thirdworldgamer

I really missed out on a great RPG last April; that RPG is Star Ocean 4 :) I think I've reached the middle of the game now; the in-game combat system is now showing some level of sophistication. It's nice how you can switch characters in the middle of a battle sequence, and how your party isn't 'wiped out' unless everyone (and absolutely EVERYONE) gets killed. Not that it makes things any easier. Later on enemies will use attacks that are harder to overcome and you have to manage your party's tactics correctly to win. And use the 'food' that's in your inventory to even stand a chance (some food items buff your stats before a battle). Maybe it's my fault for not level grinding so much that I had to depend on in-game items; granted, I did go for a lot of grinding in one planet where your party stays for quite a duration. But upon reaching what seems to be the middle of the second disc, I think I need to do a bit of work with my characters. Since co...

A few hours in, I'm getting the impression that the game's designers were heavily inspired by the style of Star Trek. Human space explorers together with a few alien beings find uncharted territories, investigate, seek out new life, gather information/intelligence...At the very least, the first few quests have that consistent feel about them. After leaving a particular planet it felt to me like the 'end' of a Star Trek episode, and the start of a new one. I didn't expect the game to be like this, so I was a bit surprised by the game's style. I expected a Japanese RPG. For the most part, it still is. But the Western influence in the storyline is very much welcome. The one annoyance I've encountered? Save points are very, very far apart, so expect to be spending hours playing the game without stopping because you won't get the chance to save often. It has frustrated me at some point, but when the story gets going, it does grab my attention. The characters ...

Blame Capcom. Blame Street Fighter IV. And blame Resident Evil 5. We got Star Ocean 4 a few months back; my wife got to about near the end of the first disc but then a lot of work came in, so she never finished the game. I got started on Star Ocean 4 a few days ago. She said she'll just take turns with me playing the game instead. Yeah, it was hard to get out of Street Fighter IV to try out a different genre. In fact, I'm still playing SFIV these days; though I'm trying my very best to get out of the habit. Street Fighter IV is too addicting, particularly thanks to the solid netcode for the game on Xbox Live. Note: I also have the same game for the Playstation 3, but my online experience with Street Fighter IV on the Playstation Network has been dodgy at best. I've had more disconnections and laggy games for Street Fighter IV on Playstation Network than I've ever had on Xbox Live. I think I've reached my peak with Street Fighter IV; I'm simply not getting an...

Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope has just been released today in Japan for the XBOX 360. Given the beauty of this game, its not surprising to see that several Japanese gamers have put up videos of their gameplay. Check out the YouTube videos below...unfortunately YouTube seems to have disabled the HD version of these videos due to the size. If you have an account in Nico Douga, go see the original videos! One thing I have to say is that this is perhaps the most colorful looking XBOX 360 game there is right now! Everything you see in those videos are all in realtime! Having played Infinite Undiscovery, the graphics for SO4 is a pretty nice leap from IU. That image above is from one of the YouTube videos. Unfortunately due to the YouTube constraints the video might play back at a lower resolution. To get the best version go to the source in Nico Douga. I’ve read a couple of reviews for the game, most notably Game Informer, and the one of their chief complaints have something to do wit...

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/880/880407p1.html Star Ocean 4 just got announced for the Xbox 360! Along with this, MS Japan revealed more on Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remnant and Fable 2. Yet another great year of great games on the Xbox 360 :D