Rental Review: Borderlands 2

Thanks to a promo from Redbox, I was able to snag Borderlands 2 for just over a day.  When she wasn't working, I went co-op with my wife for half of that time.  She suggested that I should write up small review for it.  So even though I have yet to get a review copy, I can still give a quick review.

Graphically, it looks very similar to the first.  If you didn't like it before, you mind isn't going to change.  One thing I liked was the setting.  Instead of the deserts of Pandora, you are in the tundra of Pandora.  I hope the whole  game doesn't take place there.

The gameplay is very similar to the first as well.  The controls didn't change much, which is good.  They were fine last time.  The skill trees for each character are vastly improved, however.  A lot of the high-tier skills actually change how a special move works.  For example, Axton (the Commando) can get 2 barrels on his turret, have 2 turrets, have the turrets stick to walls and ceilings, and even have an aoe nuke when he summons it.  Also, the Siren plays much differently than the first game.  I still say they should have just picked another name for the class, regardless of the 6 sirens in the galaxy crap (even though everyone can make as many as they want...).

The sound is still good.  Fitting music, and the voices are great....well, except for Scooter.  I'm sure it's not the same VA as last time, which is a shame.  The character is still awesome, but I miss the old voice.

Overall, the game is still fun.  Co-op was a blast, even with the scunched screen.  Thankfully the bank is build into the main game and not part of one of the worst DLCs in history.  Also, a small bank that is cross-character.  Yes!  One complaint I have is all the returning characters.  Granted, I wanted the last game's players back in, that's fine.  But they reuse Ned, Marcus, Tannis, Crazy Earl and probably others.  I felt they had enough time in the first game that I would be ok if they didn't really show up.  Especially Crazy Earl.  Why the hell would all these characters just happen to move to the same area that you explore?  It feels forced.  Overall though, great game that I look forward to getting.  Eventually.  When I can afford it.  Which will be when it's like $20.  Ugh.

Quick PSP Impressions #3

Here is the last batch of impressions from the glut of PSP games that I got a chance to play somewhat recently.

Z. H. P.
This was a game I wanted to pick up after seeing the trailers for it, since I love NIS.  The plot is funny, but a little too much "let's make fun of this poor sap you play as" for my taste.  The writing is good, though.  The game is a dungeon crawler, similar to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.  The power up grid was big and I could see lots of potential min/maxing there, but it also seemed a bit more complicated that it should be.  It was kinda fun, but I never had enough money (especially for my Prinny wife), and the weapons ran out of durability too quickly for me.  I would pick it up if the download went on sale for $5 or so, but I was a little disappointed in it, to be honest.

Cladun x2
Like Z.H.P. above, this is a mystery dungeon style game.  I actually enjoyed it a bit more, though.  The movement is free roam (as opposed to Z.H.P.'s grid based) and feels more fluid.  The combat was faster, the player can dash and slide while running around.  An added plus was that you can customize your character when you start, and fully customize them later.  Party members and magic circles was almost too confusing, but I understood it pretty quick.  I was looking to pick this one up sooner rather than later, but I ended up picking up Legasista for PS3 instead.  It is basically the PS3 version of Cladun with high-res graphics.  I'll see how I feel after I beat that game before revisiting the idea of picking this up.  Also, I read that transferring the character creation data to the Vita is a pain in the rear.

Last and least is a game called Venus and Braves.  I really didn't like it, which is sad because the PS2 one looked great.  The PSP one was supposed to have Tales characters thrown in too, but I'm not going to get that far.  It took too long to get to a save point, the battle system seems needlessly complicated and...well, I just didn't have fun in the 30 mins I played.

If you would like more in-depth impressions of any of these titles, let me know in the comments and I can write them up, time permitting.  Thanks.

The Last Few PAX Impressions

A few weeks ago I was at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), and checked out a few of the upcoming offerings.  A few impressions will be written right here, a few will be with our friends at the XPound, and the rest will be podcasts on YouTube (mine and the XPound's).  Sorry to send people all over the place for this stuff, but I wanted to give some exclusive content to different places.  I have to spread the word, so here are a few impressions from some games at PAX.

Lord of the Rings:  Guardians of Middle Earth (PC)
Do you like League of Legends, but wish it had more Gollum?  Then this might be the game for you.  As far as I can tell, this is DotA with the Lord of the Rings IP.  If either is your thing, you probably already know more than I do about it, and if not, check it out.

Ragnarok Odyssey (Vita)
I actually like the 2 weeks I played of Ragnarok waaaaaay back in the day, so I was interested in checking this out.  It is a 3D action RPG set in the Ragnarok world.  I started in the middle, so I don't know yet if there are classes or player customization, but I hope so.  The game was pretty fun, as it played somewhat like Phantasy Star Online 2.  While the DS Ragnarok game seemed more faithful to the PC game, this was definitely fun.  If I had a Vita, I would pick it up.  Well, since I will eventually get a Vita, I will pick this up at some point.  I hope it has some multiplayer, but that it isn't necessary, since I doubt I know anyone that will play this.  (Get on that, DTJAAAAM!)

Street Fighter x Tekken (Vita)
I knew it would start off well when I kept trying to press the right analog nub as the X Button, haha.  Anyway, it played ok, but the sticks kept getting in the way while I was trying to play.  For some reason, it didn't feel as smooth as UMvC3 on the Vita.  Also having to use the shoulder buttons makes it more complicated that its console brethren, since you can't just plug in an arcade stick if you want.  Even though you have to buy the extra characters for those versions, there are better ways to get your SFxT on than the Vita version.  Heck, there are better ways to take a fighting game on the go (MK9, UMvC3, etc.) than this.

I also tried out Fruit Ninja for the first time, so I could get a code for the 8bit "expansion".  I have the Kinect version, but have never gotten around to playing it.  I tried the Ipad version, and it was kinda fun.  I see why people were all over that game...about 2 years ago, haha.  I'll have to start the XBLA version soon.  I also tried an indy game, that unfortunately I don't remember the name of.  It was a lot like the first Legend of Zelda, and it even had a survey in the demo so the guy could improve it.  I wish more demos actually had that in them, but only if the right people pay attention to them.

A Few Quick Notes

I finished playing the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning DLCs (Dead Kel and Teeth of Naros) and I really liked them.  Well worth the asking price if you do all the quests there, and even better if you can snag them on sale (which I did a few weeks ago).  At first I though Dead Kel was a bigger area than Naros with less quests, but more quests open up as you do the main story of it and several open up after the keep is completed (probably the coolest house in the game).  Naros was great as well, although a little predictable.  Of course, I do really like floating cities, so that could explain it.

Thankfully I might be getting a part time job for the Christmas season.  This will be great, since we might be able to go from losing $400+ a month to losing...well, hopefully nothing, but we will see.  Don't worry, I will still be a S@HD Gamer!

Last and certainly not least, I'm happy that a European RPG called "Of Orcs and Men" will be coming out in the US.  The trailers look really cool, and the game looks fun.  Also note that I loved Two Worlds 2, Divinity II, Risen and Arcania, and it looks like it will fit right in.  As much as I'd love an Xbox 360 physical disk version, US seems to only be getting PC digital and PSN releases.  I'm ok with that, and we'll see if I can get a review copy of that!  Wouldn't that be sweet?  Trick question, of course it would.