New Blog!

Just to let everyone who is interested to know; I've moved my blog I'm now at this link:

http://nayfingaymerlife.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Riot Plagues Spreading All Across the UK

It's time for another blog and this time I thought I'd share my thoughts about the sudden outbreak of riot epidemics across England. Now I'm not usually one to follow, ironically like sheep, the same blogs as probably everybody else who has a decent sense of justice who writes, but I just couldn't help but share my thoughts about how much more of a shit hole people seem to want our country to become.

Okay so some guy gets shot by a policeman so the stories go and people react badly and begin rioting. Okay now there's no reason to ever riot but I can understand where they're coming from, the anger at the injustice makes perfectly a lot of sense and I'm sure a lot of people in London-Croydon have a lot of anger to vent, just simply because they have built it up or simply because they're all pricks, more likely the latter but I digress.

Now it just gets worse, it's gone from a riot with a meaning to simply just rioting because one can and from it we have innocent people being harmed, looters and people losing more brain cells by the second and for some reason they feel it's necessary to continue the riot for days. To make matters worse, other cities of the country feel the need to join in. Since when did people of not-so-Great Britain act like such sheep (Now you see the irony of my earlier statement) that we feel the need to copy such harsh destruction, it's pathetic.

I actually bought a newspaper last night, something I've never done before but my god this one needed to be bought. "At least 1,377 people have been arrested since the violence began on Saturday" - "Among them are an 11-year old boy and a primary school mentor". Little shit needs a hand upside his head. What the fuck do parents of today do to make their children such little fucks ergh they all have that fucking ugly pikey face as well though again I digress looks and the faces they pull have nothing to do with it.

So main page of the Daily Mirror is naturally about the carnage of the riots front page in BIRMINGHAM, a city which is not London-Croydon where it began. Probably a good time to mention that I was born in Croydon. I know what the place is like, it's most certainly not a golden city but actually quite the opposite (though I have good memories there) it's full of gangs, petty crimes and idiots and now riots made by and for idiots. Idiot to weak of a word? Pricks, shitheads, fuckers, wankers, pathetic scum of the Earth. Take your pick.

Back to the Daily Mirror; it explains of three young adults who died trying to protect families in amongst the rioting in Birmingham. As I turn the page a couple, I can see how far this plague of rioters have spread. From London to Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Gloucester, Reading, Oxford and Milton Keynes. Who wakes up, watches the news featuring the riots in London and thinks "Fuck that's a good idea, where's my aluminium bat?" Suddenly it's not just that one person it's hundreds of others. Plymouth where I live and call my home had some idiots on Facebook trying to start riots in Plymouth, apparently it was meant to be a joke but never the less the guy who started it has been arrested. I never got to see the group but it's already been taken off.

 I say fuck yes to the Rise of the Home Guard, those who have taken to the street to protect themselves and others from the rioters, will this do any good? It's yet to be seen.

"So what if we get caught? We won't go to jail" seemingly thugs think just because our prisons are getting full means they're free from getting punished. "We did what we did because we could." Fuck me the logic of some people today. So apparently we have young teenagers stealing wine, eight year old's stealing cigarettes and other shit from shops and... oh fuck off. "We could afford to buy stuff, but it's not about that. It's about the Government - them taking stuff away... in my case I don't go to college no more cos I don't get paid, do I?" So London was a good excuse to start the riots and now they blame the government because that's a good added reason. They're not afraid of punishments because prisons are overcrowded and they're fine with an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) Is our country not strict enough for the young population? Also "is this the height of our young peoples ambition." good words thought of by Brian Reade.

What a time it is to be ashamed of my country and those who occupy it. People need to get their head around life, sort their shit out and make it a good life for themselves, sounds hard and nothing is ever as easy as how it sounds but that's life, no need to make it worse. Also parents need to sort their brats out. To those rioting idiots who say the government are not doing a good enough job: You're right they're not, they should be doing a better job by giving pricks like you bigger punishments.

Wow I've said a few hostile lines much unlike myself, course I've only vented out what I think of my country right now, y'know I could have just went on a riot but I thought I'd do things in a little more of a civilised manner by writing a blog. All I can hope is that people mellow out and everyone starts working towards a brighter future, people need to wake up and do what's right. Too many lives are being lost and/or broken and what for? "a car battry en tele en beer init m8 llol"

That's all for now, my next blog will hopefully be something about more of a cheery matter.

Also follow up on Dan's blog to hear his views about the rioting: http://danzoisthebest.blogspot.com/2011/08/anarchy-in-retarded-uk.html?zx=9011287c3873c7c9

Bye for now!

Quick Blog Blog

It's been awhile since I posted up anything and I figured after reading about seven blogs, three from Fel and four from Dan I thought I'd get on and write a quick update, nothing too over the top, no theme just my general thoughts right now.

So I've been working nearly three months now and things have been a mix, I hated the first two months with a passion, christ is it heart shattering and soul destroying to begin with. Now it's not too bad, it's gotten to that stage where I'm finally getting along with the other members a little more, I'm getting slightly faster and despite it being just a job at the Co-Operative, the pay actually isn't too bad, though it's not enough as I need at least another eight hours, housing benefits still help me get that little bit more to pay the rent, buy food and naturally live. Course now council tax has suddenly sprung up on me like a skanky whore trying to lunge upon the streets looking to buy a rustler burger ONLY TO CRASH TO THE FLOOR AND FAIL! (Many thanks to Dan Reed for the over dramatic metaphor.)

Or so I hope. I live in a one room flat, sharing a the toiletries such as bathrooms and toilets themselves with no community living area, y'know like a lounge the flat mates can sit around during the day. I'm sure there's a few more reasons why I should not be required to pay council tax.

Boring subjects aside.

I'm currently at my Grandparents, I felt like doing this blog now before leaving to head off to do what I need to do to sort out the above statements. It is interesting to note that certain features about my Grandparents are bothersome. Though I love them with all my heart, the house itself is rather, well, falling apart around me, I won't get into that though I swear I just heard my Grandfather mention 'maggots' but now I realise he was talking about something else, thank goodness. See my Grandfather is a very lovely man, very kind, very in tune with nature, but does complain a lot, then he complains about people complaining too much, when half the time we're complaining about him complaining. My Grandmother is wonderful, bless her, my only negative thoughts are that she often asks if I've eaten, when I've ate five minutes ago in front of her, she smokes, and she doesn't like Friends. She told me that again last night. Despite these minor indifferences I do really love spending time with them, however I can imagine I'd spent a lot more time with them if they lived in a much better house.

Speaking of smokers though, I was watching the TV explain about people smoking and all that crap and that you shouldn't be allowed to do so in cars, on the streets, and them mentioning about it just should be banned altogether. I hate smoking as much as the next person but bloody hell let them do what they want. Some stupid woman on there was explaining that she thinks "You know when you get up to go for a smoke to calm you down, it's not the cigarette that calms you down it's the fact that you got up, to go outside." Yeah well I bet the fact they're getting their twenty minute nicotine fucking helps. Take away the cigarette and have them go outside and they will NOT get the same calming affect. Now I agree that it should be made illegal to smoke around children thanks for pointing out the obvious. That was all they spoke about; the obvious and the stupidity. It smoking was banned all over, christ that'd take a while for the smokers out there to quit rioting.

Finally I'd like to mention that working at the Co-Op I find myself seeing my friends less and less. My boyfriend is easy enough to see because he practically lives with me. But hopefully I should be seeing Dan and Stacey tonight. Kay and Darrell sometime during the week probably and anyone else whenever. Another thing I notice is my love for more new songs that get released as time goes on. Listening to the Co-Operative radio naturally allows me to listen to new songs and every now and then I start to really enjoy them like Take That's 'Love Love', Caro Emerald's 'Night Like This' and Narina Pallot's 'Put Your Hands Up'. Just interesting how I can find songs I don't usually look out for on the radio and begin to enjoy. Also recent advert at the Co-Op that I really dislike; "Hola Amigos! It's Mexican tonight!" Fuck off I don't want Mexican food tonight, quit telling me what I should eat for dinner every twenty minutes.

Well that's all I wanted to mention right now, I think I'll write about something game related again next time as it seems people enjoy me talking about computer games mostly. I'd also still like to write a three-way blog where me, Dan Reed and Dan Naylor talk about the same thing just to see how our blogs are different.

Now to get up, go to the Council, sort some shit, then tidy my flat before tonight. Off I go!

Nayfin's Top 10 Bad/Unpopular/Unknown/Underrated/Low Budget Games Part 2

Well I figure I'd write part two now instead of waiting a whole week to do so, it's not as if it were a TV show where their aim is to leave you in suspense for a whole week after watching the first part of a two parter, Doctor Who I'm looking at you for I know full well you'll do that to me at least five times not to mention that one two parter is showing part one in June and the other part in September it has its reasons but really. Already into the first path I find myself digressing and should really move on, as I say there is no point to make you wait a week for a review about bad but good computer games.

Though now that I think about it, after watching a few videos of Zero Punctuation all I can hear that my voice is another man's better-then-mine British accent not to mention his wit so perhaps it's better that I stop now, grab myself a cup of tea and then continue or I may just do nothing but add sarcasm all over the place. So...

 Much better. So I if you've read my last blog you'd have seen at number 10 with its bad graphics, cheesy dialogue and odd gameplay is Deadly Premonition, number 9 with its unfavourable reviews and dodgy motion play is Red Steel, number 8 aimed at kids but isn't that different to Farmville is Viva Piñata, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness having bad gameplay and very tedious levels has a soft spot in my heart at number 7, and finally number 6 is Shadow of Memories which is basically an interactive story. All good games in my books and now for the rest:

Number 5: Eat Lead The Return of Matt Hazard

  Another game released for this current generation of gaming, a great game but not great enough to be listed as one of the top ranking games.

So Eat Lead begins with a man named Matt Hazard explaining about his history of computer games how he had risen and then fell as the games he starred in were great and eventually crap. So already we have an odd story, a game character who knows he is in fact a computer game character.

Matt Hazard has finally returned for a new game where he stars as some kind of a detective only to find out after the first level that his game has been hacked and a new hero would be replacing him, of course someone has noticed and has hacked the hacker and stopped him from derrezing Matt Hazard. So now Matt Hazard must play through the game to try and get to the source of who is trying to derezz him while another person, a beautiful female tries to stop this from happening by hacking in things to help him at every opportunity. Think of it as someone hacking into your Pokemon game to make your Iunno, Pikachu die, but another outside party stops this from happening, and now you and Pikachu must beat the Elite Four to somehow save your Pikachu. Can't see a possible conclusion or a reason for that matter? You'll have to play the game.

This game is absolutely brilliant, the game being hacked turns the game into Matt Hazards older computer games, ones that actually don't exist but in the world of Eat Lead they do. This ranges from the Wild West genre to troubles with Russia like old spy flicks and then to more stranger scenarios such as zombies and finally even older games that include 2D paper enemies oh and RPG moments. So with so many scenarios you're bound to come across a level that you like, even if you don't like the game play which is an over-the-shoulder third person shooter. The game has a lot of changes, guns, characters, funny moments and outrageous   designs you'd never expect from a serious game making this a very casual, non-serious and fun game. Even the achievements are fun. It's a game I'd expect to see on the Playstation 1, but with easier gameplay and better graphics.

Even if you're still unsure that my liking for the game might not suit yours, £5 at your local GAME for Eat Lead The Return of Matt Hazard is not a lot of money.

Number 4: Obscure

Now if it wasn't for Dan I'd have never played this game. Being another horror game this usually would take our interest, however being a game from an earlier generation we'd be less inclined to pick it up (Not saying older generations are bad, far from it, but a game we've never heard of isn't going to be the first to be picked up) It wasn't untill Dan noticed the back cover mentioning Sum 41 had a song in the game itself did he pick it up to notice something very interesting; the game had the option for co-operative multiplayer. Co-op horror games? That's a good enough reason as any to buy the game.

Now I can only imagine that games such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill are to blame for leaving Obscure out of the spot lights. Saying that, this game has that cheesy high school feel and a lot of the characters seemed too perky or irritating, or maybe it was the difficulty that brought the game down. Again on the other hand Resident Evil had the whole Jill sandwich incident and it never really pulled any punches in terms of difficulty, in fact now that I think about it, I've completed Obscure, and unless we're talking about the remake, I've never completed the first Resident Evil which is something me and Dan should do sometime.

Now one thing to say about this game is that it is incredibly short, playing it on easy mode and getting to grips with it will probably have you playing it for about 6 hours till you complete it, 3 hours if you've already completed the game before. The game has a mildly good, if rather confusing story at first, though everything about it is predictable. The characters are lovable unless its Shannon because she just doesn't help at all but other then her abilities she's likeable enough. The game play isn't too difficult to get used to, in fact it's more or less Resident Evil but you're able to move while aiming your gun. Only problems I saw were two spots where you could die instantly if you did it wrong but they're easy enough to avoid, and if you do die, surely you have another character to continue with.

Maybe it's the unusual gameplay or that it just popped up during the time that Resident Evil and Silent Hill were in their prime but really I see no reason why this can't be a much loved game. Obscure 2 is even better, though have only really just started in that game. Plus co-operative horror multilayer, having a friend over to play it, with popcorn, or pizza and tea or pepsi/coke along with maybe another friend who enjoys watching, this game is great! If you and a friend are into horrors you should try it, if you don't like it, well that's not a lot of money down the drain. Old cheap games are good!

Number 3: EDF - Earth Defence Force 2017

  This game is pure arcade brilliance, simple third person shooter, all you have to do, is kill all the invading aliens known as Ravagers to advance to the next level, each level adds a little bit of story, maybe a new enemy, or some kind of huge boss. Two weapons are chosen at the start of each level and you can acquire more weapons by defeating each enemy, the harder the difficulty, the better the weapon drops.

With an infinitive amount of armour (which is dropped like weapons)to collect, each one adding a total to your health, 171 weapons to collect with some weapons added as a bonus for completing the game on a certain difficulty and 53 levels to play on as well as five difficulties this game offers a lot of arcade, shooting, collecting, advancing, alien killing fun. Kill the blasted Ravagers and get them off our planet!

This game would be nothing without its multiplayer values. I've spent hours upon hours with my boyfriend just trying to complete every difficulty and get every weapon. We eventually did it after taking down many an alien ant, robot and several other enemies.

As a budget game this game is sold for £20, maybe less now. You may not get a lot of out this, but as I'm a fan of simple games, and the voice acting is just so funny I'm bound to enjoy it.(With lines such as "I miss the sunlight." from annoying 'I miss the sunlight' man and "ARGHHDTHHGEH" from EDF unit dying in pure agony) If you're a fan then look out for EDF: Insect Armageddon coming this June or July.

Number 2: Alundra 2

So whether this game was well known back in the days of Playstation, or if it was another game left to collect dust on the shelves I have no idea, all I know is that whenever I ask someone if they know of this game (This includes then and now) all I get is a shrug and "I have no idea."

Alundra 2 is an Action-Adventure RPG that has no relation to its predecessor and sadly was also less successful. This game was originally bought for me by accident, I asked for a game and my Grandfather ended up buying this for me instead, and am I glad he did.

My feelings for this make me think of a mixture of Final Fantasy 7 with its higher technology in a fantasy based realm and Zelda in terms of gameplay what with the way you control the hero Flint, the world of which you can explore and also the dungeons and bosses.

There is so much to this game, it is a lot of fun and I can remember playing this game non-stop from morning till 2am just trying to complete it, only to have it crash on me (I had no memory card at that time) and to find out that I was actually only half way through the game.

The game had me going for hours upon hours and still I haven't completed it 100%. The characters are lovable, there are a few cheesy moments but the story is superb and the villains are the kind of RPG villains that I do love, evil and menacing. As a boss lover in these kinds of games, the bosses I really do enjoy fighting against, and the music in the game is really good, as I write this one of the dungeon themes is stuck in my head.

So if you enjoy Action-Adventure RPG games and you see this going cheaply, give it a whirl, I'd love to see a remake. Speaking of remakes, if only...

Number 1: Ephemeral Fantasia

...if only they made a remake of this. Ephemeral Fantasia, known for its bad graphics, anime styles that just were not what gamers got worked up about, weird camera angles, the fact that its impossible to complete without a walkthrough and the fact they all felt it was a waste of money, except for those like me who carried on with the game. I actually lost this game many years back, and a few years ago I asked that this be one of my birthday/Christmas presents, sadly when it came it wasn't compatible with my PS2, but I sent it back and got one that was.

Now despite the down sides, I played through, stuff that I could look past, sure I had to google a walkthrough but only to figure out points in time to look for things. This game has an incredible story, if not an incredible way of telling it.

We begin with our poorly named hero of the game; Mouse. Mouse travels to the Island of Pandule known as the Island of Endless Summer. Sounds beautiful. Mouse has been invited by the soon to be ruler of Pandule to create and play a song at his wedding to which he is going to marry the princess of Pandule. Mouse having his own agenda with one of his life long friends Pattimo, that agenda is; thievery. Pattimo I should mention here is the guitar Mouse carries around, sounds strange but actually Pattimo once was human who got caught trying to steal a guitar and this guitar belonged to a wizard who had powerful magic, he turned Pattimo into that guitar where he would live most of his days as. This bit of trivia was not actually explained in the game, in fact it's quite bad for explaining the main characters histories other then those already living on Pandule.

 Once in Pandule Mouse finds himself going through many traditions before the wedding ceremony, while meeting lots of new friends, enjoying the beach and oh lets not forget, facing demons who appear when things seem wrong, watching members of Pandule die due to catastrophic events and the soon-to-be ruler watching over everything as if everything was normal.

During the week that Mouse is visiting Pandule, a gang of thieves breaks through the castle to steal the princess, princess Loreille explains the outcome of this battle bit by bit, her predictions happen exactly as she stated. This is where Mouse realises something horribly wrong is going on and the soon-to-be ruler Sephiroth- sorry Xelpherpolis notices Mouses sudden notions about the island. It is here that Xelpherpolis is revealed to be the islands puppet master and everything on that island he controls.

As Mouse sees things getting worse and worse and Sephiroth- uh Xelpherpolis taking things not with fret but with laughter, Mouse feels enough is enough, and on the day of the wedding Mouse pulls out his sword and attacks Xelpherpolis only to be defeated and this is the time that Xelpherpolis explains that the Island was on a continuing loop, that the week would repeat over and over again and sure enough Mouse soon finds himself on the first day of the island, unaware that something is wrong, except it doesn't take long for him to realise that things were being repeated, it seemed that neither Mouse nor Pattimo are affected by the spell Xelpherpolis used on them to make them forget.

Few sorry about the long explination of the game. But that sums it up, from here on, Mouse must embark on going through the same catastrophes that had happened, again and again, with every bit of him willing to change things and break other members of Pandule from the spell. The story gets better and better with more twists and turns but I feel I've said way too much on the story.

Breaking the people of Pandule from the spell takes a lot of effort, and you really gotta know the right trick to doing things, more often then not, going through the week to see what happens to each member makes it a little easier to solve the many puzzles.

Lastly I'll mention the battles and the music. The battle is turn based and has excellent camera angles, shame about the camera angles when not in battle, the battles do seem incredibly easy apart from a few bosses but with a complex story maybe that's for the best. As for the music it really is magnifique if I wanted to choose to listen to RPG music it would be this, only second to Nobuo Uematsu.

Sadly it's not a game that one can just pick up and go with, if you don't feel that you can go through this games long lasting play, then you're probably not going to play through it like I did. If they made a remake for this game, improved the graphics, camera angles and have the ability to have more clues in the game to figure out what to do then maybe it'd see more play. But it's been 10 years since the release of Ephemeral Fantasia so who knows, I feel that Konami may have forgotten about this game or at least outside of Japan.


So that's my top 10 bad/unpopular/unknown/underrated/low budget games that I do very much enjoy. You might see some of these games in store and think "Well, maybe I'll give it a try." If you do hopefully you'll enjoy them as much as I did. Some of these so called not good games do actually turn out to be really good if you can have a reason to enjoy them.

Thanks for reading!


...so says Mr Stewart.

Nayfin's Top 10 Bad/Unpopular/Unknown/Underrated/Low Budget Games

I've just finished catching up on everyone's blogs that I have been neglecting to read and recently I have noticed that many of them are doing a top 10s. I also have noticed that, big as a gamer that I am, I haven't actually blogged anything to do with games. I figure that my top 10 games of all time had been done before, not that it'd be a bad thing to do one myself, but I figure I wanted to let the games that don't receive the spotlights a little spotlight of my own.

Introducing my top 10 bad, unpopular or low budget games that stay left on the shelves of Gamestation, GAME, or Gamestop. The games that constantly are bought upon release and a day later, or less returned because of how bad, boring, or non-capturing the game may be. We've all played games such as these, and some of us actually end up liking them for whatever reason. Like those people who enjoy B-Movies, I am one to enjoy the off B-Game or two, though some of these are not actually bad games, just low budget or just unpopular for whatever reason.

So let's begin with number ten and working my way down to my favourite at number one:

Number 10: Deadly Premonition

The game that made me want to write this particular top 10.

Now as a lover of horror games I'm always looking out for new horror games that haven't moved onto the action genre such as Resident Evil, or sad to say Silent Hill (Let's face it, Silent Hill 5 was not scary.)

So coming across a game in store, depicting what seems to be a mysterious figure standing in the rain, wielding an axe would make me instantly pick it up just to check it out course it was my boyfriend who brought it on home one day thinking the same thing I did; looking at the back cover I find the game to remind me of Silent Hill (Not 5 NOT 5!) Plus Desctructoid (A lesser known but usually good game review company) has given it a 10/10 perfect review. Looking at the Japanese front cover, even more does one think "Now that looks like a horror game)

This has to be a good game! So beginning my decent into the realm of a detective named  Francis York Morgan. The game begins with York driving his car, seemingly talking to himself about the case he's on about a girl who has been murdered, from here it has an off moment where the camera zooms in for a close up, giving the subtitle "Francis York Morgan" and has some really inappropriate jazzy detective music that you'd probably see in a 1960s detective sitcom. Here you also begin to notice that the graphics are very PS2.

So the game recovers soon after with York crashing his car after taking his eye off the road for a split second, only to suddenly see the hooded figure standing in the middle of the road. SUDDEN SWERVE, SLIDE AND CRASH! This is where we find our hero in a strange world full of strange zombie like creatures which moan and appear from the dark murky puddles scattered throughout the level. Here we find the gameplay is much like Resident Evil 5 with over-the-shoulder controls, it seems a bit dicky and tedious at points but that's something I can look past.

After getting out of the forest, away from the zombie like things (Which are actually a bit creepy sometimes) the sharp detective meets up with a police woman and the sheriff of the town and this is where the game shows us what it really is; a cheesy detective horror-comedy with limitations on the word horror. "I'm agent Francis York Morgan. But you can just call me York. Everybody else does." he says which instantly becomes his catchphrase to everyone he meets for the first time. His reply to those who get it right would be "Good. That's good."

We find ourselves with a very fishy character, one who talks to an imaginary friend, who says weird stuff, who looks at his coffee in the morning for predictions of the future - standing up with excitement and shouting "I SAW IT IN MY COFFEE! F...K... what does this mean?" Makes the players eyebrow raise. The game is complete with many over the top facial expressions, stupid scenarios such as making York look smart because he can solve chess puzzles, and very odd yet unique character.

I've said to much about one game for a top 10, but Deadly Premonition is possibly the weirdest game I've ever seen on the Xbox 360. That's right it's a new game. It's made me laugh countless times and I actually enjoy this game. But if you're wanting a serious and thrilling horror game, Deadly Premonition probably is one bullet you should most definitely avoid.

Number 9: Red Steel

Ah one of the very first Wii computer games built to use the full potential of the Wii remote and nun-chuck controller which sad to say was probably what brought this game down. Story? Excellent. Gameplay? Er well, not so good. I personally loved the gameplay but others not so much. The controls vary between using whichever gun you have acquired to moments where you would have one on one sword battles with your trusty katana.

During the game you're going to be firing a lot of bullets, whilst moving things out of your way, slamming tables down to use them for cover, and many actions that you use with your whole arms, rather then just your fingers and thumbs. So there's a lot to get used to, especially since you're no longer just using buttons to do control your actions, now you're using motion.

Using guns itself can be tricky as aiming with the Wii remote isn't as easy as aiming a cross-hair with an analogue stick though it doesn't take too long to get to grips with. The katana on the other hand may take many more tries and indeed I have failed many a battle just shouting at my remote telling it to "SWING UPWARDS!" but again it is another thing that eventually one gets used to. This along with the graphics of the game a lot of people seldom seem to rate as the best they've played, especially for a new console. Music on the other hand, a lot of people have said that the music in this game is excellent.

This was one of those games I found myself putting down after the first level, but eventually I decided to play through it, got addicted and completed. Apparently Redsteel 2 has great improvements to the gameplay, but lacks story. Guess Redsteel has troubles keeping one without the other.

Number 8: Viva Piñata 

This was actually a game I bought on a whim when out with a friend of mine, and she thought it'd be a laugh. Me being the kind of boy who likes childish things decided to go with it.

Now naturally this game would be popular with children, but oddly enough it can be quite attractive, as well as addictive to adults as well.

You're probably thinking this game is going to be crap, I do hope you're one of those facebook fanatics who love their games such as Farmville. Because Viva Piñata is exactly that; it is Farmville but with piñatas and a lot more colour.

It's not a bad game, it's not a boring game (Well it is at first) it's addictive and if you wanted there to be a negative thing about the game then it would be that it's childish and a bit repetitive.

So if you like gardening/farm games, don't just pass this one down, give it a shot, you might actually like it, just remember other people on Xbox Live can see your gamerscore and they'll know what you've been playing!

Number 7: Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness

Like Marmite you're either going to completely agree or disagree. Either you'll, like me, think this game compared to all the rest is the definite let down compared to the rest or you'll think there are worse Tomb Raiders such as Underworld.

Well I don't think this is a bad game at all, I actually like it, though despite I'm not actually stuck in the game, I have no wants to continue from where I left off. Despite my enjoyment for the game, I have to say it is the most difficult to play and is the most problematic.

The games biggest let down are the controls, Lara this time around moves way too slowly and doesn't always respond to controls that you input thus ending in huge explosions you tried so desperately to avoid, or perhaps that cliff side you tried to grasp a hold of was just an inch away because she didn't feel like it.

In terms of story Tomb Raider The Angel of Darkness has succeeded in making a good one, but of course you're not going to find everything out if you don't feel like playing the game itself. The music in this game is also an upside, probably the best orchestrated piece I had ever heard shortly after getting the PS2 for the first time ever was the theme for this game and still today I will say it has a great theme much better then Tomb Raiders recent games.

Now some would say that games such as Underworld are worse then this, though I'd agree, the point I'm making is that this is an unpopular game (Compared to its predecessors) when it really shouldn't be and Underworld is unpopular for good reasons. If you can get past the controls, this one is actually a good Tomb Raider, before it slowly got worse and worse.

Number 6 Shadow of Memories

Shadow of Memories or Shadow of Destiny depending on your region is a game that involves a young man who's life has ended, ended, and ended over and over again. Eike Kusch is living a day like any other, after taking his daily coffee at the coffee shop he goes for a stroll across the streets where he inevitably gets stabbed in the back, falls to the floor and dies.

Upon waking up Eike finds himself in a state of limbo of some kind where he meets up with an odd man (Whom I mistook for a woman at first) named Homunculus (If you know your myths it turns out I was wrong either way) Homunculus seems sympathetic towards Eike and gives him the chance to change his destiny though Eike seems unconvinced he accuses Homunculus of being 'The Devil'. Homunculus reassures Eike of only wanting to help him through his unfortunate disaster and gives him a device enabling him to time travel to not exactly specific places.

The story is all about trying to change Eike's destiny, there is no combat to the game or chases, it is simply a puzzle story game which may as well have been made to be a point and click game. The objective is to change things in the past so that Eike may have a future while at the same time trying not to run in to yourself by accident which would cause a paradox and wipe you from history itself.

I'd probably call this one to be an interactive DVD, though there's not a lot to it, the story is definitely worth the gameplay, especially when there is like several different endings and extra endings, the characters are likeable and the music is really good.


So that's my first 5 of the list, I figure I'll stop now as it'll be a bit too much to read and I fear it already is. Hope you enjoyed the first half and maybe you might actually think twice about these games you thought not to buy at first glance.

Thanks for reading!

THIS IS A TITLE

It seriously is time for a new post, I have left my blog quite untouched untill today and the only problem I can think of that stops me from writing a blog is that I can't actually think of what to write about. I lay here typing away without a topic in my mind, in fact not even the title above has been filled with letters.

However I am running on about 5 cups of tea (3 sugars in each) about to be a 6th (That's 6 times the caffine and 18 spoons of sugar) and they have put me in a typing mood which is good cause I have a blog to write and a chapter of a fanfiction. Okay I don't HAVE to write either of the two but I want to write a chapter once a month and I like to update my blog every now and then.

I'm thinking about getting some kind of camera specifically for vlogs, a friend mentioned Toys R Us selling a simple camera which you can plug into your laptop which is perfect for vlogs but £50 is still quite expensive. (Here is where I got distacted looking at toys from Toys R Us)(Here is also where I finished my 6th cup of tea)

So looking for work is probably actually harder then the job itself, I desperatly want a job as there is so many things that I would love to purchase; a bigger place is one of them. Not only are there things I want to buy, but I also want a life where I'm not living on benefits. Living on benefits allows me to keep my house, keep fed but upon going out and being social, or buying stuff that I'd like, planning really is needed. There is also the chance of one mistake and your benefits could be lost for a week, or delayed and you generally have to work harder making sure you get everything done right. Finally there is the feeling of... oooh what is it, guilt might be too strong of a word, I'm not sure but eventually I end up feeling bothered as I hate being one of the hundreds of people who live off of benefits. Now I don't mean to live off benefits, I am strongly looking for a job (Well maybe not just this second as I am writing a blog) but while I look, I need to be able to pay the rent, I just never thought I'd be on benefits for so long, I had hoped to have already snagged a job by the end of January, it is now a day before March.

Now there are people out there that I have seen committing benefit fraud, I won't say who, mostly people who don't keep their mouths shut and people who once upon a time were my friends, I've seen it, whether they're not bothered about working because they don't want to, or perhaps they think the world owes them something. Especially those that annoy me are the ones who have whatever it is wrong with them, a peg leg or low blood pressure or whatever allows them to get a load of money off the goverment but they don't give anything back, y'know like working. Sure it's okay for some, I understand that there are those with serious illness' or problems and I have no problem with them getting the good treatment, but those lazy motherfuckers who just take and take without giving back when I'm here doing my best to get a job just annoys me.

In short: Still trying to get a job, there are a lot of benefit frauding pricks out there.

Yup that was the best I could come up with and now I don't have an idea as to what to write about after. I might just leave it there for now and hopefully I can think of a good topic to write about, truth is I definally want to start doing some vlogs but I need a good camera for that.

Well I'll leave it at that for now. Oh yeah still need a title.

Aww I want art

Ahh so it seems I never needed to do that Gaia cash project thing afterall as the proof that Gaia has been ruined is right in front of me.

Now first of all I'd like to apologise for the constant blogs about one website, it is starting to get a bit of a bore but I'll try and make this the last one. Now earlia today I mentioned about giving Gaia a break saying that I don't have to pay for all these items and it's not like I use Gaia for much at all nower days, however there is one thing I do love about Gaia and that is art. I love people drawing my avatar in the many different ways I can create him, and as it's just a pixilated me, it's like getting pictures drawn of me but however I want it, with whoever I want.

So I started creating a thread about requesting art for of course Gaia Gold which I would adapt to the forums later. So all I needed to do was research for proper prices. Now when I first began Gaia most of the art ranged from 10,000 gold to 40,000 gold (10k-40k) so that seems like a fair price. This is where I'd be shaking my head if it were a vlog. Thanks to all the special items going for 999 Gaia Cash the prices for everything including avatar art has peaked so very high.

If I were to spend £25 on Gaia, I would obtain enough Cash to buy 5 chance items worth 999 Gaia Cash each which all could then be sold in the Gaia Market Place each for about near 700,000 gold (700k) selling each one would give me a grand total of 3,500,000 (3m 500k) That is how most Gaians get their gold, this is what gives Gaians the right to think that selling art for 200,000 gold - 500,000 gold is just the right amount to be selling art for.

I'm not bothered about the items or being rich, but when it comes to art I'd have to pay real life money. So my final Gaian conundrum that I ever want to post on this blogging site is this: Do I say "Fuck it!" and never get the art that I so love and therefore stick it to Gaia for being a sellout or once I get a job and can afford the cash, pay Gaia to get me gold so I can get my art? Would that be selling out alongside with Gaia? Should that matter?

Well the worthwhile option would be to follow what it is that I want, if I want something enough I'll go for it, though it is pretty stupid, but I guess art in real life costs money, that includes graphic design, clothes and many other arts. So despite the fact that I think Gaia are sellouts, I still love it enough to enjoy the art and the avatars. So despite all my rants and annoyance towards Gaia, if I still want art I'll have to pay but at least I'll hopefully have a job to pay towards it. Afterall I can think of some other stuff I spend more money on which lasts a lot shorter of a time then a photo or a picture.

So in short: To get the good things of Gaia (Other then the socialisation) you may need to pay money. Whether or not I do is another question. Also this is the last time I mention Gaia, unless they go back to their old ways or Gaia HQ blows up.