I didn’t get as much accomplished gameplay wise as I wanted to this weekend. I was up till about 2AM on Saturday morning just playing the three games I did get through. Mainly because I got a little to into Dark Void. The rest of the weekend went to family stuff, but I did do something interesting on Sunday that I will be covering in a separate article. 

This Weekends Buys:

Sky Odyssey (PS2) – This is another obscure PS2 game that seems to have pretty good reviews, and reminds me of an updated version of Nintendo’s old Pilot Wings series.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault (PSP) – This is the other Ace Combat game on the PSP, but was a bit harder to find the english version of. 

Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360) – I may have covered this topic once before but JRPG’s are rarer commodity on the XBox. Sure you get the big ones like Final Fantasy games, or other fare from Square, but smaller titles are unusual. Eternal Sonata is one of those rare and obscure JRPG titles on the Xbox 360.

Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360) – This was a two for one deals with Eternal Sonata, but I look forward to trying it out. 

MLB Front Office (Xbox 360) – Ok, its a bit fantasy baseball-ish but this is an old title from a few years back that focused on team management. It’s kind of a different type of sports game then we are use to.  

This Weekends Plays:

Armored Core V: Verdict Day (Xbox 360) ⭐⭐⭐ – I’ve heard a lot about the Armored Core games, and this is my first foray into the franchise.I have to say I’m not impressed overall, other mech games in the same vein like the Front Mission franchise are a lot more engaging in storyline, and even better in gameplay. Know keep in mind I don’t know much else about the Armored Core series, so perhaps I’m passing judgement to early since it seems to be a fan favorite with a cult following. The game takes place in a world that is nearly apocalyptic and has been warring for a long time, and is now divided into three factions. You play as a mercenary named “Fatman”, who likes some really awful music and just seems to go where he’s told and fight who he’s told without much explanation. It’s the basis of a pretty interesting storyline, but treated in a slightly boring manner. 

The graphics are good, but nothing special and have a hint of gen 6 look about them like a late ears PS2 game. As for the controls they are set up pretty well, and make sense for a combat game such as this with directions, looking, and firing buttons all being where you’d suspect them to be like in an FPS, so pretty intuitive.  Overall, it’s an ok game but just not interesting enough to return to.  

Dark Void (Xbox 360) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – As I may have previously mentioned I’m into obscure games, and Dark Void definitely is one of those, and finds itself as another diamond in the rough. Despite the title and cover art it’s not a space game or horror survival. It’s an adventure game with some sci-fi elements. Think The Rocketeer meets Terminator, and you kind of have the concept of this game. Basically, a plane crashes in the Bermuda Triangle before World War 2, and you have to fight robots with the help of Nicola Tesla, its actually a really engaging story. 

Graphically this is on par with late XBox 360 games, and looks really good overall, although it’s not exactly anything cutting edge. The control scheme works well, and again makes sense for this type of game, and is easy to learn. Overall, this game is worth it for the story alone, and is fun to play on top of that. 

Chromehounds (Xbox 360) ⭐⭐⭐⭐- Chromehounds is my second mecha game of the evening. Compared to Armored Core it’s a better game despite being another obscure title (my second one of those this evening as well). Basically, you play as a mercenary (I can see Battletech had a huge influence on mecha), again in a world stuck in endless war. Despite sounding rehashed from Armored Core above, the story is told in a way that’s actually pretty different, and the mech designs are are pretty different merging current military armor with mechs, producing something both frightening and fragile looking. 

Graphically, its par for the Xbox 360, so again nothing groundbreaking but still pretty good looking. Control wise its somewhat intuitive, but the training session does cover what you need to know. Essentially without the training session you could probably figure it out in time, but training makes it a lot easier, and once done it’s fairly intuitive in design and feeling. Overall, it both different and obscure, but I would only suggest it if your looking for a more obscure game or something mecha on the 360. 

Well, as stated that was my weekend. My play to buy rations are still a bit off so I better pick things up again. So you all next weekend!