[PS3] PS3 Getだぜ!!

 I haven't really let on, but I got myself a PS3 a few months ago. After covering for 3 AWOL guys in my part-time job, I earned a pretty fat payoff, so figured that I might as well splurge it on something that I'd actually love. Initially, I planned to hold off on getting one until A.) Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4 gets pulled out of cancellation, or B.) My birthday comes.

The two reasons got overruled because I already have a handful of games for it that I'm very much raring to play.

Initial D Extreme Stage is a home port of the Arcade Stage 4 game. The crowd who played it in my area were the stupid sort who loved hogging the machines in groups, leaving solo flyers like me high and dry. With this, I no longer have to put up with those jerks.

The manga in question is also what got me interested in cars in the first place. Initial D is the only still-running shonen manga that didn't leave me bored with the length, as there's significant progression in the plot: Project D is now challenging the Kanagawa Prefecture, a known racing mecca where pros and formidable street racers gather. Though fearsome by street racer standards, Shuichi Shigeno seems to derive perverse pleasure from poking fun at pros for being too "safe" for the streets.

"Takumi, you were supposed to stop calling me Mika-chan, right?"

Takumi Fujiwara also got a new girlfriend in Mika Uehara, who is a budding golf prodigy. While I applauded reformed enko practitioner Natsuki Mogi walking the straight and narrow by getting better part-time jobs and eventually going to college, somehow I never saw her and Takumi being together for long. Mika seems to be a better influence on him, both as a man and as a street racer. Keisuke Takahashi meanwhile, is still single and will never, ever be ready to mingle. After blowing off Kyoko Iwase, he's now focused on only two things: Protecting Project D's reputation by continually honing his skills (though he never beat Kouzou Hoshino's record back in Tsukuba) and preparing for a rematch with Takumi when Project D disbands. Given the current moe culture in anime nowadays (which is still very much alive and kicking despite being contested by the so-called "experts" in the business), the chances of the Kanagawa arc appearing as a 5th Stage anime is pretty slim. Here's hoping that this unfortunate notion of mine is eventually proven wrong.

Being good at braking doesn't mean squat in a racing game where brakes aren't required. That's why Daiki Ninomiya will always be an overrated pushover.

Now about the game: Many people complain that it's way too slidy to play with on the default wireless controller, but I beg to differ for the most part: With enough practice, you'll be able to master all the courses without springing for a steering wheel peripheral. (got one eventually, but by that time I was more used to the controller movement so I hardly brought it out) The inclusion of Happogahara was unnecessary though, since it introduces some quirky factors that don't seem to jive well with the AS4-based physics. (pick-up is unusually slow at the 90s range, the surface on dry condition is three times more slippery than Myogi, etc) Then there's Tomoyuki Tachi (The Todou Juku graduate who is now a pro racer). Though beatable, the fact that you have to race him in such an annoying course makes this game a bit hard to take at times... and don't even get me started on his robotic monotone speech.

Does anybody ACTUALLY use this hairstyle? It looks kinda goofy, IMO.

The freedom to customize your character's appearance was one of the hooks that got me into AS4. Getting them in Extreme Stage becomes a bit of a hassle over time though due to it's random nature... worse, it's almost a guarantee that you'll be given more parts for the opposite character gender than the ones you can actually use. The best way to get them is to turn off auto save, battle a character twice (dry and rain condition) and save every time you get a good character part. Otherwise, quit, reload and repeat.

Next, Siren: New Translation. I stumbled upon a Siren gameplay vid in Nico Nico Douga and it caught my interest, but by that time I no longer had a PS2. The PS3 remake seemed like a major improvement over the first two, and while this one lost it's "The Ring"-esque charm, it's still a very well-rounded game.

Bella Monroe is a total curiosity in this game. While being caught by a Shibito guarantees her instant doom, weapons don't seem to have any effect on her...

New Translation is Americanization done right (by the Japanese). Instead of just palette-swapping the 'dos and/or giving them snooty voice actors who can't be bothered to properly pronounce Japanese terms even as they portray Japanese characters (the crash-course diction class fund was waived in favor of a drinking party, I'll be bound), majority of the characters were merged together and given a total overhaul, recasted as Americans who witnessed a frightening ritual in the supposedly abandoned Hanuda Village. Howard Wright (Kyoya Suda's successor, known affectionately among Japanese fans as "USDK") was an international high school student drawn there by a mysterious email message, while the others were part of a TV crew gathering footage for a low-budget cable show that features "paranormal phenomena". From there, everything goes pretty much awry.

Miyako is the only character who didn't get amalgamated nor turned into an American. As an added bonus, she looks even hotter now and is no longer blind!

Siren 1 emphasized mainly stealth, while Siren 2 was more into fighting. New Translation takes both these aspects and gives you the option (in certain scenarios at least) to either slip past the shibitos (the smarter-than-your-average-zombie variety that is the unique trademark of Siren games) or beat them to a bloody pulp. Speaking of bloody, this game is particularly gory than the first two, so people with weak tummies and those prone to fainting spells better watch out.

Shibito: Literally "Dead Person". Treat them like your generic zombie and you'll regret it.

Though most of the characters are given their fair share of screen time, I resent the fact that Sol Jackson (the TV show director slash cameraman) only got one playable scenario (and he has to momentarily alternate with Sam, too). He's the only character other than Howard and Seigo with the 'tude that fits this game to a tee. "That's what you get!" is the best one-hit kill line for this game in my book.

"Miyako... isshouw... gambaroo... neegeroo...okay?" Howie's tenuous grasp of Japanese is rather endearing.

While there's no longer a Link Navigator thingy that requires you to accomplish other characters' scenarios in order to unlock a secondary objective for a prior scene, certain actions early on allow for latter items to be obtained, adding to the archive files that are viewable in the game. A couple of archives (Howard's cellphone camera images and the lone song in his mp3 player) can be transferred to the PS3's hard drive for immersion purposes. I wish the Bermuda 3 record was included in that short list... I could never get enough of that 70's-inspired ditty about triangles.

Also, if you read all the entries in Howard's blog, there's one that serves as a potshot towards stupid NA localization practices as a whole, done in the form of reverse reality. Howard comments about an American-made game for the Joylink Ultra Network King being significantly altered for it's Japanese release. The game that used to be known as "Jackalope Man" became "Tsuchinoko Dragon".

Unfortunately, this subtle message might not get properly heard since the culprits aren't exactly known for being the sharpest pencils in the bunch. Still, the fact that Japan is taking notice to such travesties should serve as a serious warning to them. STOP MANGLING THE JP GAMES THAT YOU "LOCALIZE"!!

Finally, Arcana Heart 3. While my fighting game aptitude was never particularly stellar (and never will be) I still got it because of the moetastic characters and the simple 2D charm that never, ever gets old. I'll go in-depth on it next time since I haven't formally started with it yet.

I also hope that one day when the PSN is properly fixed (so I can at least get to register), I'll be able to find somebody who'll just help me get the online battle based trophies (rest assured that I'll return the favor) and not habitually fish me for free wins.

Mini-reviews in one post? Crazy, right? I don't really feel like going all-out on just one game right now. Besides, the PSP lineup is starting to thin out since Sony is now waving the Vita around, and I'm considering starting my figure reviews in the near future.

We'll see what happens.