Words On Wednesday

“Castlevania: Curse of Darkness” is a 3D action RPG released on the PS2 and Xbox in 2005. Early 3D games in the Castlevania series existed in a very weird space; they were trying to blaze a trail from a traditionally 2D genre into a third dimension, but 3D models were still fairly low resolution and the controls were often clunky. As such, Curse of Darkness is cursed (pun intended) with this sort of video game adolescence, where earlier games excelled with 2D sprites and traditional mechanics, and later games did something similar but better. However, does that mean that Curse of Darkness offers nothing worth playing today? My experience with Curse of Darkness began soon after it released on PS2. At a time when rentals were expensive and demos only existed for popular titles on quarterly demo discs, you basically had to make a decision off pictures from magazines and familiarity with the series. I played and enjoyed Castlevania games in the past, so it was a reasonably safe bet. Althou...

I posted a review for “Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age” last month, but I didn’t mention how I got the platinum trophy, one that was an absurdly long time coming. My first exposure to Final Fantasy XII was actually the original release back on PS2. My roommate at the time had a copy and he really enjoyed the game, so he let me borrow it. I played for a while and got maybe a quarter through the main story. I liked the game, but I moved out before I managed to finish so I returned it to said roommate. Rest in peace to that save file that maybe still exists on some PS2 memory card somewhere; I haven’t played it since circa 2010. A console gap and almost a decade later in March 2019, I picked up Zodiac Age from my local library to play on PS4. Unfortunately, I did have to start over since saves from the original release aren’t compatible with Zodiac age, but it was a small price to pay for the improvements and availability on a current platform. I played for a while and got further than...

I recently learned of StepMania, and it has ignited an attempt in me to play dancing games in the comfort of my home once again. A few weeks ago, I was listening to my music on shuffle as I often do and a familiar song came on. “Beethoven Virus” was originally on Pump It Up, but it is the iconic song for dance video games in my opinion. There are numerous songs from dance games in my music library (don’t judge me), but this is one that just takes me back. It’s high tempo, catchy, and it embodies the nature of dance game songs. While that particular song was from Pump It Up, I was always a bigger fan of Dance Dance Revolution or DDR. The 4 buttons in up/down/left/right configuration always felt more natural to me than the 5 button configuration with diagonals and a center button used by Pump It Up. Not only that, but DDR was available both in arcades and on home consoles, so I could practice at home and then show off my skills in arcades. For whatever reason, Pump It Up has b...

“Why would you even get a console?” This is a question I hear time and time again from various PC gamers. You want to know why someone would get a video game console instead of building a gaming “rig?” I’ll tell you why. Console > PC There are quite a few areas in which consoles are simply better than computers for video games. Price One of the biggest reasons that gamers recommend PC gaming over console gaming is the price, but I personally think that console gaming can be much cheaper than PC. For one, the cost of a gaming console can be drastically lower than building a gaming computer from the ground up. The PC Master Race subreddit claims that their “Media Elite” build matches console performance for cheaper, and their “Crusher” build offers better specs for the same price, but they quote the price of a current gen console at $450. The PS4 Pro is only $400, and you can easily find a standard PS4 for $300, sometimes even less. Plus, the prices listed on PC Master Ra...