Confessions of a Backlogged Gamer, Week 4: I Don’t Even Like Star Ocean

I believe we’ve already discussed my brief tryst with Prinny, so I think we can consider that particular subject closed.  However, I did start some actual enjoyable games this week, including one that I’m still a little iffy about, but about which I am trying to keep a cautiously optimisitic outlook.

I’m kind of a Square Enix fangirl.  I know, right?  This is clearly new and shocking information.  However, I’ve just never been able to really get into the Star Ocean series, which has always disturbed me.  I feel like I should like it, but I think the thing that’s always thrown me off is the battle system.  I’m not really a fan of real-time combat in the first place, and when you add in the fact that, in the last Star Ocean game I tried (it was Till The End of Time, incidentally), the AI appeared to be functionally retarded, I just ended up dying a lot, which isn’t fun for anyone.  In fact, when I played TTEOT, I was still laboring under the belief that it was a sin to give up on a game once I had started it (a view which I have long since abandoned).  I got something like 22 hours into the game, and I’m pretty sure at least 20 of those hours were spent cursing and/or throwing controllers.  My roommate and friends actually had to stage an intervention and remove the game from me by force to get me to stop playing it, for my own good.  True story.

Anyway, it took me a long time to convince myself that the Star Ocean series might be worth another try, and so it was with a certain degree of trepidation that I purchased the newest entry for the 360, The Last Hope.  I’m about two hours in at this point, which is just far enough for me to have watched roughly an hour’s worth of cutscenes (oh, Square…), gone through the tutorial portion, and bumbled around getting used to killing stuff for a bit.  So far…. so good.  I’m much happier with the AI this time around, and, perhaps due to the fact that I just spent all that time on Tales, real-time doesn’t give me nearly as much trouble anymore, so the combat is much better than I remember.  You actually build up your own bonuses via your actions in combat by adding tiles to what they call a “Battle Board;” for instance, if you pull off a Blindside attack, which essentially amounts to dodging around an enemy while they’re busy trying to pummel you, you get a tile that awards you 10% extra experience at the end of each battle, until the board is broken (which happens if your party leader suffers a critical hit or is incapacitated).  I really like this feature, and I’m curious to see how it’ll affect the rest of the game.

I also started Ratchet and Clank for the PS3, a game which I’ve had, sealed in plastic, pretty much since I got the PS3.  I’ve actually never played a Ratchet game before, but I really enjoyed the demo, so I went ahead and picked it up.  Platformers done well are a beautiful thing, and based on what I’ve seen so far, this qualifies.  The graphics are lovely, the controls are simple and responsive, and the weapons and dialogue are amusingly cute while avoiding being too kiddie.  I kind of wish I’d played this sooner.

I did complete LocoRoco 2 this week, and even though that’s one down from the backlog, I have to say I’m sorry to see it go.  I mean, really, how many games let you pull out a boss’s nose hairs…. nay, demand that you pull out a boss’s nose hairs?  Just one.  This one.  I’m very concerned about my Mui Mui, though, and will likely return to this game to make sure that they have a properly outfitted home, free from Bui Bui invasion.  I fucking LOVE this game.

Recap:

Current backlog total: 113

Now playing: Star Ocean: The Last Hope (360); Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3); Ninjatown (DS)

New games added: Star Ocean: The Last Hope (360); Legacy of Ys: Books 1 & 2 (DS); Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (DS)

Games completed: LocoRoco 2 (PSP)