Nerd Life Buried Treasure: The Last Remnant

The Last Remnant is a Square-Enix developed RPG released for the XBox 360 last November. It was also recently released on PC.

Wait. 6 months? THAT'S a buried treasure?

Yup. Seeing as this game can currently be found in bargain bins everywhere it sure is. It will probably be hard to find in the near future. As with many non-major franchises releasing in the Fall, this game sold like crap. A coworker recommended that I try it out, so I picked up my copy for 25 bucks brand new. I expected a decent bit of fun, well worth the cost.

I was surprised. Shocked, even. This game would have been worth buying at full price.

So, why did I wait? Well, i have a limited gaming budget and that money was going to Fallout 3 and Wrath of the Lich King at the time.

Now, many other people did not purchase it for a more sinister reason. The game received widely awful reviews. Some major news sources (*cough*GameInformer*cough*) passed it off without ever giving it a chance. The battle system must suck since they never took the time to learn it.

Admittedly, the graphics were a horrible, glitchy mess. So, it deserved a mediocre score. However, saying the core of the game is not worth time because you didn't GIVE it any is a mistake. This was not isolated to any single source.

Those graphical issues have since been "solved." The PC version runs fine. With the New XBox Experience, you can install the game to your hard drive. This cuts down the loading times immensely. It also relieves most, if not all of the glitches. Now, that doesn't excuse the poor design, but it allows many of us to play a wonderful game we would have otherwise missed.

Now, allow me a minute to break down the small stuff:
The graphics are fine. Nothing mindblowing, but, much like Too Human, there's so much going on at once on screen that the overall effect is very nice.
Music is ok. Again, nothing special.
Sound effects are functional.
The voice acting is SUPERB. However, the battle speeches get repetitive after a while.
The story is serviceable. Not bad, but not Final Fantasy quality, either. It serves to flow the real meat of the game: The character and combat systems.

Your main character, Rush, is the only one you really need to take care of. He's the only one you have to equip. He's the only one you have to synthesize gear for. He's the only one whose skills you need to manage.

The other 17 (17!) active characters will all take care of themselves. When you pick up loot they can use, they'll ask for it. When they accumulate the proper items, they'll upgrade their own gear. When they level up, they'll pick which skills to learn. Your Generals will occasionally ask you how they should manage themselves, but aside from a few quick choices, it's all out of your hands. Now, I love character building as much as the next guy, but there's no way I would want to micromanage 18 frakking guys.

Combat is a blast. Instead of issuing 18 individual orders, you place your characters in up to 5 "Unions." Then, you issue command to each Union. It's all very streamlined. Tell them to attack, everyone will attack. Tell them to use magic, and those that can, will. Others will simply melee attack. Need healing? When you do, that option will come up. Fantastically brilliant. You can pick from many different formations, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

I spend a great deal of time testing out different Union combinations and formations, trying to get the most out of the system. Of course, major fights sometimes require their own unique strategies. It's all JUST difficult enough to keep you on your toes, but simple enough that you don't mind working with it. Yes, there's a learning curve, but the game builds you up slowly. You don't start with 18 people at the start, but slowly build up to an army.

My final verdict: If you enjoy RPGs heavy on strategy without becoming full STRATEGY games, you'll probably like The Last Remnant. If you can find it for a good price (and have space on your XBox hard drive) I definitely recommend picking it up. I've currently played for close to 50 hours, running around doing sidequests and building up my team, and I haven't even reached the second disk!

Nerd Life: Guitar Hero Metallica

Awesome.

Okay, review over.

Seriously. Best Guitar Hero ever.

Every song in this game is just FUN to play. Even the brutal tracks like War Ensemble and Dyer's Eve are entertaining. You feel like you've actually accomplished something by completing them.

They've changed the advancement system. Now you unlock new venues and songs based upon how many stars you've earned. So, if you can't get past Disposable Heroes, just move on. However, at least on Medium, my noob-preferred setting, you unlock the final set after playing less than half the game. That's a bit TOO easy.

Heck, just WATCHING the game is amazing. For the first time in GH history, the crowd is part of the performance. They sing along on songs like One, Master of Puppets and Creeping Death.

One thing that I really enjoy about this game: the difficulty curve. In previous GH games, the first few sets are just boring. GH:M throws you right in to For Whom the Bell Tolls and doesn't let up from there. Sure, the earlier songs are easier, for the most part, but not mind-numbingly so.

The track list is awesome. Here's some highlights:

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Great beginning to the game. Very fun.
Fade to Black: One of their best songs, hands-down.
Orion: I wonder what the vocalist does during an instrumental? Still, this is "Cliff's Song," and it's great that they included it.
Mercyful Fate: It takes guts to put an 11-plus minute song in a game like this. It's an endurance test. Great song, though.
Fuel: Way more fun that I would have thought.
The Thing that Should Not Be: Metallica's favorite song to play. The venue that you unlock this in is epic.

I would have LOVED to see a Cliff Burton cameo playing "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth," but I'm happy with the game, nonetheless.

Certain songs had to be left out due to licensing issues. Ride the Lightning, The Call of Ktulu and The Four Horsemen all have Dave Mustaine listed as writing credits and had to be left out. Ktulu was originally supposed to be the final song.

IF they were to release DLC, here's some songs that I would LOVE to play:

Harvester of Sorrow
The Frayed Ends of Sanity
To Live is to Die
Bleeding Me
The Outlaw Torn
Fixxxer
Astronomy

I doubt they'll do any DLC, but a guy can dream, right?

Anyway, enough rambling. There's really not much to discuss about a rhythm game, so go buy it!

Nerd Life: Persona 4 Impressions

This is not a full review, as I have yet to finish the game. However, I feel you readers would prefer to read my thoughts before the NEXT game in the series comes out. This is a very long game. However, I feel I've played enough to give it a fair judgment.



A secondary opening video can be found here. If you don't mind some small spoilers, it shows off some gameplay elements.

Persona 4 is the latest game in the Persona series, which itself is part of the larger Shin Megami Tensei family of games.

Persona 4 places you in the role of a nameless protagonist (a common element in the series). You arrive in a small town just as dead bodies start showing up. You and your friends decide investigate the murders, and a wonderful mystery plot plays out.

The characters are all very well developed, with dark, hidden sides to their personalities that they must confront and accept, their Personas. Personas are powerful spirits that will assist you in battle. They enable you to cast spells and use powerful attacks.

Battle plays out in a standard JRPG, sort-of-turn-based format. Persona 4 is the first game in the series to give you the option to issue commands to your party, which makes the gameplay much more strategic. Many enemies have weaknesses, and when these weaknesses are exploited, they will be knocked to the ground for a short period of time. Knocked down enemies take extra damage, and can become "dizzy" and lose a turn. Be careful, though! Your characters have weaknesses, too.

The thing that I enjoy most about this game, though, is that battle and dungeon crawling is only a small portion of the actual game. Believe it or not, the bulk of the game puts you in the shoes of an average Japanese high school student, living out his life. You can learn things in school, read books, participate in school activities and any number of other things to raise your personal stats. These stats will, in turn, open up Social Links. With Social Links, you grow closer to your friends and unlock more power in yourself, making your Personas more powerful.

How many other games present you with the decision of whether to kill monsters or go to Drama Club practice? And how many other games exist where you would actually choose the latter? As long as you rescue the current victim before the killer strikes, you're free to spend your time as you wish.

Visuals and audio are top-notch. The anime style comes off very well, even on the dated PS2 hardware. The music is amazing, with each dungeon or character having their own unique theme. The battle music does get a bit repetitive after a while, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. If you're not moving even a little bit during that opening video, there's something wrong with you. Voice acting is great, and they manage to fit a great deal of it on a single PS2 game disc. Each character comes off as full of life when combined with the outstanding writing.

Persona 4 is highly recommended to any RPG fan who can still FIND their PS2. This could very well be the best RPG I play this year.

I can sum up this game in one word: style. They even have their own Ipod commercial!