Braid...finished?

With all the rave reviews going into a gorgeous and well-thought-of indie game like Braid, you'd think it would be as satisfying when you finish the game. Well, not too recently, I did just that, but it is not in the category of finished games where I am left even more confused as when I started playing.

I won't enter spoiler territory, but the game created more questions than answers. So much so that it has spurred discussions in forums about the game's story. In that sense, Braid is truly a game of art; it is gorgeous to look at, and, at the same time, is perceived differently from each person that interacts with it.

All abstractions aside, the game's puzzles are the most creative that I've seen in any game for some time. I think all but one eluded my grasp at a solution, but there were certainly a number of them that had my brain struggling for an answer. But each puzzle I solved only fueled my persistence to figure out the next unsolvable puzzle. The calming and somewhat therapeutic atmosphere of the game was almost zen-like, making me rationalize a path to the solution instead of throwing my controller down in frustration and storming away.

I think Braid would be a game a doctor would prescribe to a gaming patient who's given up games for their increasing difficulty and convoluted gameplay mechanics. On a higher plain, it's a game that allows you to appreciate other games.

Ratchet & Clank Tools of Destruction...finished!

In anticipation of the newest Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, I've completed (finally) their first PS3 outing, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. This, along with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, completes the duo-game purchase of titles receiving sequel treatments this year.

I've been a fan of the series since their second PS2 game, Going Commando, came out. Since then, the only other game I've played was Up Your Arsenal. Skipped out on Deadlocked, though, as well as the PSP outings, but I might just have to hit up on the Quest for Booty mini-story to see what happens before the sequel comes out next week. Thankfully, though, they're not milking the story-between-stories, unlike other franchises.

Katamari Forever...finished!

I think this time around, finishing a Katamari game like Katamari Forever bears some accomplishment - namely the trophies that are attached to my profile. At least I can show off that I made a bigger-than-average katamari, or that I jumped exactly seven times in one level before finishing it.

Seriously, exactly seven times? I believe this was one of those trophies whose objectives are hidden to the player with the "? ? ? ?" text. They might as well have a trophy for turning on the game at exactly 10:30 am on October 30th.

The game still has some of that replay factor with their "forever" and "drive" modes (endless and super-fast modes), and the nice 1080p graphics will keep me enjoying it at a later date. However, my backlog is large, and the constant slowdowns mark this game down a notch.

Uncharted 2...finished!

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune really gave a great movie feel, all without segmenting the gameplay and cinematics. And Naughty Dog only intensified this further with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The movie had great action, romance, and witty remarks that kept everything fresh, even though I died about 116 times. That's probably because I selected Hard mode to play the game (I think 16 deaths alone were just at the end.)

Despite how good the cinematics are, there's nothing like pulling off your own climatic moment. The feeling of performing a quick and sudden headshot, or lobbing a grenade blindly and taking out 4 people at once - those moments really make your heart race. I think I may have performed one of the most climatic ways to finish the game. I was excited for sure that I finished it, but much more exhausted that it was over. Now THAT'S what a good action movie should make the viewer experience.

Stat tracking is great in this game, too. Looks like I spent just under 13 hours to complete the game, and killed about 915 enemies. Some of the more prouder stats are my 6 headshots in a row, or 5 stealth kills in a row, but my hit ratio was a paltry 41.32%.

Now, with the single-player campaign under my belt, I'll probably play more multiplayer online, since there's tons of leveling up to do there.

Be sure to pick up Uncharted 2 when it comes out next Tuesday, October 13th!

The Beatles Rock Band...finished!

And not only finished, but 5-starred every song on the game! Well, okay, this shouldn't have been TOO surprising for many reasons, but playing through their songs reminded when I listened to their music in my youth.

Like Rock Band 2, The Beatles Rock Band will warrant much more replay value in the months to come for a couple good reasons - my wife is always willing to sing, and the trophies list is quite challenging to complete, if not downright impossible. Well, perhaps not for someone specifically good at one instrument. I don't foresee myself completing that 550-note streak for expert drumming anytime soon. But so far I'm knocking them down as I go.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune...finished!

Playing and beating Batman: Arkham Asylum twice over has given me tides of confidence over beating those types of games. Which is why I believe that it had a major part in me to complete Uncharted: Drake's Fortune in an astonishing (for me anyways) 5 days after purchase.

For an early PS3 title, there was quite an amount of detail, from the adrenaline-rushed gun fights to the crumbling rock barriers. And, like Batman: Arkham Asylum, there's a well-told story that's worth playing again - or watching again, if it were like a good movie. And I did this all without any hiccups or crashes, despite the firmware update they released recently to appease the few issues that were addressed with the new update.

While the game was great to play and the story flowed nicely, I think I'm gonna sit out a while before I play again. Unlike dying constantly in Batman, dying by some constant annoying gunfire in Uncharted is much more annoying.

I can't imagine waiting for a sequel for so long if you finished the game when it was released back in 2007. But the wait seems to be well worth it. Time to place my pre-order now.

Batman: Arkham Asylum (hard mode)...finished!

It's a very good thing I finished Batman: Arkham Asylum the first time in "normal" mode. If I had started the game on "hard" mode from the very beginning, I would've stopped playing in frustration. The meat of this game lies primarily in all the brawls you encounter throughout the game, and the "hard" part of the game is mostly from the enemies being stronger and more aggressive.

There are little aspects, too, that are ramped up in difficulty. Unlike the "easy" and "normal" modes, "hard" mode has no more of the Bat-sense halos over your enemies' heads during fights, so you'll truly need to anticipate their attacks to properly counter them. Also, they've decided that only in "hard" mode will the enemies be able to crane their necks and look above you, possibly catching you perched high up there in your seemingly-undetectable gargoyle and shoot you down.

In the end, I persevered through the tough battles, often spending up to a half-hour trying to pass the more endurance-driven bouts without being killed. Would I do it again? Hell no. If I'm gonna enjoy the story again, I'll play through it in "easy" mode next, just to equal things out. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to some more free content coming later this week!

Batman: Arkham Asylum...finished!

Despite the short single-mode campaign, Batman: Arkham Asylum is lengthier than most other games, and the end result makes the game feel like a very pleasant interactive movie. Everything melds together into fine, almost seamless transitions from one event to the next, with Batman controlling like a true superhero that rarely falters in his quest for justice. And even if you fall off a ledge accidentally, a quick grapple will bring you back to solid terra firma in true Batman form, feeling nothing like any cheap quick-time event.

I look forward to playing the Challenge Maps over and over for a good score, and to find all the unlockables still hidden on the island. Plus, I still have to play the game again in hard mode because...well, because it's like watching my favorite movie over again.

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?...Finished!

At 6 hrs, 30 minutes, and 49 seconds with 777 Prinnies left, Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? can be finally added to the games I've finished. Don't let the short playtime fool you. It's only short due to the numerous attempts I've tried and failed at completing the game.

As a platformer, the game's unrelentless at knocking you down at every turn, with enemies appearing at exactly the wrong place at the wrong time. The boss battles themselves can be as challenging as the levels themselves. And with only less than 8 minutes to complete each level, and 3 minutes to take down the bosses, the term "speed run" takes on a whole different meeting.

But beating the game is only part of the game. There are still countless medals to obtain, lots of background music to collect, and opportunities to play levels at varying difficulties. And, to tell you the truth, I actually look forward to blowing up more Prinnies.

Hammerin' Hero...finished!

Probably as a result from watching a lot of Game Center CX, I felt motivated once more to pursue that ever-elusive end-game credits screen, so I took out what I could find in my sights...which was Hammerin' Hero.

Granted, it was a game that had its shares of flaws and slowdowns. But through it all, it was still a game - and through Arino's eyes, it was a game that begged the challenge to complete it, to take it down. So, with a fresh new attitude towards video games, I tackled my procrastination and finished the game in one ftell swoop.

I haven't had this feeling since April, when I finished Rhythm Heaven. And, much to my surprise, there is still some redeeming replay value left in the game. There are more people (friends AND enemies) to search for to fill my info database, and there are also the harder difficulties per level to attempt. To get me to still play a game after the end credits rolled is not an easy task, so to see Hammerin' Hero get me to play the game immediately after I finished it is certainly pleasant.

Now, I don't feel so bad getting those figurines with the game's purchase. Plus, I get to mark off another game from my backloggery list!

Rhythm Heaven...finished!

After much tapping on the screen, I've completed through all possible mini-games in Rhythm Heaven, and gotten a good amount of gold medals to pound a "finished" stamp on this title.

While there are a couple of mini-games that had me pulling my hair a number of times, the game as a whole is still a worthwhile experience, and one that shouldn't be missed by any music gamer.

And don't let all those nay-sayers dissuade you from a purchase because of the English localization in the songs. It's only for a handful of games, and, while one or two are a pain to hear, the music is still tap-rific. Plus, most of the other mini-games retained their Japanese audio tracks anyways.

A must-tap title that will garner much replay value long after you finish the game, Rhythm Heaven is an awesome game-on-the-go!

Street Fighter 4...finished! As far as I'm concerned.

It's not the most glamorous victory, but I'm stamping "finished" on Street Fighter IV simply because I was able to beat the game with one character on the easiest setting with only one round matches and the credits rolled soon after. I've even played a few random online matches and won my first one (after I lost, like, the first 10).

I think, up until the game's release, I was rather tepid about the game overall. It wasn't until I got my hands on the controls that I realized it played almost exactly like Street Fighter II Turbo Championship Edition, back in the SNES days. Soon after a few rounds of fighting, I knew I had to get the game again.

Oh, I'm far from being a threat to other players...but at least I can make a dent before going down.

Burnout Paradise...finished!

After all the crashes, races, and road rages, I've finally acquired my Burnout License, triggering the rolling credits, and officially marking my "finished" stamp on Burnout Paradise.

Like Rock Band 2, this is not a game where I can truly put the controller down feeling satisfied. There are still more things to unlock, a few more trophies to acquire. Plus, there will still be days where I'll feel like shit, where I'll feel so angry that the only thing that will feel good is a bit of road rage on the virtual asphalt.

And leave it to me to just figure out how to customize my soundtrack right before I got the credits to roll. Whatever music is playing becomes your end-game music. So I got to enjoy my end credits listening to Katy Perry. Swell.

Prince of Persia Epilogue...finished! (Already??)

And within that 2-3 hours of guaranteed gameplay (which I was quite surprised they were so accurate on), the Prince of Persia Epilogue was done surprisingly quick. And I was done with the original game not too long ago, too.

I guess that brought some closure...emphasis on "some." Some of the added gameplay features, like the ability to be on the offensive from far away distances was a nice touch and changed up my battle tactics. Overall, it's a new section of an elaborate playground for me to run around in, while getting some trophies during the process.

But the $10 price tag seemed a bit much for the extra stuff. Despite the added skins for both the prince and princess, it should've went for less than $10. Even $8 would've been more reasonable. Nevertheless, if you enjoyed the original game, the Epilogue should quench some of that end-game thirst. Besides, as long as you didn't pay full-price for it, it's not such a bad purchase.

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Prince of Persia...finished!

Given a game like Prince of Persia where you cannot die has its benefits and disadvantages. The key benefit is that you're not entirely discouraged when you perform a misstep, and can immediately try again from where you left off. One of the major disadvantages is that gameplay is shortened since there is no fear for failure.

Despite that, the pure benefit, at least to me, of not dying is to be able to play the game as how the original plot designer intended - with no breaks to the story due to "lives" or "continues." For me, this is about as true to an interactive movie as a game can get, all while still giving the player full interactivity of the game.

This game is definitely one of those where I wouldn't mind playing again, simply because of the game's flow and beautiful 1080p graphics. And with another Epilogue expansion coming very soon with at least 3 more hours of playable content, I'm good as ready to jump right back into the desert.

Little Big Planet...finished!

This was actually done a few weeks ago, but I finished the main story mode in Little Big Planet. Like Rock Band 2, this is about as complete as I can do in a game that has a much lengthier replay value. There are a few levels that I'd like to construct, and even more that I'd like to play.

Unfortunately, all that takes time. And as a gamer, time is not on my side.

Rock Band 2 (tour)...finished!

Rock Band 2 is not the type of game I could really classify as "completing," simply because there's always something new to play or compete in. Which is why I'm putting a "finished" stamp on the game for just finishing the world tour, which would technically count since the credits rolled right after.

It's gonna take me more time to master the drums and start earning some of the harder-to-achieve trophies within, though. Couple that with the constant stream of new songs to download, and you have a game that I'll always return to for more.

Kingdom Hearts 2...finished again!

It's rare when I finish a game for a second time on my own accord, and rarer still to enjoy the process of playing through a game again. However, Kingdom Hearts 2 was one of those very few instances where I enjoyed doing both. While the reward for me this time was a simple hidden video that I could've probably searched for on YouTube, the satisfaction of unlocking a tucked-away treasure on my own through a game I wholeheartedly enjoyed playing was a treat in itself.

You see, in Kingdom Hearts 2, there's this hidden video that, under normal mode, you can unlock if you complete everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - in Jiminy's Journal. Since that was almost a near impossibility for me, my other alternative was to complete the game in hard mode, with all of the worlds completed, which also unlocked the video. Seeing the simple (yet daunting) task of just finishing the game again before me, I decided to finish what I had started years ago.

And today marks the day I've finally finished Kingdom Hearts 2 once again, in hard mode, while successfully unlocking the hidden movie alluding before my very eyes.

Yes, I believe this was all worth the trouble NOT seeing it on YouTube.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia...finished!

And so ends another chapter in the popular Konami franchise as I bring Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia to its end yesterday. There are no Belmonts this time to fight Dracula, but you get this hot chick that absorbs glyths that can be used in battle.

Even though I finished the game (rather anti-climatically, since my character was terribly over-buffed), I'm still playing through to increase my completion rate. I don't think I've ever been this absorbed into full completion in the past two Castlevania DS games, but I'm so close that I might as well keep going. There are still a few games that I don't mind grinding through to collect every single item, and now I can add Ecclesia to the list.

Overall, this is still an excellent Castlevania game, and one that you'll regret if you don't play.

Man, it's been a while since I finished a game. Time to play catch-up!