Mega Man 9 [PS3] Review

You’ll be hard pressed to find a game I’ve given more chances to than Mega Man 9. I first played the demo for this game way back in October of last year…and even though I knew the game was gonna be too hard for me at that point, I still [stupidly] bought the game in early November. Since then, over the past six months, I have attempted to play Mega Man 9 and beat it if possible. While I didn’t play the game constantly in that time, I did find myself trying at least once a month to clear more of the game.

After six months of game playing time, what did it get me? Two stages beaten.

You read that right. TWO stages. Out of the initial eight. And that’s not even factoring in the “end-game” stages which I’m guessing is two or three more past that amount.

To put it simply, Mega Man 9 is too hard. It’s not that it’s too “old-school” or “hardcore” for me, it’s that it’s simply too hard. The level design is unforgivingly difficult and far more challenging than Mega Man ever was back in the day. As far as I can tell there is only one way (or a very limited number of ways) to proceed through the game because certain stage sections can only be beaten or survived by using the special weapons bosses leave behind. If that weren’t bad enough these linear-path game completion obstacles are vague at best and you won’t even know what to do until you just try out something stupid knowing 99% of the time you’ll die in the process.

For example, there’s a part on the Magma/Fire/Lava man stage where this giant dragon comes out and has fireballs for a body. For the longest time I couldn’t get  past that area. Nothing worked. Then, about a month or so ago I got the Gravity gun weapon and tried using it there (once I figured out how it worked) only to find out it didn’t do anything but suck the fireballs into one area. I didn’t get hit, but I ran out of ammo and the dragon eventually killed me. Then, earlier tonight (after not playing the game since early April), I played the same stage again and tried the same tactic (just out of curiosity) only to have the dragon die! What was the difference? I don’t know. But without the Gravity gun, that area would have been impossible. Suprisingly, after that, the rest of the stage was a ridiculously simple….but alas, I was useless against the boss and died quickly. All that for nothing.

It also doesn’t help that Mega Man can no longer charge up his weapon or slide like he does in so many Mega Man games. Even on the old NES titles he could do these simple things…yet in Mega Man 9 (which is chronologically supposed to occur AFTER the NES’s last MM title, Mega Man 6) he can’t do any of it!!! Killing enemies that require multiple shots seems to take forever (their weak spots are almost always just above normal standing height and below full jumping height…ughh…) and avoiding enemies or obstacles is a never-ending duel with taking damage or instant deaths (duels which you will almost always lose). It’s as if Capcom wanted to punish Mega Man fans for some sick, ”unknown to you and me” inside-joke reason.

My point is, Mega Man 9 will not be enjoyed by most gamers out there. In fact, I’ll go one step further and say most gamers who bought this game probably ended up regretting it soon after. I’m personally very confused as to who the audience is for this game. It’s too annoying and frustrating to be played for long stretches…yet the game will only be beaten by people who invest large amounts of time into playing the same stages over and over and trying slightly different tactics each time. So to me, that means that in a few years I’d probably be able to beat Mega Man 9 if I continued playing at the same rate I have been. However, if I try to play MM9 for even a few hours in a row this week I’ll put a shotgun in my mouth and pull the trigger to end the pain faster.

Stay away from this game. It’s an unworthy addition to the Mega Man series and ultimately adds nothing to the gaming world except more frustration. From a pure game design standpoint, Mega Man 9 is a terribly flawed execution of a ridiculously simple concept: Make a cheap-to-produce downloadable game that resembles an old-school, 8-bit title so that lots of people will be overcome with nostalgia and enjoy Mega Man in its simplest form once again.

How did Capcom screw that up so badly??? By making it too $#%@!* hard!

Graphics: 5 | Sound: 5 | Play Control: 3 | Fun Factor: 3 | Final Score: 37%

Monster Hunter 3 Demo…ME WANT NOW!

Alright Capcom, you have my money. Despite my sad feelings regarding your online gaming fees ($8/mo.?) and your selection of the Wii for MH3 (Boo! PS3!!!), I’ll buy the game…. Okay? I’ll buy it.

But you don’t have to keep teasing me with footage of a game from a demo that I can’t play yet! : /

If you want to see a clip of the recently released MH3 demo included w/ the Japanese Wii version of Monster Hunter, look no further.

Until it’s released, I gotta get back to playing MHF2…it’s been a few months since I played it (you can blame work & stress from it mostly) but I need to get back to slaying some creatures asap!

More PSP Monster Hunter On The Way?

According to a recent article by Joystiq, Capcom has made it clear that they are very interested in doing another Monster Hunter for the PSP. This is going beyond even Monster Hunter Unite (the English version of Monster Hunter 2 Portable G). So my thought? I think that Monster Hunter 3 Tri is indeed heading for the Wii as promised…but I think I know why Capcom decided to hold off on the PS3 for now:

They knew all along they’d be making at least one more title for the PSP…and since the Wii and PS2 are pretty close in power…porting over MH3 to the PSP wouldn’t result in a huge visual or gameplay difference. I’ve come to believe that Capcom understands Monster Hunter 3 is a portable phenomenon, much like Nintendo did years ago with their mega-successful Pokémon series.

So I see 2009 occurring this way: Monster Hunter 3 Tri comes out in Japan (this summer) while Monster Hunter Unite is released around the same time here in the States. Towards the end of the year MH3 is released domestically…and in early/mid 2010 a PSP port will be released both at the same time in Japan and North America, right at the end of the PSP’s lifespan when it has the largest possible userbase. A pretty smart business plan from Capcom if I do say so myself. Originally I was upset MH3 was only going to the Wii…but if I can wait awhile and get it on the PSP, I’d rather do that any day.

In other words, for Monster Hunter fans, this is nothing but good news.

Resident Evil 5 Demo: Hands On Preview

About a week ago my pal InvaderGamer brought his PS3 over to my apartment so that I could check out Resident Evil 5. It was a game I was definitely interested in checking out at some point…but hardly a game I couldn’t live without. Even so, I still took the opportunity to play the game since my friend enjoyed the co-op aspect and hey, when two people are in the same room as a PS3, it’s no fun to play single player games!

So we started RE5 and I could immediately sense it would take some getting used to. The control setup was ridiculously complex and odd and is definitely not something you’ll pick up in a few minutes. The demo has two different levels from indeterminate points in the game, so you really have no idea if you are playing stages from early on or mid- to late-in-the-game.

The graphics look nice (especially the cut scenes) but it wasn’t anything spectacular that I hadn’t seen before. The character models were the best part although the repetition of zombies was very obvious even in these two sample stages. Hopefully the full game offers more variety.

The sounds was fine and nothing to write home about either. In fact, everything was “passable” in my book for a demo but unfortunately nothing blew my socks off. However, yesterday I downloaded the demo for myself and tried playing the 1-player mode to see if the experience was going to be any different. It wasn’t.

I think the reason why this game (and I suspect 4 also, which is why I never played it) didn’t do anything for me is that I just can’t get past the camera and controls. Unlike, say, the controls in Monster Hunter Freedom 2 that seem very complex at first but then later on prove themselves to be almost necessary the way they are…the perspective and controls in RE5 seem to be different for the sake of being different. It also doesn’t help that your character seems sluggish to do  anything from turning around or dodging enemies to reloading his gun or equipping weapons while the enemies come faster and faster and in greater numbers as the stages progress.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect Resident Evil 5 to be a walk in the park…but unless the story is downright phenomenal, I personally don’t see this game being enjoyed by the masses. The awkward over-the-shoulder view drove me in crazy in Dead Space and Uncharted and it doesn’t look like this game did anything to fix the issues with it. Instead, the action is faster paced than most gamers are used to…so adjusting to a strange 3rd person view while you’re trying to guess if enemies are in your blindspot is something you’ll have to deal with whether you like it or not.

The game comes out in a month so here’s my verdict: Download the demo and give it a try. If you have no problem with the camera or controls, rent or buy RE5 when it comes out. If either of those two are deal breakers for you though, don’t even worry about picking it up.

Plesioth Slain!!!

This weekend I got back to what I’ve been craving for the past month: Monster Hunter Freedom 2. I actually felt guilty about not playing it because it seemed like as soon as I wrote my review I stopped playing. Well, not anymore. The main reason why I put MHF2 down for awhile was a 3-star wyvern called Plesioth. Arguably one of the most annoying and unecessarily powerful wyverns in MHF2, Plesioth killed me at least two dozen times when I first played him. You don’t even want to know how many swear words were yelled in my apartment because of him.

The problem was actually my weapon. While my hammer was certainly powerful enough to take down a 3-star wyvern (it has, I think, a 624 attack rating), Plesioth was simply TOO tall to hit! You can literally stand under his legs and only really long melee weapons can reach his soft underbelly (one of two main areas that are his weakest spots [his neck is the other]). So, starting yesterday I began my quest to acquire a new weapon that was equally as damaging but had a different reach and style. I ended up going with a Khezu Shock Sword because I had seen a YouTube video where a melee character managed to killed Plesioth using just that. Most FAQs and guides tell you to use ranged weapons…well, guns are pea-shooters and in my opinion, too much hassle to aim and maintain. Also, if you use a ranged weapon you can’t use the same armor Blasemasters use…so, a weapon change at this point in time means a change in EVERYTHING.

Anyways, once I spent probably 4-5 hours collecting Thunderbugs (pain in the butt!), Flabby Hides, Spiderwebs, Ivy, etc. I made myself a supply of items I never had before: 10 Mega Potions, 10 Potions + 10 Honey (to make 10 more Mega Potions), 5 Well-Done Steaks, 8 Frogs (to lure Plesioth), 10 Sonic Bombs (to lure Plesioth), 1 Shock Trap, 1 Pit Trap & 5 Hot Drinks…oh, and my brand new Khezu Shock Sword.

My first fight tonight against Plesioth ended badly. He killed me…but not before I saw myself landing tons of good underbelly blows that I never managed before (I could only hit his head and legs…two very low-damage areas). I also fished him out twice using Frogs and even used both traps successfully. Basically, I was carving up this annoying monster. But, like I said, he killed me. The next time I fought him though he was toast in about 15 minutes (I only got him into one trap though but I fished him out 3 times). I didn’t even know I was close to killing him since I didn’t see any noticeable change in his patterns, attacks, or walking (usually wyverns limp when they are close to death). It was just like, “Okay, he’s on land! Attack!” and all of a sudden, I take a swipe at him and Bam! Quest Completed.

That was an awesome feeling. That monster alone took at least 10 hours to kill (probably closer to 15, if you count all the time getting that new weapon and special items). I love this game.