The dragon reborn

The news that Sega has been working on Ryu ga Gotoku 4 has been made all the more sweeter now that Yakuza 3 has been announced.

Yeah, I know that doesn't make a whole load of sense but think about it: the Yakuza games technically don't exist if the Ryu ga Gotoku games are not released in the West.

It's not Shenmue 3 but it's the next best thing.

Done & Dusted 2009

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3, Normal)
Saints Row 2 (PS3, Normal)
Stranglehold (PS3, Normal)
Okami (Wii)
Silent Hill 2 DC (PS2, both scenarios)
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja
Fahrenheit (Ps2)
Half-Life 2: Episode One (The Orange Box, PS3)
Onimusha (PS2)
Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak 3
Tomb Raider Anniversary* (X360, Normal)
Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Normal)
Red Steel (Crappy Ending)
Viking: Battle for Asgard (PS3)
Dark Sector (PS3)
Elite Beat Agents (Easy)
Lost Odyssey
Broken Sword: Director's Cut (DS)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition* (PS3)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune*
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Normal)
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (Path of the Warrior)
GTA IV (PS3)
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
God of War (Hard, PS3)


I finished this on Saturday night and I think it took nearly three hours on just the final boss (it's split into three stages but this is still a less than impressive play time). The worse thing was that I spent around 90 minutes on the first stage the previous night before giving up in disgust (this was right after going through the infamous Blades of Hades sequence). I'll readily admit that I went to GameFAQs for some tips, which did help help but more so because it clarified what the game already told me but I merely glossed over (mainly that Rage of the Gods gives you unlimited magic).


There is no doubt that all I felt on completion was sheer relief. There was no sense of accomplishment on completing the game at Spartan (hard) level. All I feel is that the game took 2.5 times as long as it would have done on Normal; the battles just lasted longer and were more frustrating rather than challenging. There's no doubt that I could now tackle the sequel on the same difficulty level, but I want to enjoy the run up to the third game so I'll probably stick to what I'm best at.

State of Play: GTA IV - Episodes from Liberty City

I finished off  'The Lost and Damned' a couple of nights ago, but I'm not counting it as a completed game. As soon as 'The Ballad of Gay Tony' is done and dusted then I'll consider Episodes from Liberty City a completed title.

I did enjoy TLAD and I'm full agreement that it (and it's partner) surely the set the new standard for downloadable content. That's regardless of the fact that I did not purchase it as DLC.

The only problems I had were of a technical nature. Rockstar North deliberately went for a gritty, seedy look for TLAD but this caused visual problems for me. Even with the special filter turned off I found the text hard to read - that's everything from the mobile messages and street names to the in-game menus. I also had trouble adjusting the brightness and contrast - Liberty City never looked 'right'. At first I thought it was something wrong with the X360 version of GTA IV, which disappointed me because I thought it had the edge on the PS3 game. I didn't find out the truth until a couple of days after I started playing.

Of course TBOGT has no such problems. The camp, bright colours might be a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun for the developers but it has helped me no end. Everything is bright and clear. I can live with street names being displayed in vivid pink.

I only started the game last night, but even if the narrative isn't as strong in this episode I think I'm still going to enjoy it a lot. No GTA fatigue so far.

Two sides of two coins

Here's an interesting 'Face-off' feature focusing on Bayonetta.

By all accounts everyone knew that the PS3 version was borked from the start, but it's interesting to read the opinion that the game feels more like an X360 exclusive which has been ported over seemingly as an afterthought. If so then the PS3 game never had a chance.

Off the shelf...

I went into town today with my hardly played copy of Mario Kart Wii in order to exchange it for New Super Mario Bros Wii. I had seen in the paper that GAME were offering £20 for it which is pretty good for such an old game (I had paid £32 for it brand new).

On reaching GAME, though, I decided to cross the road and see what was on offer in Gamestation. After letting the differently worded offer seep through into my brain (get NSMBW for £14.99 in exchange for MKW) I thought I'd give HMV a go. Patience has its rewards.

HMV were offering NSMBW for £5.99 in exchange for MKW, and the game was retailing for £2 cheaper than GAME and Gamestation to boot. In fact the only difficulty I had was being served by a Christmas temp, and that other member of staff helping her seemed equally vague (I kept my temper but informed both of them that I wished to take advantage of the offer that was plastered across the store).

I've not unwrapped it yet because I was expecting the God of War Collection to arrive (it was posted last Thursday) but I'm thinking that I might put that game on hold so as not faff around with switching optical cables between the X360 and PS3.