I'm going to try to update on a daily basis of the PlayStation brand games I'm playing every day. No promises that I'll be able to keep up on it every day, and some days I may not even be playing games from any PlayStation console.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver- This is one of my favorite PS1 games. The Soul Reaver series may have faded into oblivion in recent years, but this Blood Omen sequel is still the best in the series IMO. It's got great atmosphere, great graphics (not that it matters for PS1 games, but this is pound for pound the best looking fully 3D game on the system), and awesome story, and well designed levels, and gameplay.
I've heard some criticism of the battle system in the game, but I really don't see it. Yes, it's not an in-depth combo heavy system, but it works great for the game. The really cool feature in the combat is the sheer amount of choices you have when dispatching your enemies. You can use an assortment of spears, and objects to impale your enemies, or you can get creative. Each environment is also designed with dispatching your enemies in mind. You can use your weapons, set them on fire, beat them up and throw them on and into a number of objects like spikes which impale, or water, fire and sunlight which scorch them. Then you can even find various spells along the way hidden in temples throughout the world that give you even more choices. I didn't even mention the Soul Reaver yet. So while it's not God of War depth in the combat, but the ability to experiment within the means of combat make up for any shortcomings.
People also complain about the block puzzles. Well, that was kind of the order of the day. Yes there are a lot of block puzzles, but I don't have a problem with those either personally. They are actually quite easy to figure out, and Raziel moves those block much easier, and better than Lara and even Link do in the similar puzzles in those respective games. yeah Soul Reaver is really heavy on them, but a puzzle is a puzzle. People just seem to have more rage about it when a puzzle involves moving blocks. Well, at least the puzzles aren't the watered down "we're afraid to make gamers think" ones found in modern games like Uncharted. Soul Reaver also doesn't do the modern intelligence insulting cutscene that ruins the puzzle for you by showing you everything you have to do every time you enter the room, so that's also a plus in my book.
My only complaint is that sometimes it's not exactly clear where to go next, and the hints are kind of vague. You can get lost for hours at a time, but you then sometimes find other areas of the game you didn't know about before that way. My first time playing through the game, I completely missed the human town. I also though they didn't include the area from the demo in the final game, but I later found that too. The issue of where to go, however, can be resolved by gamefaqs if you get completely stumped.
Overall, Soul Reaver is a well designed adventure with a great dark atmosphere, and interesting story voice by professional actors. If you missed this one, go get it now. You can find it on the PS1, PC, or Dreamcast.
I kind-of wrote a review. I don't consider it a full review though. I probably won't write so much in the future editions of these gaming logs.
Dave Mira Freestyle BMX was my personal Tony Hawk. I've logged hundreds of hours into this one, and it's easily my favorite extreme sports game of all time. I actually decided to upload a vid of this game today to youtube, and ended up playing through all all three sets of challenges on the first three or so levels. It's an addictive game, and is much better than Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX (aka THPS 1 with bikes).
Here's the vid I made of the game in action running on the PS2 with Texture smoothing on (I turned the music off in the game so the Youtube copyright Police didn't attack my vid):
I played two PS1 games today:
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver- This is one of my favorite PS1 games. The Soul Reaver series may have faded into oblivion in recent years, but this Blood Omen sequel is still the best in the series IMO. It's got great atmosphere, great graphics (not that it matters for PS1 games, but this is pound for pound the best looking fully 3D game on the system), and awesome story, and well designed levels, and gameplay.I've heard some criticism of the battle system in the game, but I really don't see it. Yes, it's not an in-depth combo heavy system, but it works great for the game. The really cool feature in the combat is the sheer amount of choices you have when dispatching your enemies. You can use an assortment of spears, and objects to impale your enemies, or you can get creative. Each environment is also designed with dispatching your enemies in mind. You can use your weapons, set them on fire, beat them up and throw them on and into a number of objects like spikes which impale, or water, fire and sunlight which scorch them. Then you can even find various spells along the way hidden in temples throughout the world that give you even more choices. I didn't even mention the Soul Reaver yet. So while it's not God of War depth in the combat, but the ability to experiment within the means of combat make up for any shortcomings.
People also complain about the block puzzles. Well, that was kind of the order of the day. Yes there are a lot of block puzzles, but I don't have a problem with those either personally. They are actually quite easy to figure out, and Raziel moves those block much easier, and better than Lara and even Link do in the similar puzzles in those respective games. yeah Soul Reaver is really heavy on them, but a puzzle is a puzzle. People just seem to have more rage about it when a puzzle involves moving blocks. Well, at least the puzzles aren't the watered down "we're afraid to make gamers think" ones found in modern games like Uncharted. Soul Reaver also doesn't do the modern intelligence insulting cutscene that ruins the puzzle for you by showing you everything you have to do every time you enter the room, so that's also a plus in my book.
My only complaint is that sometimes it's not exactly clear where to go next, and the hints are kind of vague. You can get lost for hours at a time, but you then sometimes find other areas of the game you didn't know about before that way. My first time playing through the game, I completely missed the human town. I also though they didn't include the area from the demo in the final game, but I later found that too. The issue of where to go, however, can be resolved by gamefaqs if you get completely stumped.
Overall, Soul Reaver is a well designed adventure with a great dark atmosphere, and interesting story voice by professional actors. If you missed this one, go get it now. You can find it on the PS1, PC, or Dreamcast.
I kind-of wrote a review. I don't consider it a full review though. I probably won't write so much in the future editions of these gaming logs.
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX-
Dave Mira Freestyle BMX was my personal Tony Hawk. I've logged hundreds of hours into this one, and it's easily my favorite extreme sports game of all time. I actually decided to upload a vid of this game today to youtube, and ended up playing through all all three sets of challenges on the first three or so levels. It's an addictive game, and is much better than Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX (aka THPS 1 with bikes).
Here's the vid I made of the game in action running on the PS2 with Texture smoothing on (I turned the music off in the game so the Youtube copyright Police didn't attack my vid):
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