PixlBit

Played this week. 

Zone of the Enders HD (2001; HD Collection Xbox Series S)

Created by Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear fame. This is a game where you control an armored mecha suit and fight robots above cities, towns and in space. You fight with a kind of sword and various projectiles. It's very interesting, but I found the mission objectives a little hard to follow. You are often not given specific instructions and have to search around for the solution. I had to look things up a couple times just to keep the momentum going. I got pretty deeply into it but there were one too many times I threw my arms in the air wondering how to progress. Kojima does a great job at setting a scene and telling a story but a little more clarity in mission objectives would be appreciated. 

Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (2002; PS2) - I remember playing these three LotRs games when the Peter Jackson movies were out and liking the first one, Fellowship of the Ring, best. That one was a RPG and the other two were hack 'n' slash games. I love how they use the movie clips and then transition to the game's graphics before every mission. The fighting isn't too bad, but I found the scene with the lake monster impossible. Maybe I had to do something specific other than just hack away at those tentacles. I should watch a walkthrough and find out. In any case, I found the fighting a little dependent on luck and not as tactical as I would like. 

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (2003; PS2)

This feels very much like Devil May Cry but without the guns. I enjoyed it up until a point. Maybe I'm a bit impatient at the present, but platforming in this had very specific moves and timing you have to discover through trial and error. Fighting is good. You have some magic that can enhance your style for a time. I'm not sure why I stopped, now I think of it, but sometimes battles can get frustrating. I'm sure I'll return to it one day. 

Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner (2003; HD Collection on Xbox Series S) - This looks better than the first one and battles play out even faster, which is great, but it has the same issues with making objectives clear. How many times can I scratch my head before I have no hair left? This has full anime cut scenes and a cool story continuing the first one but years later. I don't mind looking up a walkthrough from time to time, but when it gets too frequent I wonder if I'm really playing the game anymore. Still, a very cool world in this game. 

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003; back compat on Xbox Series S) - I know I tried this some time ago and bounced off it kind of quickly, but this time I got about half way through it before hitting a wall in Vader's castle fighting robots with light sabers. The fighting and force powers are fun as heck. Speeder bikes are a nightmare to control though, and thankfully it was just one mission of that dreck. I occasionally looked up a walkthrough because darn it if these old games lack some detail obscuring that spot you can jump to, or that locking mechanism. Still, I want to finish it. Great story - better than most of the movies. I just have to get my light saber chops and paired force powers up to snuff. 

Dungeons & Dragons Heroes (2003; OG Xbox)

I had to break out the original Xbox for this game I played co-op with my friend to completion way back in '03. I'm using a HDMI adapter to solve some color and flickering issues that occured with my component cables. Strangely enough, this adapter has to have its own power source adding even more cables to the web I have behind my TV. Anyway, the game looks fine with the HDMI adpater - seems to have fixed the problem. D&D Heroes is a Diablo II-like game and a lot of fun. Thing was, though, after a few levels, I lost track of the location of the home base and kept running out of health potions. Few dropped and I kept dying. Maybe I had to backtrack? Seems inappropriate to backtrack in a game like this, so I just started using ranged weapons until I got to a level full of poison plants and barrels - kept dying. Well, then. Time for a break, I said. 

Well, I'm deep into Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II right now and will likely speak on it next week. It's the last week of the month for my hack 'n' slash theme. Platformers after that.