Play n Trade

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Posted by Play N Trade Staff Writer, 19th Dec 2008

I’m not talking about bright copper kettles or warm woolen mittens here.  Seeing as this will be my last entry for the year, I thought it would be fun to look back over some of my favorite moments in gaming from 2008.  I’ve picked ten of them to share, but they aren’t my “Top 10” anything or in any particular order.  It’s just a nice way of keeping it tidy, and I happen to like round numbers.  Just to warn you, there are spoilers ahead!

 

1 – The final boss fight in Metal Gear Solid 4 – There is a bunch of moments from this game that I could list.  Heck, I could probably fill a whole list of just moments from this game.  The moment I’m going to pick for this list is the final fight with Liquid Ocelot.  It’s a bare-knuckle, all-out fist-fight for the ages.  Through the course of the fight, it references all three previous Metal Gear Solid games in one way or another through visual cues and music.

 

2 – Online play in Grand Theft Auto IV – My favorite moment from playing GTAIV came when I first logged into the online portion.  The waiting area is just a big city and friends to explore it with.  I think we spent more time hunting each other down with rocket launchers and helicopters than we did exploring, but it was just cool to have such an open environment to mess around in without worrying about not working towards a goal.

 

3 – The ending of Prince of Persia – When I got to the end of the game, my reaction can be summed up as “Wow, that sucks” followed shortly by “No way!”  It’s newer, so I won’t reveal the details.  Needless to say, I rather like the ending on some level.  (On another level, it’s a bit frustrating.  But, in their defense they did kind of point it out throughout the game.)

 

4 – The announcement that Ubisoft is working on Beyond Good & Evil 2 – The original Beyond Good & Evil is one of the more underrated games on the PS2/Xbox/PC.  The fact that they’re making a sequel is really awesome. 

 

5 – Ghostbusters: The Video Game getting a new publisher – Finally!  I’m very glad that Atari was there to pick it up and run with it.  I’m not thrilled about having to wait until June of next year to play it, but sometimes a delay will make a game that much more awesome.  (Thanks to EA, I can say the same thing about Brutal Legend.)

 

6 – Playing Eye of the Tiger in Rock Band 2 – It’s probably the first song you play no matter which mode you pick.  It’s just a lot of fun, and it really gets you going before you start playing through the other 500+ songs now available for the game.  (The “special presentation” of one of the main characters of the TV show Supernatural lip synching to the song that showed up a few days later was hilarious icing on the cake.)

 

7 – SquareEnix announcing the rerelease of Chrono Trigger on the DS – Having played this classic RPG multiple times (I believe the count is somewhere in the mid to late-twenties by this point), I’m still excited about playing through it yet again in a portable format.  (It’s hard to lug a SNES and TV around in your pocket.)  And, to sweeten the deal, they’ve added a new dungeon, an arena mode, and even an extra ending! 

 

8 – Grabbing a TIE Fighter out of mid-air with the Force and throwing it into a group of enemies in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Oh, yeah!  Whiny Luke Skywalker can’t even lift his X-wing, but The Secret Apprentice can snatch a ship that’s flying past and use it as a blunt instrument.  This is probably the first of any Star Wars game that made me feel like the oft-mentioned Force was more than just a bunch of cheap parlor tricks. 

 

9 – Playing as Darth Vader in Soul Calibur IV – It’s Darth Freakin’ Vader!  Do I really need to say anything more?

 

10 – The Fight between Angeal, Genesis, & Sephiroth on the Junon Cannon in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – This is another of those games where I could have put together an entire list, but the pre-rendered CG fight between the three SOLDIER 1st Class buddies is a mind-blowing showcase of special effects set to the familiar sounds of “One-Winged Angel.”  When I saw it the first time, all I could do was sit there grinning and going “wow”. 

 

And there you have it, a peek inside my twisted gaming brain.  If I haven’t scared you off, I look forward to seeing you back here when I start posting again in 2009.

 

Thanks for joining us for 2008.  From all of us here at Play N Trade, we wish you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

MAMA ALWAYS SAID NOT TO SIT TOO CLOSE TO THE TV

Posted by Play N Trade Staff Writer, 9th Dec 2008

The biggest release for this week would have to be the latest RPG import by Atlus USA, Persona 4.  You are a high school student that starts investigating a series of strange murders around town.  How does it tie into the mysterious TV station that you can only see at midnight?  And, how is it that the station can act as a portal into another dimension?  You’ll have to play to find out.  RPG’s are story intensive, and Persona 4 is no different.  This game is being highly praised by critics for it’s great gameplay, fun battle system, enjoyable story, interesting characters, excellent music, and just about everything.  It sounds awesome, doesn’t it?  So, why can’t you find it at the store?  Well, you may be looking in the wrong section.  Y’see, this game isn’t for one of the new-fangled, fancy-pants HD systems like the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3.  Nosiree.  This game is for the good old PlayStation 2!  Yes, that’s right.  I said PS2.  Granted, the graphics aren’t going to be as mind-blowingly crazy as if it were on one of the current generation of consoles, but graphics don’t always dictate how good a game is.  If you enjoy quirky, funny, and dark in-depth stories with an insane character relationship system, then this game will be right up your alley.