Rapid Chronicles Content

This Week on Rapid Chronicles : 5/28/2012

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:05:31 +0000

Here's what's happening on Rapid Chronicles for the week of May 28, 2012

All things comes to an end,

We're coming down to the last sum of chapters in the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles. Only 8 chapters remain before the finale. The plan this week is to upload the few remaining chapters left leading up to the lengthy 4-chapter final mission that will hopefully be all released by the end of next week. As such, for the next two weeks you will see more Mass Effect 3 videos. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is coming up also in just less than a week and a half and I want to sort of finish the Mass Effect 3 playthrough relatively before E3 starts.

What is just starting is my (Rapid) Witcher 2 story playthrough. Which if you have not seen follows the same structure as most of my other video playthroughs. The videos showcase cutscenes and story related gameplay of the particular game. Since I'm wrapping up the Mass Effect 3 playthrough, the series will go on a short hiatus until after E3.

Look forward to more Witcher 2 videos in a few weeks.

Wrapping up last week :

Last week news come out about the Leap Motion, it is an interesting peice of new consumer technology.

Chapter 18, 19 and 20 of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles went up

Also Part 6 of the Witcher 2 Playthrough was uploaded on Saturday.

New Consumer 3D Motion Tracking

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:21:17 +0000

LEAP is a new spatial tracking device developed by Leap Motion a start up company based in San Francisco and what they are showing is really promising.

I wanted to make a post about this up coming product because for one it interests me from a technological aspect and it has been receiving some buzz in the gaming community. Motion controls are becoming more and more popluar, the Kinect for the Xbox 360 has really commericalized 3D tracking devices / cameras. Leap is designed to be compatible with PC and Macs and will allow us to do things like, manage folders, browse the web and even game using our hands, stylus (and even chopsticks!). I could see this being used in the future with Windows 8 and the new metro interface. The device's been compared to the Kinect, but one key difference between the two is that unlike Kinect which uses a camera to detect motion, Leap is a small sensor that is design to sit infront of your computer. What interests me about the Leap Motion aside from how accurate it seems to be, is also how small and compact the device is. The developers claim it is one of the most accurate 3D motion trackers currently avaliable. Leap Motion is currently advertsing pre-orders for their desktop tracker on their website if you are interested in learning more about them.

This Week on Rapid Chronicles : 5/21/2012

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:00:06 +0000

Here's what's happening on Rapid Chronicles for the week of May 21, 2012

Click click click click click click click...

If you don't already know that's sound of the internet playing Diablo 3 (duh!). Although, I'm still playing the Witcher 2 and enjoying the heck out of it. No loot addicted cravings for me! On the topic of The Witcher 2, once you get experienced and comfortable with how to utilize signs, potions, oils, and traps, in particular also getting past unlocking Training Skills and progressing into the other branches of the skill tree, combat becomes increasly strategic and enjoyable. Speaking of my experience, you start to learn how to leverage the number of oncoming enemies instead of constantly cowarding.

On that note though, the next few videos may take a little longer to put up because I'm editing a lot of the content. The reason being is that I just received a bunch of quests all which some of their objectives are being completed non linearly. In other words, the classic this quest updated or was picked up while I was actually on another quest. For the benefit of my viewers especially those whom haven't played it yet, this week I'm planning on editing the videos such that the cutscenes will be more joined and succinct, and hopefully quest cutscenes will have a more logical flow.

There will be more chapters of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles, and in fact by the time you see this article Chapter 18 should be up on (my) Rapid's channel.

Wrapping up last week:

Chapter 16 and 17 of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles went up

Last week I uploaded part 5, the first video of Chapter 1 of my Witcher 2 story playthrough.

Mass Effect 3 Story Playthrough - The Mass Effect 3 Chronicles

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:56:53 +0000

Various videos of Mass Effect 2 & 3 that Rapid recorded with his Shepard which highlight the choices and decisions he made throughout the series.

Note first two videos in playlist are of Mass Effect 2.

Full Playlist & Channel Here

View By Chapter (Still On-going)

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 1 : The Invasion of Earth

The start of video Highlights Rapid's Shepard. Starting with Shepard visiting Liara after events of the Arrival. Two Years later, the Reapers have reached Earth and Commander Shepard is summoned before the Alliance Embassy.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 2 : The Citadel

Shepard attempts to appeal the citadel council to aid Earth in the war against the Reapers. The Turian Councillor makes a proposition with Shepard.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 3 : Rescue the Turian Primarch

Shepard must rescue the Primarch Fedorian on Palaven and secure an alliance with the turian race in order to fight with humanity against the reapers.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles : Chapter 4 - Grissom Academy

Specialist Traynor detects something is amiss when she picks up a fake Turian signal originating from Grissom Academy, a school for gifted Biotics. Shepard visits the school to investigate.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 5 : One Rule on the Citadel

Shepard returns the citadel and unexpectedly runs into an old acquaintance whom wants to make a "special" offer.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 6 : From Ashes

Shepard revisits Eden Prime the place where he first discovered the existence of the Reapers. There he finds an unlikely ally.... the last surviving Prothean.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 7 : Rescue the Female Krogan

In order to secure a cure for the Krogan genophage, Shepard must rescue a female Krogan from Cerberus attackers.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 8: Aralakh Company

After being informed by Wrex of what could be a new Rachni threat, Shepard joins the Aralakh Company led by Grunt, to recover a team of specs ops that has gone off the radar, meanwhile also attempting to investigate the Rachni threat.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles : Chapter 9 - Liara's Plan for the Future

Liara shares with Shepard a special archive of the galazy she has created. Later, Shepard goes to Tuchanka to investigate a classified mission as per primarch Victus' request.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles : Chapter 10 - Tarquin Victus' Redemption

After discovering the truth behind Tarquin Victus' mission, Shepard returns to Tuchanka to assist with the operation. Later the Salarian primarch has offer for Shepard.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles : Chapter 11 - The Cure for the Krogan

After a close encounter with the Reapers, Shepard, Wrex, and the rest of the crew make their way to the shroud. The fate of the Krogan rests in their hands.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles : Chapter 12 - Citadel In Peril

After a successful mission in Tuchanka, the Salarian Council member requests Shepard to investigate some strange money laundry.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles : Chapter 13 - Citadel Aftermath

After the Cerberus attack on the Citadel. Shepard reunites with some old acquaintances.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles : Chapter 14 : Cerberus Scientists

Shepard catches up with his crew mates on the Citadel and on the Normandy. Shepard investigates a Cerberus Lab in Arrae under siege.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 15 : A Bet with Vakarian

After recruiting former Cerberus scientists to the Crucible Project, Commander Shepard returns to the Citadel once again.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 16 - Ardat-Yakshi Monastery

Shepard investigates an Monastery for assari ardat-yashi. Upon arriving at the monastery Shepard's team stumbles onto a horrifying discovery.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 17 : Meeting with the Quarians

Shepard invites admirals from the Migrant Fleet on board the Normady hoping to negotiate an alliance with the Quarians to aid Earth in the fight against the Reapers. However, tension still exists between the Geth and Quarians which first needs to be resolved.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 18 : Saving Admiral Krios

After the incident on the Geth Dreadnought, Shepard patience with Admiral Gerrel runs out. Admiral Raan reminds Shepard however, they have more pressing matters, rescuing Admiral Krios after he became stranded after taking out the Geth Planetary Defense Cannon.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 19 : Geth Server

Shepard visits the Geth virtual world. and discovers the history between the Geth and the Quarians storied long ago in the Geth's memory.

Mass Effect 3 Chronicles - Chapter 20 : Return to Rannoch

Shepard, Legion, and Tali land on Rannoch to take back Rannoch from the Old Machines and the Heretics. The time has finally come for the Quarian to take back their homeworld.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition Story Playthrough

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:27:50 +0000

Cutscenes and story related gameplay footage from Rapid's playthrough the Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition on the PC.

Full Playlist & Channel Here

View by Individual Parts (Still On-going)

Prologue - The Assassins of Kings Part 1

Geralt of Rivera, better known as the Witcher is held in captive in La Valette dungeon for the accussed murder of King Foltest. Geralt must convince Vernon Roche, leader of the Blue Stripes that he is innocent. He begins by recollecting what happened the day the King was murdered.

Prologue - Trial by Fire - Part 2

After dealing with Aryan La Valette, that noon Geralt, Triss, Roche and the King make their way into La Valette Castle. At the same moment a dragon swoop down and begins breathing fire upon them. They quickly make a break for the castle.

Prologue - To The Temple - Part 3

Reaching the temple where Foltest's children are being kept Geralt first encounters the king's true murderer. Having heard the Geralt's point of view, Vernon Roche although unable to clear Geralt's name slips the Witcher the key to his shackles.

Prologue - The Dungeons of the La Valettes - Part 4

While Geralt makes his escape out of the La Valette castle dungeons, he encounters Mary Louisa La Valette in distress and it is up to Geralt to attempt to aid her.

Chapter 1 - Flotsam - Part 1

Geralt, Triss and Roche travel on boat, and end up landing in Flotsam Forest. On the way to the town, they suddenly encounter a band of Scoia'tael.

This Week on Rapid Chronicles : 5/14/2012

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:56:54 +0000

Here's what's happening on Rapid Chronicles for the week of May 14, 2012

Funny how things turn out,

I told everyone that last week I was unsure when or if any videos would get put up due a YouTube bug, but it turns out that I ended up uploading a ton of videos last week! I don't think I have ever uploaded more than 2 or 3 videos in one week (due to bandwidth limitations here) but I ended up uploading more than 5 videos last week.

This week there will be more chapters of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles. On the weekend I also sat down and play some Super Smash Bros Brawl in which I recorded a bit of footage from it, and oh man.... some hardcore fan will probably be yelling at their screens when that video goes up soon...

I'm still playing through the Witcher 2, I got to Chapter 1 of the game so what you guys see is pretty much where I am at the game. The game just opened up a bit, and I'm still trying to figure out how I am going to record and edit the videos for when the game truly opens up. Since I'm playing the game for first time when I record these videos I do not know when to expect cutscense or in-game dialogue so it takes me longer to edit and sometimes re-record for crucial story tidbits I missed. I originally planned for my Witcher 2 videos to be more about the story rather than the gameplay (where you guys see me getting stabbed a lot...). The Witcher 2 videos will get more routinely once Mass Effect 3 Chronicles is done and I can divert more of resources (bandwidth) to it.

Wrapping up last week:

Last Week was the 20th anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D you can check out my post about it. A number of videos also when up last week.

First I recorded some footage from Sanctum when I played it during the free weekend on Steam.

Two chapters (Chapters 14 and 15) of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles also got put up as usual.

Finally if that was not enough two more Witcher 2 videos also was uploaded which wrap up the prologue chapter of the game.

After 20 Years, Return to Castle Wolfenstein 3D

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:10:02 +0000

This week marked the 20 year anniversary of Id Software’s Wolfenstein 3D and to commemorate the special occasion Bethesida (who now own Id Software) release a free browser version of the game.

You can go to the official page to play the free browser version of Wolfenstein 3D here. The game weirdly enough also supports a mouse control feature (but come on... play it right the way!) and also lets you select from all the original levels right off the bat.

In addition, Bethesda also released a special video online of John Carmack (the creator of Wolfenstien, and Id Software's Co-founder) playing through the first couple of levels of the game while providing commentary and insight. In the video, Carmack is playing the DOS version of the game however, he goes into details regarding the game's many ports including the SNES, Jagguar, and IOS version. Among other things, Carmack also discusses the game's technical aspects, bugs, and as well as how the game's mod community also helped develop the IOS version.

[Update]This Week on Rapid Chronicles : 5/07/2012

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:51:08 +0000

Here's what's happening on Rapid Chronicles for the week of May 7, 2012

[Update] It seems that the issues with YouTube have been resolved and I have started uploading this week's video content.

It's a week of uncertainty!

It seems that since the end of last week YouTube has been experiencing a bug in their video uploading where videos longer than 15 minutes are being rejected left and right! This bug has affected fair amount of users including myself (Rapid). As result, there’s no telling when I will be able to upload this week’s chapters of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles. Rest assured that the YouTube staff are aware of this problem and have been looking into it for the past couple of days. As soon as the problem is fixed the chapters will be uploaded soon after… promise.

This weekend I played a bit of Sanctum, an Indie game developed by CoffeeStain Studios. The game is a pretty interesting take on the tower defense type of games and presents some novel ideas and aesthetic that makes it more unique than the average tower defense game. I put together a gameplay video which I will also upload once it becomes possible to.

Wrapping up last week:

Chapters 12 and 13 of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles were fortunately uploaded before the bug occured.

This Week on Rapid Chronicles : 4/30/2012

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Here's what's happening on Rapid Chronicles for the week of Apirl 30, 2012.

Welcome to the week of May!

This week on Rapid Chronicles check out our new videos of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings on my (Rapid) channel. As usual, I have edited the videos down for the story, and cutscenes. The Witcher 2 videos are current pilot videos, more parts will probably go up more regularly once I'm finished uploading Mass Effect 3. Also, expect at least two new Chapters (13 and 14) of The Mass Effect 3 Chronicles to be uploaded this week. Head over to our channel or enjoy them here on site, on our new and cleaner looking Videos page! Finally, check back for any other updates this week.Have an awesome week.

Wrapping up last week:

Make sure to read my post - What's Happening Now 4/28/2012 if you want to find out what has been happening the last few months on Rapid Chronicles.

Chapters 10 & Chapter 11 of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles was uploaded check it out if you are into Mass Effect 3.

What's Happening Now? 4/28/2012

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:22:02 +0000

It’s been a while since the last time I wrote anything new on the site, so I’ll recap what I’ve been playing and working on, as I’ve been busy making major changes to the site's infrastructure.

Most of March was spent playing and recording videos of Mass Effect 3. At the time I’m writing this post, I have finished ME3’s story, and in the process of slowly uploading chapters of (my) Shepard’s story onto my YouTube channel. A couple of chapters of the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles will be uploaded each week, with around twenty eight chapters in total. At the time of this post, the series is already up to Chapter 11.

Much like what happen with the Saints Row playthrough-A Saints’ Life, due to time constraints I will not be able to do weekly chapter reflections as I done in the past with Persona 4. (Maybe I’ll write something up after the Mass Effect 3). I plan to also update the Mass Effect 3 Chronicles when the epilogue dlc comes out in the summer, and my hope is that the dlc will come out by the time that the last few Chapters are uploaded. As mentioned, the Saints Row the Third videos are done, and if any other story dlc becomes available that I think is worth wild I’ll continue to update that series.

The Fate of the Galaxy in the hands of Shepard and his Squad

I didn’t play a ton of games after beating Mass Effect 3, and spending a fair amount of time with the game's multiplayer. I did try out some Blur which I find the driving, presentation, and general gameplay interesting and fun,but the single player challenges gets tedious after sometime, the game seems primarily multiplayer focused. With that said, I did just recently buy the Witcher 2 Enchance Edition off Steam, after hearing good things about developer, CD Project Red and about how immersive and challenging the game itself is. Not having played the first Witcher game, I'm finding I'm consulting a Wiki to fill me on the story and background, the universe of the Witcher is complex and dark, which is Intriguing. Its something I find refreshing when high fantasy is more than a derivative of just D&D. At some point I want to play a fantasy story that is something more than a story about an demon invasion, racism towards elfs, and the humans warring against demon spawn which seems to have been done over and over again. The Witcher 2 seems more about diplomacy, political intrigue, things that are grounded in reality set an a fantasy world. While demons and mystical beasts still exists within the Witcher 2, these creatures are sort of a dying breed and the duties and the roles that Witchers play in sociey is becoming obsolete. It will be interesting to see where the story leads me, I've heard major choices made near the beginning of the game will determine how the rest of the story is told.

Off to see the King, nothing will go wrong right?.... right?

So that's pretty much what's been happening, there will be more updates as the major changes to the site are rolling out. Mass Effect 3 Chronicles videos will continue to be release each week, as I continue playing the Witcher 2.

Saints Row the Third Playthrough: A Saints Life

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:20:27 +0000

Saints Row the Third Journals of a Saint's Life is Rapid's complete story mission playthrough of Saints Row the Third on the PC.

Full Playlist & Channel here

The Saint's Life (Journal 0) : Promotional Trailer to Playthrough

An chronicle of a Saints Life, showing the story missions in Saints Row the Third.

Saints Row Third (Journal 1) : Introduction

Method acting on a whole new level.

Saints Row the Third : (Journal 2) We're Going to Need Guns

Robbing the local miltary armory.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 3) - Sublime's What I Got

Singing an old classic!

Saints Row the Third (Journal 4) - Party Time

This video had too much "Power"... therefore it was cut down some.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 5) : Pierce Can't Drive

Saints Row the Third (Journal 6) - Saint Activities

Pierce where are you driving to?

Whooo Tank!

Saints Row the Third (Journal 7) - We've Only Just Begun

Hitting the powder room....

Saints Row the Third (Journal 8) - Going After Loren

Going after the Syndicate's head honcho.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 9) - Return to Steelport

Have you met our new friend Zimos?

Saints Row the Third (Journal 10) - Special "Training"

Driving around the city... with a tiger!

Saints Row the Third (Journal 11) - Painting a Picture

Hanging out with Zimos.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 12) - This Party's Over

Note to self : Always find out where you are hiring your girls.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 13) - Deals Under the Table

After meeting Kinzie, don't try to mess with her.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 14) - Dude Where's My Hat?

Still wondering where my hat is.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 15) - Special Shipping

I wonder how much the syndicate payed for shipping?

Saints Row the Third (Journal 16) - One Messed Up Stag Party....

Stag comes to crash the party.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 17) - VTOL Transform and Roll Out!

I love the sound it makes when it transforms.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 18) - Tips and Tricks (Shark Attack, Tank in Garage, Zimos' Secret

Land Shark.... LAND Shark.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 19) - Can't Trust Reporters

Asian Reporter Tri.... wait wrong character. The PR team is still sorting things out.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 20) - Finding Nimo

Again... but is the chair comfy?

Saints Row the Third (Journal 21) - Taking Stag Down A Peg

Feels like Call of Duty but much more crazy.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 22) - Seg Fault - http://deckers.die/

<= Don't ask.... (Favourite Mission)

Saints Row the Third (Journal 23) - Stag infiltration

Still trying get the wrinkles out of my face.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 24) - Adult RC Cars

Playing with remote control cars was never so fun.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 25) - Thank You For Flying Air Stag

It's raining men....and Zombies!

Saints Row the Third (Journal 26) - Craftsmanship is Important

Every member of the Saints should get a statue of themselves.

Saints Row the Third (Hanging Out With NyteBlade? Journal 27) - Zembies!

Nyte Blade what happened to your voice?

Saints Row the Third (Journal 28) - Mayor Reynolds

I meet the mayor, my new best friend.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 29) - Masked Rider! Vs. Zombie Horde

Hensssshiiiin!

Saints Row the Third (Journal 30) - Murderbrawl XXXI

Wrestling game of the year.

Saints Row the Third (Journal 31) : Killbane Ending

In alternate universe what would have happened with a left my crew behind to confront Killbane.

Saints Row the Third (Final "Story" Journal 32) : Space Ending

SPAAAAAACCCEEE! (Wait wrong game). An outfit change is only fitting for finishing the last mission.

Saints Row the Third (Journal EX 1) - Filming of Gangsters In Space

Gangsters in Space someone had to film it.

Saints Rows the Third (Journal EX 2 )- Saving Earth from Aliens, Again

What no hammer? Oh well Alec Mason!

Saints Row the Third (Journal EX 3) - That's a Wrap!

The dramatic conclusion to Gangsters in Space.

Saints Row the Third (Journal EX 5) - Trouble with Clones

Reuniting with a old friend.... P.S Need to get me some more of that Saints Flow!

Rapid's Favourite Games of 2011

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:23:20 +0000

With 2012 here already, Rapid took one final look back at the games he has been playing this past year and sums up his top five favourite games of 2011.

First the Honourable Mentions

Uncharted 3

Oh Uncharted 3, you were a great cinematic roller coaster ride with your great action movie like sequences, amazing locations, and incredible gameplay moments. You are one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen both technically and stylistically. Environments are lush, saturated, finely detailed and look as if the game was shot with a high definition lens. There were just some nit picky problems, like the climbing was not as fluid as I expect compared to that of an Assassin’s Creed game also, until the patch that allowed me to go back to what resemble the shooting in Uncharted 2, your shooting felt kind of awkward and very floaty to me. I love your characters but I felt that there were less significant development to them in this game as compared to previous Uncharted games. The competitive multiplayer and survival modes is fun however, I felt fatigued by its repetitiveness after several hours and while I will still probably go back and play more of the Co-Op adventure, I did not feel the immediate need to go back to the the Co-Op adventures after completing them once. But despite all the criticism I just said about the game there’s still no denying Uncharted 3 is still a great game that I still enjoyed this year.

Elder’s Scrolls V : Skyrim

The only reason Skyrim is not only my list is because to be honest, I did not actually play Skyrim, instead I watched various people play a ton of Bethesda’s latest Elder’s Scroll game. I have already watched dozens of hours worth of gameplay from people playing this game to know almost know what the major quests are, and what happens and the dragon shout you get at the end of the game. No doubt in my mind, if I were to actual commit and play Skyrim that I would be heavily immersed in its story, the setting and my character to the point where investing dozens of hours in the game would be an understatement. Which is why, at least for now I am choosing to abstain from playing the game.

5. Dungeon Defenders

Dungeon Defenders is the game that took me by surprise the most when it came to how much unexpected fun I had with a game in 2011. It’s probably a greater surprise that it managed to knock Uncharted 3 from this top 5 favourite list this year, because I did play Uncharted 3 and it was great. I think the thing that grabbed me about this game was not only how much fun I had playing it, even with random people on the Internet. Its a game where playing Co-op with friends or people online is not only makes the game experience truly great, but its down right almost required. Do not let the saturated colors and cute graphics fool you, Dungeon Defenders sends waves of savage amounts of Orcs and Goblins at you, even starting on medium you definitely at least one other person with you or else you will find yourself in a bad situation quickly towards the middle waves. Different environments, and various layouts to the levels and the game’s expectation to defend multiple Crystals while the game difficulty ramps up quickly not only when you go from Hard to Insane difficulty but from level to level kept me interested in the game. Even after beating the levels in the main game, there’s a bunch of DLC for instance additional characters, and levels and some levels yet to be release that I have not dove into / probably not going to buy, there’s enough of the game at its core to be enjoyed. There’s a whole other side of the game in that it also has special challenges that I begun to explore. Plus, when I bought the game through steam I receive stuff like how about you get Team Fortress 2 characters as pets that you fight with and can level up beside you in battle, or a freaking Portal Gun as a weapon for the Huntress in the game. The UI is clean and simple, I love the fact that to figure out if your loot is good or not, just look at if it has a

thumbs up or thumbs down. It’s a great game if you just want to play in twenty to an hour chunks or I know people that play it for several hours straight.

4. Assassin’s Creed Revelations

While I don’t deny anyone who criticizes Assassin’s Creed for how iterative its core game design has gotten ever since Ubisoft decided to annualize this franchise, it still make make my list as the number 4 most enjoyable game of 2011. If were to ask anyone who has played and is still invested in a game after even the “third” release game of any franchise - and that person is not crazy... the the likely answer would because they are invested in its possible overarching narrative, or the universe that the franchise is set in. At this is the case for me when it comes to Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Now to be clear, I only played some of Assassin’s Creed, after I received it with the PS3 version of Revelations. I completed Assassin’s Creed II, and beat through at least the story of Brotherhood but lost interest in the side activities. When it came to Revelations I was skeptical of how much I would enjoy it, but turns out I’m still a sucker for stabbing dudes in the face, and climbing up high places only to click a button (now replaced with a click-in the R3 / Right Anolog Stick) to view a short cut scene of the landscape and then to leap off from that said building into a conveniently placed haystack / (now also flower bush). Yes, clearly, while much has not changed in the latest Assassin’s Creed game, and while the additions and new setting Constantinople felt underwhelming compared to its predecessor, the core gameplay with its minor refinements, even to the multiplayer and Ezio’s (hopefully) final story keep the game still fun and engaging. So Ubisoft...next Assassin’s Creed please new character, and new setting / era, I’m hoping for sengoku period of Japan or even China? The short film, Embers sure hints at its possibility. Give Assassin’s Creed the fresh paint of coat it deserves.

3. Bastion

I’m a big fan of Greg Kasavin ever since his days at GameSpot, but even I was surprised by how good Bastion actually was when I first saw it on Giant Bomb. The visuals and 2D art style looked interesting. I don’t think I need to even go in depth to how good the soundtrack is for this game, Bastion’s soundtrack especially the song “Zia’s Theme” has already won several notable awards this past year. Personally, my favourite song is the one used at the end of the game “Setting Sail, Coming Home”. I don’t want to get into the the whole Video Game as Art debate right now, but you know...this could probably make a good case in favour of it.
Both Rucks the narrator, and the music effectively set the mood and atmosphere of the game but, what kept me playing Bastion was the unraveling of the story and the much demanding gameplay. Watching and timing when to counter enemies kept me fixated on my surroundings the enemy movement on screen. I quickly discovered there’s actually a lot of strategy and depth to when and how you upgrade the several weapons in the game. I love the level of customizability I have in the game. There is not another game on this list and probably not in years that worked so hard in a game in order to get all (except the recently added DLC) the achievements. I cannot begin to describe the number of hours I put in to studying walkthroughs online in order to get the “Ashes in the Sky” and “Turret Opera” achievement.

2. Deus Ex : Human Revolution

If we were deciding on which game of 2011 immersed you into its world and setting the most Deus Ex would up there along with Skyrim. I enjoyed the game’s cyberpunk future setting and open-ended gameplay so much that I spent more time exploring, hacking into all the computers, reading every email I found than actually playing the game’s well put together story. It was refreshing to play a game that while not an open-world game, still has environments that feel like a open-world to facilitate its sandbox gameplay but still have the direction and focus of narrative driven game. Customization in the way you augment your own Adam Jensen to suit your play style was awesome and I thought was more streamlined than in the previous games. Whether you are like me, who played stealthily and suited up his Jensen with an assortment of augmentations, or even some people whom I’ve seen play the game guns blazin’ with no augmentations turned on for Jensen, the core game supported many of these different play styles. At no point does the game say here’s the build for Jensen if you want to complete this mission, instead you are given the tools and a green light. While people may have complained about the boss battles, I did not find them as terrible. It’s true that the boss battles sometimes required players to use a totally different approach or play style to beat them than how you were playing the rest of the game, the way I thought of the boss battles were as if the game was challenging the player’s skill at improvising in a situation. Human Revolution does what it sets out to do, modernize Deus Ex, while still keeping up with the expectations of long time fans.

1. Saints Row the Third

I’ll be honest if it were not for the guys at Giant Bomb speaking so highly of this game, I would have never checked it out. I was skeptical from the outside it look like here’s a modern GTA, hey remember those kind of games from back from 4 years ago? Meh... at all the dumb advertisement like “Strap It On” and was absolutely disgusted by THQ’s notion, pay us money for cheat codes (that oh by the way disable achievements).

With that said,

You should play Saints Row the Third.

I can’t even begin to explain why the game is so great, only by playing the game can one truly begin to comprehend why Saints Row the Third is my #1 favourite game of 2011. Its a game that does not take itself seriously in a world where every video game seems to being trying to prove itself as “Art”, Saints Row the Third embraces its video “gamey-ness” putting you in absolutely absurd situations that only could be possible within a video game. From the very beginning of the game Saints Row sets its tone to CRAZY. For instance, the game starts off by having you rob a bank dressed as Johnny Gatt, a member of your own crew then only moments later have you end up shooting your way out of a crashing plane, popping head-shots while in midair, then dive back into said crashing plane through the the pilot window, shoot some more guys then end up on the other side of the side plane. And all this happens in not even under the first half an hour of the game.

The craziness only begins from there, all that I just described is tame compared to what happens throughout the course of the game.What other game will let you doing all the following: call in air-strikes at anytime, get into cars by jumping through the windshield, fly transforming jets, has you explore a tron-like cyberspace world, has you playing a text- adventure game, has a whole wrestling sequence, and lets you keep and also gives you sports cars, a tron like speeder bike, as well as several military tanks and vehicles in your garage. And that is just some of the stuff you can do in Saints Row that I can say without too much spoilers.

But for all the absurd and insane stuff you do in the game, it actually has a well written story that is able to justify and thread all of these insane elements together with coherency. The game has memorable characters and personalities each with their strange characteristics and quirks. One member of your crew speaks in all auto-tune and you can bring your them along to missions or just when your fooling around in the open world. Despite all the weirdness, perhaps the reason I enjoy the game far more than any game like it before, is because its well written, for a game that lets you do stupid stuff, it smartly executes on the stupid stuff.

The game has one of the best character editors I’ve seen in a very long time, and many great upgrade options. I love rolling around Steelport as my character and cannot believe some of the upgrades you can buy for your character. You can literally upgrade your character to the point where he or she for instance, takes no bullet damage, there’s also the option the ammo capacity of your guns to have infinite ammo. It’s like the developers knew that everyone loved cheats in games like GTA and decided, lets just make it part of the game.The driving controls in the game feels like an actual racing game, making driving missions and traversal actually fun. Just like a racing game, vehicles like cars, and motorcycles are modifiable.

If you have been following my gameplay videos you probably know that at the time I’m writing this, I’m not even finished all of Saints Row the Third yet, despite that fact, I am absolutely certain that this is my favourite game of 2011. For a guy who was pretty dismissive about Saints Row when it was first announced, I am incredibly happy that I got to experience this game.

Persona 4 Story Playthrough Wrap Up Retrospection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:40:21 +0000

With the Persona 4 story playthrough finally complete, Rapid reflects on the best and most challenging times throughout this entire playthrough one last time.

When I think back to when I first began this playthrough of Persona 4, the thing I believe which spark it all was the announcement of Persona 4 : The Animation. An anime adaptation of P4 that got me thinking that maybe I should go back and playthrough the game again yet, remembering on my last playthrough it took over 98 hours to complete made me first very hesitant. Nevermind at the end of all this, I would actually go back and end up spending more time on second playthrough. Another thing I was weary at first of was that since already finished the game, would it be meaningful to back a second ttime? Now having gone through it, I feel as though in the end it was worth it, I was rekindled with the reasons why I enjoyed this game the first time I played it.

Question before we start...?

Right from the start there was the question I spent a great deal of time pondering :

Should I rely on a guide to make sure I get all the social links?

As you can probably tell by the fact that nearing the end of the game I was not close at all to achieving max level social links with all social links that I did not rely on a guide when it came to the social links. It was a hard decision and kind of a bummer at the end because it means that some would say I did not achieve a "perfect playthrough." My rationale was I wanted to enjoy playing the game and not have to constrict myself and play as I probably would instead of feel like I am just following an instruction manual through the entire game. This is a story playthrough and not a walkthrough. In the end, I feel like I told the core story showed most of the side missions all through this playthrough. While people may argue with me to the ends of the earth that not maxing out the 3 social links at the end is utterly unacceptable, I believe I showed the most important social links to completion. It also leaves something for those who might have never played Persona 4 to go play the game for themselves and see the content I omitted.

Challenges right out of the get go...

Nothing worth doing is easy at the start...

This being my first ever playthrough, I was quickly met with some of the techincal challenges of producing video. Right from the very beginning I faced issues with audio syncing where in a few of the videos, audio would become out of sync right in the middle of video playback. Another issue was trying to keep consist video dimensions from one video to the next after compression and converting those recorded video files.

It takes time and dedication...

Video playthroughs are like a second job or another course on top of your 5 courses.

One thing I learned was even if you are making roughly 2-3 hours of video content to give yourself ample playtime and recording time. One reason that chapters began to be release most consistantly once a week was because I gave myself most of the weekday to play the game, grind my characters to the point that I would be able to defeat boss enemies without any fear that would redo any of them. Tuesdays or Thursdays were usually grind sessions for about an hour or two, and most of my recording / editing was done on Saturday and then upload would happen on Sunday. Very difficult to find time have School and/or job such as much myself. My respects to those who are running multiple playthrough. In my cause staying up late because I needed to be at a certain point in the game to start recording or you need to finish recording this chapter.

But enough of me rambling about doing the playthrough lets actually talk about the playthrough.

Most memorable event in Persona 4

Somethings are to never be spoken of ever again but, never to be forgotten...ever.

If you asked me what would be the moment from Persona 4 that I will never forget it would probably be the King's Game event. No matter what outcome you chose whether it'd be having an idol rest her head in your lap or getting an intimate hug from Yukiko to the being forced to unfortantely carry Yosuke on your shoulder, the king's game event is the single moment that will always get me to burst out laughing. Its easy to tell that the voice actors probably just loved this scene. A chance to act out an intoxicated Yukko or Rise must have been a blast for both Amanda Winn-Lee and Laura Bailey. I was glad that the editing work out and I was able to show all the scenes, its probably the only time where I have shown all the alternatives to a player choice and it was well worth it.

An emotional rollarcoster in Persona 4

Try to tug on my heart strings will ya', game!

Oh Atlus why did you have to go and do that... of course you cannot let poor Nanako-chan die on us! The events of December 3 is probably a point where Persona 4 sets off on a rollarcoster of dread, shock, saddness, dramatic tension, anger, and reslove, to finally relief. We start off with Nanako not getting better after weeks of being in the hospital, then her condition suddenly worsens and we realize that she did not make it. Followed by Namatame, the one responsible is in the same hospital at this moment and oh crap where is Dojima going? To now Yosuke and the others are contemplating throwing him into the TV? Wait we are missing something here! Finally seeing clear that Namatame couldn't be the killer, and Nanako has made a suprise recovery but where's Teddy? There's some much going on in just that one scene and I felt that Atlus pull it off quite well to try to stur up many emotions in the player and engage them.

The boss encounter of all boss in encounters in Persona 4

Rise : Hey Senpei who is she?

How do you know-

...What the!? She's floating!?

As I stated in my reflection of the Epilogue that battling Margaret was the most engaging fight in this playthrough. When I go back and watched what I did at the time of the recording I say many times were I paused and had think of my next move. Sometimes even second guessing what I was going to do. There was a turn when I made a move that I clearly shouldn't have. Not once did I just rely on the All-Out-Attack as I usually do in most battles, instead make more methodical being conservative of my turns.I think that's the key to a good boss encounter is one that demands you to be on your toes during the fight.

Closing thoughts

I'm glad that I was able to do my first ever video playthrough it was something I always thought I do. It had to be the right game and I'm glad that doing a video playthrough did not detract from my enjoyment of the game since playing it for video is different than how I would play a game normally. I would like to thank those of you who watched my playthrough and hope you enjoyed both these videos and these blogs. Atlus for both the game's creation and for being cool about all these videos of your game on YouTube. Of course YouTube for making it possible to upload over 42 hours of footage.

Well I guess this is my farewell, Persona 4.

Persona 4 Story Playthrough

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:16:29 +0000

Rapid's weekly blog posts about his progress / milestones in his playthrough of Persona 4. The videos include Story Related Cut-scenes, Social Link Events and Boss Encounters from Atlus' Persona 4 for the PS2.

Full playlist & channel here

By Chapter (click the titles to read full blog)

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 1 Reflection

Back in 2008, when the PlayStation 2 was considered to be at the last of its long lifespan, one of the last games I played on this console was Persona 4. Having just played Persona 3, I was surprised that in no time at all Atlus USA localized Persona 4, taking much of the gameplay forumla of Persona 3 but setting the game in a whole different environment and atmosphere...

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 2 Reflection

I am still not sure if the within the TV world, that Yosuke and the protagonist truly saw Saki's geniune feelings for a couple of reasons. Firstly, since Saki died prior to their arrival, my theory is it could have been Yosuke whom create Saki within his own world since subconciously he may of felt that Saki dispised him, because she always said he was annoying. Secondly, we never meet Saki's shadow and only Yosuke's, I think that Yosuke's shadow might have created the town to show Yosuke, his own inner thoughts....

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 Reflection

This is a longer chapter consisting of a total of 6 parts each relatively half an hour long. The chapter dealt with Chie and Yukiko's Persona for the most part. As well as some regular school activities and their respective social links. You'll notice in part 5 I've included footage from the my grinding sessions. While these videos are suppose to focus on the story of Persona 4 and skip most of the gameplay. I still felt it would be nice for people who've never played before, and just watching to see the since of the layout of the castle and the types of shadow the protagonist runs into.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 4 Reflection

The Golden Week is the intermediate chapter between Yukiko’s and Kanji's upcoming chapter. Multiple social links are opening up, my primary strategy is to be solid with everyone on the investigation team which means I will try to strengthen my bonds with my teammates however, that doesn't mean I will neglect my other school friends and family. Yumi's social link events are one of the most interesting of the club social links and I'm also going to strengthen my social links with Dojima and Nanoko when I have the chance.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 Reflection

Gameplay is focused on Social Links once Kanji's Shadow is defeated. I'll probably go back into the dungeon and grind some extra levels in the next chapter. I finished quite a few quest sets avalaible in May, and will continue to do so.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 6 Reflection

You might have noticed that I was sort of fooling around with Kanji's Quest Boss, to be honest I was trying to trigger Chie's galatic punt finisher that's why I decided to skip some of the All-Out-Attacks. However, the attempt was failure and Kanji paid the price (sorry bro...). While a galatic punt does work on Bosses, and is easy to do when there are multiple enimies on the field, it's harder to pull off with only one enemy.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7 Reflection

n this weeks videos we rescue both Teddie and Rise Kujikawa the returning town idol. Teddie's boss fight is by far the longest boss fought thus far, not the hardest but it does require the most patience since other teddie has no weakness to any ailments it requires a lot of due diligence to chip away at his HP. In this chapter we see the dramatic tension between Dojima and our protagonist Akira, I like to point out something that I feel that P4 did better than P3 and that is exploring the relationship between people outside just social links. ..

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 8 & 9 Reflection

The murder of the teacher can be a very touche subject. Every student I talk to at the school, the consensus seemed to be “Morooka, was a huge jerk to the students, but I'm sad that this happened”. Yosuke's confession also how he thought Morooka might have been the killer, then later regretted his suspicion was I think very understandable BUT man... what really drew my attention was, all through the discussion not once did the P4 crew address Morooka by his name. They just kept on calling him “King Moron”, while it didn't piss me off, it really surprised me... your teacher has just been murdered and you still slander his name. A dialogue option should have been along the lines of, “A least show him proper respect guys!”.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 10 Reflection

This weeks chapter deals with Void Quest, and basically revolves finding the man the Inaba police depatment believe is the killer. Since this is a story focused playthrough, and not a complete walkthrough I usually skip a lot of dungeon traversal stuff, and grinding out the Protagonist. Being a gamer, and being able to appreciate the classic old school video games, Void Quest is one of my favourite dungeons in Persona 4. The whole dungeon is structed and visually designed like a old SNES or Sega Genesis game. As you ascend the stairs to each level of this dungeon, you get prompted about Mitsuo's current stats like if he was playing an old school RPG....

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 11 Reflection

As the title implies, this week's Persona 4 chapter is about weeks leading up to and including the summer festival mentioned at the end of Chapter 10. One thing I need to point out this chapter is if only Akira (the protagonist) had a higher Social Link with Ai, or Max with Yumi, either one of them could have hung out with him the following Sunday. Unfortunately I missed my opportunity to further my Social Link with them before summer vacation and consequently Akira went to the festival by his lonesome.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 12 & 13 Reflection

This week is another 2 chapter feature, the first chapter focuses on the last week of Summer Vacation for Akira, (the protagonist). The second chapter's focus on the days leading up to and including the school trip to Persona 3's Tasumi Port Island. The highlight of the school of course is when the P4 gang plays what Yukiko and Rise says is called the "King's Game."

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 14 Reflection

Chapter 14 also marks protagonist Akira's first intimate relationship. While there is no particular reason I chose to remains "Bestest of Friends" with Chie and decided to have "deeper relationship" with Yumi. I just thought it would be lame if you just walked away...

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 Reflection

Since in this chapter we saw a lot of social links ranking up to Max I thought it appropriate to to call this chapter Bonds. Of those social links, I think while the social link with Shu (tutored student) felt a little stale and mundane I think it had the best story pay off in the end when the entire investigation team comes to celebrate Shu's birthday.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 16 Reflection

If you have played P4 before, you probably were highly anticipating the culture festival event. Hailed as one of the best if not the best scenes in the game. It's easy to tell why it's one of the most memorable events in the game. Starting with the awkward group date cafe scene, then escalates to the cross-dressing pageant which not surprisingly Teddie wins, to the absurdity that is seeing your middle-aged homeroom teacher and the fattest girl in your class in a swimsuit.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 17 Reflection

So just a recap for those who may not remember, Taro Namatame is the city council secretery whom had the affair with the announcer Mayumi Yamano who was the first to appear on the Midnight Channel that we know of. As Naoto pointed out Namatame was supposely out of town during the discovery of Yamano's body which gave Namatame an allibi for not being suspected as her killer.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 18 Reflection

I find it funny that the characters keep asking Akira where he stashes his... you know... his unmentionable collection of explicit content. Way to make this mood even more weird Rise!

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 19 Reflection

...what an emotionally charged chapter this week especially the scene with Nanako's passing and then the attempted revenge on Namatame, it's almost all too much to take in for one chapter. For those who might not have known, if you had decided for your protagonist to throw Namatame into the TV, you would have gotten the Bad Ending. Your game would have ended there without realizing a true killer, and the mystery of the fog unsolved.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 Reflection

During this video the Akira, the protagonist encounters an enemy shadow known as a "Reaper" they are essentially a special boss that appears in a subsequent playthrough of Persona 4. They always appear in chests, and you are always given an ominous message that something terrible is going to happen if you open the chest. Reapers appeared also in Persona 3 and in somewhat of I think cooler but more threatening fashion, where if you stayed too long in the dungeon the Reaper will actually lurk around, and the player can hear a loud rattling of chains as he approaches...

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 21 Reflection

If you guys were paying attention during the event when the protagonist and the company went to Gekkoukan Highschool in Tatami Port Island, Mr. Edokawa gave them a lecture on the origin of Izangi and Izanami and the genesis of the world. Fun-fact as you probably guess or already figured out, Ameno-Sagiri also plays a role in Japanese literature. In japanese mythology Ameno-Sagiri is actually the god of fog.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Final Chapter - Epilogue Reflection

The battle (for truth) is then followed by one of Persona 4's most emotional moments when Akira bids to his friends. Fans of Persona 3 might have thought its ending was more yes its a much more tragic... but I think it speaks to fact that I enjoyed and was more attached to the characters of 4 than in that it tugged on any sort of heart strings I had more than in Persona 3.

Persona 4 Story Playthrough Wrap Up Retrospection

When I think back to when I first began this playthrough of Persona 4, the thing I believe which spark it all was the announcement of Persona 4 : The Animation. An anime adaptation of P4 that got me thinking that maybe I should go back and playthrough the game again yet, remembering on my last playthrough it took over 98 hours to complete made me first very hesitant. Nevermind at the end of all this, I would actually go back and end up spending more time on second playthrough. Another thing I was weary at first of was that since already finished the game, would it be meaningful to back a second ttime? Now having gone through it, I feel as though in the end it was worth it, I was rekindled with the reasons why I enjoyed this game the first time I played it...

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Final Chapter - Epilogue Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:40:12 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about the "Epilogue" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoilers

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Epilogue, click here to view Chapter 21

Persona 4 (Story) Final Chapter Epilogue : Farewell Inaba - Part 1 (Dueling Margaret) (33:27)

Persona 4 (Story) Final Chapter Epilogue : Farewell Inaba - Part 2 (56:55)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Final Chapter Epilogue : Farewell Inaba

This two part chapter concludes this Persona 4 Story playthrough. Before protagonist (Akira Yoshioka) faces Izanami the one who truly began it all Akira gets an invitation personally from Margaret for a duel. To be honest the duel with Margaret might have been most challenging and probably the most engaging fight. The first time attempting to fight Margaret naive me decided to equip the Omnipotence Orb to the battle. Immune to all attacks (except Almighty magic)? You would be crazy if you were not to use it right? Big mistake. The moment she attacked she used Megidolaon that does 9999 damage instantly. One thing I realized why this battle was so engaging was because Margaret's status alignment is always cycling and therefore you need to pay full attention to each turn and anticipate what Margaret will do next. The whole battle felt reminiscent that of a boss battle in Chrono Trigger where the trick to defeating bosses were casting specific elemental spells at different phases of battle. In the end however, the Persona 4 gang pull through and defeated Margaret where then she revealed information about her sister and predecessor Elizabeth whom assumed her role in Persona 3. It was a nice throwback to the main protagonist of Persona 3 for the fans.

Also one thing I think I might need to aplogize for is I didn't realize that in the beginning of the chapter I summoned Izanagi-Okami only not to use him at all in the duel against Margaret. After realizing this, I made sure in the battle with Izanami-Okami to mainly stick with Izanagi as Akira's main persona in the battle and bring it back full circle to his first Persona. The battle is then followed by one of Persona 4's most emotional moments when Akira bids to his friends. Fans of Persona 3 might have thought its ending was more yes its a much more tragic... but I think it speaks to fact that I enjoyed and was more attached to the characters of 4 than in that it tugged on any sort of heart strings I had more than in Persona 3.

In the end I am glad I got to play through Persona 4 again, and happy that some of you might have watched it and also enjoyed my first time at creating any sort of full video content. Stay tooned for my wrap up piece of the entire Persona 4 Story playthrough and an article archive soon.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 21 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:13:24 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 21" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 21, click here to view Chapter 20

Persona 4 (Story - Grinding) Chapter 21 : Pre-Chapter Reaper Special Part 1 (25:19)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 21 : Truth and Desires - Part 1 (36:51)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 21 : Truth and Desires - Part 2 (1:09:53)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 21 : Truth and Desires

A three part video this week since we are nearing the end there is not much side story stuff left to extend screening time. Included is a pre-chapter video that show (protagonist) Akira beating up more Reapers. Not shown in the video but in total I defeated 16 reapers and managed to finally loot the Omnipotence Orb which allows Akira basically the ability to withstand most attacks except Almighty attacks (of couse he couldn't use it against Margret or else she... but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, save that for another discussion...).

Now to get to main attraction of the chapter, which is the confrontation with Adachi and as expected, "Adachi-baby" is pretty much chum against Akira and his friends after defeating so many reapers.

What's pretty cool about the fight is that Adachi's persona is also Izanagi, makes me think that any person who Izanami touched gained the Izanagi persona although I cannot be certain. We never saw Namatame's persona. Adachi's persona, Magatsu Izanagi from the fight has got skills including Heat Riser, and the wind attack Magarudyne. It's not the first time in a persona game where multiple characters can have the same persona. In Persona 3, both its protagonist and Aegis the protagonist of the Answer at one point both weild the Persona Orpheus.

Well after defeating Adachi so easily of course he really wasn't the true boss fight, Akira then does battle with a being known as Ameno-Sagiri. He emerges telling Akira and his friends that he was the one whom allowed them the potential to summon their persona. Of course, it is revealed that he is an aspect of Izanami who she created. If you guys were paying attention during the event when the protagonist and the company went to Gekkoukan Highschool in Tatami Port Island, Mr. Edokawa gave them a lecture on the origin of Izangi and Izanami and the genesis of the world. Fun-fact as you probably guess or already figured out, Ameno-Sagiri also plays a role in Japanese literature. In japanese mythology Ameno-Sagiri is actually the god of fog.

Not directly going home, and discovering the identity true identity of the gas attendent is only way to unlock the true ending in Persona 4. Throughout this playthrough I tried make very subtl talk to the gas attendent on raining days when he could be only found.You probably also noticed the game pointing out as well not to leave Inaba yet. For instance during Akira's last conversation with Naoki Konishi, and Dojimas. The fact that the Judgement Social Link just only reached maximum after defeating Ameno-Sagiri, allowing you to summon Lucifer. Now that the mystery of murders have been solved the only thing left is to confront Izanami and ensure Inaba's future is safe from more people misusing the other world.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:09:49 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 20" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 20, click here to view Chapter 19

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 : The culprit is... You! - Part 1 (32:20)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 : The culprit is... You! - Part 2 (39:43)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 : The culprit is... You! - Part 3 (23:16)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 : The culprit is... You! - Part 4 (48:39)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 : The culprit is... You! - Part 5 (42:27)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 20 : The culprit is... You!

There comes a time in any sort of production when things go a little haywire, in my case it was in part 3 of Chapter 20 of the Persona playthrougth. As stated in the beginning of the video, where the raw video file that I capture got corrupted. Unfortuantely it was not until I already saved over my current save game that I realized what had happened. I hope those of you watching for the first time excuse my makeshift solution, I promise my other videos are not like this.

During this video the Akira, the protagonist encounters an enemy shadow known as a "Reaper" they are essentially a special boss that appears in a subsequent playthrough of Persona 4. They always appear in chests, and you are always given an ominous message that something terrible is going to happen if you open the chest. Reapers appeared also in Persona 3 and in somewhat of I think cooler but more threatening fashion, where if you stayed too long in the dungeon the Reaper will actually lurk around, and the player can hear a loud rattling of chains as he approaches. While they can be tough to defeat, I think it is alot easier in Persona 4 since you get a forewarning that the chest contains the reaper and can choose to not open it or over-prepare yourself as I did whenever I encoutered them.

Defeating a reaper gives you a sweet bonus, you can fight the reaper multiple times as I did, granted that you managed to find him. With each defeat the reaper drops a powerful item that can be a weapon or armor. If you manage to collect weapons and armor for each of your party members, the Reaper will drop a Omnipotence Orb which protects a character from all damage except an Almighty attack.

In terms of social links this week, those of you who probably guessed that the chances of me maxing out the remaining social links (Empress, Death, and Temperance) are now slim to none. If you guys are still interested in seeing the full social link, I probably will post them after this current playthrough if I have a chance. In my prior playthrough I maxed out both the Death (Hisano) and Empress (Ai) social link but as result did not have get very high in the Tower (Shu) or Fortune (Naoto) social link. There are guides online to get all social links to max and while it would have been nice to see all social links in one playthrough, I did not follow those guides explicitly for this playthrough.

We are quickly approaching the end of the game, as those of you whom haven't played Persona 4 might of sensed we are nearing the end of Akira's journey. The team finally discovers that Adachi is the culprit behind both murders and has been playing Namatame for a fool all this time. Poor Dojima the killer was right beside him all this time, and now he is helpless to stop him in his current state and must rely on his nephew and his High-School friends to bring about justice to this criminal.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 19 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 17:31:51 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 19" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 19, click here to view Chapter 18

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 19 : Mysterious Fog - Part 1 (25:26)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 19 : Mysterious Fog - Part 2 (14:27)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 19 : Mysterious Fog - Part 3 (47:33)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 19 : Mysterious Fog - Part 4 (31:14)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 19 : Mysterious Fog

First off, do you realize what has happened? Our timeline's date and the Persona timeline are now synced in parrallel with each other. It's now December 4 in Persona 4 land its also December 4th here in our reality.

Anyways, what an emotionally charged chapter this week especially the scene with Nanako's passing and then the attempted revenge on Namatame, it's almost all too much to take in for one chapter. For those who might not have known, if you had decided for your protagonist to throw Namatame into the TV, you would have gotten the Bad Ending. Your game would have ended there without realizing a true killer, and the mystery of the fog unsolved.

Only if you had stopped and thought about the facts for a moment calmly you would have reached the same deduction as Akira has and realized that Namatame could not have been the killer.and thus, the seeker's of the of truth arc has begun. The judgment social link is now unlocked signifying in all Persona 4 games the end of our journey is and the truth is near. The only downside to this is while there's still reasonable amount of game time left until I do complete the game the time is limited, and I hope to at least still see Naoto's social link through to max. Moreover, attempt to raise Ai's social link however, might we might not see Temperance (Eri) and Death Social links (Hisano) to completetion in the time we have left.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 18 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:36:02 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 18" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 18, click here to view Chapter 17

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 18 : Home Alone - Part 1 (21:43)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 18 : Home Alone - Part 2 (28:13)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 18 : Home Alone - Part 3 (20:08)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 18 : Home Alone

Those fans of Rise and that have been asking, rejoice Akira has reached max with her today. I find it funny that the characters keep asking Akira where he stashes his... you know... his unmentionable collection of explicit content. Way to make this mood even more weird Rise! But whatever, if shes the type of gal that the first thing she does when she in your room is asks to see your dirty magazines or shes expecting you to have some then she's probably the dream girl that every perverted teenager wants (haha).

Akira also maxed out his social link with Naoki, Saki Konishi's brother. This is the first time in my playthroughs that I have seen his social link advance through maturity and it was pretty cool how it was able to resolve any issues that Naoki had with not only his sister's death but also any tension from Yosuke being the son of the manager of Junes.

Only a few social links left, I really hope I can max out the remaining social links in the remaining time until the end of the game. However, only time will tell if I manage to complete this goal.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 17 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:52:43 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 17" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 17, click here to view Chapter 16

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 17 : Heaven's Paradise Part 1 (21:54)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 17 : Heaven's Paradise Part 2 (45:28)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 17 : Heaven's Paradise Part 3 (49:14)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 17 : Heaven's Paradise

I told you... I warned you back then about Novemeber 5th it would be a day of rekoning. Little innocent Nanako kidnapped! The secert that Akira and his friends have been keeping all this time revealed to the Police! Namatame, whom all this time was the one who had kidnapped Akira's friends is now on the run!

So just a recap for those who may not remember, Taro Namatame is the city council secretery whom had the affair with the announcer Mayumi Yamano who was the first to appear on the Midnight Channel that we know of. As Naoto pointed out Namatame was supposely out of town during the discovery of Yamano's body which gave Namatame an allibi for not being suspected as her killer.

Only three parts this week, but parts 2 and 3 are quite lengthy. The first time tried to upload part 3 it actually failed. I like to do longer videos but when things like this happen... it makes me think splitting it up in twenty-minute chunks might be more safe.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 16 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:12:45 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 16" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 16, click here to view Chapter 15

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 16 : Culture Festival - Part 1 (24:30)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 16 : Culture Festival - Part 2 (36:21)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 16 : Culture Festival - Part 3 (54:26)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 16 : Culture Festival

Best Line during the event...

Boy's Voice: I'd hit it…

Me: (It's a Trap!)

If you have played P4 before, you probably were highly anticipating the culture festival event. Hailed as one of the best if not the best scenes in the game. It's easy to tell why it's one of the most memorable events in the game. Starting with the awkward group date cafe scene, then escalates to the cross-dressing pageant which not surprisingly Teddie wins, to the absurdity that is seeing your middle-aged homeroom teacher and the fattest girl in your class in a swimsuit.

Such a shame we could not see Naoto in a swimsuit during the second round of the actual beauty pageant. I bet a lot of fans of Naoto were a bit disappointed by that.

For those who played Persona 3 before, when you realized there was a hot springs event, you probably got both excited and scared because you remembered Mitsuru and her "punishment". However, alas no sneaking away from the girls mini-game in this one.

When the girls discover the boys, If you have enough courage you can "Hold the Line" which still results in your eventual retreat. It all results in the boys trying to sneak into the girl's room at the hotel as an act of revenge. nI won't spoil the outcome of the hot springs event in case those of you have not watched the conclusion.

All will say is indeed,

"You've seen things no student should see…"

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:33:50 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 15" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 15, click here to view Chapter 14

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 : Bonds - Part 1 (25:14)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 : Bonds - Part 2 (24:03)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 : Bonds - Part 3 (23:37)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 : Bonds - Part 4 (26:51)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 : Bonds - Part 5 (25:16)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 : Bonds - Part 6 (35:45)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 15 : Bonds

Since in this chapter we saw a lot of social links ranking up to Max I thought it appropriate to to call this chapter Bonds. Of those social links, I think while the social link with Shu (tutored student) felt a little stale and mundane I think it had the best story pay off in the end when the entire investigation team comes to celebrate Shu's birthday.

Unfortuantely, there is not much more to say about this chapter, mostly just wrapping up some social links. Yosuke and Yukiko both got their new personas this episode, Both the design of Susano and Amaterasu are some of my favourite persona designs, even though Amaterasu is not a dog in this game. Like I said in my retrospection for the previous chapter, I am going to attempt to show you guys as many Max Social Links as I can, although Akira will not be romancing every girl he came across in the game. Although at this moment our protagonist has intimate relationships with both Yumi and Rise. Again, its one of the weird things that Persona 3 did not let players get away with, that Persona 4 does.

Aside from all that, another week of exams for our protagonist Akira Yoshioka, and as always, he always seems confident in his answers.

With November just around the corner for the investigation team, the timeline of Persona 4 is slowly catching up to reality. All I can say is for those who have not played through Persona 4, November 5th 2011 is a day that fans should be weary of. But, I think I might be giving too much away, so please stayed tuned for next week's chapter to see what happens.

Listen to the story of my Assassin's Lineage

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:56:44 +0000

Listen to the story of my ancestor as told by the animus.

{audio}http://www.opendrive.com/files/57009505_tW5Lm/acbr.mp3{/audio}

Mirror

Now on the Assassin's Creed page on Facebook, there's an app that basically scraps your profile and friends on Facebook and pieces the info together a mini video bio of your ancestor. If you are ready to discover the truth, whether you come from an lineage of Assassins or the Templar. I've extracted the audio from my own video here.

Although it's an obvious silly piece of marketing from Ubisoft Publishers, it is kind of neat so I thought I might as well share it.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 14 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:01:19 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 14" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 14, click here to view Chapter 12 & 13

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 14 : Detective Prince - Part 1 (22:34)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 14 : Detective Prince - Part 2 (33:14)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 14 : Detective Prince - Part 3 (38:24)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 14 : Detective Prince - Part 4 (27:33)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 14 : Detective Prince

This weeks chapter focuses on Naoto Shirogane, and you should know by now that she is our Detective Prince. The investigation team, and more importantly good old Kanji have come to realization that Naoto is a girl (oh come on...like we didn't know from the beginning! oh Japan trying to reverse troll us...)

Naoto's back-story or detective archetype is based on the Raidou Kuzunoha, and the reference to him has been made prior by Chie during the School Trip and she mentions Kuzunoha in a movie she had watched. Raidou Kuzunohais of course another Atlus intellectual property from the Devil Summoner series. Raidou is private detective whose unique talents aside from his investigations skills, is to summon demon partners to help aid in his investigations in which always seem to tie into something dealing with mysterious demonic forces.

Naoto's dungeon is pretty straight forward however requires some back-tracking, you need to gain access to the 10 th basement floor by obtaining a Leader Card which is found in B4 however, the room in B4 is only accessible once you obtained a Research Card in B6. The battle with Naoto's shadow drags on for a little while but it is not a difficult fight. Of course with Naoto's disappearence the investigation continues on!

Chapter 14 also marks protagonist Akira's first intimate relationship. While there is no particular reason I chose to remains "Bestest of Friends" with Chie and decided to have "deeper relationship" with Yumi. I just thought it would be lame if you just walked away...

I'll say this now, in Persona 4 there are no repercussions to having multiple "girlfriends" However, this does not mean Akira will go and pimp every girl (already lost that with Chie anyways). I will call it as I see it, and if your watching, and want to chime in on which Social Links you really want to see "intimate" just leave a comment or message me. There will be a time *cough* Christmas event.... *cough where Akira will need to make an ultimate decision.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 12 & 13 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:35:38 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 12 and 13" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 12 and 13, click here to view Chapter 11

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 12 : Summer Days - Part 1 (27:38)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 12 : Summer Days - Part 2 (34:24)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 13 : A King's Game - Part 1 (28:21)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 13 : A King's Game - Part 2 (19:41)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 13 : A King's Game - Part 3 (39:16)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 12 : Summer Days & Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 13 : A King's Game

This week is another 2 chapter feature, the first chapter focuses on the last week of Summer Vacation for Akira, (the protagonist). The second chapter's focus on the days leading up to and including the school trip to Persona 3's Tasumi Port Island. The highlight of the school of course is when the P4 gang plays what Yukiko and Rise says is called the "King's Game."

If like me, you've also played Persona 3 prior, you'll know that the whole school trip event in Chapter 13 is a Persona 3 fan love fest. Where to begin? The music that is straight out of Persona 3. They first arrive at Gekkoukan High, the school that the Persona 3 protagonist and investigation team went to school. Chisato a former social link for the protagonist in Persona 3 we've been informed that has succeeded SEES member Mitsuru as the school's student president. Mr. Edogawa the teaching the students in the same old classroom that was in Persona 3. Teddie's roof-top entrance is another direct reference to Takaya another character in P3.

If you have watched part 3 of chapter 13, you will already know its most memorable scene is the King's Game scene. So memorable that specific I decided to do some editing and show you guys all the possible outcomes that Akira can choose since normally you can only decide on one. I think between Yukiko's “Hug” or Rise's laying on Akira's “lap” those two are the most promiscuous outcomes. Chie sitting on Akira's lap just awkward because she was “slobber” or I guess not under the influence would more accurately describe what happened. Akira forced to give Yosuke a piggy-back ride was hilarious but most unfortunate of the outcomes. For your information, at the end I chose for Rise to sit on Akira's lap.

This week I did it guys, I finally unlocked the Hanged Social Link (Naoki Konishi...), after weeks of fearing I missed the opportunity. I still have quite a few of social links to get through, and while I cannot guarantee I will be able to max them all out, I promise to show you viewers as many of the important social link events as I can.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 11 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:21:12 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 11" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 11, click here to view Chapter 10

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 11 : A Festival Awaits - Part 1

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 11 : A Festival Awaits - Part 2

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 11 : A Festival Awaits - Part 3

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 11 : A Festival Awaits

As the title implies, this week's Persona 4 chapter is about weeks leading up to and including the summer festival mentioned at the end of Chapter 10. One thing I need to point out this chapter is if only Akira (the protagonist) had a higher Social Link with Ai, or Max with Yumi, either one of them could have hung out with him the following Sunday. Unfortunately I missed my opportunity to further my Social Link with them before summer vacation and consequently Akira went to the festival by his lonesome. As for the "Epic Fail" (Atlus translators... really resorting to memes?) event, I found it halarious that Kanji could not look at the girls, perhaps another impending nose bleed?

Last Week I said that I would try to max out the Fox social link, and that it was hard because I needed to catch a rare guardian fish. Well, as it turns turns out I got lucky and did managed to catch a Guardian no sooner than at the last moment when Akira decided to go fishing.

The chapter also saw the Max Social link with Nanako, where she is finally able to come to terms with her mother's death and resolve the issues with her father.

Mission Complete!

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 10 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:23:09 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapters 10" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 10, click here to view Chapter 8 & 9.

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 10 : Quiet Before the Storm - Part 1 (29:30)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 10 : Quiet Before the Storm - Part 2 (24:07)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 10 : Boss Edition To Catch a Killer! - Special One Hour Chapter 10 Finale (1:02:34)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 10

After a few weeks of hiatus Chapter 10 was uploaded this week, and includes a two part chapter, plus a one hour special. Why make it a hour long you ask? Well it's mainly because there wasn't a good place to cut the video in a meaningful way. If I just made one part where I defeat the side quest it would have been a 8 min video. Nor did I want to cut the video in the middle of the main boss fight. In the end I decided to keep what would usually be a two parter as one whole hour long video. It is by far the longest video I have made, or uploaded for thse Persona videos and it sure took a long time to upload.

This weeks chapter deals with Void Quest, and basically revolves finding the man the Inaba police depatment believe is the killer. Since this is a story focused playthrough, and not a complete walkthrough I usually skip a lot of dungeon traversal stuff, and grinding out the Protagonist. Being a gamer, and being able to appreciate the classic old school video games, Void Quest is one of my favourite dungeons in Persona 4. The whole dungeon is structed and visually designed like a old SNES or Sega Genesis game. As you ascend the stairs to each level of this dungeon, you get prompted about Mitsuo's current stats like if he was playing an old school RPG. Basically the game makes Mitsuo out to be ultimate sterotypcial Otaku, his world is a video game. Let's just talk generally for second, not neccessarily Otakus but, just the sterotypcial depiction of gamers now, I wonder what the world of a "Gamer" or would looks like now for the current gamer, would we end up in a world made of Unreal Engine, FrostByte Engine, or even Crytec Engine? Would it just be the Call of Duty / Battefield Setting, perhaps when the new Elders Scrolls / Oblivion, (more commonly known as Skyrim) comes out, or will the world invisioned by some gamers look like it came out of Minecraft?

Note: Minor Spoliers Follow about future parts of the game:

As for the current status of playthrough thus far: still no Naoki Konishi this week, I was really hoping to finally getting to unlocking that social link. I hope to do it soon. Although we are getting close to getting our first max social link. Right now looking like it might be between Nanoko, Chie, Yumi and the Fox as the first maxed social link. To max out the Fox is harder since I need to catch a rare Guardian Fish for the Old man in order to accomplish the last Shrine request (and encase you didn't know that's what the screenshot above is referring to....). I've done this before in other playthroughs of Persona 4 but specifically remember there is a month in which Guardian Fish you are more likely to come across a Guardian Fish and it might have to be while its raining. According to the screenshot below, the last time I caught a Guardian was in November, while it was raining, but It's only the first week of August right now in my current playthrough you guys are watching.

Footage of last time I caught a guardian.

The Recap: Persona 4 : The Animation Episode 1

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:50:40 +0000

Persona 4 The Animation makes its debut today, Rapid finds out if this anime adaptation holds up to the video game.

Watch Episode 1 of Persona 4 : The Animation here via The Anime Network.

The first episode of Persona 4 aired today, and pretty much went through the opening exposition of the game. The protagonist in this series is named Yu Narukami, arrives in Inaba and is quickly introduced to the Dojima Family, as well as his friends at Yosogami High.

The anime adaptation does a great job in capturing the same essence of the Persona 4 video game. The anime uses much of the same music, and if you played the Japanese version of P4, you'll recognize the voice actors from the game have reprised their roles making sure that it remains authentic to the game. It even includes the same sort of assets and presentation for instance, the anime show each day passing on a calendar by in the same way the game shows players daily progression. Between the traditional half way cut to commerical title card, it shows Narukami's current Status, such as his courage, intelligence, chrisma, etc. Little things like that I believe that fans will enjoy.

Character Stats in my anime?

As for impressions of the first episode itself:

If you have played Persona 4 before, or have been following my story-focused playthrough of the game on the site, or on YouTube then you may have noticed changes to the plot sequence and also the pacing of the story. It seems that for a better episode, the show creators have decided to skip minor plot points in the beginning of the game. For instance among other details, you probably know that (spoliers) the protagonist did not awaken his persona until the second time he was in the Midnight channel and Chie was not present at the time. While some may already start criticize for diverging from the game's plot sequence, it is also understandable that a lot of long drawn out parts of the opening could be condensed however, still make an understandable plot line for those who have come into Persona 4 the animation without playing the game first. It would be dull episode if all they did in the first episode was talk about the murders or just find out about the midnight channel at the end of the episode.

Look Behind You Chie!

Overall the first episode made a good first impression, only time will tell if it continues to satisfy fan expectation.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 8 & 9 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:32:19 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapters 8, and 9" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 8 & 9, click here to view Chapter 7.

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 8 : Return of the Teddie - Part 1 (24:12)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 8 : Return of the Teddie - Part 2 (27:41)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 8 : Return of the Teddie - Part 3 (27:02)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 9 : A King Dethroned - Part 1 (15:02)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 9 : A King Dethroned - Part 2 (21:35)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 9 : A King Dethroned - Part 3 (20:21)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 9 : A King Dethroned - Part 4 (28:50)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 8 - Return of the Teddie & Chapter 9 - A King Dethroned

This week is a unprecedented double chapter feature post here at Rapid Chronicles. While we could have just provided our regular one chapter per week I thought I would be nice and record more than usual, since next week it will be a busy week for me. So does this mean no recording next week? Honestly, I do not know, but I hope you guys enjoy two chapters.

Now I want to take this time to address, my miscalculation... here's the deal prior to this week I thought I had unlocked the Ha

nged Social Link (Saki's Brother Naoki Konishi) all the way back in June, I now realize that I current do not have him as a social link... I don't know if I still have a chance to unlock the social link now that we are in July, but I apologize for the lack of foresight.

In June we met Naoki Konishi during heath week, while I thought I had talk to him three times (which is the requirement) I realized I probably missed the last conversation with him which initiates the Hanged Social Link. Once again, I would like to apologize. If I see him I will try to get him to become a social link, but I have not seen him since back in June. He usually around First Floor Classrooms by Yukiko.

Since some people have messaged me on the YouTube Channel about an issue that's come up, I like to reiterate while these videos are not mainly for the purpose a Walkthrough, I do try to at least show you guys where quest givers are and what is required to complete the quest. However, I am not focused on showing random battles, since they are not integral to the story. But if you do have a question about how to complete a quest or about a specific encounter in the game, feel free to comment on the video or below this article as member.

Anyways onto thoughts about this weeks chapters.

This week is when the new “improved” Teddie is finally revealed after a full week of not being able to go into the TV. An obvious parallel can be drawn here, this is like Mitsuru being replaced by Fuuka with Teddie role replaced by Rise. I don't know about you guys, but while I think having Teddie as a party members is pretty awesome, it doesn't compare to having a Dog (Koromaru) in your team like in Persona 3. I really hoped the Fox could be a replacement to having a Dog in your party but the developer decided to go with Teddie I guess.

Morooka's death....

The murder of the teacher can be a very touche subject. Every student I talk to at the school, the consensus seemed to be “Morooka, was a huge jerk to the students, but I'm sad that this happened”. Yosuke's confession also how he thought Morooka might have been the killer, then later regretted his suspicion was I think very understandable BUT man... what really drew my attention was, all through the discussion not once did the P4 crew address Morooka by his name. They just kept on calling him “King Moron”, while it didn't piss me off, it really surprised me... your teacher has just been murdered and you still slander his name. A dialogue option should have been along the lines of, “A least show him proper respect guys!”.

Rapid's Highlight: How far are we from Deus Ex?

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 03:03:38 +0000

Rapid highlights one or more of the many aspects of a particular video game, such as its concept, visuals, sound or gameplay and then supplementing this content with a number of short videos. In this feature of Rapid's Highlight we look at the game Deus Ex Human Revolution and its concept of Human Augmentation and how the game uses that concept to tell the game's story.

The Concept: Human Augmentation Anyone?

In Deus Ex Human Revolution. Human cybernetics, called Augmentations has been made readily possible to the consumers everywhere. People cannot only replace their limbs and other body parts with machinery, but they also go as far as implant neural enhancers to improve congregation and intelligence. Humans can literally have their brains connected to the internet at all times. Taking place just 16 years in our future in the year 2027, Deus Ex Human Revolution explores the ethical, moral and cultural impact of this new society of cyborgs and in some cases people whom had made themselves more machine than human. However, how far are we along to becoming like this society in real life? SquareEnix, released a documentary exploring such topics.

The World of Deus Ex : Just Imagine what 2027 will be like.

The enviroments and levels in Deus Ex : HR might be statined Black and Gold however, its easy tell that this is not the golden age of society. As expected Human Augmentation becomes a very Left Wing and Right Wing debate, those whom believe in perserving the purity of the Human Race, and those whom push the world toward Augmentation as a means of further adaptation, and evolution. Ex-Cop Adam Jenson, the game's main protagonist was basically given his augmentations against his free will in order to save his life. Eidos Studio Montreal, create a live action cenmatic promo trailer for Deus Ex Human Revolution that shows how society would be impacted and the different views that a media would portray.

In the game Jenson's augmentations play a part in how he is precieved in the world by others as well as himself.

Finally I want to point out the music of Deus Ex Human Revolution which drew me into the how cyberpunk setting, as I steathed my way through levels and hacked the many computers in that game. I want to point out the music of the game because the developers seem to taken much care into composing a good score to evoke the story and gameplay.

One of my favourite and probably the most powerful scenes in the game for me was the opening credits, the visuals and audio were great. It's a good example of how music and visuals in the game are evocative. One thing that my mind still ponders about which robo-cop like sequence is better this next video where Adam getting his augmentations, or Cammander Shepard (Mass Effect 2) when he's being revived by project Lazurus after he dies in space...?

More songs from Deus Ex Human Revolution is available to listen to on grooveshark.

If you're interested in the game, its avaliable on PS3, Xbox 360, and the PC you can buy the "Augmented version" which includes a free copy of the soundtrack as well as many other downloadable content, visit the official site here.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 01:33:04 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about "Chapter 7" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 7, click here to view Chapter 6.

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7: The Town Idol - Part 1

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7: The Town Idol - Part 2

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7: The Town Idol - Part 3

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7: The Town Idol - Part 4

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7: The Town Idol - Part 5

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 7 - The Town Idol

In this weeks videos we rescue both Teddie and Rise Kujikawa the returning town idol. Teddie's boss fight is by far the longest boss fought thus far, not the hardest but it does require the most patience since other teddie has no weakness to any ailments it requires a lot of due diligence to chip away at his HP.

In this chapter we see the dramatic tension between Dojima and our protagonist Akira, I like to point out something that I feel that P4 did better than P3 and that is exploring the relationship between people outside just social links. In P3, no one questions what the protagonist and SEES were doing, their actions were a complete secret and really no one was any the wiser. In P4 you see that its getting harder to keep their investigation under suspicion, and clearly Dojima does not buy any of Akira bull shit excuses. While you may say, Dojima is a detective and a the protagonist's guardian after all, so it make sense that he's not clueless, I still think it not only Akira and Dojima a more dynamic relationship and also makes the setup more believable.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 6 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 01:42:48 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about the "Chapter 6" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 6, click here to view Chapter 5.

Watch

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Nature Week - Part 1 (43:32)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Nature Week- Part 2 (42:04)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Nature Week- Part 3 (30:46)

(Out of context this screencap is even more funny!)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 6 - Nature Week

Note: Correction with the video times, something was janky when I produced Part 1, there is like 10 minutes of dead air at the end.The true video length is around 43 minutes. Also, in order to get the little easter eggs I put in the first video be sure to have annotations turn on!

You might have noticed that I was sort of fooling around with Kanji's Quest Boss, to be honest I was trying to trigger Chie's galatic punt finisher that's why I decided to skip some of the All-Out-Attacks. However, the attempt was failure and Kanji paid the price (sorry bro...). While a galatic punt does work on Bosses, and is easy to do when there are multiple enimies on the field, it's harder to pull off with only one enemy.

The school camping trip my second favourite event in this game. By the best Mr. Morooka bit, and the funniest dialogue exchange between Yosuke and Kanji in the game.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:56:47 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about the "Chapter 5" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 5, click here to view Chapter 4.

Watch

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Bad, Bad Bathhouse - Part 1 (34:42)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Bad, Bad Bathhouse - Part 2 (20:03)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Bad, Bad Bathhouse - Part 3 (32:18)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Bad, Bad Bathhouse - Part 4 (27:12)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Bad, Bad Bathhouse - Part 5 (31:28)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Bad, Bad Bathhouse - Part 6 (24:28)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 : Bad, Bad Bathhouse - Part 7 (35:10)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 5 - Bad, Bad Bathhouse

Recordings the good and the Bad:

All videos are now being recorded in Widescreen format so in a normal YouTube video the vertical lines should have disappeared.

Gameplay and Social Links:

Gameplay is focused on Social Links once Kanji's Shadow is defeated. I'll probably go back into the dungeon and grind some extra levels in the next chapter. I finished quite a few quest sets avalaible in May, and will continue to do so.

I don't know if you have noticed this chapter jumps around alot since it's been primarily focused on quests and ranking up social links. The plan is keep all my social links releatively even (not picking favourites yet) and while I think the majority of my current social links are around level 4, the are a few exceptions, such as the mother at the daycare, the nurse, and the student I'm tutoring.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 4 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:23:45 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about the "Chapter 4" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 4, click here to view Chapter 3.

Watch

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 4 : Golden Week - Part 1 (27:45)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 4 : Golden Week - Part 2 (25:13)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 4 : Golden Week - Part 3 (37:45)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 4 - Golden Week

Recordings : The Good and the Bad :

I've been experimenting with Widescreen capture and it seems to be coming along smoothly. While there are some videos in chapter 5 (parts 1-2) that are still 4:3, and am working on making widescreen my standard recording definition. That means rest assured that all future episodes (chapter 5 part 3 and on) will be targeted to be widescreen. In one of the chapters I forgot to filter out the mouse curser in my post screen recording I am deeply sorry about that.

Castle King Boss (and my failure):

I actually had trouble with the King Boss as you will see. This was the case because one I had grinded my characters to a obscured level the week before (when I was not recording), this resulted in the King's attack doing very little to Akira, Chie and Yosuke. However, Yukiko, who was lower level and more vulnerable than the rest of team unfortunately got knocked out. The major error was I kept casting Agi (when maybe I should cast more Bufu...). Here's why, the regular versions of the King Boss, whom called "Positive Kings" are usually weak against fire (Agi), so I from battling those underlings I got into the habit of casting Agi at them every time. However, as you saw in the video, King Boss, called "Contrarian King" obviously are the opposite, he absorbs Agi and regains HP from it. This resulted in me healing the Contrarian King a few times, and dragging out the battle.

Gameplay Social Links:

The Golden Week is the intermediate chapter between Yukiko’s and Kanji's upcoming chapter. Multiple social links are opening up, my primary strategy is to be solid with everyone on the investigation team which means I will try to strengthen my bonds with my teammates however, that doesn't mean I will neglect my other school friends and family. Yumi's social link events are one of the most interesting of the club social links and I'm also going to strengthen my social links with Dojima and Nanoko when I have the chance.

Dragon Age 2 Desktop Theme

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 05:28:20 +0000

Check out Rapid's Desktop Theme of July 2011.

This is my desktop theme that I had in July. It's of my customized default female Hawke (main character) from Dragon Age 2

Share your desktop here

As you can see, minor alteration to skin tone, eye color and blush.

Default Hawke Custom

FireFall Trailer

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:48:45 +0000

Check the new Fire Fall Trailer.

Fire Fall is a MMO which can be played in First Person or Third Person View. The development team Red 5 studios, is made up of ex-Blizzard employees.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:31:21 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about the "Chapter 3" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoilers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 3, click here to view Chapter 2.

Watch

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 : The Princess and Her Prince - Part 1 (31:58)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 : The Princess and Her Prince - Part 2 (24:49)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 : The Princess and Her Prince - Part 3 (41:05)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 : The Princess and Her Prince - Part 4 (18:30)

Persona 4 (Story / Grinding) Chapter 3 : The Princess and Her Prince - Part 5 (34:59)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 : The Princess and Her Prince - Part 6 (30:09)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 3 - The Princess and Her Prince

This is a longer chapter consisting of a total of 6 parts each relatively half an hour long. The chapter dealt with Chie and Yukiko's Persona for the most part. As well as some regular school activities and their respective social links. You'll notice in part 5 I've included footage from the my grinding sessions. While these videos are suppose to focus on the story of Persona 4 and skip most of the gameplay. I still felt it would be nice for people who've never played before, and just watching to see the since of the layout of the castle and the types of shadow the protagonist runs into.

Persona 4 : The Animation Trailer

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:37:44 +0000

Check out the new full featured Persona 4 The Animation trailer.

The highly anticipated Persona 4 anime has a target date. It's coming out in this Fall some time in October.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 2 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:10:05 +0000

This week Rapid recollects his thoughts about the "Chapter 2" of his Persona 4 Story focused playthrough.

Note: This article has spoliers.

Please watch the video playthrough or have beaten Persona 4 before continuing.

Note: This is Chapter 2, click here to view Chapter 1.

Watch:

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 2 : Saki Konishi - Part 1 (26:07)

Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 2 : Saki Konishi - Part 2 (25:40)

Persona 4 (Story) : Chapter 2 : Saki Konishi Part 3 (31:39)

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 2 - Saki Konishi

This was a short chapter composed of three parts. The Chapter includes Akira Yoshioka awakening to his persona Izangai and confronting Yosuke's shadow. Being that this is second time I am playing Persona 4, after played a ton of Persona 3 and FES prior to this, I felt that the exposition of 4 was much longer than in 3. Perhaps it was harder to setup the premise for Persona 4 because it involves so many elements which the game story needs to spend time informing the player about such as

setting up the murder case
a situation in which the character would watch the midnight channel
each character has to experience the world inside the TV initally

In contrast, Persona 3 dropped the protagonist within the midst of the plot circumstances, the supporting characters already knew about the Dark Hour in Persona 3. The Dark Hour is a time of the night, when shadows appear in our world, while regular people are asleep in their coffins, and which only people who have the "potential" remain awake. In fact the Tarturus, the other world had been already "experienced" by the previous investigation team. Once that was established the protagonist quickly awoke to his persona, Orpheus.

Saki Konishi, we barely knew her before she died. Whether Yosuke's motivation to re-enter the TV was to investigate Saki's death or for entertainment value as his shadow revealed, protagonist (Akira Yoshioka) is in this mess.

I am still not sure if the within the TV world, that Yosuke and the protagonist truly saw Saki's geniune feelings for a couple of reasons. Firstly, since Saki died prior to their arrival, my theory is it could have been Yosuke whom create Saki within his own world since subconciously he may of felt that Saki dispised him, because she always said he was annoying. Secondly, we never meet Saki's shadow and only Yosuke's, I think that Yosuke's shadow might have created the town to show Yosuke, his own inner thoughts.

In terms of the videos, there is still some rough edges to sort out, I know that video to audio sync is not perfect and has been a problem for not only previous videos but upcoming videos.

Rapid's Blog : Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 1 Reflection

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:56:18 +0000

Rapid's recording a playthrough of Persona 4. Come join him in re-experiencing Persona 4 all over again.

Back in 2008, when the PlayStation 2 was considered to be at the last of its long lifespan, one of the last games I played on this console was Persona 4. Having just played Persona 3, I was surprised that in no time at all Atlus USA localized Persona 4, taking much of the gameplay forumla of Persona 3 but setting the game in a whole different environment and atmosphere.

I had been contemplating on doing this video playthrough of Persona 4 for a long time now, and only recently had the time and the means to. While there are already a saturation of Persona 4 playthroughs on the internet, like GiantBomb's Persona 4 "Endurance Run" and many "Let's Plays" all over YouTube, I still felt compelled to do my own recorded playthrough of Persona 4 for several reasons.

Wanted to play the game again (probably the most important part I would think of anyone who wanted to do a video playthrough).
The announcement of Persona 4 : The Animation this year resparked and reminded me how much I enjoyed Persona 4.
The actual plot of Persona 4 begins April 04, 2011 (around this time in the real world) which seems like the perfect time to do this.

By the time that this article goes up I would have uploaded at least the first set of my recorded videos. I am trying to establish a format for my videos however, since this is my first time attempting to record full video I apologize if for the first few videos the format is inconsistent.

There will be no commentary with my videos but I have decided I will be do a retrospective article similar to this one after each major "Chapter"
Although Persona 4 does not have set "Chapters", I will be implementing my own in order to break down the key points in the story.
Primarily be focusing on recording the primary core story, I may do side-quests off-air.
"Uneventful days" such as when I'm just grinding or leveling up social stats may be omitted from video.
Will be recording when Social Links Level Up
Any other funny or wacky event that happens within the game.
I may show some combat so viewers can get a sense of the dungeons and enemies.

Finally, I must credit StrikeArranges on YouTube whose many quality videos inspired the format of my Persona 4 videos. It's quite impressive in how the videos are cut and edited such that it seems like you're watching film or a short television series. Strike's channel includes an asorted number of games, including Yakuza, Mass Effect, Red Dead Redemption, and Alan Wake just to name a few.

Retrospection: Persona 4 (Story) Chapter 1 "Welcome Protagonist to Inaba"

Watch:

Persona 4 (Story) : Chapter 1: Welcome Protagonist to Inaba - Part 1 (14:42)

Persona 4 (Story) : Chapter 1: Welcome Protagonist to Inaba - Part 2 (25:13)

Persona 4 (Story) : Chapter 1: Welcome Protagonist to Inaba - Part 3 (19:52)

Persona 4 (Story) : Chapter 1: Welcome Protagonist to Inaba - Part 4 (23:27)

Parts 1- 4 of Chapter was mostly exposition and spent more time watching than playing the game. However it allowed me to focus on how I am going structure the videos and get setup. I decided to name the protagonist, Akira Yoshioka.

If you were wondering where the name came from, Yoshioka is named after the surname of the Japanese singer, YUI. The idea to give him YUI's last name came from the announcement of what the name of Protagonist would be named in the anime version of Persona 4, "Yu Narukami". ("The "Yu" in his name reminded me of YUI"). As for the first name "Akira" is the nickname given to Hamari, one of my main characters in many of Project IC's creative writting works.

Blog: PC Build

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 19:02:22 +0000

This week I built my first PC.

My PC Specs :

Category	Part	Price (CAD)
CPU	Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)	$295
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 Pro	$150
Memory	Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 1600MHz	$60
Video Card	Nvidia GeForce GTX 570	$360
Storage	Western Digital 2TB Black	$80
Optical Drive	Asus 24x DVDRW SATA Black OEM	$17
Case	COOLER MASTER Storm Enforcer	$90
Power Supply	OCZ ZX Series 850W Modular Power Supply	$165
SSD	Corsair Force Series 60GB SSD	$115
Total		$ 1332

Contact Us

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:09:33 +0000

If you have any concerns, inquiries, and/or comments you would like to send to us you can reach us or obtain addition information at these sources.

General Online Support:

Forum

Member Account Related Inquiry:

Email : rapid@rapidchronicles.com

Site Related Inquiry

Email : rapidchronicles@gmail.com

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:23:00 +0000

Oh KOTOR, I really hope your MMO will be good.

Overview:

More than 7 years ago, Star Wars was afflicted with the same curse that even now still, not all modern videogames can alleviate. I am of course referring to the Movie to video game curse which is second to only as bad as the video game to movie curse. Greatly influenced by other prior Bioware titles like Bulder’s gate, and NeverWinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic focused on open-plot progression yet keeping a coherent storyline something rare back in those days, the game’s greatest feat, and is arguably the trademark of Bioware games. It almost seems trivial now for a game especially of Star Wars to utilize the idea of a light and darkside as a direct opportunity to use a morality meter yet back then no other Star Wars game processed such a feature. This simple but yet innovative feature made the game appealing to Star Wars fans because you had the opportunity for your character to act and become a Sith Lord. Moreover, Bioware also recognized such attributes could play into the look and progression of the character.

The game also featured tons of well voiced-acting which was rare for a role-playing of its time to have because of the sheer volume of dialogue and costs. In these dialogue sequences players can actively chooses what his protagonist says. The game features combat similar to NeverWinter Nights and each character one creates has class based feats that effect how one plays the game.

Plot:

Taking place more than thousands years prior to the movies it was perhaps the reason Knights of the Old Republic was so unique to any other Star Wars game at that time. However, you will still see the same alien species you see in the movie and Jedi still use Lightsabers, and the Sith enemies still carry blasters. You start the game as a Republic Solider on board a ship as it is being attacked by a Sith ship. The protagonist makes off the ship via escape pod and lands on Taris a planet currently under Sith quarantine. While ultimately your objective is to escape you are have the opportunity to embark on a wide range of side quests. Along the way you ‘rescue’ the Jedi Bastila and she discovers that the protagonist is highly force sensitive and processes the potential to become a full-fledged Jedi. After escaping stealing the Ebon Hawke you depart to Datooine where the Jedi Council has created an Enclave after learning that the Jedi Temple at Tatooine was destroyed by the Sith. Upon meeting with the Jedi council your character begins his or her Jedi Training. It is during your training you have visions of an ancient relic known as the Star Forge which the Sith seeks to obtain in hopes of using its limitless power to control the entire galaxy. Consequently, your character is given the task of learning and discovering more about the Star Forge and its location. You then alongside your companions you made along your journey fly to different planet in search of pieces to a map depicting the location of the Star Forge.
Much of the game is made up of the Main storyline and countless subplots. Many of the subplots and quests you do will not influence the main plot directly but their outcome can alter if your character is on the Light or the Darkside.

Gameplay

Perhaps the second, but most obvious contrast to other Star Wars games is the Dungeons & Dragons (3rd Edition) Style combat similar to Never Winter Nights. It uses much of the same rules and character builds as you expect from a D&D game with a slight nod to Star Wars. Instead of a Fighter you are now a Solider, a scout instead of a ranger and a scoundrel instead of a rogue. In addition as you complete your Jedi training you will have the choice to decide between one of three Jedi Classes: Guardian, Sentinel or Consular. Force Powers are basically the counterpart to spells and allow one to do such things as, knock them down with the force, stun or directly choke opponents to death.

Knights of the Old Republic, has bountiful references and retains much of ‘Star War humour’ especially with the many droids you encounter.
You won’t travel the galaxy alone you will come into contact with numerous strange characters and some of whom will assist you on your journey. Your comrades will occasionally stop and talk you personal issues, or occasionally you can inquire about their history. Party members will assist you with their skills and also fight alongside you. Many of these sequences make your comrades feel more ‘realistic’ and less like digital manikins. Although with that said, there are few technical issues like poor path finding and awkward collision detection which causes your comrades to either lag behind or face the wrong way when the enemy is right in front of your group.
Star Wars Knights of the Republic may have its technical problems but overall what it is strongest at is allow players to interact more within the confines of the Star Wars universe. It was one of the game which made players will feel that their decisions do matter in a video game. Many of the core ideas are still present in current games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. This game probably influenced Mass Effect and with its MMO successor in development we will see if any of the established storyline and ethos from this game makes it into the new Knights of the Old Republic.

Shin Megami Tensei : Devil Survivor

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 29 May 2010 05:11:00 +0000

The review that started all other reviews.

Story

In seven days, Tokyo will fall.

The entire city has been locked down. No one enters, and no one leaves. Demons have invaded the city, attacking innocent people who have no means of fighting back. Inside the lockdown, fear and chaos reign.

You are inside the lockdown. You will forge contracts with demons who will fight by your side. You will make decisions that will mean life for some and death for others. But what about your own life? Will you survive?

Seven days remain. The clock is ticking.

That's the premise behind the new Devil Survivor, even on the DS, Atlus still is able to bring the dark, ominous, and decedent storyline that fans have to expect from the series. The storyline will intrigue newcomers to the franchise as well keep long-time fans well interested. In the midst of suspense and mystery the idea that you only have small window of opportunity to live not only draws us into the story, but adds a good dose of authenticity to the game. To not reveal too much of the story, let us dive right into the gameplay.

The key is to survive, inorder to protect yourself and company you'll need to enlist the help of our very own Demons, sort of like using snake venom to make a cure for snake venom. Using a device known as C.O.M.P which share a resemblence to the Nintendo DS, you are able to fully take advantage of your new demon allies. As you explore different areas through a map menu, you can scout different areas, talk your fellow party members, begin to forge friendship with other lockdown victims, and of course battle it out with nasty demons at every turn.

Combat System

I'm sure you already heard, or seen this but the combat system combines a hybrid of both a tactical role-playing game (remencient of games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea), and your old school first person rpg (which resembles Dragon Quest). Before a battle you can dispatch up to 4 party members. Each party member forge their own teams accompanyed by up to two demons. One thing to note is your party members act as the leader of each team, if he or she dies the whole team goes down. If yourself (Main Character) dies, the mission is automatically suspended.

In tactical RPG fashion you and your enemies take turns to travel accross a isometric grid and attack only if within in striking distance. Which characters turn to move is displayed on the top-bottom of the touch-screen. When engaging in an combat you attack your opponents the Dragon Quest first-person mode where you can issue actions and cast attack spells on your enemies. Before or alternatively after a "Attack" command team members can issue healing spells and buffs to themselves or other party members in within proximity. You are still able to perform healing spells in the midst of a battle but then you are limit to healing those within your team. Furthermore you can also switch up your demons at anytime except during first-person attack mode.

If you've played any of the Shin Megami Tensei games you'll understand (or even in Pokemon) demons are vulerable to certain types of attacks and exploiting these weaknesses is key to victory.

While newcomers may find combat a bit confusing at first, it is actually quite simple. While in combat specific stats for each demon (including your own) are displayed by fliping through the menu on the top-screen. Unlike other Shin Megami Tensei games, no longer do players need to "analyze" or guess a demons attributes, weakenss, and strengths they are given to you at the beginning of the battle. This is a strange departure from the previous Shin Megami Tensei where it was left to player intuition and experience, which makes the combat seem slightly easier.

What has not changed, is the extra-turn feature. Extra-turns are rewarded for dealing critical damage, absorbing damage, and of course extorting your enemies weakness. Extra-turns are just like what the name says, the character gains one extra chance to wack your enemy again during the same combat phase. In battle each team member and enemies is given one chance (a turn) to evoke an action, but Extra-turns gives them an additional turn to attack. One thing to keep in mind is battle initiative, if your being attacked some of your opponents will automatically gain extra-turns at the beginning of battle, and visa-versa. You can cancel out your opponents extra-turns the same ways as you gain an extra-turn.

What this does means is that a good defense is also key to victory. The A.I has been slightly bumped up, enemies will tend to also strike your allies with their weakness exposed. A important part of combat is to dispatch and summon forth the right kind of demons for different battle situations.

click watch a combat demo.

Missions

Surprisingly as you progress through the story, the game offers variety of different types of missions. While some mission will have you clearing out demon infested areas others will have you rescuing civilians, preventing demons from escaping, and fighting the games tough bosses. The length of each battle are reasonable, depending on how you strategize a mission could take anywhere from ten minutes to being drag-out to half-an-hour.Luckly you have the option to save during mid-battle and "continue" later. The game features many "Free Battles" which do not consume time, and is a means to level up your party.

Game Difficulty

Game veterns eager to start the game on Hard will be surprise to be find there is no difficulty setting at the beginning of the game. This is another strange feature deptare from the previous games. Difficulty then I would say, is more dependent on the player. While the game can be burn through quickly, but as one progress they will soon find their enemies increasingly more challenging and difficult this way. Opposed to if one takes the time to strategize (and that does not necessarily mean grinding) they will find the game less daunting. Going through the "free battles" allows your characters to level up, and sometimes unlocks new demons in the game.

Skills

There are three types of skills in the game, Command Skills Passive skills, and auto-skills & racial skills. Characters and including demons can hold up to 3 skills of each type (with exception of auto-skills).
CMD skills are skill you only use in battle with exception of healing spells.
PSV skills are like status buffs for each individual character. These include but are not limited to things like HP & Mana Bonuses, elemental resistance & immunity, or the ability to inflict status effect on the enemy. Lastly are the racial skills (for demons) or auto-skill (for humans). For demons racial skills are demon-dependent, meaning you cannot replace these skills. Different types of demons have a different racial skill. Racial skills range from giving the team to walk extra-squares, increased attack range, to group healing. These skills are usually only accessible during when the character is on the grid map.
Alternatively, humans possess Auto-skills, these skills are interchangeable and only one party member can possess a specific auto-skill at time. Auto-skills are usually casted right before enemy engagement, and usually give that specific team some group stat-bonus.

Each character's individual stat increases differently from the other, some are more effective with magic while others deal more physical damage. This is true for demons as well. You can only control the stats of the main character (yourself).Making sure their skills complement their stats is also crucial in preparing for encounters. Although one character with only physical attacks can lead to headache without considering extorting enemies weaknesses. By optmizing your teams, you can create a powerhouse to eliminate even the toughest enemies.

Customizing Skills

There are different ways of acquiring & and degrading skills

For Humans learning moves through what is called “skill cracking.” It involves first selecting a skill to copy from a demon enemy before dispatching your teams. Each character can crack one skill per battle, which skills that are assessable is dependent on the type of demon your facing and whether the characters meets certain requirements to learn that skill. The process of skill cracking involves that specific team must defeat that specific demon holding the skill. If the demon is defeat by anyone other than the team specified or the party is defeat before the demon killed the skill crack is void. Meaning the chance of learning the skill was missed.
Once “cracked” the skills become available to them right after the battle and is made available in the C.O.M.P’s skill inventory list. Humans can then trade skills they’ve cracked amongst each other.

Demons on the other hand learn skills through three ways.They learn skills by inheriting the skills during demon fusion else, they can copy one skill their masters’ each time a characters sort of skill meter is full. The final way a demon acquire skills is they by leveling up each demon will have one or two “natural skill(s)” they acquire by leveling up.

Demon Fusion & Auction

Demons and how you use them is a crucial part of the game. For those new to the franchise Demon fusion is as it sounds. It requires take two demons and fusing them together to create a more powerful demon. Fusion allows for players to redistribute their most crucial skills from one demon to another demon in addition to the fused demon's own skills. Fans rejoice, especially Persona fans for now you fully choose which skills you want to redistribute. Fusion is one way which allows players to acquire new demons, but also new and more powerful skills. An important new feature in Devil Survivor is the "Search" feature which allows you to browse through a demon catalog and analyze which fusion material demons are need to acquire specific demons. This list allow to glance at demons that you can eventually fuse once the main character reaches a specific level. The list then grows as you acquire more demons and increase the main character's level. Demons and Characters will level up during battles but to truly take advantage of them is to fuse them. Being stingy with your demon selection only leads to more difficulty, and more grinding in the future.

See demon fusion in action.

To be able to fuse Demons together, you need to first acquire demons. Additional Demons can only be acquired through the Auction in your C.O.M.P. By completing missions and defeating demons in battle you earn Macca, the currency in Devil Survivor. In an Auction you can either bid for the demon or buy them outright (however this is usually more expensive). Ever time you win and pay your bid, an auction rating goes up. There are several ways one can unlock new demons in the Auction. A higher rating allows you to unlock new demons to bid on, as well completing "Free battles" will also unlocks new demons in the auction.

See a demo of demon auctioning.

Decision Is Key

The game features multiple storylines, which makes your decisions more meaningful. Although you still cannot get out of being a hero, there are some situations where dialogue and characters interactions do change based on what you choose to do and how to choose to respond to your party members and other characters. Eventually these decision collectively influence the ending to your story. The downside is there is only one save slot avaliable, however a new game+ mode is avaliable after finishing the game once.

Presentation:

Like all Shin Megami Tensei games, part of reason the series has lastest this long is their amazing musical score accompanied in every game. Devil Survivor is no exception, the music helps emphasize the grity and chaotic ambiance in the story. The artwork is phenominal, the characters arevery well animated to give them personality, the backdrops detailed and and the menus are designed well. One of the downside to this game is that there is no voice-acting to add to this experience.
Personally, I would also like to see Wi-fi compatiablity, the ability to perhaps trade demons and engage in mock battles at the very least.

Overall Devil Survivor does serve to quench fan's thirsts, it is what you expect from a Shin Megami Tensei title, and Atus Faithful community will enjoy this departure on the Nintendo DS. Newcomers will be pleasently surprised at the depth in the story, and character customization packed within this cartigde.

Evil Genius

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 04:57:00 +0000

Do you have what it takes to be EVIL genius?

As the title bluntly depicts, Evil Genius is a game where players take the roles of an EVIL criminal mastermind (stressing the EVIL) bent on World Dominance! Think back in all the funky superspy movies, or better yet just remember the Austin Powers movies. The game is basically a façade to the ‘classic’ movies with those ‘60’s super villains like: Dr. Evil or Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the early James Bond films (that villain with the cat). The premise of the game is simple, build your awesome evil lair / secret base, kill any goodie goodie secret agents that foolish try to stop you as your reign of terror spreads across the entire world till finally, you reach the status of an renown mastermind.

In a very tycoon, sim-like environment players organize and command an army of evil minions and henchmen to do

your evil bidding. The game will have to build on an isometric grid, similar to the Sim City games. You begin the game on an abandoned island out in nowhere. The evil lair is built inside a large semi volcanic plate. There are several structures placeables to fill your evil lair with. One of the game’s best qualities is its easy, simplistic interface. The game also has a handy tutorial and plenty of descriptions and even video descriptions for most of the types of objects, minions, and rooms you can create. To start off, players must first choose an evil genius avatar. Each of the three villains you can choose from has a specific character bonus that affects the economy of your evil lair. In addition, what is a super villain without evil lackeys? (Or in this case, evil Henchmen). Henchmen are the tank /hero units, and can unlock unique abilities as they gain experience by killing agents or participating in global evil schemes alongside your evil minions. They are more skilled in combat and players have direct control over their actions, as oppose to the minions whom one can only indirectly control with the use of player tags. Player tags highlight actions in which the minions will take, eventually. Usually, minions will not perform a specific task unless they are given a tag. Tags are used for such things as: to specify the location of some structure that needs to be built, and to mark intruders/ hostile agents for termination or capture.

The secret lair functions as a base of all your operations and it’s here where players build and micromanage minions

and henchmen. You’ll have to construct areas to provide your minions with basic needs such as, living quarters, an infirmary to treat injuries, a staff lounge for them to relax when they are not slaving away and also adequate training facilities to produce more skilled minions. Each individual has five attributes that need to be satisfied in order to perform efficiently. For the base to run smoothly players must pay attention to their minions’ stats like smarts, attention and loyalty. Minions with low loyalty will try to desert the super villain. If this happens, the super villain will need to set an example in front of the other minions and execute the traitor before the others’ eyes to instantly raise their attention and reaffirm their loyalty.

Furthermore, aside from being a place of solitude for the evil genius, the lair is a safe house for loot and gold you collect in the game. The base is also a place where specialized minions research and build doomsday weapons for the Evil Genius to be. Setting up the base is actually quite simple all one does is create blueprints and layouts for the type of room he or she desires and approve the plans. It is here when one can sit back and relax as his or her minions do all the dirty work. Approved plans first get added to a queue and if at least one of your minions is free, his first task is to run to the strong room, a safe to get a briefcase to finance the materials in order to build your plans. Afterwards the materials are picked up either from the boathouse or the heliport outside the secret lair. After the materials have been collected minions return to location and begin construction. The time this process takes to complete depends on the number of minions free, the number of tasks pending simultaneously and whether there are no agents to take care of first. As stated before, work efficiency is also skewed by the five attributes of each minion.

Once an operational base is intact, it’s time to begin committing ‘acts of infamy.’ These are crimes that a player sends henchmen and minions commit across the globe via a HUD. As your base becomes more sophisticated and more crimes and committed the World Map will open up with different regions, and opportunities to steal cash and loot, capture hostages to train minion specialists, take valuable technology, conspire with crime lords, recruit more henchmen to your cause.

As more crimes are committed by your minions not only does your notoriety increase but you also build ‘Heat’ towards a region of the globe. The higher the heat the more likely they will send agents out to bring you to justice. So just like any other evil genius one must arm themselves with devious traps and tightly secured security doors around their secret lair to keep those pesky agents at bay. Agents from across the globe will try to reclaim your stolen loot, dismantle your base, and try to even assassinate your evil super villain. Ultimately eventually skilled super agents will show up to try to disassemble your evil empire and are your greatest threat. Besides the traps you can also disguise your evil operations by opening up nearby hotels and casinos to distract agents and strange tourist that seem to visit your secluded island. Since your resources are limited it’s up to you to use what you have in order to reach maximum notoriety and become the ultimate Mastermind.

If you didn’t already guess, this is a game that doesn’t take itself seriously, and although some of the humour can be dry, and corny the sort of over the top, diabolical humour is works fairly well in this game. It’s always a chuckle seeing one of your minions mimic Jackson’s moon walk and lean while soliciting an agent during an interrogation. The game references and pays tribute to a lot of movies, such that even the Henchmen resemble classic iconic villains from Bond films and such. Its visuals can be said dated, but its cartoony look and feel adds to its personality. The jazzy and band-ish music suits well to bring the out the atmosphere and feel of the ‘60’s to the game. While the game is not overly too innovative and different from most games of its kind, it does have great presentation value. Even if micromanagement games are not one’s cup of tea Evil Genius is certainly worth a look into when considering its interesting concept and not to mention low price point. There is still something left to be desired in this game.

That’s why I call Evil Genius a Game Gem.

About Us

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 05:39:56 +0000

What is Rapid Chronicles?

Rapid Chronicles is a site created by James W. (Rapid). A small blog & online community website dedicated to various interests not limited to Video Games, Technology, and Animation. Rapid Chronicles also supports many original / fan-inspired creative writing projects.

History of Rapid Chronicles

Officially started back in 2003, Rapid Chronicles was the successor to Rapid TV, a site dedicated to TV Shows, and Video Games. In 2004, the site's name was change to Rapid Chronicles. Rapid Chronicles is best described as an community for both Video Game and Anime lovers. While originally the site primarily only focused on anime and video games, ever since Project Infinity Chronicles began in 2005, it has also become an internal part of Rapid Chronicles. Rapid Chronicles has gone through many iterations and redesigns since it's last official launch on July 26, 2005.

What does Rapid Chronicles do?

At Rapid Chronicles we generally like to cover news and write content about significant topics surrounding television, video games and technology. For example we may post our own "comprehensive" video game reviews or postmoterms. Additionally, Rapid also keeps a blog where he shares his thoughts of some the games he's been playing and a YouTube channel of uploaded video footage of the games he's been playing. We also encourage our users to share their own experiences and interests on the site. Our site even allows users to upload and share their videos from via video sharing sites (like YouTube) onto our site database in real-time. We also have a gallery of various images and art hosted by pixi.me. Also very important to us, on site is we announce stuff about Project IC and its related works to our viewers.

Question: Why didn't Rapid Chronicles cover or have [insert content] on the site?

There will always be infinite amount of things we do not cover on this site. Covering everything is not really isn't what the site is about. Rapid Chronicles is about sharing content that is important to us and highlighting the stuff we feel is news-worthy on a personal level or whatever our users ask by in large. We don't consider ourselves to be a "Video Game Website", nor an Anime Blog Site, rather a fan-site of many interest (whether it be Video Games, Anime, or Technology). Our team at Rapid Chronicles and Project IC is a small dedicated team of individuals, and our main goal is to share our interests with our visitors and community.

Future Goals

As time passes Rapid Chronicles continues to grow slowly with future goals of increasing its usability, visuals, and member-base. We hope to expand our community based technology and make it easier to interact with users in the community and also provide more powerful tools for us and our users to use.

Creator of Rapid Chronicles

Since the age of nine, Rapid (James W.) the creator of Rapid Chronicles & Founder of Project IC has been designing small web community groups and Websites. James is currently an university undergraduate studying Computing Science.

Who's helped out with Projects Associated with Rapid Chronicles

Project IC Staff
Site Creator & Founder	Rapid
Co- Founder of Project IC & Project Lead	Zaku
Project Manager	Shou
Project IC Editor	Denji
Special Thanks To
Sprite Designer	Sperion

Project Infinity Chronicles, a creative writing team was founded by Rapid and Zaku (James W. and Chan N.). Currently Rapid runs most of Rapid Chronicles and advises Zaku on his project.

In the early days of Rapid Chronicles, Zaku used to co-manage the site and its forums. Currently he's leading his own projects under Project Infinity Chronicles. IC's editor Denji, is currently involved in Zaku's project.

Special thanks to Sperion who designed many sprites for us in the past for one of the team's projects.

Like to help us out or support us? Or do you have any concerns feel free to contact us.

GoldenEye Source brings back GoldenEye

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:03:00 +0000

GoldenEye source is a fan remake that takes GoldenEye 007 back to its roots.

A History Lesson

Almost anyone who had a Nintendo 64 console back in day probably also owned or played extensively the original GoldenEye 007. While the original Bond movie will probably only be loosely remembered, there is no doubt that the game is critically acclaimed for being one of the first successful popular shooter to come to any consoles for its time. GoldenEye for the N64, brought many friends, family, together for too many all-nighters to count.

Long Awaited Remakes

When Rare the original developers of GoldenEye on the N64 were about to go out of business, they found themselves being bought up by Microsoft. Afterwards, they started to develop more Banjo-Kazooie games after Microsoft acquired the license, and franchises likeViva Pinta games. Most recently, Rare re-released Perfect Dark on Xbox Live, which gave hope to some naïve fans that Rare would also re-release a re-textured GoldenEye 007, similar to what they had done for Perfect Dark. While it would have been nice if Rare had the rights to re-release GoldenEye, the problem arises from whom now owns GoldenEye. On one hand, Activision now holds the James Bond license, but on the other hand, Nintendo owns the license of GoldenEye including the name and trademark. Before then, EA (Electronic Arts) once held the Bond license and released GoldenEye Rogue Agent , which was an attempt at bring GoldenEye back. However, the game was too dissimilar from the original to warrant any sort of major recognition from the hardcore GoldenEye fan community. The game popularly criticized as a first person shooter, with the golden eye name slapped in its title, Rouge Agent was only a mediocre success.

In November of 2010, Activision released a proper remake of GoldenEye exclusively on the Nintendo Wii console. The new Wii game, a modern remake of GoldenEye shares plot similarities with Rare’s game which the levels call-back and reference the original GoldenEye 64 levels however re-doing the combat in a more Call of Duty style of game play. The now uses regenerating health, iron-sight aiming, and dual analog controls. The game replaces Pierce Brosnan former Bond actor for the original GoldenEye, with the current Bond, Daniel Craig. The writers then reworked and rewrote the story to fit the image and personality of Daniel Craig’s bond persona.

Now history is made, GoldenEye is back!

While the GoldenEye on Wii, is perhaps the closest commercially made game to reclaiming the those old GoldenEye memories, no other game developer have come close to recapturing everything we loved about the original GoldenEye than the people whom are responsible for GoldenEye Source a total-conversion of Half-Life 2. The do what no other commercial game developer can do, recreate GoldenEye as it was in 1997.

They have managed to recreate the multiplayer modes to play frightening similar to the original, including some fan favourites like License to Kill, and the Man with the Golden Gun. Alongside the game modes are also included built-in game custom achievements. Everything from the aiming to red and blue circular heath-bars feels nearly identical to the original. It’s exactly what hard-core fans wanted, they have recreated classic levels authentically remodeled but nearly identical in layout the original levels from not only the multiplayer but also single player game. Not only do we get to play either classic Facility a exact replica, or a modern remodeled updated version, fans will get to play multiplayer in levels like Silo, and Control, levels not in the original GoldenEye multiplayer. As further bonus, a replica of the Casino from Casino Royal is also playable.

Custom Models

They even modelled their own models to look like the original characters in GoldenEye , although since they would have to pay a hefty licensing fee for Pierce Brosnan’s likeness, they had to make do with a Bond equally dapper British-Looking Secret Agent. (Wouldn’t if they modelled Sean Connery?)

Other features include remodeled weapons of the original guns, which even have the same original sounds.

It amazes me how much they have accomplished, and their dedication to further to continue to improve this mod. The game is recently out of its beta, and with a decent amount of servers and plays trying it out. With already plans and a lot of support / demand from the fan community, the GoldenEye Source dev team has already said they had plans in the future of implementing a single player type of campaign to GoldenEye Source, although this would not happen before they felt completely satisfied with the mulitiplayer.

So how do I get my hands on this?

A reminder for anyone interesting in checking out this mod, you just need to own any Source game on Steam, this includes but not limited to, owning at least one of the following: Half – Life 2, Counter Strike Source, or any of the Left For Dead games (you just have to download the SDK) to play GoldenEye Source for FREE.

Trailer for GoldenEye Source 4.1 Below:

Remixed Songs and OST

Yet again, proving their dedication to bring back the memories of GoldenEye, to really evoke the Bond experience they created remixed versions the original music from GoldenEye, moreover, going so far as to even composed their own cover of Tina Turner's original Goldeneye theme, now spoof'ed as Golden Pie a parody of the intro theme to the original movie. You can check out more details on the GoldenEye Source Community Website, and even download the Complete GoldenEye Source OST there.

Tales of Innocence Patch Released

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:01:00 +0000

What happens when a beloved J-RPG series refuses to be localized? After more than two years, the people of Absolute Zero have done it themselves and even manage to add their own features and redesigns to the original game.

After much anticipation, fans of Tales of Innocence (on DS) can finally rejoice about release of the long awaited translation patch for the game. The fan- translation project first started July 9, 2008, and despite the floods of requests and comments (throughout the 2 years) the team at Absolute Zero stayed patient and persistent with their belief to not release the patch until they were satisfied with its quality.

The translators did a more than extreme thorough job. Everything you can think of is translated. Not to mention they even put subtitles on the Opening Intro Theme, similar to what you see for a fan-subbed anime. In fact, you can also turn these subtitles off by pressing the select button if you wish.

What is most surprising is that the AZ team went to such length as to refine the in-game menus and the user interface of the game.

The stat numbers originally displayed the difference between the old and the new stat, but we thought it wasn’t very intuitive. So now we changed it to display the actual new stat, making it easier to compare weapons and styles with each other. In addition to these and similar changes, we have also fixed a few bugs. The game doesn’t crash if you encounter an invisible enemy in a guild dungeon anymore, and you will also get the displayed amount of money when selling a weapon with bonus parts.

- Kingcom

It shows true commitment when they even go as far to fix bugs that were in the original game. What is most impressive is truly their dedication, fan-translation project live and die quickly, and many do not reach near-competition. Not to sell a publisher short, but the publisher should take this as an example of because of AZ team’s dedication the result is a translated game that goes just beyond what we would expect from a commercial localized product.
You can find the patch and more details about the project at the Absolute Zero Website

Here's the List of Features the Added to the Game

Several features have been added to the game that can be customized to your preferences.

Opening and Ending Song Subtitles
- Subtitles are enabled by default.
- They can be enabled and disabled by pressing the Select button.
- Romanized karaoke subtitles are displayed at the top of the screen.
- Translated lyrics are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
- The opening has lyrics in ALL CAPS. Try reading the translated lyrics backwards.

Naming Convention
- You can find this under the Options menu.
- This option has three settings: Localized, Translated, and Romanized.
- The naming convention is set to Localized by default.
- This setting will be recorded in your save data.
- Localized: Use official naming conventions for Artes and items.
- Translated: Use official naming conventions for Artes and items except when literal
      translation seems more appropriate.
- Romanized: Use romanizations for all Japanese Artes and literal translations for
     Artes or items written in katakana (foreign words).

Battle Subtitles
- You can find this under the Options menu.
- This option has three settings: On, Important, and Off.
- Battle subtitles are On by default.
- This setting will be recorded in your save data.
- On: All battle subtitles will be displayed.
- Important: Only subtitles at the start and end of battle, boss death quotes, and
     Mystic Artes quotes will be displayed.
- Off: No battle subtitles will be displayed.

Borderlands Quick Insight

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:58:00 +0000

For those who have checked your steam recently might have notice that Borderlands has been updated with Steam Achievements and some LCD Keyboard support. So if you’re not still playing the game, this might be a good time to return Pandora. With the 4^th DLC pretty much official at this point even Randy Pitchford was writing on his Twitter, that there will be more DLC for Borderlands.

It’s strange that the more I play the Borderlands the more my opinion of the game changes overtime. For reason is I can not decide whether I get more from playing the game co-operatively or just by myself. You might be asking, isn’t a game designed for online co-op multiplayer supposed to be better with other people? Yes for the most part, but there maybe merits to want to playthrough the game first by your lonesome. It doesn’t just boil-down to who you play with either. While you receive many perks for playing with up to 3 other players.

The game is very disorganized, players drop into the progress of the host who sometimes can be way further than you or way behind you. However, the good and bad is for some side-quests you complete as a group, it ends up completing those in your own playthrough. In fact some of new quests picked up by your online friend’s game will show up when your quest log back in your own game. It can become mad confusing for first-timers to have seen all these quests but not know where to go and more frustrating is to find out while you finished those quests during co-op that the area to turn in quests hasn’t been unlocked in your own game. You end up with completed quests which you cannot turn in…yet. In some cases you probably have no context of the quests your on or end-up with huge spoilers. While people have defended Borderlands with the argument that you play the game not really for its narrative, that way. I still had more fun playing the main-game by myself. At times it felt frustrating to play online because of the players that frequently will join, and not really do much, and then drop-out Especially those players who join and then stand their in the menu preventing players from fast-traveling and exit areas. The players who are kicked then re-join moments later, complaining about being kicked off by the host. Finally in case you didn’t know Borderlands has a large mod community, and that’s not to say that’s a good thing. I’m talking about the people who mod their character’s weapons and stats creating illegitimate guns and items, and given themselves overpowering weapons with character level 255 characters (where as the limit was 50 originally) and 999 items slots. It’s an understatement that many players were(and still are) frustrated by cheaters online. I personally have experienced when an online player has graciously given me weapons only to discovered that they were modified. The good thing is that since the patch (1.30) that came out with the 3^rd DLC. Many of the modded weapons were purged from inventories, and the ability to mod weapons and characters has been constrained. While not completely nullified players can no longer mod as greatly as they could before and can no longer be level 255. Although post patch I caught someone who was level 70 (where the current level cap is only 61 since 3^rd DLC). There is also some technical design issues I believe Borderlands needs to deal with for if and when a sequel comes out. First is its socialization user interface, while the game supports chat it lacks chat logs, or any sort of prompt which makes messages from your friends really easy to miss. Broadcasting voice-chat also needs work, (PC) the game lacks a talk-button. You either talk all the time or none. Which is extremely annoying when you can hear the audio from the other person’s game while online. Even more so annoying is when a player’s mic on the other end is making noise.

Some obvious tips to improve the co-op multiplayer would play with people you know. Especially if you can play with someone who will stick with you all the way throught an entire playthrough. If you are lucky enough as I have I found some frequently and respectable players I play with online. If you can get the right people to play with you Borderlands can be a really fun and addictive game. If you can’t find people to play the main story with, playthrough the game yourself and explore the minimal but still interesting storyline and plot. Then go have fun online with other players especially the DLCs are great place for co-op.

One reason I love Borderlands is its personality, the characters are all uniquely visually designed and most of all hilarious, plus the look of the game is distinct especially for a first-person shooter. Borderlands is that kind of the game that despite its plethora issues I totally am a fan of the game. Each class the Solider, the Hunter, the Siren and Brick as their own personality and traits. While the game doesn’t force any class to only utilize specific weapon type. Different classes have skills and CLASS Mods which enhance how certain weapons handle. For instance a Hunter can level up skills and a mod to achieve a greatly improve a sniper rifle’s rate per fire to match a machine gun! A Siren can have a Class Mod that makes SMG ammo regenerate as its firing and Solider may have a Support CLASS Mod that have bullets that heal your friends which in this case truly makes it friendly fire. Most of all, and I think a lot of FPS miss the mark when it comes to this is its FUN to shoot these guns. It feels fun to shoot these explosive and over-the-top weapons in this game.

Depending on the weapon you may have elemental stats on your gun, watch as your enemies blow up, burn to shreds, or get shock to dead, or melt away into toxic waste.

There are tons of weapons, almost every gun is unique, the same gun can have different stats. This is the whole RPG aspect of the game aside from leveling up characters and skills. Borderlands has tons of loot to pickup.

Borderlands is a game where the core idea, and mechanics work and are extremely fun and addicting however with some issues wrap around it.

Most surprising is the support its had from it’s developers since its release in October of 2009 Borderlands has had 3 DLCs come out, Ned’s Zombie Island, Mad Moxxie’s Underdome Riot, and The Secret Armory of General Knoxx. With the announcement of at least a 4^th DLC I’m extremely excited to see what is in store.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:43:00 +0000

So how well does it translate when you go from web-comic to video game? Rapid finds out.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is a game that had mixed-expectations going in. One thing I wonder was what the game would actually be about since the web-comic is about two characters basically commentating on video game culture. I had my doubts if it could all translate into an actual video game in a meaningful way. However, the game’s greatest feature is that the writers did not miss a beat. The writing inOn the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode One is spot on, and just as entertaining as their web-comic.

The game is set in an alternate reality where Penny Arcade’s protagonists Tycho Brahe and Jonathan Gabrie (Tycho and Gabe) are detectives of theStartling Developments Detective Agency. You start the game as a Penny Arcade-styled character of your own creation having had your house crushed by a giant Fruit Fucker (robot blender) named, Fruit Fucker Prime. The story is set in the city of New Arcadia circa 1922 where Fruit Fuckers, machines with demonic spirits bound to them are messing up the city and causing mass panic. It’s up you and the rest of the Startling Developments Detective Agency to track down Fruit Fucker Prime as well as search for your new home.

The game is full of Gabe and Tycho’s witty dialogue exchanges which fans come to expect from start to finish. The writing and visuals that writer Jerry Holkins and artist Mike Krahulik put into the game does make it feel authentic to the web series despite Hothead Games’ adventure RPG influence. The humour is abundant from ranting about a robot apocalypse, and a prolific amount of pee jokes, to questioning the nature and logistics of needing to collect a mime’s invisible, yet crucial equipment to solve a case. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, my favourite is the certification process of “hobeef” but I won’t spoil it anymore.

The game features 3D environments and characters, rendered in the Penny Arcade Adventures comic bookie art-style and fully 2D animated cut scenes. Impressive is that even the character you created is animated in 2D during those cutscenes and stills. The game also has a neat effect where it cuts away to a 2D comic book styled panel whenever you engage in a conversation tree with the characters.

In RPG fashion whenever you encounter an enemy you transition out into a
battle mode where the random-meter-filling “roll for initiative”- literally represents a dice roll determines which character can initialize actions first. The combat itself is a mix between ATB (Active Turn Based) you’d find in classic Final Fantasy games and real-time based. Basically you have control of all the characters but are limited to how frequent each character can perform certain actions. Depending on how long you wait for each party member’s action meter to charge determines if you can use items, perform a basic melee attack, or activate a character’s unique special attack. Using items requires the least amount of waiting to special attacks which require the most amount of waiting between intervals. When you do unleash a character’s special attack you’ll be thrown into a timing based mini –game which will basically determine how much damage that attack will inflict. If two or more characters have their special attack ready, you can then have the opportunity for a team-up attack. It basically then becomes a risk versus reward situation in which how much are you willing to stall in order to perform more powerful attacks versus attacking more frequently with less damaging attacks. Similar to other RPGs like Mario and Lugi Browser’s Inside Story you want to keep an eye on the battlefield during combat, if you get the timing right you’ll be able to block incoming blows and launch counterattacks back at your enemies. Plus enemy types have different weaknesses and strengths to different kinds of weapons, be it Gabe’s fists, Tycho’s gunshots, or your character’s lawn rake.

One thing to keep in mind, despite the long winded title, this game is actually an incredibly short episodic adventure. The game can be completed in under a good 5 hours and there isn’t really much incentive to second play-through other than to collect any remaining collectables in the game, and perhaps gain some missed achievements. I would suggest if possible, attempting all of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One's achievements or trophies on the first play through. Some of the achievements can be very difficult even on the easiest difficulty, but not impossible. Perhaps one of the reasons it took myself a long time to complete this game is because I want to get all the achievements on steam the first time through. Unfortunately the game does not allow you to use a pre-existing save for a second play through. However, the good thing is you can use any of your completed saves in Episode Two.

While I enjoyed On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One overall despite its briefness, this game is probably be slightly more geared for fans like myself, of the actual web-comic. There are some neat basic RPG elements in here, but the bulk of the enjoyment of this game is from what was mentioned about the game’s humorous and entertaining writing.

Final Fight Double Impact

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:40:00 +0000

Final Fight Double Impact is two classic side-scrolling fighting games wrapped into one package. It features remakes of two original arcade beat’em up games Final Fight and Magic Sword.

Preface

Temptation and longing to experience that of my nostalgia overcome me when I discovered that the original Final Fight had been resurrected. Moreover that it is packaged with cool features including drop online and offline support. Now I’ll be honest I didn’t actually grow up playing the original Final Fight, but rather my nostalgia for the series is memories of having played Final Fight 3. Nevertheless, I completely could identify the game when I first saw the game, yup this is Final Fight, and that’s Mike Haggar with his huge muscular arms picking up drug addicts and gangsters slamming their heads into the ground. It is also nice especially now with the new Super Street Fighter being a super success, it is nice to see the grass roots of fighters like Cody and Guy.

Presentation

While I was only able to appreciate the games on their Super Nintendo release one can tell that the developers of Double Impact truly appreciated these games in their arcade origin form. Everything about the presentation of Double Impact clearly had been well thought-out and made to bring its fans and potential newcomers that classic 'arcade-like' experience. There are many graphical options presentation to play the game one of the most rewarding is the Cabinet View, where graphic filters are used to give that soft edge and curved glass monitor feel as if you’re playing on an actual old arcade cabinet. In fact, it the cabinet art and the frame around the edges are authentic to their actual arcade machines. All the music in both games have been re-mastered if you want, because you also have the option of switching that off for the full-on original mix instead.

Gameplay

The games are as they were back when they first were released. Final Fight is still has your fighter moving left to right as you continue pounding the a single button to do punchs and kicks while another button allows you to jump, press them at the same time your character does a powerful spinning attack which drains one’s heath on hit. While also doing that, you will chuck enemies off the screen and smash barrels for weapons and crouch to pick up roasted chicken to regain heath. You can play as Cody, Guy, or as Mike Haggar, as you are beat up the Mad Gear gang while in attempt to find and rescue Mike’s daughter Jessica, (Cody’s girlfriend). The game also includes new bonus stages such as the player is destroy a thug’s car in the under the time limit, and break all the glass panes in a glass pane factory before the time limit.

Magic Sword is basically the same premise but with swords. It is an fantasy hack and slash game but gives you the ability to unlock allies that tag along in your journey, and whom able to use special abilities. The premise of the story is you play as an unnamed Hero on a quest to stop a dark lord named Drokmar from ruling the world. On this journey you will encounter and find keys to doors which free allies whom will join your cause. The game also gives you different swords with increased attack and different magical abilities.

While these games come in a neat package all together, neither game has great depth or is very long. Both games could probably be in just a couple of hours. Leaving one to wish they should had put all 3 Final Fights into one package to make the game have more lasting appeal. But aside from achievements and trophies, Double Impact also adds on-screen challenges to both games. Challenges vary from having to just beat a boss, to not receiving damage at all during a small portion of the level. When complete, the challenges unlock bonus content in what is called the ‘Vault’. Basically, some of the rewards include the concept art, and even an episode from the Street Fighter cartoon featuring Final Fight. As mentioned beforehand, both games in Double Impact support drop-in at anytime co-op play, either offline or online. There are even checkpoints and the ability to save and continue where you left off, and even a slightly useful match-making feature to get players together of the same ‘skill’.

Final Fight Double Impact is what you expect, nicely packed with good presentation and cool features that you would want in this type of arcade re-release. The game play and graphics are dated which is to be expected and not everyone can appreciate it now. However, for the quality of presentation you get in this package and for only $10, it is definitely something worth for any fan to get.

Rapid's Journal : Yakuza's Storyline

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:10:00 +0000

Rapid invests his time into discovering the story to this popular Japanese Mafia inspired franchise.

Ever since a friend brought over the movie Shinjuku Incident to my place, the movie has rekindled not only my interest in Mafia theme television series and films like the renown Sopranos' and The Godfather but has sparked an interest into the popular Yakuza video game series.

I'll be honest I have never played any of the Yakuza games before. It's a series that I've heard about and known about since it started on thePlayStation 2. The Yakuza series have always been popular in Japan, and a cult success in North America. However, since Shinjuku Incident I became interested in the story line of the Yakuza games. So what does one do when they don't have copy of the game but want to know the story-line behind a game series that is too long to play-through yourself? I hit up YouTube and started watching full cut-scene from the game. So far I watched over 290 minutes worth of just the main story cut-scenes of the first Yakuza, and Yakuza 2. I'm currently in the midst of the beginning of Yakuza 3.

The main story-line of Yakuza is centralized around the life of Kazuma Kiryu, the famed Dragon of Dojima. Kazuma is given this title because of his reputation as a member of the Dojima Family, in the Tojo Clan. In the first Yakuza, he takes the blame for the murder of the family's boss and is put behind bars for ten years. To make matters worse for Kazuma, when he is finally released only to find out that his girlfriend Yumi has gone missing, and Kazuma's best friend that he covered for has become his worst adversary. Alongside all this personal drama, he is also investigating into the disappearance of 10 billion yen stolen from one of the families. Kazuma determined to investigate the whereabouts of his missing girlfriend however, his only lead becomes a mysterious girl named Haruka. Kazuma then gets assistance from an ex-detective named Date.

Yakuza 2 takes place one year after the first game but it revolves around an incident that occurred two decades ago (1980) involving the Dojima Family and the Korean Mafia. In present day, the Hojo clan is on the verge of collapse as there are not only internal conflict within the Tojo clan families but as well as external struggles with the gangs in Osaka, the Omi. The Tojo clan is in such a disarray that Kazuma is asked to return to the Family from his announced retirement. Kazuma who initially hopes to form a truce between the two Mafia gangs goes to Kansai. Unfortunately, during the meeting with the head of the Omi Alliance, Kazuma finds himself in the midst of a sudden coupe detair, orchestrated by a rival dragon, Ryuji Koda.

Ryuji Koda not only kidnaps the head of the Omi Alliance but seizes control of the whole gang. But before Kazuma could rescue Ryuji's hostages, Kazuma finds himself placed under "protective custody" by a female detective Sayama Kaoru. Like Kazuma, Kaoru was also an orphan who lost her parents because of the Tojo Clan, she hopes by keeping Kazuma under her custody, she can find out whom of the clan exactly killed her parents. Kazuma's investigation to find out the whereabouts of the Chairman gets him involved with an conspiracy involving the incident that happened two decades ago. Once again, Kazuma meets with Detective Date, and other familiar faces as they must not only stop a gang war between the east and the west, but also get to the bottom of this dark conspiracy.

In Yakuza 3, Kazuma hopes to finally leave the life of a Yazuka for good this time. Deciding to leaveKamurocho, and run the Sun Shine Orphanage (Asago) in Okinawa. However, as there are an increasing number of Yakuza appearing in Okinawa, predictably Kazuma is dragged once again back into his shady past life. Kazuma soon learns that a man resembling Kazuma's deceased father shot the Tojo Clan's current leader. He has no other choice but to return to Tokyo and set things right once more.

A few of the memorable characters in the series for me are :

Goro Majima started off as a sleazy, no good rotten Yakuza scum-bag, the very definition of a creep and in some ways he still is. Majima-Niisan was first introduced as one of the main antagonist of Kazuma. However, later-on you find out that he wanted was to fight Kazuma in a fair match. For me, Majima first became a likeable character I would attribute Majima's personality and even voice best as a Japanese version of the Joker. The man is mad insane, he speaks in that very Joker insanity voice, and has a Joker-ass laugh and shriek. I personally found it awesome in the second Yakuza game. He becomes this insanely historical character in Yakuza 2, a friend to Kazuma refering him as "Kiryu-chan." I couldn't help but laugh at Majima's antics. My favorite Majima momment is in Yakuza 2 when he is trying to decide which wire to cut in order to disable a ticking time bomb. I must have re-watched the part several times.

Haruka is that sort of girl you want your future children to be like. Raised in the violent world of the Yakuza, she's seeing so much death and violence yet she remains down to earth and understanding. You can not but help but be sympathetic,be all like "aww poor girl" as you discover more about her parents. She a very mature altitude and very much understands what's around her. She represents and is Kazuma's redemption. She's very much like a character in several of Project IC's works. My all-time favourite moment with Haruka is when she asks Kazuma what a "Soapland" is and Kazuma and the rest of the adults are literally too uncomfortable to giver her an answer, only to find out how clever and mature she is when she exclaims that she was only joking and had already known what a it was all along.

Kage the legendary informant, the guys underground and 'gots lots of cameras. Although he initally comes of as your typical shady underground businessmen. We quickly find that he's not as despicable. He master informant, who befriends Kazuma after he rescues Kage's son. He ends up helping Kazuma. In Yakuza 2 he returns to the police force, and returns the favour as he helps Kazuma track down the whereabouts of Daigo and the missing chairman.

I can't really not mention the man himself, Kazuma Kiryu. He's a former Yakuza member trying amend his ways, yet so good that he keeps getting pulled back in because the clan needs his help. He's the only man who can make a Yakuza seem to have redeeming qualities. The invincible Dragon, is also selfless as he promises not only to protect his comrades but restore the honour of the Tojo Clan. You can't help but feel sorry for him as he is only trying to leave his Yakuza life behind but keeps getting asked back in. This man has survived it all, and would give Solid Snake, and Chuck Norris a run for their money. There are too many good Kazuma moments to count.

So what's next for the series? Well Yakuza 4 has been recently announced comng to North America in Spring 2010 to PlayStation 3.

Here's the trailer for Yakuza 4. By far, this has to be the best looking Yakuza game thus far. Oh- and this Hostess Clubs and the ability to create your own Hostess will NOT be excluded from the American Version of the game this time (unlike they were in Yakuza 3). That's right Hostess Clubs are confirmed IN.

Before I end my post, I would just like to give a shout out to StrikeArranges YouTube user and the channel where I've been watching the Yakuza story cut-scenes. ありがとな！

Assassin's Creed: Revelations Trailer

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:14:00 +0000

Ezio is ready for the truth in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. A 60 year old Ezio now supassing the rank of Master Assassin returns once more for the third and final installment that will finally complete his story arc which started in Assassin's Creed 2 (making Revlations the 4th Assassin's Creed Game).

This time around Altair, the famed assassin from the first Assassin's Creed returns to play a critical role in Ezio's search to uncover the truth behind the mystery behind his life and the Assassin's Order.

A Giant Katamari Invades Rapid Chronicles

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Sun, 22 May 2011 03:08:00 +0000

Wait....What... WHAT!? Oh man is this why we can't have nice things?

If you want to roll up your own site or any other site for that matter check out http://kathack.com/where you can run their sctipt in a supported browser (FireFox or Chrome of course) Let's just hope that Rapid Chronicles was scraficed to make a large planet in the Katamari Universe.

PlayStation Store Welcome Back Program

wangjames28@gmail.com (James) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:40:15 +0000

After a grueling long month of waiting and anticipation, PSN and the PlayStation Store have finally been restored to working functionality. As you may have heard PSN has also released its Welcome Back Program, a care package of digital goods to every Playstation owner for their patience.

More details can be found on the official Playstation Blog about the Welcome Back Program. Here is the gist:

A Free Theme
30 Days of PSN Plus (more free stuff for limited time)

For PS3 owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section in the PlayStation Store, and select 2 titles from the following list:

Dead Nation
inFAMOUS
LittleBigPlanet
Super Stardust HD
Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section of PlayStation Store on your PSP system and select 2 titles from the following list:

LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
ModNation Racers
Pursuit Force
Killzone Liberation

I myself choice LittleBigPlanet and Wipeout HD + Fury.

Before you hop on your PS3 or PSPs here's something good to take note of from their post:

UPDATE: Due to high traffic on PlayStation Store, you may encounter error messages or issues. We advise you to check back a little later and try again. (Or Keep Brute Forcing... eventually it works)
Note: In order to download two games at no cost, you must redeem them from the “Welcome Back” category. The individual titles are still available for purchase outside of the “Welcome Back Program”
If at any point you can’t find the ‘Welcome Back Free Game 1 or 2’ products, the list of available titles or a game you’ve selected, go to your XMB>PlayStation Network>Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to complete the process.

Again, what I posted is just the highlights so check the official Playstation Blog for full details and updates