Now Playing: This Column is Not Dead

Now Playing: This Column is Not Dead
Column by N-Sider Staff

Edition: 08-02-2005

Now Playing has returned! What you are about to read is a column the N-Sider staff discusses memorable game experiences (good or bad). This is not an article of mini-previews, nor is it to be taken seriously as any form of review. In this section, our staffers have the freedom to discuss whatever their gaming hearts desire in a relatively compact fashion. The games discussed are not limited to Nintendo published titles, nor are they even limited to Nintendo systems. Everyone on this staff is a gamer at heart and a great game is still a great game, even when published on another platform.

In this edition, Cory finds his warrior within, Ricardo discusses his own Resident Evil 4 experience, Dean proclaims his love for Polarium, Travis succumbs to the wonderful world of RPGs with Skies of Arcadia: Legends, and Colin yearns for nostalgia and plays Final Fantasy VI.

Cory Faller

Game: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Platform: GameCube

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within has been on my to buy list for ages. I was a big fan of Sands of Time (the first Prince of Persia title on the GameCube), and despite the panning that Warrior Within had been receiving from the gaming public, I still wanted to give it a shot. I had originally been a member of the this game is going to be garbage, look at how theyve bastardized the artistic style camp, but I wasnt going to let my opinion of the game be fully swayed before I gave it a shot myself. I had played the PC demo in the past, but surely the first 5 minutes wouldnt be entirely indicative of the entire game, right?

It turns out I was quite right. Warrior Within certainly has its share of issues, but at times I enjoyed it more than even Sands of Time. The main complaints that people have with the game are threefold: the badassifying of the Prince totally compromises any sense of artistic class the game could have had, there is far too much backtracking, and the game is riddled with glitches. Admittedly, after playing through the game, these are relatively fair claims. The unfortunately gruff nature of the Prince is off-putting at times, especially when he makes uncharacteristically cocky comments or curses for no reason. The rock music also grates on ones nerves. The attitude, at least, is well supported by the storyline. The Prince has been really had it hard since Sands of Time ended, and Im surprised hes not more hardened. But really, its not as bad as people make it out to be. Sure, the opening sequence is a little too hardcore, but as the game goes on it gets mellower and more interesting. The Prince is still as we know and love him from the first game, but you can see that the events of the past months/years have really worn on him.

Two weapons = Twice the Carnage

There also is a whole lot of backtracking, but they usually set things up so you dont easily get lost. You may have to go back through familiar territory, but they make sure to guide you in such a fashion that you still manage to keep your bearings. The glitches, though, are simply unacceptable. The frequent audio ones arent too bad if you keep subtitles on, but the gameplay glitches are devastating at times. There have been some structures that are destroyed as I run over them, but that dont reconstruct if I rewind time. So if I try to rewind time to save myself from a stumble, I find myself rewinding into a pit. Theres also supposedly a glitch that completely prevents you from being able to beat the game, but luckily I managed to get through the adventure without encountering it.

Alright, now that Ive got that out of the way, let me talk about why I still had a blast with this game. Despite any of the above failings, the actual gameplay mechanics from Sands of Time have been greatly expanded upon and polished for Warrior Within. Those who fear that the amazing platforming from Sand of Time has been exchanged for an overwhelming amount of combat can rest easy; this game has a perfect balance of platforming and combat. While the combat was emphasized during the games development, it was only because the system has been improved so much, not because it was replacing the platforming elements. Theres a very fair balance, with combat and platforming being more mixed, as opposed to the fight, platform, fight, platform system in Sands of Time.

As Ive mentioned, the combat has gotten a very sizable upgrade. The level of interactivity you have during battles with multiple enemies has been increased, but the main upgrade comes in the form of optional secondary weapons. While the Prince will always hold his standard blade in one hand, hes free to pick up or steal any number of other weapons and use them with his other hand. You lose your grappling moves while holding a secondary weapon, but you gain a very sizable increase in power. There are a number of different combos you can pull off, most of which involve using your secondary weapon to strike multiple enemies at once. There are moves where you can grapple onto an enemy and steal their weapon from their hands as you dispatch them, and you can even throw the weapon at enemies from a distance.

This makes for some very interesting combat situations. In a weakened state, I found myself in an area full of pits and intermittent groups of enemies. In an effort to preserve my health, I grappled and threw each of them into the pits instead of battling them outright (losing the option to steal their weapons in the process). At the end of the area, however, there was a tight spot with a large number of enemies. In order to effectively battle them, I had to steal the weapon off the last guy I fought and bring it along with me so I could gain the necessary abilities for fighting multiple enemies at once. The tight quarters actually helped out a bit, as I could do a lot of rebounding off heads and walls in order to baffle my foes.

The segments when youre fleeing from the Dahaka (an otherworldly beast thats hunting you throughout the whole game) are a very cool as well. Its effectively an exercise in rapid-fire platforming, where you simply have to move as quickly as possible through the environments to evade the creature thats on your tail. They were really intense, and it was always very satisfying to victoriously mock your pursuer when you finally get to a safe area.

Theres also a cool twist about three quarters of the way through the game (that I wont spoil) that makes things very interesting. For a time, your sand gauge regenerates, so you can use your powers without restraint. It really changes how you think about approaching both puzzles and combat when you have an infinite supply of sand.

I think the one thing I want to say here is that Warrior Within has gotten an unfairly bad wrap. I went into it expecting it to be garbage like most other people, but when I legitimately gave it a chance I found a game that exceeds the Sands of Time in many regards. Its even prettier than the first game a lot of the time, featuring numerous lush and brilliantly designed environments -- another fact that many detractors who have never played the game fail to realize. The unlockable artwork really shows off how talented Ubisofts artists are; theres a lot of fantastic stuff.

Lush Environments!

Bottom line -- if you never gave Warrior Within a chance because you assumed that it would be crap because of the image portrayed through the games promotional materials, do yourself a favor and give the game a chance. Put in a good hour or two before you make a snap judgment. Youll likely be very glad you did.

As for me, Im going to have to start the game all over again some time soon. If you get all of the health upgrades (of which I only got half), youre treated to a completely different ending sequence -- different boss, different everything. It's also the "real" ending, according to the currently published storyline for Prince of Persia 3. From what Ive heard, it sounds really cool. Hopefully it wont take me another 18 hours to get though it the second time.

Ricardo Arenas

Game: Resident Evil 4
Platform: GameCube

My only experience with the Resident Evil franchise, prior to playing Resident Evil 4, was with the remake of Resident Evil for the GameCube and Resident Evil . I can vividly remember the day I rented Resident Evil. Before I even switched on my GameCube, I soiled myself. I lost several good pairs of boxers, but I managed to beat the game.

For some reason I didnt pay much attention to news and media being released as it became available on RE4. When I finally started paying attention to the game, it was already on its final design. I recall reading about the enemy AI being much better than in previous games, with added abilities such as: wielding weapons, opening doors and such. Im thinking, Damn. Thats going to be scary! But in the end, I didnt think the Ganados were very scary. I guess it might have to do with the fact that they look too fresh, you might say. They still looked too human. For some reason I think the zombies are way scarier even though theyre slow and relatively weak (except those crimson heads, ugh, those guys scared me to death the first time I encountered one). But dont get me wrong, Ive enjoyed the game a lot. Im probably just about to finish my sixth run through the game as you read this.

Id have to say the best part of the game was the village. Especially when you first enter it. I love how Capcom subtly gets you to enter the two-story house only to be trapped and trigger the appearance of a chainsaw wielding Ganado.

Even though I didnt find RE4 to be that scary, it did manage to freak me out a couple times. One of those times was my encounter with a Regenerator. I stumbled upon a Regenerator in one of the lab rooms. Its the room where when you approach the glass window of one of the smaller rooms the camera will somewhat zoom in on a body laying on a medical table. It looked like a burned body, which wasnt too freaky. I proceeded to solve the very simplistic puzzle to open the door to the other small room and acquired the access card that was on the floor. I took maybe one or two steps towards the door, when I heard something fall. As soon as I heard that I immediately stepped back against the wall and aimed my shotgun at the sliding doors. It probably took around five seconds or so for the Regenerator to step into the room, but those seconds felt like an eternity to me. The doors had barely opened and I let loose with my shotgun. I noticed my first shot blew its head cleanly off. It took probably a second or two for me to realize that it was still standing, at which point I resumed firing.

Since I still wasnt exactly sure what I was firing at I paused in order to get a better look. Sadly, I had thoroughly decimated the creature by blowing off both its arms, head and abdomen, thus ruining any chance of an accurate description. Yet somehow it was still standing! By now it was barely a step away from me and had regenerated the parts I had blown off. I was freaking out! I was basically cornered and there was only one thing I could think of. I shot its legs. They flew right off. Now the thing was lying on the ground face first. Its dead, I thought. Wrong! The Regenerator some how pounces off the ground and tears right into my neck with its razor sharp piranha teeth. Man that scared the crap out me!

Another fond memory to hold on to.

Game: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within | Platform: GameCube

I was a bit low on new games a while back, which explains why I beat Resident Evil 4 three times in one month. One can only play a game so many times back to back before they go crazy. So, I turned my attention towards a certain prince from Persia. I started a new file in PoP:TSoT and PoP:WW and beat them for a fourth and third time, respectively. And since I already spoke about The Sands of Time, Ill talk about its sequel.

The first thing Id like to note is that I love the guys over at Ubisoft. They made the FMVs (along with a couple other videos) available for your viewing pleasure. Not to be a graphics whore, but in regard to the FMVs, theyre always one of the coolest parts of a game. Now I can watch them till my hearts content, which I have.

Even though I enjoyed Warrior Within, it didnt surpass its predecessor. I think one of the reasons why I enjoyed The Sands of Time more was its environments. Not that the environments in Warrior Within are bad, theyre just as stunning. However, in TsoT you were always going from one new area to another, rarely backtracking if at all. WW, has a substantial amount of backtracking and youre only playing in a limited number of areas, which you play in their past and present conditions. To me, Warrior Within just didnt have that big magical adventure feeling that The Sands of Time did.

Game: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat | Platform: GameCube

Like Resident Evil 4 I didnt really pay much attention to the info and media being released about Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat as it became available. I didnt really need to. I knew the game was going to be fun and I had already made plans to purchase it. But the word fun doesnt begin to describe this game. This game is pure genius.

Id have to say that the only negative thing about the game is that itll give you carpal tunnel. No joke. I think I must have played the game for about four or five hours straight when I first got it. My wrists were aching the following day. But they didnt hurt enough to stop me from playing some more later that day. Though, in retrospect, I dont think it was smart to play for another four hours straight (and another four hours or so the next day). My wrists were really hurting. And having a figure drawing class for almost three hours with sore wrists is no fun, let me tell you. After that, I decided to take about a four-day break. After my wrists recovered from bongo bashing of the previous days, they developed I kind of resistance to the work out the game provided for them.

Kill the Boar, Win a Prize!

So far Ive managed to get sixty-six crests, which I thought I was never going to be able to accomplish. You really have to master that back flip in order to get those high scores. Though, I think the game could have done with a couple more Kingdoms -- maybe a Kiwi or Mango Kingdom.

I think my only real complaint about the game were the bosses (except the gorilla bosses). I think instead of making you fight the mecha-elephant, warthog and the Roc (the Helmroc King looking bird) multiple times, they could have come up with new things to fight. But thats just me.

Heres hoping for a sequel and more games that are compatible with the bongos!

Game: TimeSplitters: Future Perfect | Platform: GameCube

A cool thing happened the day I purchased TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. Along with my purchase of the game, I decided to get a Star Wars figurines (the relatively large ones in really cool action poses). At first I was hesitant to purchase the figurine of General Grievous, since it was 18 dollars, but I gave in. As I paid the cashier he told me my total price, which I knew was too low, but didnt say anything; I just handed him the money. Sure enough, when I leave the store and check my receipt I find out that the guy didnt ring up the toy correctly. Target got owned. Muwahahahahaha!

Sorryanyway, the game, right. On my initial sitting I managed to clear the story mode in around five and a half hours. The game is a tad short, but fun nonetheless.

Its nice to see that theyve fleshed out Cortez (the main character) this time around. This actually leads to some pretty hilarious moments in the game. One in particular was the elevator scene. And speaking of hilarious, theres a lot of dirty humor in this game. In multiplayer, every character you choose in the character selection screen has its own catch phrase. Well, theres this one character -- a bald henchwoman -- that says, I may be shaved, but it dont mean things wont get hairy. I was surprised they put things like that in the game. Heh.

Visually the game looks great. Free Radical has really tightened that style of theirs that weve come to recognize in the TimeSplitters franchise.

Im pretty much done with the game, Ive managed to complete 82.0% of it. Without people to play multiplayer with, the game just isnt very fun afterwards.

Dean Bergmann

Game: Polarium
Platform: Nintendo DS

I picked up Polarium a while back, and I havent put it down since. This is why I decided to put this in the first position of my portion of Now Playing. For those who are new to the game, or havent heard much about it before, it doesnt replace Tetris. It takes its rightful place beside Tetris on the proverbial puzzle-game throne.

You have a bunch of black or white tiles, that you have to flip over faster and faster (in challenge mode) in a frenzy of puzzle solving and pattern recognition. Its insanely fun and Nintendo scores a big hit with this one. It isnt really a killer app, but it will definitely end any boredom you are experiencing when you pick it up.

Game: Warcraft II - Battle.Net Edition | Platform: PC

No, Im not six years late to the party -- Ive had the original version of this game for ages, and remember connecting via phone line to my buddy up the street to play this suckers multiplayer. I dont think theres anyone on the planet who hasnt played or seen Warcraft II before, so I need not explain.

Playing this game online brings back a lot of nostalgic memories -- most of which can only be described as just short of orgasmic. It defines real-time strategy with those lovable Peons and tactical-oriented play; and for some reason it is more gratifying than current-gen RTS titles. If anyone wants to have a game or two, feel free to e-mail me.

Game: Burnout | Platform: GameCube

Okay, Im late to the party on this one, but this game is fun; and for $4 new I couldnt refuse. For those unaware, you intentionally crash cars while racing; its not like normal racing games where you are meant to avoid crashes, this one rewards you with dollars and points for the amount of damage and carnage you inflict on the vehicle population around you.

The tricky aspect of this game is getting to the checkpoints before your time runs out, while still having fun crashing the crap out of your car. Best point of this game: It shows vehicle damage. I know since this is the first incarnation, it is likely simpler than say, Burnout 3 (which Ive yet to play), but it still gets the job done. My only qualm with the game is the levels/tracks are fairly boring and almost frustrating when youve never driven them before.

Game: WarioWare Touched! | Platform: Nintendo DS

Another addictive DS title that Ive had a hard time putting down. I havent played it in a while because Ive found that once you unlock the minigames, they get somewhat boring and repetitive. I havent had a chance to unlock all of the souvenirs but Ill get to them eventually. I think this game could have used some extra time in development to perhaps double or even triple the amount of minigames, as theyre lacking in the replay department.

Ive spent more time on the harmonica extra than I have in anything else. The space-egg mini-game is fun too, where you have to draw trampolines to launch this egg-like creature into space as high as you can. These are more fun than the actual game, however, so it suffers the same fate as Mario 64 DS (Where the rewards are more fun than the main game itself). If you find it used, pick it up, but be wary of paying full price for it.

Travis Woodside

Game: Skies of Arcadia: Legends
Platform: GameCube

I used to hate RPGs. Yes, it is true. I thought turn-based combat to be an antiquated concept and random battles even more so. After being forced by a friend to play through FFIX my opinions have changed somewhat. I found that particular game to be wonderful and opened my eyes to the fact that turn-based combat was there so that you could control your whole party. It was a system for party management and to that end it was perfect.

I still hate random battles, however.

Of course, this is about SoA:L. I got this game precisely three days ago and am already 13 hours into the adventure. Needless to say it has made me forget about some things I should be doing. There is too much to love. The battle system is near perfect with its concept of spirit points the party shares to perform special attacks. Even the small detail of having characters move around during battle -- for the sole purpose of making it actually look like a fight and not a dance off -- adds just that much more to the game's feel.

Sega does do a few things right.

I dare say this is the Zelda of traditional RPGs. Not to say it's near as good as Zelda, but it has the basic concepts the Zelda franchise strives for. For example, towns are meant to be explored, as is the overworld. You can tell me all you want that this is the case in Final Fantasy games, but you'd be wrong. SoA:L features a little something I like to call "nooks and crannies" in their environments. Towns aren't merely a small hub for shops and NPC character models are rarely recycled for other NPCs. They are actual characters, not the mindless "NPC #1 and NPC #2" that other RPGs try to make me care about.

The story leaves a bit to be desired as it's pretty standard for the RPG genre, but Ive enjoyed the light hearted take on things. It significantly contrasts itself from the emo/gothic RPGs that are so common these days. This is a quality I find very refreshing. Final Fantasy VII may be a classic, but I was happier before everyone ripped off its desolate take on the future.

There is one thing I am unhappy with, however. While many areas of the game are simplified to increase fun and lower the need for note taking (there is one potion for curing every enemy spell such as "lowered attacks" or even "poison") simplification infiltrated the one area it shouldn't have: magic. There are categories of spells and you do have some control in which you learn first, but why do I have to "learn" a spell in an apparently random way? Why can't I learn a spell of my choosing from some character somewhere? I don't want to have to fight a lot and get spells I would never use just to get to the one I want. I suppose it takes some of the hassle out of finding spells that are worth learning as now I'll end up having them all before the game's end anyway, but I'd rather have more control in that regard.

Minor complaints aside, I find myself excited to continue the adventure.

Colin Castro

Game: Final Fantasy VI
Platform: Super Nintendo

Its been awhile since Ive played a good RPG. I mean a really good RPG. Shadow Hearts: Covenant looked interesting but couldnt keep me going. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time didnt really do it for me either. Even the new Final Fantasy games, especially VIII and X, disappointed me. So I did the only thing I could do. I grabbed Final Fantasy III (known as FF VI in Japan) and popped that sucker into my SNES.

After all this time, Final Fantasy VI is still the best RPG Ive ever played. It has an engaging story involving several characters and contains exciting gameplay elements that havent been employed competently in an RPG since. Each of the games main characters is interesting in their own way and they each have a story to tell. Some fans still try and piece together their origins.

Then there are the unique abilities that certain characters have. Edgar has his tools, Sabin has blitz, Gau has rage, Relm has sketches, etc. As an example, Edgars tools are so powerful it makes it almost pointless to equip him with a regular weapon. Its also beneficial to level up all of your characters, since you need to use (virtually) all of your characters for the final area. This is in contrast to most RPGs that give you several characters just for the sake of giving you several characters.

One of the moments that I enjoy the most is early on when they split up your party into three groups. Group one consists of Locke. He goes off on his own to delay the Imperial troops for as long as possible. The second group starts off as Terra, Edgar, Sabin and Banon (a character you control for a short time) as they head to Narshe for recruitment purposes. The group takes a short trip down the river and halfway through, Sabin gets knocked off and floats down a different direction. Soon the game goes to a black screen where you control Mog and have your choice of three paths. You can choose Lockes scenario, where he is escaping the Empire -- after achieving his goal of slowing them down. There is also Sabins scenario where he has somehow survived his trip down the river and must now find his own way to Narshe. And finally, there is Terra and Edgars scenario, where they must ensure Banons safety to Narshe. Its nice to be able to choose what you want to do next, and to have three wholly different scenarios to play out, each of varying length, is a definite benefit.

The enchanting vistas of Final Fantasy VI

Another aspect of the game thats done well is the dialogue. There are several lines in Final Fantasy VI that are well written and memorable. An example is when Locke is leaving for his mission to stall the Empire; he takes Terra (the lone female in the group) aside and warns her, not to let a young, lecherous king, who shall remain nameless, near you! He is, of course, referring to Edgar who likes to flirt with the ladies.

There is one more part of the game that should be mentioned. Midway through the game, the world is essentially destroyed and reshaped into an entirely different landscape. The party blacks out during the havoc and when you come to, you find that Celes is the only character left and that she may have been the only one to survive. From there you must scour the land attempting to find your lost team members, hoping they survived the cataclysm. (A side note: the choices you make in the game can determine the wellbeing of certain characters.)

There are so many wonderful aspects that were introduced in Final Fantasy VI that shouldve been the beginning of a restructuring of the way RPGs are done. If you have never played Final Fantasy VI (or III as it is labeled on the SNES cartridge) I highly suggest you find a way to pick this game up.