here is just a glimpse of hell on Earth, or actually South Korea. To summarize, it was worth watching for sure. This is not a story where nothing makes sense, but the hunting kept going for so long, I wonder if anyone will be able to appreciate this movie despite it's length? You will only find that out if you decide to watch this thriller unfold.

Rating: 8.0