The Maverick Gamer

Welcome to the mind of a passionate and hot-headed gamer!

[themaverickgamer]

What's My Game of the Year?

Just a quick heads up. I know I haven't been posting on here much at all lately, but I do want to let my friends and followers know that I do plan on making a "Game of the Year" top 10 list. When? I actually am not sure yet. I want to finish a couple more titles before I make my final decision, but Dragon Age: Inquisition is making it difficult to do so, seeing as it has nearly taken up 50 hours of my life and refuses to let go of me (read: it's an excellent game). So, whenever I finish that and a couple of others titles, I'll be ready to formulate my list. No rush, right?

[themaverickgamer]

My final new release purchases of 2014. I have no idea when I'll get around to these as I'm extremely busy with Super Smash Bros., but whenever I do, I have a Persona crossover for the ages to look forward to and an open world title I've been dying to get my hands on, but held off on until the PS4 version released. The remaining new releases I want this year are Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 Remix and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, but they fall too close to Christmas. I'm going to be too busy with all of this anyway.

[themaverickgamer]

We've waited years for it, and now, it's finally here. Super Smash Bros. has arrived! That wasn't the only loot I picked up today, as Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire launched today, as well as Nintendo's Amiibo figures. I also grabbed the hardcover guide for Super Smash Bros. as a collectible for my (packed) bookshelf. Alpha Sapphire will actually be my very first time playing the third generation of Pokémon. I have a copy of Emerald, but never had the time to play it, so this will be a purely new experience, for me. My Amiibo selections were made based on 1) Link unlocks a new weapon for him in Hyrule Warriors (which is a fantastic title, by the way), 2) Donkey Kong is one of my favorite Nintendo characters, and 3) there really are not enough StarFox collectibles on the market, so I grabbed Fox as a showpiece. I think it's about time I started smashing Nintendo characters with Mega Man, so until next time!

[koeitecmoeurope]

[themaverickgamer]

Hopefully, this'll be better than the last two. Major disappointments, they were.

[themaverickgamer]

Another day, another new game. I originally wanted to pick this up at GameStop on Tuesday (it's exclusive to that retailer), but I couldn't cancel my online pre-order, so I had to wait a couple days. Digimon All-Star Rumble turned out to be a bust, so it's up to this to hold me over until Super Smash Bros. takes over my life next Friday. This is officially the fourth Tales title to be released stateside this year after Tales of Symphonia and Dawn of the New World were re-released together in the form of Tales of Symphonia Chronicles and we were treated to the phenomenal Tales of Xillia 2. Hearts R is sub-only, meaning no English voices, which will hinder my enjoyment somewhat because of having to read subs during cutscenes and I find comedic portions are more enjoyable in English, as well. I consider us lucky that we even received this stateside at all given that it's on a struggling handheld like the Vita, so I'll gladly take it regardless.

[themaverickgamer]

This arrived a day ahead of release thanks to Bandai-Namco's official site. I have Prime shipping with Amazon and Bandai-Namco switched their site's distribution over to them earlier this year, so that's why. I also received $6 off after a special promo code offer Bandai-Namco was offering last week, so it's a good deal all around. It lacks online play, but I'm hoping there's plenty of other content to make up for it.

[themaverickgamer]

My local GameStop officially reopened today after burning down last year because of a neighboring pizza shop, so I took the opportunity to scoop up a couple of titles that my place of work either doesn't carry or is sold out of. I'm happy to have a place locally to pre-order my niche titles again, as I've grown tired of Amazon's bubble envelopes not protecting my games.

[playstation]

Mega Man X5

…is out today as a PSone Classic on PlayStation Store. Who remembers this beauty?

[themaverickgamer]

Of course I remember Mega Man X5. How could I not? To this day, both X4 and X5 stand as two of my favorite games of all-time. They were both recently released as PSOne Classics the past couple of weeks, making them playable on the Vita for the first time. I haven't bought them, though, and that's because I've chosen to vote with my wallet.

Capcom has made an insidious lawsuit against a publisher I hold in high regard, Koei-Tecmo Games, over a patent Capcom filed way back in 2002 (when the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube graced store shelves) over disc-based expansions, like how old Dynasty And Samurai Warriors titles used the Remix feature to place an original title's data with the Xtreme Legends expansion by swapping discs to make an all-encompassing game. Seeing as this is nothing more than Capcom fighting bankruptcy by scrounging up money wherever they can on top of all of the poor marketing choices they've made over the past few years, I'm now boycotting the company's games. Even if a new Mega Man title were to be released, I will not purchase it until the lawsuit is dropped or dismissed. It's ridiculous, childish, and desperate, and I will have none of it.

[awkwardmegamanphotos]

So what, exactly, are we supposed to take away from this ad concerning Zero?

(Hat tip to /r/megaman, scan from the Reploid Research Lavatory)

[feitclub]

Reblogging this so a few huge Mega Man (and Zero!) fans I know will see it. But were there Mega Man games on Gamecube?

[gamespite]

Mega Man Collection, Mega Man X Collection, Mega Man Network Transmission, Mega Man X Command Mission… if you count the individual titles in the collections separately, yeah, that’s like two dozen Mega Man games. And then if you factor in the Game Boy Player, you can include all the Game Boy/Game Boy Color/Game Boy Advance titles…

[themmnetwork]

I remember this ad, and I wanted this controller (despite everything), but could never find it.

As to more pressing matters… why does everyone keep thinking Zero is a dog? First GamePro, and then we have this… I wonder how many instances there are, and why it keeps happening? It’s like someone took the old fan theories that Zero was built from Proto Man/Rush’s old parts (because they were all red, you see) too seriously and included it in their writing.

Added funniness: The ad and controller all display Mega Man X8 artwork, despite that game (and its distinctive art style) never coming to the GameCube. —LBD

[themaverickgamer]

I always wanted one of these, but I never found one at retail and now they sell for ~$100 on eBay. It's pricey, but I hope I'll be adding one of these to my collection some day. Also, why the hell does Zero's quote have him barking like Rush?

[themaverickgamer]

NEW GAME! - Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate The original Warriors Orochi 3 launched over two years ago stateside, and with it came one of the best Warriors titles of the past generation. Now, Koei-Tecmo has devised an "ultimate" edition of the title with new characters like Sophitia from SoulCalibur and Kasumi from Dead or Alive, as well as new modes and other content. It has also made its way to the PS4 and Xbox One with upgraded visuals, so when I heard it was coming to PS4, I had to jump on it, even though I already achieved the Platinum Trophy for the original. I want to carry over my save data from that, which is a listed feature on the back of the box, but, unfortunately, someone at Koei-Tecmo America dropped the ball and failed to release the patch for the original PS3 version that allows this function. It's pretty ridiculous that the patch isn't ready knowing that this launch date has been set for a while, but I can't even play the PS4 version until the patch drops, or else I'll end up having to wipe my save data in order to download my PS3 save anyways. Until that patch drops, I'll be playing more Tales of Xillia 2. That debt is almost paid off!

[16bit]

Persona 5 TGS Trailer

[themaverickgamer]

It’s coming to PS4! I can’t wait to see some gameplay. Maybe we’ll actually get to see some at TGS later this month, but this trailer has me extremely excited. It’s easily one of my most anticipated titles of 2015.

[themaverickgamer]

How to Nail a Direct Sequel to a JRPG

The answer is simple: do it like Tales of Xillia 2. I finished the main story last night after over 40 hours of gameplay and I don’t think I could be much happier with not only how it handled the previous entry’s cast, but how it wrapped things up. That is, if you attain the “True Ending”, which actually hit me harder than most games I’ve played. It hit me so hard, in fact, that I almost balled my eyes out. Not only is it the end of the story started in Xillia, but the events that transpire just hit me like a boulder. It’s the very definition of “bittersweet”. Just thinking about the ending starts to well the tear ducts a bit.

Unlike Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, which turned Lloyd Irving from a comical and heroic main character into a stuck-up prick who feels he needs to do everything himself rather than confide in his friends (not to mention the change in voice actor, which didn’t help matters), Xillia 2 keeps Jude and Milla intact and consistent, as well as the rest of the old cast.

Ludger and Elle are actually great characters, too, though the fact that Ludger doesn’t speak very much made for some somewhat awkward conversations in-game. The goal with him was clearly to allow you, the player, to put yourself in his shoes as you make his every decision, but the fact that he has an established personality sort of serves as a detriment to this effect the developers were trying put in place. Games like Persona 3 and 4 make this work because you’re essentially working with a clean slate of a character who you literally get to make all of the decisions as. Still, despite that hang-up with Ludger, I still felt a connection to his character. Elle starts out seeming like an annoying sidekick of sorts, but I grew to like her more and more as the game drew on.

The only other problem I really have with Xillia 2 is the heavy reuse of assets from the first Xillia, but given it’s the same world, it’s understandable. A lot of music is reused, however, which is something that could have been addressed. I’m going to be jumping into post-game over the next couple of days until Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate launches on Tuesday, as I really haven’t had enough of it. I still have about 15 million gald worth of debt to pay off and there’s a new dungeon available, among other things. If you haven’t taken the time to play the first Xillia, I implore that you do so, then run out and grab its worthy sequel right afterwards. They’re quality JRPGs, through and through.

[themaverickgamer]

Unboxed! - Tales of Xillia 2 Collector's Edition - Part 3 The final part of this unboxing includes the Steelbook containing the soundtrack disc and DLC code, and the game itself. The Steelbook has gorgeous art around it and can even house both the soundtrack disc and the game disc, should you desire to do so. I opted to leave the game in its original case as it actually matches the first game's cover, so now it looks consistent on my shelf. The game's case has some amusing reversible art featuring many of the 100 cats you can collect as a side quest in-game, with the ones pictured here resembling Tales heroes of yore. The last picture shows both collector's sets side-by-side. Together, they're $230 well-spent. Chalk up another great collector's edition!

[themaverickgamer]

Unboxed! - Tales of Xillia 2 Collector’s Edition - Part 2

Here’s Part 2 of my previous post. Pictured here are the artbook and the Ludger figure. The artbook is indeed hardcover, so it will hold-up with repeated viewings and as a display piece, and it includes character profiles as well as their portraits from the game. The Ludger figure is the real highlight of the set, as it not only looks excellent, but it matches the Milla figure that came with the first Tales of Xillia’s collector’s edition. Points for consistency.

[themaverickgamer]

Unboxed! - Tales of Xillia 2 Collector's Edition - Part 1 Better late than never, I guess. I've been so busy playing the game (because it's fantastic) that I neglected to post my unboxing photos of the amazing collector's edition! Once again, Bandai-Namco Games has delivered a collector's package that's worth every cent of the asking price, which is $130, in this case. That may be a lot, but considering you get the game itself, a special Steelbook that contains a soundtrack disc, a replica of Elle's pocket watch, a little Rollo plushie, a hardcover artbook, and an awesome Ludger Kresnik collectible figure from Banpresto, it's definitely reasonable. Above are pics of the package, the replica pocket watch (which does not function, but has some impressive detail), and the Rollo plush. More pics to come!

[themaverickgamer]

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is only a month away. Personally, it's my most anticipated game of the year. I've even kept myself on media blackout from it, avoiding trailers so as to keep some surprises for when I play the game. I also don't want to over-hype it, either. Let the countdown begin.

[themaverickgamer]

It looks like Shulk from Xenoblade Chronicles is actually in. This is fantastic news, as Xenoblade was the only one out of the three Operation Rainfall titles that was actually worth a damn and Shulk is a great character, to boot. I was hoping Nintendo would acknowledge the popularity of it and capitalize by pushing Shulk into Smash Bros., and that footage looks pretty legit, so it looks like it's happening. I could care less about Bowser Jr., but the Duck Hunt Dog is a good addition simply for the fact that I'm going to enjoy shooting it in the face with Mega Man. Stupid cackling mutt...