Getting started

All right, school's out. Time to get down to business. I'll admit that "getting down to business" isn't my thing. I'm one of those people who tries to get everything done at once, and in the process gets nothing done ^_^;; Woops. So hopefully, er--I hope I can make a focused effort with this blog/project of mine, and actually provide some people with information. Anyway, here is what's going on:

STATUS: Not functioning. Not yet. Looking at many Web design resources to see what would be the best way to layout all of the stuff I'd like to do.

UPCOMING ARTICLES, POSTS, ODDS AND ENDS:

• So You Want to Buy a
• Parents guide to buying a game console/handheld, it's accessories, and a good game to go with it. Planning on presenting this information in a nice, clean, downloadable PDF
• Dissecting Dork-isms
• A guide/dictionary to video game industry jargon, explaining everything from "consoles" to "cut scenes"
  
• Also along these lines, a dictionary/guide to various video game genres because a normal person walking down the street would probably look at you funny if you told them you were playing a "turn-based strategy RPG."
  
• Solid Sequels and Franchises
• Showcase well-known video game franchises, and which ones you can almost always buy a game from and expect quality work. Maybe include a list of "sleeper hits," or make "sleeper hits a separate project."
• Movie- and TV show-based games
• Magazines in the videogame industry
• Video games, violence, and ESRB--effectively evaluating violence in games
• Some kind of PokéMon feature
  
• and more... :3

So, that's what to expect from YourFamilyGames (YFG) in the near/distant future. I will be on vacation from June 16-23, so that might slow me down. But I will get this road on the show this summer.

P.S. If you have made it far, and have read this whole post, congratulations and thank you.

If you have comments, suggestions, criticisms or thoughts in general directed at YourFamilyGames, please send them in to me. I'd love to hear what you have to say about the site/blog. E-mail: yourfamilygames@gmail.com. Thanks :D

for the record...

Let the record know that the Artemis Fowl series is very addicting. I was up until 4am finishing the last 300 pages or so of Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony. That's impressive because I haven't done that with a book since book 5 of the Harry Potter series. (When book 6 for Harry Potter came out I think I might have actually slept). I just could not put it down. It's one of those series that's geared towards children, but also enjoyable for adults to read. I'd have to say it's a blend of fantasy, dry wry humor (the band of heroes also happens to be a band of smartasses, something Fowl author Eoin Colfer acknowlegdes in the book), James Bond action/cool weaponry, and maybe a bit of Encyclopedia Brown just because of the variety of factoids and depth of knowledge (then again, that's to be expected... the protaganist is a boy genius after all). Apologies for that long, hackneyed sentence. The Artemis Fowl series will also become a graphic novel (fancy word for "long comic book;" not a novel that is graphic) sometime in fall of this year, according to the series' official site.

I know this is YourFamilyGames, and I should be talking about video games, but there are other hobbies in life that are equally and/or more interesting. I feel it is okay to bring these topics up, at least every once in a while. Maybe I can move this post somewhere more out-of-the-way, so video game news can still take priority... I'm pathetically new at using Blogger >_< class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th, 2007. I have yet to meet a person who read the book and didn't like it.

Okami - Review

Okami
PlayStation2
Rating: T for Teen (13+)
Price: MSRP $49.99

Synopsis: The premise is simple. Forces of evil are encroaching upon the beautiful land of Nippon (old Japan). To push them back, you play as Amaretsu, a reincarnation of the wolf god, Shiranui, who died after defeating the evil Orochi 100 years ago. Using the Celestial Brush, you draw spells in battle to defeat the bad guys. Outside of battle, the Brush can be used to complete simple tasks that bring happiness to the people of Nippon.

Overall: 9.7
Story/Concept: 9.8
Graphics: 9.8
Gameplay: 9.7
Sound: 9.5
Replay value: 9.7

Difficulty: Medium
Learning Curve: 30 minutes, or as long as it takes to learn how to effectively use the Celestial Brush with ease.

Family Factor: A wonderful, deep, involving story. While Okami presents a bright and colorful world, it does have its scary moments of huge, beastly boss monsters and evil demons. Issun, Amaterasu's partner, is a bit of a womanizer and oftentimes embarassingly flirtatious (and even more often than not, gets shot down). I'd say 13+ is an appropriate age, but you could go a couple of years younger.

Review:
Note: Because this game rivals the Zelda series, I will be comparing the two. A lot.
Note(2): I first wrote this review for a site called MyGamer.com, so you can also find it there.

I try hard not to sound like a raving lunatic when I review games…I like trying to be unbiased as possible…but for Okami, that’s not going to be easy and for that, I apologize in advance. Simply put, this is probably the best game in the action-adventure genre. That’s right. I said it. It’s better than Zelda. At long last, Sony has found a trump card to Link. And Okami rivals the epic Nintendo staple.

The premise is simple. Forces of evil are encroaching upon the beautiful land of Nippon (old Japan). To push them back, you play as Amaretsu, a reincarnation of the wolf god, Shiranui, who died after defeating the evil Orochi 100 years ago. Shortly thereafter meet your semi-obnoxious fairy…er, traveling companion named Navi…er, Tatl…no, wait, Issun. Yeah, Issun, a womanizing wandering artist, tags along with Amaterasu (who he affectionately nicknames Ammy, to the glee of English-speaking gamers, since Okami Amaterasu is a mouthful). All of the characters in Okami eventually grow on you (with the exception of the forces of evil). Okami has the innate charm to draw you into its crazy little word and spur empathy with the large cast of characters. The storyline is an interesting balancing act between happy, cutesy moments and hopeless it’s-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it dramas. The seasoned gamer will see plot elements from every adventure they’ve played surgically removed from past games and spliced into one interesting saga. You explore the cursed forests (Ocarina of Time), shrink to ant-sized proportions (Minish Cap), sail the ocean blue (Wind Waker), go fishing (Breath of Fire series), rescue various damsels in distress (just about any adventure game), and do your fair share of side-questing. This all ends up becoming one of the most diverse gaming experiences around, and leads to a great, character-driven story that will certainly be enjoyable.

The gameplay is simply astound astounding. The camera rarely falters, and the controls work very smoothly. Ammy’s versatile weapon, the Celestial Brush, is used to summon spells and attack enemies, and it just flows with the analog stick with ease, easily beating out the conventional RPG weapon. The core of Ammy’s adventure is a pan-Nippon search for the lost 13 techniques from the gods. The techniques range from a simple line that will cut down obstacles and enemies in your path to a circular spell that will materialize a bomb. As you recover more abilities, it becomes easier to restore the land to its former glory. Along the way, Amaretsu will get praise orbs. These allow you to boost stat points and upgrade various skills, for instance, you will gain a praise orb from a task like banishing evil auras from zones, or using Bloom spells to make flowers flourish (which nets a lot of praise). After, you can use Praise to bolster your life meter, or increase your supply of ink for the Celestial brush. Like any action-adventure, skill in battle is key, and is your main source of revenue throughout the game. After each battle you receive a sort of report card that rates Ammy’s performance and determines the amount of bonus Yen doled out. Although some key items in the Okami economy seem overly expensive, it’s always easy to replenish your funds after going broke and almost always worth the money .

The main place Okami exceeds where Wind Waker failed to some is in the graphics department. The stylish sumi-stroke graphics are eye-candy through and through and provide a masterful representation of a more animated style, and add to the overall greatness of the game, rather than being a side-note like in Wind Waker. The game is just enjoyable to watch, much less play. It would be great to see more games follow this artistic style. The background music is incredible, and as with everything else in the game, it is tinged with a Japanese influence, and melds nicely with the game’s events while being easy to appreciate on its own. Capcom deserves a great deal of credit for the transition from Japanese to English, with no major bumps in the localization. The dialogue is interesting to read and often comical. Even though some cut-scenes are surprisingly text-heavy, the game caters to short attention spans by breaking up the scene into segments. Usually, the NPCs will cease their explanation and a green arrow will appear above their head, indicating they have more info. This way, you can proceed through the cut scene at your own leisure, which is a very nice touch. NPC voices are peculiar themselves. While Okami doesn’t have voiceovers, characters do speak in a strange language that is similar to Animalese from Animal Crossing. Except Okami’s version of Animalese is a little more whispery and less neurotic. Again, your senses have to adjust a bit to the oddities of Okami, but this is an acquired taste from Japan I think everyone can enjoy.

All-in-all, no PS2 library should be without this. It has a great story that, though clichéd, will mesmerize you and will effectively pull you into the narrative. The replay value for this game is immense as the storyline, sidequesting, and searches for those really rare items just never gets old. This game can probably be played for years. There’s just something about Okami that’s just so fresh, so exciting. This game gets an extra gold star because not only did it make me laugh, but it was the first game that actually made me cry. You know you’re in deep when a game evokes that kind of emotion. So if you’ve been on the fence about this title, go buy it. But don’t expect a sequel anytime soon—the company that developed Okami folded.

Also recommended: Zelda series, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy series