Okami Review

Hey guise, it's been a while! For those of you who don't know me, I am Pianoman. I wrote a game review once and Setto asked me if I wanted to post it to his blog, so I said yes. Well unfortunately, school has been stressful and I kind of forgot about making reviews for a pretty long time. Well, today, I'm back with a brand new review! This time, I'll be reviewing Okami, a game for both the PS2 and Wii. And awaaay we go!



Okami: PS2/Wii
Video gaming is an underappreciated art, even from the view of a great deal of serious gamers. While games can be fun and entertaining, video games are rarely seen as a form of art. The work that goes into making a video game is incredible. Even the bad games take a good amount of time and effort to create, especially when the game has custom music, sound effects, artwork, etc. Okami is one of the few games that actually demonstrate the art of video games, which makes it safe to say that it is one of the most unique and beautiful games ever created.

Okami is based almost entirely off of different stories from Japanese mythology, making its story more like a Japanese story book than anything else, but an amazing one at that. You play as Okami Amaterasu, an incarnation of the wolf god Shiranui. 100 years before Amaterasu’s awakening, Shiranui had defeated the evil 8 headed dragon Orochi with the help of a great warrior, Nagi, thus saving the land of Nippon. Shortly after Orochi’s death, Shiranui died, and a statue was made in honor of his/her heroism (it should be said at this point that Shiranui/Amaterasu are genderless). However, 100 years later, Orochi was awakened, and once again cursed the land of Nippon. Amaterasu was awakened, and so started the journey to defeat Orochi. Along the way, you meet Issun, a wandering artist, who befriends Amaterasu (he calls her/him Ammy for short) and helps out along the journey, acting as a sort of “Navi” from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (a much less annoying one at that).

Story and characters: The story feels much like a story from Japanese mythology, which makes sense considering it’s made up of many, many different stories. Virtually every major character has some kind of story from Japanese mythology, which makes the characters especially interesting. However, while the game does feel like it’s straight from a storybook, it still contains many of its own story elements, which always keeps the story feeling fresh and interesting. The writing is outstanding, with humorous dialogue and plenty of emotional elements that are sure to make you, at the very least, choke up, and heartwarming moments that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The characters are incredibly interesting, keeping with the freshness. All of the characters’ dialogue is interesting, humorous, sad, confused, and just plain full of emotion. This gives a lot of depth to the characters and keeps things interesting and entertaining throughout the game. Issun often makes remarks to the more attractive female characters, calling them “babe”, “sweetie”, etc., Waka (a prophet) often talks down to Issun (who refers to Waka as “The Half Baked Prophet”) in a humorous manner, and Susano (the descendant of the great warrior Nagi) is one of the most charmingly funny and interesting character in any video game ever made. Like I said before, these traits give the characters a lot of depth and emotion.

Gameplay: The gameplay has very few flaws. The controls are tight and simple enough to use efficiently without much trouble. The whole game is based around something called the “Celestial Brush”. With this, you can draw patterns in order to use different godly powers. A few of these include drawing a circle in the sky to make the sun appear, scribbling over a broken bridge to fix it, or drawing a line through an object to slice it in half. These are only a few of the techniques that you learn throughout the game, as there are 13 official brush techniques (one per sign of the Chinese zodiac, including the cat) in all. These brush techniques are often recognized very well by the game, but there are some problems with the game’s recognition of these techniques. Circles will often be mistaken for the “wind” brush technique, lines are used for a number of techniques, and are therefore mistaken for each other, etc. However, this is usually not the case, and it doesn’t affect the gameplay much at all. Other problems include the camera being a bit troublesome at times, and attacks not always working (Wii version). However, like I said before, these are uncommon and usually work very well.

Music and graphics: Two of the things that can’t go unmentioned in this game are the music and artwork, which are really what made me want to buy this game. The artwork is done in a traditional Japanese painting style, with vibrant colors and detailed level and character designs. So detailed in fact, you’re bound to notice that Amaterasu actually has a butthole! Now that’s what I call detail. It should be said that the game looks absolutely beautiful, and is in my opinion the best looking game ever made, not because it’s realistic, but because it really does make you feel like you’re inside a beautiful Japanese painting. This game will make you want to defeat the evil that inhabits the land just so that you can experience new, beautiful worlds. Also, framerate issues are virtually nonexistent here. I’ve only had two moments of lag, and they were both in graphically complicated areas.

The music is also done in a traditional Japanese fashion, further immersing the player in the traditional Japanese mythology style of the game. The music is vast and full of different emotions. Issun has a fun and jumpy song, the song when you defeat Orochi makes you feel like you’ve achieved something great, etc. There’s happy music, sad music, epic music, evil sounding music, even creepy music. It’s worth it to stop for a few seconds every once in a while just to listen to the music, or even pay for the soundtrack.

Closing comments: Okami is a rare gem of a game. It demonstrates the art of video games and immerses you in the style of the game. It’s a game that will put you through a whole list of emotions, but never takes itself too seriously. The story and characters are fresh and unique, the gameplay is nearly flawless, and the music and artwork are both incredibly beautiful. One last thing you should know about this game however is how hard it is to find. I looked for 6 months trying to find this game, and only just found a used copy at a Gamestop. It’s worth looking for though, and I got it for a little under 20 USD. The game is reasonably long too. I haven’t quite finished the game yet (I have 1 more brush technique to find), and I’ve played the game for about 25 hours. I’ve heard of it taking 40 hours to beat before, so this is a game that will take a while to beat, and is worth playing through more than once. Finally, one thing that people might be wondering is, “Wii or PS2 version?” Unfortunately, I only have the Wii version, but from what I’ve seen, I think it’s better. The graphics are a bit different on the PS2 version, and in my opinion aren’t as nice, and the celestial brush is faster and easier to use in the Wii version due to motion controls. Either way, this is an incredible game and is worth buying. The only problems I’ve found are with the gameplay, and these problems are rare. I give it a 9.5/10.


NOTICE: This review is property of Pianoman and Setto. If this review is used without permission, Justin Bieber will come to your house and follow you around singing “Baby” for 3 years straight (maybe he'll his puberty during that time?... Nah), while Christina Aguilera sings all of your favorite songs with the wrong lyrics. You have been warned.

How to Make Advance Text Work

How to make an animated GIF in Photoshop CS4

ASCii and Symbol Emoticons.

A few of my favorite I found around the interwebz.


⊙︿⊙ .. ⊙ω⊙ .. ⊙﹏⊙
ಠ_ಠ ಥ_ಥ ب_ب

╔═══╗ ♪
║███║ ♫
║ (●) ♫
╚═══╝♪♪


✿◕ ‿ ◕✿ _ ❀◕ ‿ ◕❀ _❁◕ ‿ ◕❁ _✾◕ ‿ ◕✾


┣▇▇▇═─

>^,,^<

（＾_＾）

∩( ・ω・)∩


（　ﾟ Дﾟ）


（￣□￣；）

(>'.'<) 

Forums + Chat

http://www.vgfuture.com/index.php

Is the link to my friend's forum.

Generally about art, games, technology, stuff like that.

Take a look if you're bored.

Thanks!

How To Use God Mode In Borderlands (PC)

I uploaded a simple video to youtube explaining it:

Red Alert 3 Trainer

Red_Alert_3_V1.0_Plus_7_Trainer_Eng_By_KelSat
Available here: http://www.cheatsguru.com/pc/command_conquer_red_alert_3/files/1648176.htm

Works fine and dandy for me, remember that if you're not running a cracked version of the game then you will probably (if not certainly) be running an updated/patched version of Red Alert and this trainer will not work, you will need one for the version you have.

1. Unrar.
2. Run the trainer.
3. Play the game.
4. Use the hotkeys

Unlimited Money
Unlimited Power Supply
Instant Build (Units and Buildings)
Special Abilities in Sidebar Quick Recharge

And a couple more things, yeah it's +7 which some people might say isn't much for a trainer these days, but I think it has everything you need to pwn a game of Red Alert.

Why Are Ice Cubes At Home Not Clear?

Ice cubes in restaurants are usually clear. Icicles outside in the winter are clear.

So why when you make Ice Cubes in your freezer at home in those little trays out of water from the tap, are they sort of frosty and white, not clear?

I wanted to know this today, so I interwebzed it and found out;

• Icicles are made from pure water in the form of melted snow.
• Icicles are created in layers. Water drips down the icicle and freezes in progressive layers rather than freezing all at once. This approach avoids entrapped bubbles.
• If you ever look inside a restaurant ice maker, you will find that it makes ice in layers. Cold water runs continuously over a plate or a grid where the ice is forming, and the ice cubes (or ice disks in some machines) grow in layers.

The economy must be really bad, huh?

So I was searching around my room today and found something quite entertaining.



40 FREAKING DOLLARS FOR THE THING?! That's one cheap chick!

But actually, this was found on my halloween costume for this year. Does this mean they recommend wearing a rubber while you go trick-or-treating? hmmm..... (PS, the only reason there's failblog stuff on the pic is because that's how I got the HTML :P)

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days review.

Hi, I'm Pianoman91894 and I'm a new contributor on this blog. I do mostly game reviews, both new and old. If there are any games you want me to review, go ahead and message me at pianoman91894@gmail.com.

Intro:
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a game that is based on the bad guy side of the Kingdom Hearts story, Orginization XIII. Basically you play as the new orginization’s member, Roxas, who finds himself lost in his life with the orginization, but finding friendship between an older member (Axel) and a brand new member (Xion, pronounced Shion).
Basically all of them are Nobodies, which means that they don’t have a heart, and therefore can’t feel emotion. This is where the Kingdom Heartts comes in. You fight nemies called Heartless that when destroyed by the keyblade (Xion and Roxas’ main weapon) release hearts which get transferred into the Kingdom Hearts. Once the Kingdom Hearts is finished, the Nobodies (supposedly) will be allowed to have hearts of their own.
Now that the main story is cleared up, lets get on with the review.

Base:
358/2 days is an amazing, emotional game for all. Because the Orginization members can’t feel emotion, they’re basing their feelings on how they remember them from before they were in the Orginization. This really shows and adds to the games unknown feel, but at the same time, it’s a bit odd when the 3 friends are laughing or crying. It kind of makes it feel as if they’re doing the exactly what they said they COULDN’T do, and that hurts the story of the game quite a bit.

Features:
358/2 days also has a new feature never before seen in the kingdom hearts series, coop multiplayer. Multiplayer is extremeley fun and friendly for if you have a few friends that you want to kill some time with, however there isn’t any wi-fi play, which means that in order to experience the fun of multiplayer, you have to have at least one more friend that has the same game, and they won’t always meet your standards.
The only real problem that I found with the multiplayer is that the game slows down a bit when you get 3 or more players, but this isn’t unexpected because it is only the DS, and it’s already an amazing game in terms of graphics as it is.

graphics:
Speaking of graphics, they’re amazing for the DS. The artwork and animations are outstanding, and there are only a couple of places where this hurts the game in terms of lag or slow-down. There are also voice acted, movie like cutscenes, which are outstandingly beautiful, but it’s sad to see that there are so few of them. The majority of the game’s cutscenes are text with game graphics, when I felt that there really could’ve been more of the movie cutscenes that I love so much.

sound:
The sounds are amazing, especially for the DS. Music ripped right out of the original games sounds high quality and brings back memories. Great, nostalgic memories. The worlds are also ripped right out of the original games. You’ll find yourself familiar with places such as Twilight Town and Halloween Town.
With stars such as Jesse McCartney and Christopher Lee, the voice acting is outstanding. It really is just like watching a movie when those cutscenes come along.

Overall:
The biggest problem with the game is what happens at the end. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but after you beat the game, there’s nothing to do in the main story anymore. You’re just left in Twilight Town with nothing to do, no one to talk to, not even anyone to fight. You can go ahead and fight the final boss again, but this isn’t something that I want to do at all.
There is a challenges mode where you’ll be given an objective such as find all of the treasure chests in level ___, or defeat all of the giant heartless in level ____, but these get a bit boring, and ther really are some missions that I just don’t want to replay. You can also replay missions without the challenges and collect Munny (the currency in the game) or Hearts to shop for upgrades with, but the same still applies with me and repeating missions.
The game also repeats A LOT. You’ll find yourself with the same objectivve over and over again, just in different worlds. I’m so sick of trying to collect hearts in Wonderland, or perform recon in the Beast’s Castle, or defeat the Phantomtail in Neverland. GAH! but this only lasts for the first hundred days, which really is more like 40 missions.

Final verdict:
358/2 days is a die hard Kingdom Hearts fan’s game, which I am not…..I’ve actually never played the originals in my life. But the game is revealing enough that you’ll understand what’s going on. Either way, it’s an amazing game, with amazing graphics and sound (I especially love the music) and will keep you going for well over 30 hours without the challenges and multiplayer.
Final score: 8.5/10

I really hope you enjoyed my first review, and they will get better. I’m no writer, but this is something that I’ve wanted to do for a really long time. Thanks!

WARNING!!! This post is property of teh Pianoman and Setto! If you use this review without permission, you shall be struck by lightning, ran over by a bus, and have your hand cut off by a midget with a prostetic leg, and live while on a date with an ugly girl you met while you were drunk and naked at a pub in the middle of nowhere. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Experimenting With MySims: Episode 1 - Increasing Number Of Essences

Soooooo my new project is messing around with EA's MySims on PC.

There's a lot of .xml files to fool around with here, and it takes a little while to work out what everything does but it's all named in a pretty self-explanatory way.

REMEMBER
Whenever you're editing something like this make backups of anything you're going to change! You never know when you might fuck something up by accident and not be able to work out how to change it back.

Now I'm a novice at modding and changing values in games, so I do not give any guarantee about the effects and results of ANY of these pieces of information, try at your own risk.

We'll start with the things that are already well known around the internet:

This was taken from a cheats site and is spread around the interwebz a fair bit.

How To Alter The Number Of Essences You Have:

First, play the game and grab HAPPY essence (because it is easy to obtain) or APPLE (because it is the first essence), then save. Go to My Documents folder - Electronic Arts - Mysims - SaveData1 (can be 1,2,3 according the savegame number). Open playerRecord.xml with a text editor such as Notepad.

Find the line:

happy type="number"
(or applefruit type="number" )

In this line you can edit the number of essence (up to 99) for example:

happy type="number"99/happy
applefruit type="number"99/applefruit

Save the document and close it, then open MySims normally and see if it worked.


So that's something basic and easy to get you started.

Following articles will have other values in.

Have fun!

MUGEN rounds

The Asylum early concept images dump

Just an image dump of some stuff i made for a Gaia guild.

And he said...

PompeyGaz: setto is better than sherlock holmes because he isn't dead
Setto: EXACTLY
Setto: fucking damn right
PompeyGaz: he's like dangermouse but bigger
PompeyGaz: like a superted
PompeyGaz: like superted without the spotty

My Favourite Emoticon Ever.

(☞ಠ_д_ಠ)☞

Ducks

Banner Examples Image Dump

Just a dump of three example banners I made for my Gaia banner shop.

Friend Profiles - Crimefighting Crew

I love these guys.

I "acquired" these little fellows from Tesco I'm afraid, so nothing too mystical there. However I do think they're really, really cute. They may seem like a trio of tiny animals, made of plastic and with some kind of furry finish to them, but in actual fact they are a crack team of crime-fighting mini-detectives.

The zebra is... regrettably dead now. I twisted it's head off. The reasons for this are... questionable. My excuse is that out of all the animals this one was the only one wearing make-up and had blusher on. Its neck was also at an unpleasant angle to begin with, and it stole some of my ennnergy drankz.

The other two, however are alive and well and still fighting crime to this day. I don't know where the remains of the zebra are, I had them for a short while but lost them. "Tree Bark" the crocodile is a friendly guy, strictly vegetarian and has great skill at fencing. "World Crusher" the elephant is adorably cute, but at heart a tyrannical beast that devours entire lands in a raging inferno of gore and terror. Together they're pretty much unstoppable, they're the reason that batman only goes out at night. (at night they're tucked up in bed after warm milk and cookies.)

CC001 - Origins

How I came across CatMan;

Now there are two versions of this tale. There is what some would call the "truth" and it is bland and boring. I will tell this second. The tale I will tell first is how it happened as far as I see it, the CatMan version.

This was tales ago, before many adventures had occurred. I was as I am now a kid having fun. I was however more naive and innocent.

I had not yet journeyed to the centre of the universe, I had not yet slayed the Cerberus which guards hell itself, in fact the height of my achievements so far had been that I had managed to touch my nose with my tongue. And of this I was proud.

And yet even having touched my nose in this way, and therefor discovered what my nose tasted like (apple pie), I felt as though there was an emptiness in my heart and mind. A void that could only be filled with the most magical thing. I had tried to fill it with sacred herbs. I had tried to fill it with books about dinosaurs. i had even tried to fill it by watching the music video for "Take On Me" backwards at half speed, WITH audio. But none had worked.

And then, one night in a dream, a voice did come to me. And it said;

"Meooooooooow."

And I did understand. And I did wake that instant, and leave my house. I walked for weeks, eyes closed. I travelled over deserts and mountains, I travelled under seas and stars. I met many people, although I don't remember their faces, because my eyes were shut.

And then eventually I came to a great volcano, and opened my eyes. And atop this volcano sat CatMan, surrounded by flying dinosaurs and bathed in an aura so bright it burned my eyes, but I could not and wished not to look away.

And he did descend. And he did take my hand in his paw. And in those seconds he did impart to me millions of years of wisdom. And he did say;

"What you just learned, is only the start."

And we both did weep with joy, and smoke many herbs, and walk back to my home, where he took a place in the corner of the room and did sleep for a while because it was a really long walk and he was tired.

And that is the way it did pass.

And now for the "real" account, which other people tend to prefer to believe.

I found him in a skip once when i was high.

More ZOMGSRSLY graphics

Just an image dump of some buttons I made for ZOMGSRSLY.