Out to Sea 02 – Givin out the order for fun

So when we left off I had just make the momentous decision to try out a free to play browser game #toteslikestoutcortez. This wasnt as straightforward as one might expect, as the game was not just Japanese only it also used region locking to prevent dirty gaijin like me from playing it. Though considering how easy it is to circumvent it feels more like a token effort than anything else. To play the game you have to sign up with DMM.com. Which you could do in English but you have to do in Japanese, after a little bit of cookie based jiggery pokerey. Continue reading…

Out to Sea 01 – You must obey the fleet commander

There are moments in one’s life, moments that could be mistaken for clarity but are better described as moment’s of unwelcome awareness. These moments are generally filled with the mental friction of having the full realisation of what you’re doing grinding against your preconceived notions of self like a dirty old man at a disco. Change might be a constant but sometimes fully comprehending that change can make it feel more like a descent than a transition. I experienced one of those moments of unwelcome self-awareness a few days ago which is what lead to what you’re reading (in the interest of clarity, this dramatic build-up is not going to pay off). I’ll get into the exact details of it in a moment. But first some all important background. Continue reading…

The Woeful 108

Well seems my decision not to pick up the Wii-U was correct as two of the three games I was interested in have been pushed back to “later in the year”. Pity, the Wonderful 101 looked great. Anyhow, onwards to the main point of this. I have a lot of computer games. Which isnt a problem. The problem is that I havent actually completed (or in many cases played) the majority of them. Yet I still go out and buy new games. So I decided that a change was needed. That change is The 108. Continue reading…

Games of Autumn 2010 : Edition M

I sort of hate a lot of game journalists these days. No, hates too strong a word, Im simply confused that they can get away with pumping out so much shite without losing their job or getting roundly lambasted by the general public. I suppose, as usual, its as much a condemnation of the general public as the direct target of my ire. Anyhow, following the annual summer lull were moving into the tidal wave of autumn game releases which drops away to a mere trickle in the first weeks of December. And I know that you my gentle reader may be too busy with this much ballyhooed “real life” to weed out the wheat from the chaffe. So here you go, the titles coming out in the next few months (or that have been recently released) that I would suggest buying/playing/pirating/taking a look at/worshipping like a god. Continue reading…

Initial impressions of the Final Fantasy XIV Open Beta – Part 2 – Combat and Cut Scenes

Well that was fucking sweet. I was wandering around looking for the Pugilist’s Guild when a message pops up on screen asking me if I was sure if I wanted to leave the area as I might not be able to return. As the area in question was a street I wasnt too pushed and hit yes. Cue some lovely looking in game cut-scene, which leads to your first combat, which ends with some more sweet cut-scene action. This is is how you should do in game “events”. Continue reading…

Initial Impressions of the FFXIV Open Beta

Earlier in the week, just before the FFXIV (Final Fantasy XIV) Open Beta began I struggled with the question of whether to sign up or not. On the one hand I would get to see the game early and get an idea of what it was like, on the other hand I had already pre-ordered the game so was I spoiling it for myself? Also open beta’s are mainly for bug testing to the game would be buggy as fuck and may put me off, which would be unfair to the finished product. So I decided against it. Until I saw some screenshots. But by then the first phase of the open beta had closed. Luckily the second phase began yesterday and I managed to sign up. That was about sixteen or seventeen hours ago. Sixteen or seventeen hours, most of which have been spent trying to download or patch the client. Continue reading…