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Review: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue July 31, 2008

Posted by shoinan in YHL! Review.
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This is the prologue to a review of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.
(Review was originally published in April ‘08 for LastWordGaming)

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Catch-Up: Metal Gear Solid July 30, 2008

Posted by shoinan in Catch-Up, YHL! Feature.
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It’s time to announce a new section for You Have Lost! – drumroll, yadda yadda – It’s “Catch-Up”. So, I hear you cry in your squillions whilst clutching at my ankles, just what is Catch-Up? It’s is an arguably self-indulgent project I’m undertaking to help me fill in some of the admittedly many gaps in my gaming knowledge. Yes, that’s right, I’ve not played every single video game ever made. I tried but things got in the way, such as breathing, sleeping, girls and sanity. Catch-Up posts will see me try to tackle either franchises or specific titles which I’ve had the misfortune to miss out on. Starting with Metal Gear Solid.

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Putting The Never Into Neverwinter July 23, 2008

Posted by shoinan in Game Criticism.
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Having shot up all of Liberty City as best I can (not that well), I’ve now decided to swap my assault rifle for a bastard sword and return to the fantasy world of Obsidian’s 2006 release for the PC, Neverwinter Nights 2. I’ve been persisting with Neverwinter Nights 2 on-and-off for some time, and recently that persistence has become much more on than off. I’m determined to finish the game’s main campaign, which is incredibly long even for a Western RPG. When you consider that there are two expansion packs, one released and one just announced, as well as the possibility of embarking on user-generated content made using the game’s toolset, Neverwinter Nights 2 starts to sound like it could be a black hole of my time.

Sadly  I doubt it’ll ever come to that because I’ve been unimpressed with what I’ve played so far, and not the ‘Oh, little Jimmy only got a B on his Maths test’ type of unimpressed. Neverwinter Nights 2, a game I was hugely excited about as an admitted fanboy of the role-playing genre of games, has left me not wanting to return to games of its ilk for some time. Little Jimmy is in a lot of trouble.

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Street Fighter IV: 2 + 2 = 4 July 9, 2008

Posted by shoinan in Game Criticism.
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Ever since the PlayStation 3 tech demo of Final Fantasy VII was shown at 2005’s Sony Press Conference, the clamour and demand for a FF7 remake with next-gen graphics and tweaks has risen exponentially – and that’s just within myself. That video gave me goosebumps, shivers and, I’m not afraid to say, a raging erection. It was just too sexy for words, so I won’t use any more and leave it at that. Final Fantasy VII is without doubt one of the best video games ever made, and the chance to enjoy it again in a modern engine is one I fervently hope we all get the chance to do.

If I were to make a list of classic video games that I’d want to be remade, Final Fantasy VII would certainly be at the top, possibly circled eight times in red ink with hearts and stars surrounding it. I suspect if you were to scroll down that list it wouldn’t be too long until you found Street Fighter II, Capcom’s iconic fighter of 1991. Street Fighter II took what was quickly becoming a dull genre and transformed it into something that remains at the forefront of gaming today, thanks to its emphasis on simple moves, blocking and balance. Whether it’s Virtua Fighter, Soulcalibur or Tekken, the modern-day fighter still relies on concepts and principles set out by Street Fighter II.

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