Long time no see (seems like I begin every post of mine on here this way…sorry), all. Just thought I’d drop by and let you know what’s going on in my gaming life. ^_^

The household DS has been seeing a lot of gametime lately. My fiance and I gobbled up the excellent Hotel Dusk: Room 215, which I heartily recommend to anyone who wants an intriguing story. The gameplay is your typical point/click adventure with DS-specific touch screen puzzles, but the writing is top-notch and the art style is really, really awesome (think a-ha’s Take on Me, but more gritty). I’ve also gotten the OBJECTION! bug thanks to Phoenix Wright. We’ve conquered the first game, and now I’ve begun the second case on the second. I love these. Despite being a bit more typo-ridden than HD:R215 (which only had one that I noticed), the story is really engaging and the characters are a delight. It’s great fun piecing together the evidence into the witnesses’ testimonies.

Outside of the DS, I’ve fallen in love with Okami. After roaming the fields of Nippon for several hours, my heart cries that Capcom shut down Clover Studios. I do eagerly look forward to the work SEEDS puts out. This game is gorgeous in a artistic design manner, controls like a dream and rivals Zelda in its ingenious level design. My fiance is miles ahead of me, but I’m really happy with my purchase.

So…what’s up with you guys? ^_^ I’ll post some of my later reviews at a later date…I’m almost off of work, so I’ll have to jet shortly.

Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) and its American presence, NIS America, have built a huge reputation over the past couple years as the torch-carriers for the 2D RPG fan, with Ar Tonelico recently offering a great dose of traditional, albeit excellent, action; lots of interactions with cute girls; and an item creation system that is simple and fun.

Here’s a quick look at a handful of titles coming out this year…

Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos (release date: April 24, PSP). Here’s what I hope will happen, this game will rock the PSP like the previous NIS games were supposed to. We need more solid, 2D RPGs on the PSP and I’m crossing my fingers that this will be it (and we know there’s a killer app coming too, more on that below). From the site: “Long, long ago, battles were waged with blade and spell. The lush island of Aedis was constantly submerged in bloodshed. Eventually, this hatred and anger gave birth to an entity known as Mugen, which brought an end to all things. Mugen’s dark lightning scorched the land, split the earth, and shattered the vessels of life. The few survivors fled to an ancient relic, the Otherworld Tower. As they entered, some descended into the earth, while others climbed to the heavens. Some, however, still had faith in their land, and remained in Aedis. Thus has the legend this world has passed down. Now they call it a fairy tale, a mere child’s fantasy.”

Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm (release date: May 29, PS2) is the 3rd in a series of alchemy RPG games by Gust. With a strong focus on item creation and good old-school battles, the 3rd time may be the charm for this great series. From the site: “Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm tells the story of two young adventurers, Edge and Iris. They accidentally discover a fragment of a magical book that can grant any wish, once all 8 pieces are brought back together. On their quest to find all the pieces, they are joined by a rag-tag team of alchemists and warriors.”

Soul Nomad (release date: August 2007, PS2). Is this Disgaea 3? All kidding aside, the trailer makes this look like an awesome SRPG. From the press release: “This latest project from Nippon Ichi Software combines the infamous grid-based strategy engine of Disgaea with the deep game play of a traditional style RPG for a new and unique experience. Crime apparently pays well as players are encouraged to steal, abduct, and kick villagers in the butt to get what you want.” Consider this on my most anticipated list!

Dragoneer’s Aria (release date: summer 2007, PSP). Another PSP RPG coming our way. According to the press release: “Developed by Hit Maker, Dragoneer’s Aria takes advantage of PlayStation® Portable’s advanced hardware providing an compelling story telling with flawless transition between adventure and battles. Players can now battle enemies as a team through PlayStation® Portable’s ADHOC function. Up to 4 players can play at the same time.”

GrimGrimoire (release date: June 2007, PS2). According to the press release: “The fantasy real time strategy game (RTS) is scheduled to release in summer 2007, and is co-developed by Nippon Ichi Software and Vanillaware. In the game, players will take on the role of Lillet Blan, a young magician who is admitted to a prestigious yet mystical magic school; however, on the 5th day of school, everyone mysteriously vanishes. Lillet, awakens the next day to find out she is once again living out the first day of school; however, her memories from the previous days are intact, giving her the opportunity to solve the mysteries behind the disappearances and prevent the tragedy from occurring.” Definitely check out the trailer for this one, it looks amazing.

Disgaea PSP (release date: summer 2007, PSP). Not only is this the Disgaea we know and love, but there is additional content and a new multiplayer mode!!! According to the press release: “Gamers will now be able to play their favorite game on the go. And premiering with the North American release, Disgaea® PSP will feature a multiplayer mode, enabling players to pit their armies against each other. There will also be a brand new Geo Cube feature, which will alter the rules of battle, bringing a brand new element of strategy to the game, and spicing up player vs. player battles. A new story mode has also been added, allowing players to play as their favorite vassal.” Will this lead to perhaps some SRPG presence on Xbox Live with multiplayer? I’ve long thought the future of the 2D SRPG was on places such as Xbox Live where downloadable content would be available at intervals and where there could be human against human battles. It looks like even players who have put more than their share in to the original will have some new things to play with on the PSP version.

Note: all content taken from the NIS America website: http://www.nisamerica.com/

After playing the God of War II demo, I think I may have a man-crush on Kratos. The dude’s a bad ass. Sure, he’s in dire need of some anger management classes, but the “Ghost of Sparta” is a total chick magnet. His pimp hand is so strong he got Athena to help make him a god. She even hooked him up with some wicked cool armor and new blades to keep his bitches in check. Now that’s a sugar momma.

It seems good cooking isn’t a characteristic common to Greek women. They just can’t keep Kratos happy, and in his rage he wages war on city after city, pissing off the other gods in the process. It’s unclear why the gods of Olympus would be surprised at his behavior. Causing havoc is clearly on the job application for god of war. Apparently Kratos does his job a little too well.

When Kratos starts tearing apart yet another city and turns his back on Athena, she cock-blocks hardcore and starts taking away his powers. She also takes it upon herself to animate a colossal statue to set loose on Kratos. Pissing Kratos off is not a good idea. He immediately brings the pain to anyone unfortunate enough to stand within his reach.

It’s good to see SCEA didn’t fix what isn’t broken. The murderous symphony of death is still undeniably entertaining. This time around we’ll actually get to kill something with Athena’s blades (which shimmer a lustful gold). The arsenal of combos is tweaked a bit with the addition of some variables. L1 acts as the block button and switches up the action buttons to perform another set of death ensuing moves. They’ll come in handy during the over the top boss fights. Battles seem to go on forever, but it adds a lot of scale and makes the fight seem much more epic.

If a demo can make me ramble on like a little teenage girl, then the real game will be nothing short of amazing. The 13th is way too long to wait to start handing mythological creatures their asses. Considering they have one at all.

In writing about car-tunes and games and whatnot I try to sound semi-professional (read: not completely retarded), so I’m going to take this as an opportunity to come off as a hyperactive third-grader in an undersized sandbox and just write off the top of my head.

Recently, I picked up a Japanese PS2. It took me a long time, but the reasons behind this purchase were 100% pathetically nerdy. I wanted the new Space Sheriff Spirits game because I’m completely obsessed with anything tokusatsu (Japanese special effects shows. Think Ultraman).

But that bad boy is on backorder now and I’m patiently (read: rabidly) awaiting its arrival. In the meantime, though, I ordered a copy of Chikyuu Boeigun 2 and got it in the mail today. For the unaware, this game is a budget title that’s part of the PS2’s Simple 2000 series; a series that’s already pushed out such riveting classics as Zombie Vs. Ambulance (yes, I ordered that too. More on that when it arrives).

Make no mistake, this game is a STEAL at its budget price. Exciting 1-2 player kaiju-killing action that doesn’t quit fills the disc, and so far I’m having an absolute blast. The first couple of levels have you blowing away giant ants in London and beyond. After that it’s UFOs, huge War of the Worlds-style pods, massive jumping tarantulas and more.

Your basic arsenal consists of an automatic and a bazooka, but there are also vehicles you can hop in. I don’t want to go on and on about the details because in that case I may as well be reviewing it right now (that can wait, right?). I just have to jump in and exclaim what a good time I’m having with this cheapo game. I can’t wait to bust out some co-op and versus tomorrow with one of my friends.

Chikyuu Boeigun 2 is the ding-dong bee’s knees, y’all.