Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

Grrrah! This hangman's noose trap level is bloody hard. I've tried six times now, and failed. It didn't help that I chose an underpowered knight accidentally for one try.

And because I'm cut off from the main bit of the map, I don't really have much chance of going away and levelling up.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

Up to level 75 now. It seems the game has become a bit of a production line, master romancing species one after another, with occasional interspersions of pinata capture or tempting.

Managed to get a Rashberry (two, actually) resident today, and master romanced Lackatoads, amongst other things.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

Level 74? 76? Something like that. Unpacked my Fudgehogs and master romanced them, then turned a couple into Parmadillos and master romanced them too. I got a few pinata variants, and "made" two Lackatoads, as well as send loads of pinata off to parties, including several for Langston's challenges.

Still no Kittyfloss. Again, it wandered round the perimeter of the garden a lot, but refused to come and eat a sparrowmint (which is all I need it to do).

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

Level 72 now. Mainly bumped up by master romancing Candaries and Sherbats. Also (finally!) got a Galagoogoo resident, and sent it to a party, which netted me loads of experience points.

Still can't get Kittyflosses into the garden. I have all the requirements - they just keep wandering past! Did get a Buzzenge to visit, though, and it ate some of my Candaries and Sparrowmints, but didn't become resident.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

Well would you have guessed it. It seems the Cardinal is a traitor too. In fact, since everyone seems to be on the wrong side, but somehow, the same side as each other, it would appear that Ramza is actually the evil one causing unrest. Or something.

I've managed to rescue Mustadio (or whatever his name is) today, then rescued Agrias, all without too much difficulty. They've now joined my party "proper", rather than just be uncontrollable guest allies.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

I'm now up to Bill and Ted's favourite level (69, dudes!), ranking up mainly due to master romancing Doenuts and Shellybeans. I also managed to make a few more pinata resident though - Fudgehogs, Crowlas and Sherbats amongst them - and sent loads of pinata to parties (including some of Langston's requests).

I don't seem to be able to coax Kittyflosses or Galagoogoos into my garden, however. I have a load of Mousemallows (for the Kittyfloss) and thousands of tulips and a Moon on a Stick for the Galagoogoo, but all they do is wander round the outside of my garden and never enter. Why?

Duke Nukem 3D (360)

First episode completed! Didn't find any of it especially hard, although did get a bit lost a couple of time meaning my completion time was something approaching far too long. The end of level (episode? world?) boss was a bit of pain too, until I realised you could use the raised bit of floor to block his shots.

Duke Nukem 3D (360)

Shake it, baby!

No messing around here - straight in, bought it, played it for an hour. And only completed as far as the end of the bit with the submarine. 37 minutes for one mission? I'm so slow.

But it is excellent. As it always has been.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

A bit of a catch-up post this. I've played it a lot in the last few days, but haven't posted. I'm getting quite lax in posting these days, it seems. I'm thinking of packing in the gaming diary entirely and just posting updates on my blog. Maybe. Anyway.

I'm now on level 62-ish. I've played online quite a bit, both in other people's gardens, and also opening up my own. I did have one guy come in and ask "tchoutchou?", but I had no idea what he meant. I guessed it might be something about trains, so bought one and some track and he sat and played with it for a good half and hour. Amazing.

I've also been romancing a lot - Cluckles, Lickatoads, Newtgats, and a few others. I've managed wildcards for pretty much every species so far too. I've sent loads of pinata to parties (many for Langston's challenges), and grown pretty much every plant, flower, bush and tree available as well.

The Giant Xbox 360 Demo Update (360)

I played quite a few Xbox 360 demos at the weekend. Some thoughts:

Mercenaries 2
I found this too hard. I admit I wasn't trying very hard, but it did seem impossibly difficult. The explosions were nice though. Except when my jeep was what was exploding. Oh, and respawning enemies in this sort of game == badness.

RocketBowl
Dire. No, it really is.

Domino Master
Meh.

Feeding Frenzy 2
Rubbish.

Fracture
Space Marinezzzzzzzzz... Yeah, the raising and lowering land was great. But this isn't Doshin the Giant, and as a result every "puzzle" that required them seemed contrived. As a shooter, it's dull as anything.

Samurai Shodown 2
Aces, but marred by the 360's pad. The stick feels wrong and the d-pad just is wrong.

Shotest Shogi
Never really understood Shogi, but soon had it sorted. Then ran out of moves. I think I'd buy it for 400 points, but at 800 it's too much for something I'd not play much.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

Breeding twin wildcard frenzy!

I decided to start breeding Syrupents, but to do that I needed Robeans. But, to breed them, I needed Bispottis. So, I got some Bispottis and set about romancing them. I managed to get a set of twin wildcards, which I named Chas and Not Original Dave.

Then I master romanced the Robeans, using the Bispottis, and then fed the Robeans to my Syrupents, and romanced them too. I got a set of twin wildcard Syrupents (called Robson and Jerome), and a single wildcard Syrupent I forgot to name. In fact, if That Rev Chap is reading, here you go, fella:



In the process of making Syrupents, I also produced a few Twingersnaps, including amazing twin wildcard Twingersnaps! I named those Bastion and Atreyu.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

Is it me, or did this get "wicked hard" since I last played? I failed twice at the level where you rescue the machinist, and then failed (really, really failed) twice at the level afterwards. I didn't stand a chance against an archer who could do 50+ damage each go, and a pair of summoners who could do 75+ damage to pretty much my entire party every round. I think I need to go and level up a bit...

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

Only managed to gain one level today, although I did do quite a lot. I made a Syrupent resident, obtained some Mousemallows, master romanced Whirlms, and found a few variants and maximum-grew some more plants. I suspect they were all relatively low-level events so barely touched the "petals" required to gain levels.

Oh, and I managed to get myself a set of twin wildcard Whirlms! I named them Richard and Judy.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

It was all about the Camellos and S'morepians today. I managed to make more of each resident, then Master Romanced both species. I made a fortune selling the Camellos once I'd done too.

I'm now on Level 51, and have wiped my garden almost clean ready for the next species!

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

I not only managed to acquire a cutlass today (to keep out the Ruffians), but I also bought all the remaining Tower of Sour blocks, meaning that (along with my Cunning Wall of Blocking Ability that keeps Pester out) no nasties can enter my garden. Finally, the game can begin properly!

So I bred Buzzlegums, so I could get the Master Romancer award for it, but also so I could entice S'morepians into the garden to eat them. I managed one! I also went for a Camello, but I need a coffee pot and for that I need an acorn, and for that I need an oak tree. Thankfully, Seedos was forthcoming with an oak seed, but my tree took ages to grow. It did, however, manage to bump me up four whole levels when it finally finished growing!

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

Played up to Level 34 today, mostly undisturbed by sours, ruffians and suchlike. Master Romanced custacians and redhotts, and grew loads of new plants and trees.

I have loads of money now (over 45,000) so I'm not struggling to buy anything I need any more, and things in the garden have finally calmed down. I just need to get hold of a few more blocks for the Tower of Sour, and a Cutlass, and things should be just fine!

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

After yesterday's rampage, I spent ages getting my garden back together. Looking back, it probably would have been easier to start again from scratch in a new garden, as there was nothing left worth keeping (a few flutterscotches, whirlms and bispottis was about it).

With much rebuilding, I finally had a garden full of stuff again. I suppose it's about time I started concentrating on romancing various species, but with sours coming in every five seconds (not to mention Professor Pester - who I managed to keep at bay with a walled area), I think I'll have to wait until I have the tower of sour complete.

Level 25 now though!

Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS): COMPLETED!

Well, hand cramp or no, I completed it this afternoon. It had to be done in three sittings as it hurt so much, but eventually I managed it.

So, yeah. Not a bad game, just not really suited for the DS. And the track list is, aside from a few songs, somewhat worse than other Guitar Hero games. But I only paid £12 for it, so I'm not going to complain too much.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

Played up as far as level 21 today. I had loads of stuff in my garden, pinata aplenty, and then two sours came in at once and left a pile of hemlock seeds. Which multiplied faster than I could get rid of them, and soon 90% of my pinata were dead or dying, and I had no money to use to "sell" the weeds, or cure my pinata. Disaster!

In the end, I had to dig a river to cut off the spread of the hemlock, then gradually pick away at the land surrounding it to create an island. Since the hemlock seeds that spread landed mostly in the water, they couldn't instantly plant themselves, so I could finally wipe it out for good.

It left my poor garden a complete wasteland, though :(

Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)

It's Guitar Hero! On the DS! With added hand cramp!

That's right - hand cramp. It's pretty much all the DS version brings to the game, actually. No matter which way I hold it, I get cramp on my little finger and wrist. Not that my little finger is of much use, as I can barely reach the blue button with it, meaning I have no hope at all with the harder difficulty levels.

But I persevered with it, and it is really just more of the same. Actually, the way you strum (with a pick-stylus) is probably better than in the "grown up" console versions, but that doesn't really make up for the hand cramps... Oh, and the track list isn't all that great.

Anyway, I made it to half-way through the third "level", which, if the menu screens are anything to go by, is half-way through the game.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360)

I 100%ed the original Viva Pinata. Every reward, every achievement, every pinata, every plant... everything. It took about 60 hours.

The sequel arrived this week. It's bigger. Yes, bigger than 60 hours.

So I made a start. After around two hours play, I was on level 14, having gained no achievements, but filling my garden with loads of different pinata. I've had a few from the pinartic, a couple from the desert, and loads of wander-in-ers. But there's too much going on at once! Every seven seconds a new pinata appears! It's all just a bit too much to take in at once. Even more so than the original, in fact. Perhaps it'll calm down?

Still Alive DS (DS)

Still Alive DS is a freeware game you can run on your DS if you have one of those evil, obviously only used for piracy, flash cards. Like an R4 or something. It's a 2D sort-of remake of Portal, featuring the same sorts of puzzles, turrets, cubes and plasma balls, as well as the two-portal gameplay.

It's a bit fiddly to control, and it doesn't look all that amazing, but it's a solid, clever puzzler. Unfortunately, I've now come to an impass, being totally unable to complete the level I've reached (29, I think). There's a narrow shaft I have to fall down, but there's a plasma ball bouncing back and forth in it, and I can't time the drop to miss it. Bah.

If you want to play it yourself, you can find it here.

Pure Demo (360)

I'm actually rather impressed! It looks great, controls pretty well, and was fun to play! Quite a surprise, actually. I'm not sure I want to buy it, but if I see it really cheap I'd certainly be tempted.

The Simpsons Game (360): COMPLETED!

After yesterday's play, there was actually just one level remaining: Heaven. And oh. My.

If the previous levels were funny, this was twice that. Or more. From having to beat God at Dance Dance Revolution, to God saying "Oh f--", to God saying he'll do anything to get his Oblivion save game back as he was on the end boss.

I don't think I've ever played a game as funny as this. Yeah, there are nasty control and camera issues, and yeah, it's nothing new, and yeah - a few levels are just crap. But the writing and the presentation and the characters and all that are astounding.

The Simpsons Game (360)

I finished the remaining game-parody levels in The Game Engine today. I loved the Gauntlet and Joust sections of NeverQuest. "Save keys to open doors!" was amazing. Medal of Homer was better than I was anticipating too, especially the way they called the French "cheese eating surrender monkeys".

Then it was into Matt Groening's mansion. Oh my. It was a boss battle, but was amazing! From his dig at Seth "Family Guy" MacFarlane, to the way he kept drawing Bender and Zoidberg characters to come and attack you. Seriously, actually hilarious to play.

Ticket to Ride (360)

Four games against my wife today, with three wins for me.

I also got the "underachiever" achievement, for playing 10 games without getting an achievement. What a strange achievement to get.

The Simpsons Game (360)

Started, played, and completed the Grand Theft Scratchy level. It was OK, although a little repetitive. Once again however, the references improve things tenfold. There's the way the level starts in a close-enough replica of Grove Street from GTA San Andreas. Then there's the Missile Command subgame. And the fact that Poochy is the end of level boss.

And, of course, Marge yelling "all my bitches" and stuff. Amaze.

The Simpsons Game (360)

I bought this yesterday, in a deal where I got this and Mass Effect for £22.50, which was pretty good. It's also the only thing I've played (so far) this weekend.

First of all, I should point out that as a game, it's nothing new. It suffers from the same irritations as most cheap and crap platformers (wonky camera, dodgy controls, item collection, and so on). However, it knows this. It even takes the michael out of itself as a result, partly in the form of collectable "video game clichés" and partly in the in-game dialogue.

And it's here that the game really impresses. It's funny. Really actually funny. It lampoons films, games, The Simpsons TV series, and even itself, and it does it well enough to carry the game past the usual platformer flaws. The levels are surprisingly varied too, making it very easy to keep on playing.

So far, I've made it past all the levels set in Springfield, and am now in The Game Engine, working through the game send-ups there. I've done the Super Happy Happy Fun Game one, which references Katamari Damacy, Every JRPG Ever, and Pokémon, amongst other things.

Stand out moments so far: Donkey Kong's Terminator 2 style death, Will Wright saying "I'm Will Wright, bitch!", Sonic the Hedgehog on a running wheel being used to generate power, and Mayor Quimby getting bribed by EA to allow their game to go on sale. And virtually everything Comic Book Guy says - "That's a quote from Final Fantasy IX", for instance.

So yeah, I'm enjoying it.

EDIT: Oh! And one of the Comic Book Guy's sumo blokes dying and screaming "TETSUOOOOOOOOOOO!" had me in stitches.

Beautiful Katamari (360)

GAAAAAaaAGH!

Hate hate hate! I spent ages making more planets and suns and stuff, so I had plenty in the sky to roll up to make the 1,500,000km Katamari. And guess what? Fail! Again!

Once more, I ended up with a 1,250,000km-ish Katamari, and an accidental fall into the black hole. So! Annoying!

Xbox Live Arcade New Game Day Demos (360)

There were three new games on XBLA today, and I tried the demos of them all. Oh, what a bad week...

Shred Nebula
Rubbish shooter with wonky controls.

Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball
Rubbish fighting game (well, it is!) with stupid too-far-away camera.

Gin Rummy
Rubbish card game. Well, OK - it isn't rubbish, but it's not very exciting.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

I've been playing this a bit for the last few days. It's very good, but I can't help thinking the GBA Tactics game is better. I keep getting frustrated with the default camera angle, and the way I have to adjust the field rotation every couple of moves.

But it's a more-than-decent SRPG, and the story is already full of twists and betrayals and all sorts. I'm slightly concerned that, after 9 hours play, I'm still only on level 8 or 8 for most of my characters, and in most cases have only unlocked the second-tier jobs, let alone the third, fourth and later tiers. It's going to be a 100 hour job, innit?