Bits and Pieces 6.

HOKUTO NO KEN

The demo for Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage went live on the PSN yesterday. It's what you'd expect from a Musou/Dynasty Warriors game, and that suits me just fine. It plays a little bit different and caters more to the Fist of the North Star world. It also has a lot more gore than any of the Musou games I've played before it, but doesn't quite live up to the comics or animated projects that have been based on Fist of the North Star. Still, it's a lot of fun so far, just from what the demo has to offer. You're given access to Legend Mode, which allows you to play through the story of Fist of the North Star -- which should be pretty long considering A) it's a Dynasty Warriors game and those are always pretty long and B) Fist of the North Star spans twenty-seven volumes long. You can pick two characters in the demo, Kenshiro (the main protagonist of the series) and Rei (an opponent of Ken's that eventually becomes an ally), and are treated to two different scenarios. In Kenshiro's it's a one on one battle with his brother, Jagi, who cheats and has shotguns and the like to try to kill you. Ken does his thing pretty accurately in the game, right down to the rapid fire punches and the Bruce Lee inspired warcries. Rei's demo is more of what you'd expect from a Dynasty Warriors game, which includes you running from one area to another and beating up a lot of badguys. The Fang Clan being the badguys in this scenario, a bunch of post-apocalyptic thugs that dress up in wolf-skins with accompanying claw-like weapons. I had a lot of fun with both scenarios, and I'm sold on the game.

The only huge drawback for me is that I wish there was a lot more detail in the gore. Heh.

VANQUISH

After playing the demo not too long ago, I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to get this game. I liked the demo a lot, actually. It was fast paced and played much more like a Japanese game than an American one. A lot of comparisons have been made between this and Gears of War, but I didn't see it. This is a Japanese product, through and through, and it plays much more like an anime or manga rather than a buddy action film, or whatever it is that Gears tried to be. I've been sold on it, though. Because of this review right here. Ben Dutka over at PSX Extreme is the only reviewer I really read 'cause he does a good job writing them. I think I'll like Vanquish a lot, so I'm gonna get it.

Beginning Monday

I will have a blog publishing schedule. It goes like this:

Monday = Books
Tuesday = Games
Wednesday = Comics
Thursday = Games II! The Revenge!
Friday = A piece of fiction
Saturday = Movies
Sunday = Bits and Pieces.

It was going to begin last night, but my brain said no. So it begins next Monday.