Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

I was really looking forward to this and it is everything I had dreamed of. I played and beat the crap out of the gamecube version of RE4 and I was pleased when it was announced it would be rereleased on the Wii - especially with the PS2 extras that were added for that port. Let me just say this game is a flat out steal for 30 bucks.

So, the wiimote controls....are brilliant. I was worried they would be shaky or skippy or bad in some way but they are frankly perfect. I don't have a very steady hand and I have no problem aiming whatsoever. The game is a bit easier because the old GC and PS2 versions were limited in how fast you could move the aiming, where as you can flit around easily with the wiimote. The developers countered this by reducing the amount of ammo available and increasing the aggressiveness of enemies. This leans the game even further towards action rather than the survival horror of older RE's.

All of the old controls are also available, you can use a gamecube controller instead of a wiimote and there is a knifing button instead of swinging the wiimote. The old versions required button presses for actions during cutscenes (for example, monster is swinging an axe at you, hit A to dodge) now you must swing or shake the wiimote which is an improvement. The only thing I don't really like is sometimes you can accidentally swing the knife by swinging the remote, especially after actions that require swinging of the wiimote.

The graphics are the best yet, using the GC version's superior graphics on the Wii's superior hardware. Some of the extra stuff from the PS2 version still looks kind of bad because it was ported over from that instead of the GC, but nothing major, and nothing you would be able to witness on your first play through. They are still 2 years old though, so don't expect anything amazing. Of course they were amazing when the game was first released so they are still pleasant on the eyes.

Basically, this would be game of the year if it were just being released. This is the ultimate version of RE4 and its worth 30 bucks whether you have played the previous releases or not.

Super Paper Mario

I picked this up the other day because I was bored, I didn't expect anything spectacular but nothing bad either. I was in for a surprise, this game is quite good. I had read some reviews on line saying the controllers were finicky and the game play was to simple...

I disagree. The controls are just fine. Holding the wiimote sideways is surprisingly natural (if you've never done it before, you'll be surprised) and controls just great. Kind of a classic Mario feel to it. Even the 3D controls were great, I mean they suffered from the usual 3D platforming problems....but since the 3D "depth" dimension is the same as the 2D left and right dimension theres really no problem at all.

I also read that the game play was to simple like earlier Mario's (this didn't make sense to me - weren't the older Mario's great?) but its not. Almost everything is puzzle based. You pick up new skills and characters as you go (kind of like Zelda, new abilities to solve new puzzles). The characters have different abilities (Peach can float, Bowser can breath fire, etc) which you can use in different situations. Character switching is incredibly easy with no load time so no worries there. So far I have 8 abilities and 3 characters and I'm still only on the fourth world.

The RPG aspects are pretty faint in this one. You level up as your score increases (you get points for doing just about anything, its pretty much just exp) and when you level up you either get 5 hp or 1 attack power. There are ways to increase your score (if you wave the controller after jumping on an enemy you will do a pose, and you can land on an enemy again to do another pose, racking up points).

There are also items but the system is kind of like Super Mario 3's, but there is a wider variety of items (many healing items and some to attack enemies) and you can use items at any time. An interesting item is the "catch card" which allows you to capture enemies as cards. If you have the card for an enemy type you can do double damage (or more if you have more cards). So...gotta catch 'em all.

Also there is the ability to switch from 2D to 3D. This is a great dimension (ahahha...haa) to add to the game. Somethings can only be seen in 3D and in general it just makes for a cool aspect especially with puzzles and secrets. You can also use this to dodge enemy attacks among other things. This was really well done and implemented just great.

The dialog is sparse for an RPG but heavy for a Mario game. The localization team put a lot of effort into it - every character has a pretty distinct and noticeable (and some, hilarious) personality. I found myself chuckling frequently during the dialog sections. Mario doesn't speak but he has some gestures that get his meaning across.

The graphics are pretty sharp (yes I just said that a 2D game with paper characters). No seriously, the animation is smooth and crisp and everything has a nice style. Even though it was 2D I could definitely tell I was playing a next gen game. The sound effects and music fit quite well, although the music is nothing special. I didn't really expect epic music in a Mario game anyway.

Overall quite good so far. I haven't finished yet, the game is pretty long. I'll update if my opinion changes!

Tsubasa Chronicle

Ok, so I actually watched the first season of this anime as it aired two years ago. The premise is, the heroes have to go from dimension to dimension finding this Princess's feathers (which represent her memories) because they were scattered throughout the different worlds. Kind of reminds me of Inu Yasha, endless hunt for an unknown number of objects. The strange thing is CLAMP used many characters from all of their previous works instead of making new ones. These characters are from different "worlds" so they have no involvement with the originals from CLAMP's other work. Two of the main characters (along with many other characters) are from Card Captor Sakura.

So anyway, the show was decent, lots of interesting plot lines. However, the season just kind of ended without much of a resolution. Nothing was really explained and they were just like...we'll be back next season! So I didn't bother picking up season 2, as season 1 had been your pretty standard adventure anime.

However, recently I went back and read the manga and it certainly got a lot better. Lots of developments with the characters and plot. As usual CLAMP's characters designs are interesting, and the style of the manga is very cool (it doesn't really show through in the anime). From the first season of the anime I got the impression that we were never really going to learn about the character's pasts until the end, but I was shown to be wrong. The manga has shown more detail about each character's past, some of them extensively. There have also been other major changes but I can't really say anything without ruining it.

I haven't been able to get my hands on season 2 of the anime yet, but given how much better the manga got I am going to give it a try when I can. Interestingly enough, there is a cross over manga (and anime) xxxHolic also by CLAMP which features many of the same characters (most notably The Dimension Witch) which is currently running. The two works frequently reference events in eachother as they run parallel in time.

I've taken to reading xxxHolic since I have run out of Tsubasa Chronicle, but I don't enjoy it as much as TC. I don't think I would read it if it weren't for the references to TC, it is about Kimihiro Watanuki, a high school student in Japan (of course) who always happens to have weird things happen to him (of course). He accidentally stumbles upon the Dimension Witch's house one day (of course) and things get weirder from there. I can't really recommend checking it out unless you are already interesting in Tsubasa Chronicle.