Role-Playing

Contrary to popular rumor, the Best of Community feature I've been plinking away at is still alive and kicking. I had to shelve it for a little while for various reasons, but I have two reviews that need to be posted tonight, and once those are in the can then I'm going to focus my full attention on getting the first installment of Best of Community up and running.

In other news, I never saw this one coming but the PlayStation Portable's Phantasy Star Portable has been getting the majority of my playtime lately.

One reason is that I've been on the go much more than usual lately, so the "portable" aspect has a lot to do with it. That aside, it's been a while since I played a good level-grinding loot-fest, so this one is fitting the bill. It's not one of the genre's best and it's certainly not as good as it could be, but it definitely has a certain charm.

Maybe if I order you to aim better you'll stop missing

HIGH The supremely challenging boss missions.

LOW The horrendously out-of-place "stealth" missions.

WTF Some inexplicable actions by the main character that I can't reveal without spoiling everything.

Deliverance, Part 2

HIGH Vast and rich, it feels like a perfect extension of the main game.

LOW The ending loot is a disappointment.

WTF Why are these 'shine-swilling hillbillies so bullet-resistant?

How'd they get it to fit?

HIGH A very faithful Shin Megami Tensei experience in a teeny package.

LOW Lacking the typically-excellent and usually-plentiful Atlus voice work.

WTF The AI gets another turn... why, again?

"The absence of death in most people's early years creates a psychic vacuum of sorts. For many, thoughts of a nuclear confrontation are one's first true brush with nonexistence, and because they are the first, they can be the most powerful and indelible." The Wrong Sun, Douglas Coupland.

HIGH It's Oblivion... with guns!

LOW It's just—sigh—Oblivion with guns.

WTF How does putting on a lab coat make one better at science?