I owned a demo of the first LocoRoco game even before I owned a PSP to play it on! Eventually I bought a PSP, then played the demo, and didn't understand why people liked the game.
So it was a long while before I bought a full copy of LocoRoco to play - only when it had come down in price to about £6 or something.
And... I really like the full game! It's basically a really cute 2D platform game, which you mainly play with the shoulder buttons (it's a bit strange at first but becomes comfortable and tactile). And it sings to you. In some mysterious made-up language. ^_^
I even bought the soundtrack (and it cost more than the game!)
So yeah. LocoRoco 2 comes out on the 21st of November, and I can see it's available as a pre-order for £17.99 on play.com which is a reasonable enough price for me to preorder a copy.
The demo of the first game really put me off it! And the graphical style made me think "this looks like a Flash game!" :/
So what do we have for the 2nd game? A playable demo in flash!
LocoRoco 2 demo
It's quite fun! And it sings cutely at you (songs reused from the 1st game). And is.... oh it's frustrating sometimes! But too cute for you to stay mad at it. Haha!
I wonder how representative of the full game this is...
Quick comparison of the 2nd game demo with the 1st game:
* Rather than rolling around looking for budding flowers, you have to run over the wilted flowers with the right colour LocoRocos.
* The demo levels are very short and the music is annoyingly repetitive.
* There are also purple LocoRocos.
* There's no "split into loads of little LocoRocos" button.
* Black spiky things don't harm you.
* There is a clock counting *down* instead of up.
Showing posts with label PSP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PSP. Show all posts
Monday, 17 November 2008
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Celebrity seiyuu GPS for PSP
My brother told me about this a few weeks ago, it's really cool. Apparently there are upgrade voice packs for the Japanese GPS navigation software for PSP - MAPLUS 2, which cost 800 yen. The core software is pretty expensive to start with - it came out in December last year and is already available for purchase, though the article I linked to above states otherwise. I guess it's not that expensive compared to most GPS systems, though. And, not that buying it would be any use if you live outside of Japan, anyway.
I've seen / heard videos on youtube already, and I have to say... the voice pack featuring Wakamoto Norio is absolutely hilarious (and a 2nd video). The voice pack featuring Furuya Tohru with his Amuro Rei voice is pretty funny too!
They would certainly keep you entertained on your journey! XD
I think it would be cool if companies decided to do this in English, with English actors as well. I'd love to hear a navigation system voiced by some famous voices like BRIAN BLESSED or... mmm, how about Christopher Lee! XD
I've seen / heard videos on youtube already, and I have to say... the voice pack featuring Wakamoto Norio is absolutely hilarious (and a 2nd video). The voice pack featuring Furuya Tohru with his Amuro Rei voice is pretty funny too!
They would certainly keep you entertained on your journey! XD
I think it would be cool if companies decided to do this in English, with English actors as well. I'd love to hear a navigation system voiced by some famous voices like BRIAN BLESSED or... mmm, how about Christopher Lee! XD
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Spectral Souls - Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires
This game is for the PSP, and I bought the American version released by NIS America. Official site. It's a strategy RPG developed by Idea Factory, and the Spectral Souls series is a long-running series of theirs. This is the only one of the series released in English though.
When I started this up, it struck me that the "Disc Access" and "restoring data - please wait" messages looked very bad - as though this was an 8-bit console rather than PSP. Then it struck me that I was seeing those "Disc Access" messages an awful lot. Then it struck me that the dialogue is hilariously badly written. And again, that it needed to load everything. It needs to load about every line of dialogue, every move in battle, and the save game screen asks you if you want to delete any save for any game off your memory stick as default (even though there's tons of free space), and made me enter the name for the file with the stupid PSP browser txt msg text-entry system every time I wanted to save. It's a terribly badly made game!
Which is a shame because I got the feeling that it might be decent as a game, and I like the idea that I can orchestrate what order each army moves in the war, with different stories unfolding depending on what I choose to do.
If only it wasn't wasting my time making me wait every few seconds! It's really irritating!
When I started this up, it struck me that the "Disc Access" and "restoring data - please wait" messages looked very bad - as though this was an 8-bit console rather than PSP. Then it struck me that I was seeing those "Disc Access" messages an awful lot. Then it struck me that the dialogue is hilariously badly written. And again, that it needed to load everything. It needs to load about every line of dialogue, every move in battle, and the save game screen asks you if you want to delete any save for any game off your memory stick as default (even though there's tons of free space), and made me enter the name for the file with the stupid PSP browser txt msg text-entry system every time I wanted to save. It's a terribly badly made game!
Which is a shame because I got the feeling that it might be decent as a game, and I like the idea that I can orchestrate what order each army moves in the war, with different stories unfolding depending on what I choose to do.
If only it wasn't wasting my time making me wait every few seconds! It's really irritating!
Monster Hunter Freedom
Another game I played recently is Monster Hunter Freedom, the European version for PSP.
It's an MMORPG that you play offline. The loading times are annoying, as they seem to appear too frequently, and it's quite slow-moving, sometimes quite frustratingly. I often feel that my character is being hurt because they were too slow to break out of their current action, posing after they drink healing potions, etc. However, I found it quite addictive for the first few days that I played. I like the fight-to-the-death aspect. I like stabbing beasts to death, hacking bits off them, and cooking and eating them there and then (watch the spit turn 4 and a half times for perfect food, while excessively jolly music plays). I'd rate this game "Not suitable for vegetarians"! I like the over-exaggerated animations for eating and sleeping too, hehe. The pace got increasingly frustrating as the missions got harder, so I decided to play something else (as in, another videogame) somewhere during the two-star missions from the village chief. I get the feeling it would be much much better multiplayer, you could get some proper battle tactics in.
It's an MMORPG that you play offline. The loading times are annoying, as they seem to appear too frequently, and it's quite slow-moving, sometimes quite frustratingly. I often feel that my character is being hurt because they were too slow to break out of their current action, posing after they drink healing potions, etc. However, I found it quite addictive for the first few days that I played. I like the fight-to-the-death aspect. I like stabbing beasts to death, hacking bits off them, and cooking and eating them there and then (watch the spit turn 4 and a half times for perfect food, while excessively jolly music plays). I'd rate this game "Not suitable for vegetarians"! I like the over-exaggerated animations for eating and sleeping too, hehe. The pace got increasingly frustrating as the missions got harder, so I decided to play something else (as in, another videogame) somewhere during the two-star missions from the village chief. I get the feeling it would be much much better multiplayer, you could get some proper battle tactics in.
Sunday, 30 September 2007
Dungeon Maker Hunting Ground
I just finished Dungeon Maker Hunting Ground, or rather... I beat the Wandering Demon, and saw the credits. I could just go and build more, but I thought I'd rest for a while.
The box art doesn't look very impressive, does it? Strangely, the cover of the instruction booklet inside is a better picture. ^_^;;
This game is very simple, the premise is laid out to you at the start and you follow it. There is a kingdom. There are monsters around the kingdom. Boo. You can build a dungeon near to the kingdom, and the monsters will move in, keeping them away from the people. Yay! And you can then go in and slay the monsters for profit, buying more building materials with the cash!
It feels a little exploitative and predatory, especially at the start when you're mostly up against harmless bats... you feel like this is some strange kind of hotel sim where you sneak in at night and murder all the guests and steal their money.
But it also feels... a bit like in Harvest Moon where you work hard every day on your land, plotting where to put stuff, and make money out of it...
It doesn't have any time constraints per day, either. You go home when you feel like it or if you "die". So mostly when you run out of building material, and have filled up your item bag with goodies (or killed all the monsters in the dungeon, whichever comes first).
There are also quests set for you by the townspeople (usually "bring me this item" or "kill this monster") that make the game more varied, and that's also how you progress to further levels.
The first 3/4 of the game were really great fun, the last 1/4... I think it was my own imposition of a rule of farming enough items per level to maximise the day's earnings that made it quite slow (that plus I wasn't feeling well anyway).
Oh and btw the music in this game is really really super-repetitive. I suggest putting your own music on while playing!! -_-;;
I beat the Wandering Demon! See:
And in 80 days of in-game-time. ^_^
My tips on beating the demon:
* Do what the old man in town tells you. He knows best.
* Train your body up first by eating well - Grilled Wolf is good, farm in the 9th level unknown dungeon for ingredients.
* Run around a lot, avoiding damage is better than shielding it.
* Equip a sword - I used the Flamberge. Seems to do the optimal amount of damage. Everything else is too slow or too weak.
* Attack him either when he's stopping to attack you (when a circle appears under him, think of that as a target!), or from a distance with a bow and arrow (composite). Use your magic chiefly to heal and protect yourself.
The box art doesn't look very impressive, does it? Strangely, the cover of the instruction booklet inside is a better picture. ^_^;;
This game is very simple, the premise is laid out to you at the start and you follow it. There is a kingdom. There are monsters around the kingdom. Boo. You can build a dungeon near to the kingdom, and the monsters will move in, keeping them away from the people. Yay! And you can then go in and slay the monsters for profit, buying more building materials with the cash!
It feels a little exploitative and predatory, especially at the start when you're mostly up against harmless bats... you feel like this is some strange kind of hotel sim where you sneak in at night and murder all the guests and steal their money.
But it also feels... a bit like in Harvest Moon where you work hard every day on your land, plotting where to put stuff, and make money out of it...
It doesn't have any time constraints per day, either. You go home when you feel like it or if you "die". So mostly when you run out of building material, and have filled up your item bag with goodies (or killed all the monsters in the dungeon, whichever comes first).
There are also quests set for you by the townspeople (usually "bring me this item" or "kill this monster") that make the game more varied, and that's also how you progress to further levels.
The first 3/4 of the game were really great fun, the last 1/4... I think it was my own imposition of a rule of farming enough items per level to maximise the day's earnings that made it quite slow (that plus I wasn't feeling well anyway).
Oh and btw the music in this game is really really super-repetitive. I suggest putting your own music on while playing!! -_-;;
I beat the Wandering Demon! See:
And in 80 days of in-game-time. ^_^
My tips on beating the demon:
* Do what the old man in town tells you. He knows best.
* Train your body up first by eating well - Grilled Wolf is good, farm in the 9th level unknown dungeon for ingredients.
* Run around a lot, avoiding damage is better than shielding it.
* Equip a sword - I used the Flamberge. Seems to do the optimal amount of damage. Everything else is too slow or too weak.
* Attack him either when he's stopping to attack you (when a circle appears under him, think of that as a target!), or from a distance with a bow and arrow (composite). Use your magic chiefly to heal and protect yourself.
PSP games
I've spent the weekend on my own, sleeping and playing video games, this weekend. I wasn't feeling too good on Friday so I went into "standby" mode. ^_^;;
I'm amassing a pretty good collection of PSP games, aren't I?
Here we have... Tales Of Eternia (European version, dub), Jeanne D'Arc (North American version, dub), Dungeon Master Hunting Ground (North American version), Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (North American version), Blade Dancer (European version), PQ (European version), Dungeon Master Jewel Summoner (North American version), LocoRoco (European version), Popolocrois (European version, dub), Generation Of Chaos (North American version, dual language), Valkyrie Profile Lenneth (European version, dub), Taiko No Tatsujin 2 (Japanese version), Me & My Katamari (European version), Super Robot Wars MX Portable (Japanese version), Exit (European version), Tekken Dark Resurrection (European version).
I also have the UMD only of Mercury (European version), which I bought in an ebay auction, the demo UMD of LocoRoco, and a copy of WTF (North American version) but I've decided I've defeated that game so I don't have it here. ^_^
I haven't even tried out Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (it's a card game and comes with 3d glasses!), Blade Dancer (it was cheap), or Jewel Summoner (is not a Shin Megami Tensei game). Maybe I should...
I'm amassing a pretty good collection of PSP games, aren't I?
Here we have... Tales Of Eternia (European version, dub), Jeanne D'Arc (North American version, dub), Dungeon Master Hunting Ground (North American version), Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (North American version), Blade Dancer (European version), PQ (European version), Dungeon Master Jewel Summoner (North American version), LocoRoco (European version), Popolocrois (European version, dub), Generation Of Chaos (North American version, dual language), Valkyrie Profile Lenneth (European version, dub), Taiko No Tatsujin 2 (Japanese version), Me & My Katamari (European version), Super Robot Wars MX Portable (Japanese version), Exit (European version), Tekken Dark Resurrection (European version).
I also have the UMD only of Mercury (European version), which I bought in an ebay auction, the demo UMD of LocoRoco, and a copy of WTF (North American version) but I've decided I've defeated that game so I don't have it here. ^_^
I haven't even tried out Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (it's a card game and comes with 3d glasses!), Blade Dancer (it was cheap), or Jewel Summoner (is not a Shin Megami Tensei game). Maybe I should...
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Angband for PSP
I just found a new game to play on PSP that might mean that it's not just my portable-Disgaea-console.
Angband for PSP.
Yay for homebrew! It needs 1.50 firmware to run, seems to run just fine, though. Remembering keys and navigating the mini-menu to each key is a bit of a trial, though.
I've tried it out and got as far as lvl 5, getting killed by "Grip, the farmer's dog".
FOE! FOE! FOE!
I'm going back to Etrian Odyssey; it's not as difficult and cruel! (3rd Stratum, training up my Ronin...)
I called my party in Etrian Odyssey "Angiband", you know... ^_^;;
EDIT: 2007-06-22, 07:35am
I carried on with Angband last night, got to about lvl 8 and then wondered how to do something... entered "?" to get to the help topics, read what was there, and then.... "Hmm." [presses "circle" a few times] [navigates through the alphabet to "Esc" a few times] [presses random buttons] ... I couldn't work out how to get out of the "help" section! [power off] what a terrible way for a warrior to go.
Also... *this game could really do with save points*! I mean, not wiping your player out completely when you die type saves. Officially. At least in the options.
Angband for PSP.
Yay for homebrew! It needs 1.50 firmware to run, seems to run just fine, though. Remembering keys and navigating the mini-menu to each key is a bit of a trial, though.
I've tried it out and got as far as lvl 5, getting killed by "Grip, the farmer's dog".
FOE! FOE! FOE!
I'm going back to Etrian Odyssey; it's not as difficult and cruel! (3rd Stratum, training up my Ronin...)
I called my party in Etrian Odyssey "Angiband", you know... ^_^;;
EDIT: 2007-06-22, 07:35am
I carried on with Angband last night, got to about lvl 8 and then wondered how to do something... entered "?" to get to the help topics, read what was there, and then.... "Hmm." [presses "circle" a few times] [navigates through the alphabet to "Esc" a few times] [presses random buttons] ... I couldn't work out how to get out of the "help" section! [power off] what a terrible way for a warrior to go.
Also... *this game could really do with save points*! I mean, not wiping your player out completely when you die type saves. Officially. At least in the options.
Monday, 30 April 2007
Lumines Demo - Free legal download for PSP
If you want to play some Lumines on your PSP (if you have one), but can't be bothered with carrying round the UMD, and would like it to only take up a small amount of space on your memory stick... and you're not bothered about unlockables... You can download the demo version here.
I got the heads-up on this from Siliconera and it has more on installation instructions there (if you can't read Japanese).
I got the heads-up on this from Siliconera and it has more on installation instructions there (if you can't read Japanese).
Saturday, 31 March 2007
Disgaea Portable - USA version - August 2007!
Woo! Disgaea Portable (for PSP) is heading for the US this summer!
Source
It's going to have PvP tacked onto it so you can send your best squad out against your friends' best squad... which is something I don't think I'll ever use! I'm quite looking forward to seeing Etna mode in English, though. And the possibility of being able to get a copy of Disgaea with English text, Japanese voices, and the full, proper, original soundtrack intact! (They haven't said anything about the soundtrack there, but I'm hoping it won't be doctored for the American audience again!)
Source
It's going to have PvP tacked onto it so you can send your best squad out against your friends' best squad... which is something I don't think I'll ever use! I'm quite looking forward to seeing Etna mode in English, though. And the possibility of being able to get a copy of Disgaea with English text, Japanese voices, and the full, proper, original soundtrack intact! (They haven't said anything about the soundtrack there, but I'm hoping it won't be doctored for the American audience again!)
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