Mega Man ZX Part One

I've been playing for around eight hours, and I still get hopelessly lost even in my second playthrough.

Not very surprising though. I circled the world map of Final Fantasy IV over and over again because I couldn't find a giant tower that reached off the screen. I later found out a way to actually bring up a map that would give me some semblance of direction and wanted to kick myself for not realizing it sooner. But I digress. Final Fantasy IV, while being a very good game, is not the topic of today's post. Instead, I'll be talking about Mega Man ZX, which really has nothing in common with FF4 except for the whole "directionally challenged" deal.

Just a bit of background info on this game. Mega Man ZX is a (really awesome) DS title in the Mega Man franchise (obviously). In the timeline of Mega Man, ZX takes place after the Zero series, which takes place after the X series, which takes place after the original series (I think), which takes place in the year 20XX. None of that's really important (especially the last bit) unless you want to understand in-game references to past titles (namely the Zero series) that make easily excited folk like myself chatter in happy recognition of something from an old game. Granted, it helps to understand some of the basics of the series in order to understand what's going on. So here goes a short lesson in Mega Man basics (not including the original series).

Mega Man in general is mostly about robots (but there are still humans). Many of these robots are called reploids, which means they were based off a highly advanced robot named Mega Man X. Mavericks are reploids/robots gone bad, and mechanaloids are basically machines (not so sure about the last one though).

Mega Man ZX actually has you playing as a human, but don't worry. There are still plenty of robots, even though it's sometimes hard to tell the difference (some reploids look very human-like). You can choose to play as either Vent or Aile, who are male and female respectively. The only difference between them is that the story undergoes very minor changes depending on who you choose.

Basic plot: Vent/Aile (I'll just stick with Vent from now on) works for a delivery service run by a guy named Giroutte (Giro for short). At the game's commencement, Vent and Giro are delivering an incredibly important package to a group called the Guardians. Of course, they get attacked and Vent is blown off a cliff (no, I'm not joking) along with the package, where the Guardians manage to meet up with him. Events lead to Vent putting the package into good use. "The package" is something called a biometal that contains the consciousness of an old warrior, in this case it's Biometal X. After he transforms into more-battle-capable Vent, the kid goes off and starts his journey.

For those of you eager for more, sorry. I'm splitting this into parts, so you'll have to wait till next week if you want to read more. Until then, happy gaming.

Next week on I've Been Playing for 40 Hours: Mega Man ZX Part Two

"You almost launched me into a fireball!"

I haven't played for very long at all, so I don't have much New Super Mario Bros. experience.

I've only played the New Super Mario Bros. for a short time, but I didn't think it would be cool to switch the game like I did last week (which was also a game I hadn't played much). Still, it's pretty fun, especially in multiplayer. Last weekend I had the delight of playing this new Mario game with my brother. This may not sound like much, but maybe the image might be slightly enhanced if you understand how I play games.

Tpyically, I play alone. Multiplayer generally comes when my brother (and occasionally myself) invites the other, or my brother picks up a controller and sits down. This is happened at least once the past two weekends (last night played Castle Crashers, but that's another story), but normally we play solo. Not by any means because we take sibling rivalry to the extreme, but simply because we often play alone/play games that aren't geared for multiplayer/aren't fond of what the other's playing/would rather watch and commentate instead.

So, again. I generally play alone. That doesn't stop me from laughing, growling, and otherwise chatting it up while gaming even when I'm the only one there. Yes, I'm positive I'm not crazy. Add my normal chatter-box nature to a multiplayer Mario session, and you've got what, in my mind, turns out to be a fun game of good natured yelling and "teamwork."

If you've ever played a side-scrolling Mario game then you'll know the basic gist of what goes on. You run, stomp enemies, grab mushrooms and other power ups, and try to rescue a princess who may or may not be in another castle. The New Mario Bros. isn't much different in that respect. However, instead of each player taking a turn to play through a level, in the New Bros. everyone gets to play together on the same screen. Pushing and shoving will ensue. If not then you're way more careful than I am.

When even two people are jumping around on screen, it's hard not to accidentally take the power up someone else wanted or launch yourself off the top of their head. On accident, it's not always a good thing, but when used correctly then you've got good teamwork. An example of an accident: my brother accidentally grabbed my character, and then proceeded to accidentally walk of the edge of a platform. "Dude, you just killed us both!" came soon afterwards. Actual teamwork could involve purposely trampolining off another player to reach an overhead pipe.

New power-ups come forth in this game as well. A blue mushroom makes your character really, really tiny. So tiny you can pull off a Sonic the Hedgehog and dash across water. Some flight mushroom thing puts Mario in a really dorky looking suit, but allows him to helicopter into the air. Ice flowers are just like fire flowers, except with... you know, ice. There's even a penguin suit that I haven't used yet, but after watching my brother play solo it apparently lets you slide along the ice and even has the Ice Flower power (rhyme was unintended until I realized it rhymed) of chucking ice at enemies.

Plot-wise, there's not much. It's Princess Peach's birthday. She gets kidnapped. You go save her. Same old, same old, but hey people don't play Mario for plot anyway. You traverse through worlds, completing levels, playing mini-game things, and stomping Bowser's lackeys (not that I've even passed world 2).

Despite my own personal "play alone but still keep talking" gaming habits I still find the New Super Mario Bros. more enjoyable to play in multiplayer. Good natured yelling is actually quite enjoyable. Up to four people can play this game, and if you enjoyed the old games with the Italian plumber then you'll probably like this one as well. Whether you want to play is your choice though.

Happy gaming. See you next week.

Next week on I've Been Playing for 40 Hours: Something in the Mega Man series (which title has yet to be fully determined)

I've been playing for... a long time, and Flyff is still my favorite MMORPG.

Change of plans for this week. Instead of Tales of Innocence I'll be talking about the free MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) Flyff (Fly for Fun).

Now, I know World of Warcraft is insanely popular and has loads of players, and I'll admit that it's neat. However, it's not neat enough to pay fifteen bucks a month for (in my opinion at least). I've found free to play MMOs that I enjoy just as much; Flyff being one of them. I've played off and on, creating a new character pretty much every time I start playing again (therefore my highest level character is only level fifty something), but Flyff just has this draw to it.

So once you've got your account, downloaded the game, and created your character you can pick from one of multiple servers, and then choose a channel within that server. Typically the first channel houses the most players while the last only contains a few. You can change what channel you're on whenever you feel like it, but once you create a character on a server it stays on that server.

Every player starts off as the lowly Vagrant, which means you're low leveled and only get swords and axes to smack enemies with. If swords and axes work for you then this should be a fine stage in the game for you. If not, then keep leveling up until you reach level fifteen. At this point you can change to one of the four base classes: Mercenary, Assist, Magician, and Acrobat.

Mercenaries (mercs for short) continue with the use swords and axes, and they also get shields as part of their armor. Mercs are the best for getting up close in your opponent's face, and are probably best tanks (characters that can withstand loads of damage). I'm not sure though. I've never played as a merc. Once you reach level... sixty I think; you can advance to either the Blade or Knight class.

Assists are the healers of the game. Generally not to great at laying the smackdown on monsters, but if you place your stat points (explained later) right you can manage to pull it off. Some assists focus solely on their healing spells, and their spells that can increase a player's speed, attack, defense, etc. (herein referred to as "buffs"). This course of action pretty much requires that the assists always be in the company of a partner or party of combatants in order to advance in the game. Assists eventually can become either Billposters or Ring Masters (no, I'm not sure why they're called that).

Magician's explain themselves. Wave your staff (or wand, or... whatever the other mage weapon is) and ta-da! Unleash the elements upon your foes! Of course, high magical ability means that physical skills drop a bit. Soloing is still possible though. As a mage, it's a good idea to either memorize what elements are weak to each other. Elementors and Psykeepers are the two possible paths for a mage.

Lastly, we have my favorite class, the acrobat. No, they don't flip through the air, balance on high wires, or turn cartwheels. In truth, they are the long range class of the game. Acros use either bows or yoyos (that are actually more like giant frisbees of doom) to fight. Use of bow requires one to frequently purchase arrows that go for one Penya (in game currency) per arrow. Not to bad once you actually possess a bit of cash, seeing as three thousand arrows can last for quite a while. Possible acrobat paths include either the Ranger or the Jester.

I'm one of those people that really enjoys MMOs, but more often then not completely smashes the "multiplayer" aspect of them, thus potentially defeating the purpose. I play solo, and will not speak to another soul unless prompted too. And no. I don't consider a random friend request an adequate prompt. I just feel stupid asking people questions, and am typically too shy to just start up a conversation. However, I still give the polite, "Thank you very much! ^^" when someone helps me out.

Despite my self isolation, Flyff offers plenty of opportunities for player interaction. Guilds are groups for players to join up with and play together. Game events often bring together large groups of players, and in-game couples can even marry their two characters. In fact, couples who logged in together today got a free Valentine's Day gift. For the singles like me... tough love.

To touch on all of the aspects of Flyff (or any MMO) in this blog post would be impractical, not to mention impossible because I don't know everything about it. Heck, even when I had a character in the high(ish) levels I was still asking one of my few friends in the game questions about how everything worked. The best way to find out would be to just play it, and maybe even ask someone for help. Happy gaming. See you next week.

Next week on I've Been Playing for 40 Hours: The New Super Mario Bros.

Tales of Vesperia

I've been playing for about 100 hours, and my Xbox awarded me for it.

At least, I think it was an award. Either that or my console was chastising me for having "Too Much Free Time." Still, it was time well spent on a game that deserves the effort. Tales of Vesperia is the latest mothership (main) title of Namco Bandai's Tales of series to hit the United States (Japan actually has the newest game, but that's another story). The Xbox 360 RPG quickly claimed a spot of my favorite games list, and I currently have it ranked as my second favorite Tales of game (Tales of the Abyss being the first).

As with most games in the series, Vesperia creates a new world with new technology and a new way to justify how everything works. Pretty much everything in the world of Terca Lumeris runs on blastia which are pretty much machines. Blastia run on something called aer that is just as invisible as real air, except in large concentrations at which point it becomes a pretty puddle of rainbow. Oh, and it's bad if you get to close to the colorful lakes, a warning that is repeated but often ignored due to plot circumstances.

Although you can play as pretty much any character you want too you start off as the sarcastic "do it my way" Yuri Lowell. Yuri used to be part of the Empire's Imperial Knights along with his best buddy Flynn Scifo. However, Yuri didn't like their way of doing things, promptly ditched the Knights, and returned to his home in the lower quarter of Zaphias (the Empire's capital) to help his friends in his own way. Unfortunately for Yuri, his way is often not in agreement with the law although it is more effective than the Knights. So what if he got a little jail time for laying the smackdown on some tax collectors?

The beginning for Vesperia's plot is as follows:
Yuri gets tossed in jail after breaking and entering into a house in the royal quarter (hey, he was chasing a thief who stole from the lower quarter) and then fighting with two city guards. Of course, he busts out of the dungeon and runs loose in the castle until he finds the pink haired princess Estellise Sidos Heurassein (later nicknamed Estelle). The two oddly manage to find a sort of common ground in the goal of leaving the protective barrier of the city and chasing their respective goals (chasing a thief and finding Flynn). They leave the castle, pick up Yuri's faithful dog Repede and begin their way too long adventure.

Tales of Vesperia contains real time battles. Essentially that means that everyone is doing whatever they want at the same time. For example, you could be slicing up a monster on the left side of the field, but your ally could be toasting another enemy on the right side. At the same time, another monster could be attacking your healer, prompting them to complain that they need protection. Basic attacks are used by smashing the B button and moving the control stick in different directions. Special attacks, called artes, are equipped to different combinations of the control stick and the A button. Players also have an "Overlimit" meter, and once you use it you can effectively beast your enemy. You can chain artes together in ways you normally can't, and eventually you can use your characters super special Mystic Arte to take your opponents down.

Musically, Vesperia's pretty good. When you need something hot-blooded, they've got it for you. If you're about to play the hero there's a track for that, and when drama strikes your party fear not! The background will play into that as well. Perhaps my favorite musical achievement in Vesperia is that Namco actually keep the main theme mostly intact. Previous games have provided instrumental versions of the original song in the Japanese port, or a different them altogether. Vesperia's theme is Ring a Bell by Bonnie Pink, and the theme was dubbed for English release. Finally, an English Tales of game with lyrics in the theme.

Other extras include the typical alternate costumes for characters, and fully voice acted skits. Skits in Tales of games are just side conversation the characters have that may relate to the plot, provide character backstory, or just serve as comic relief. Previously, the player had to imagine the characters saying their lines in skits. Now, your imagination can take a break, because the voices are there for you.

Much can be said about this game that typically takes around forty hours to beat the first time, but the best way to find out about it is to play it yourself. I'm only on my second playthrough but I'm trying to tackle the numerous side quests in the game leading to my lovely award that may or may not be hinting that I need more fresh air.

Next week I'll explain the lovely challenge of playing a game that I honestly can't understand what it's saying. Happy gaming.

Next Week on I've Been Playing for 40 Hours: Tales of Innocence