Demon’s Souls Impression

Demon’s Souls is a hard game to describe. On paper, it sounds completely different than it does in person, and that’s a good thing. Until I had my hands on the game, I wasn’t sure whether or not it was something I wanted to play, but after trying it, it’s on my must-have list.

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Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment Impression

While poking around Konami and hoping the psych profile thing for the Silent Hill remake isn’t as gimmicky as it sounds, I got a quick taste of Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment for the 360, a prequel to the original for the PlayStation. It’s been a while since I got a taste of a good, turn-based strategy RPG, such that I probably would’ve gotten creamed by the giant enemy worm if it hadn’t been half dead when I started playing.

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Strategy Session – Competitive Pokemon V

This week, we’ll be looking at one of my favorite Pokemon, the perennially disappointing Parasect. Despite being the slowest user of Spore and one of the slowest Pokemon overall, Parasect has always occupied a special place in my heart simply for being unusually creepy.

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Mario and Luigi 3: Bowser’s Inside Story Impression

Hidden behind the line of eager players waiting their turn to play Zelda was a playable demo of Mario and Luigi 3: Bowser’s Inside Story. Like the Zelda demo, it had several smaller segments, but I only opted for the Bowser one.

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E3 2009: Our Podcast is Now Compatible With Facebook

Hey, everything else hooks up to that accursed site, so why not?

Hiya folks! Gathered here is roughly fifty-seven minutes of our E3 Away Team knocking heads over corporate theater and glitchy alphas of unreleased games. Alethea fangirls over Mass Effect 2, J calls out Project Natal, Roku does his postapocalyptic janitor thing, and I wish I’d brought more microphones. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder what it takes to get better acoustics. The answer to that is “More than you’d think.” Anyway, give a listen, won’t you?

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Fallout 3: Point Lookout – Impression 1

While putzing around on the show floor, Alethea, Roku, and I got our mitts on a playable demo of Point Lookout, the next DLC release scheduled for Fallout 3. While Alethea was busy getting her sea legs, and Roku contented himself with playing the post-apocalyptic janitor, I took my work seriously and was prepared to thoroughly dissect this latest riveting plunge into the human psyche. Or just shoot mans with a gun. Yeah, mostly that.

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Final Fantasy XIV Becomes Slightly Less Mysterious

Though E3 is over, the gaming world is still bewildered over the announcement of Final Fantasy XIV. Only a trailer was shown and information is  scarce, but nevertheless there are a few details about the game. Our own Jordan Jackson spoke with a representative of Square Enix on the last day of the show about the next installment of Final Fantasy.

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Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Impression 2

For those that braved the line, Nintendo showed off three demos of the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. They were a dungeon scenario, a train, demo, and a boss fight. And if you happened to still be on the show floor at the end of the day on Thursday, you could knock out all three in one fell swoop. Luckily, I planned on taking the red eye out of town, so I can tell you about all of them.

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Knights in the Nightmare Storms into Stores

Atlus announced today that its Nintendo DS RPG Knights in the Nightmare is now available in stores. All launch copies have a CD with the game’s soundtrack and an MSRP of $34.99.

Mass Media 06/05/09

E3 may be over, but there’s lots of media for you to feast your eyes on today including the first piece of concept art for the upcoming (and still unnamed) Zelda game for the Wii. You’ll also find Spectrobes Origins, Golden Sun DS, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky, Muramasa,  Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers.

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League of Legends: Clash of Fates Impression 1

What’s unique about this impression is that it didn’t even take place at the show. Instead, the developer, Riot Games, threw a party at the Lucky Strike bowling alley just down the street. The party, billed as “booze, bowling, and brawl,” was very hip and swanky.

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Alpha Protocol Impression

Sega had a big booth, full of shiny games, and among them was Alpha Protocol. While I didn’t get to see much of the plot, I definitely saw the battle system. It plays much like a mixture of Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid, with stealth playing a major role in combat. Players can also utilize a number of special abilities, including offensive, defensive, and passive skills. Two were highlighted on the show floor. One cloaked your player, and the other allowed for multiple enemies to be killed in rapid succession.

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Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Impression 1

I did not get to spend much time with The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, but I did get enough playtime to form an impression. Nintendo’s demo was set to time out after three minutes, and as always the booth staff closely monitored people so that the line could move quickly.

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Dissidia: Final Fantasy Impression 1

I’ve never been a huge fan of fighting games, and my experience with them has been largely limited to Super Smash Brothers. But Dissidia: Final Fantasy interests me for obvious reasons — I love the Final Fantasy series — so I gave it a try at Square Enix’s booth.

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White Knight Chronicles Impression 1

While passing through Sony’s booth, I happened to spot a game that’d I’d been interested in for quite a while: Level 5’s White Knight Chronicles. As soon as a station became available, I picked up a controller and tried it out.

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Editorial – Who Won E3?

Every year, people ask the same question. “Who won E3?” This is, of course, the hardest question to answer. Winning is very subjective. If you are a fan of shooters, you will think Microsoft won. Casual gamers will think Nintendo took top honors. To decide the winner, one must look at the announcements.

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Screenshots, Artwork

Some screens and art from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

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Square Enix Grants FFXIII a European Date

Rounding out Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII announcements, today we have the scheduled release date this game will be coming to European shores. Today, Final Fantasy XIII‘s director Motomu Toriyama announced that the company would be targetting a release in Europe in 2010.

Mass Effect 2 Impression

Contains minor Mass Effect 2 spoilers.

Though I was not able to actually play Mass Effect 2, I attended the closed showing of the game. Casey Hudson from Bioware headed the presentation, and it completely blew me away.

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Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Impression 2

I had been looking forward to giving Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days a try for quite some time. Organization XIII backstory? More Axel? Yes, please.

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