Getting gifts for people during the holidays always seems to be a chore. But it doesn't have to be...I love getting people something amazingly unique for the holidays, something that they hopefully won't expect, but is at least vaguely related to their interests as a whole. This is probably no easier to accomplish then with the Gamer. Gamer's are so easy to shop for, basically stick to anything nerdy as balls and you've got yourself a great gift idea. The problem however usually revolves around the price tag. Everyone knows your roommate/boyfriend/brother/dude would love a PS Vita or a new TV as a gift, but not everyone has a spare $300-$5000 just laying around under the sofa cushions. Its easy to settle on something like a t-shirt that says "i'm here to suck dick and play Skyrim, and I'm all out of Skyrim," but its so lame to buy shirts for people these days. So if you are like me and are trying to give memorable gifts on a budget, here are a few ideas to keep things unique, under budget, and undeniably cool.
Zone of the Enders was a fairly short lived video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima that garnered a lot of respect and hype when it was released on the PS2 back in 2001. Since then a sequel, a prequel, an anime, and a newly remastered HD collection has spawned for gamers to enjoy. I remember that I got my first taste of Z.O.E when i wanted very badly to play the demo of MGS2: Sons of Liberty some random PS2 title offered up on the wall at some game store. I ended up purchasing Z.O.E with almost zero interest in the game itself, other than it's sleek robot combat appeal, I had almost assured myself that I wasn't going to like it before I had even opened the box. I'm not going to lie either, I played the shit out of the MGS2 demo before it had even occurred to me that Z.O.E was still just sitting there waiting to be played. At long last I had popped the game in, and to this day, treat it as one of the greatest treasures in gaming that I had the curtsey of discovering for myself.
The Resident Evil franchise has become one of video games most notable. Popularized by its innovation in introducing the world to the survival horror genre of video games, Capcom has created a solid following and an extremely fun, in depth, and frankly scary universe to immerse yourself in. Resident Evil 4 revolutionized the franchise when we were brought to the over the shoulder view of Leon's predominately Spanish adventure, and it definitely had the most revolutionary gameplay implementations the game had seen until that point. 5 did not...it was far from a bad game, but it basically just built on what 4 wanted to establish...not a bad way to go about doing things I guess, but they were slowly removing the survival horror aspect from our game and throwing us into a sort of Chris vs. Wesker action title. Still, we are not here to talk about whether or not I think RE5 held true to the Resident Evil roots, we are here to talk about RE6, and man is there quite a bit to talk about.
Borderlands 2 has been an epically fun adventure to dive into. Any fan of the first knows the Borderlands title to mean crazy cell-shaded bandits, beasts, and other baddies to stand between you and your optional team of vault hunters. I thoroughly enjoyed the first game in the series. It offered a colorful cast of NPC's to interact with and help out along with a very MMO feeling level system that colored your damage and health throughout the game, mostly to prevent you from going too far ahead without properly leveling. With full co-op multiplayer in tow Borderlands 2 hits the bricks with a ton of smart talking characters and a new cast of vault hunters to tangle with this new storyline. Those who enjoyed the fresh look and feel Borderlands offers the FPS genre will not be disappointed by it's aggressively awaited sequel.
The Last Story is a new RPG released by the Mistwalker Corporation. Founded by the creator of Final Fantasy, these guys are responsible for Lost Odyssey (what a piece) and the Blue Dragon series. As veteran RPG designers, one would only assume these guys knew enough about how to create one to the specs and standards of any other JRPG out on the market. Well whether or not the know how to, they decided to break the mold in an incredible fashion with their latest story, The Last Story. In line with Xenoblade Chronicles, this seems likely to be one of the last great games to appear on the dying console. But if you still have some life left in your Wii, you need to check this title out.
Yesterday was a day of trials and tribulation for my inner gaming hunger. I decided to purchase Resonance of Fate from the used as shit rack of my local game emporium. I don't know if you remember this title...a gem of a game released by Sega and Tri-ace (well known for star ocean and valkyrie profile). It isn't often you run into semi-gem like this one, but I must say, I'm glad I stumbled upon it.
Hot damn
have I been waiting for this game for quite some time now. I'm sure
you remember my ranting about it earlier. The game was love at first
sight for me, but of course, nobody else has my unique views when it
comes to games like this. So before you take my word for it. Here
is a legitimate review for the title.
