BOLDSTATE

We’re approaching that most wonderful time of the video game year, but I can’t help feeling a bit fed up with the community right now, despite finally getting my hands on two games I’ve been waiting several months for (Dragon Quest IV and Mega Man 9). Maybe I’m just a bit anxious to get out there and make my own mark on the industry. I think this recent ‘Jack Thompson being a product of the gaming media‘ issue is finally getting people talking about the problems in the media, even the people behind the media itself.

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Mega Man 9 is like a homage to the six NES titles’ greatest hits.

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Mega Man 9 supposedly comes out today, but it doesn’t appear to be online just yet. Hopefully, it’ll be there when I return from class. I’m almost a bit upset because I was planning on typing up a really thorough post on my prediction of the robot master weaknesses for MM9. Instead, I’l just post it here quickly for posterity:

Plug > Splash > Magma > Concrete > Jewel > Galaxy > Tornado > Hornet > Plug

I’m really only confident about Plug > Splash > Magma, but even that could be wrong. I’ll probably have my first impressions sometime tonight.

I had been looking forward to Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. Aside from craving a more simplistic, linear RPG experience, I was intrigued by the way DQIV‘s plot is split into chapters, each with its own star, all of which meet up in the end with you, the hero. The concept reminded me of MOTHER 3, which is also split into chapters. I was convinced that the chapters, along with the charming style of both titles would provide much of the same experience.

I was wrong in that regard, and DQIV didn’t please me all that much in the beginning, but by the end of the chapter two, I was well on my way to having some real fun.

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Thanks to Hurricane Gustav leaving me without power, even when school had opened back up, I had to stay at my brother’s house for a few days which, as far as this blog has been concerned over the last few months, is very much associated with a title that (according to Game Rankings) hasn’t scored anything less than an eight: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

I haven’t been very positive about my previous encounters with MGS4 despite my lost week of no-job-having, responsibility-lacking-sleep-schedule, tactical espionage action marathon, but I was compelled to complete Guns of the Patriots for one major reason: to prove that I was right and that everyone else was wrong.

It’s doubtful that anyone who has convinced themselves of just how great this game is will be persuaded to believe otherwise because of this review, but that won’t stop me from stating exactly why I think anyone who gives this game nothing but praise is obviously just caught up in Kojima’s web of epic storylines and ridiculous production values and not the actual gameplay.

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I’m without power here in south Louisiana thanks to hurricane Gustav. I’ll occasionally be online thanks to the x-ray department’s computers here, but aside from that, they’re projecting 4 to 6 weeks for the entire parish to regain power.

Until then…