Op: Darkness- Eliza is GREAT

I hope to write a corresponding blog as I went deeper and deeper into Op: Darkness. However I've been playing so much that I haven't had the time to blog lol.

Back to the game. I'm really enjoying it, it's quickly becoming one of my new obessions (lol my wife especially doesn't like my unhealthy passion for it).

As I get deeper into the game, I have a full team. Lewis, who was introduced early in the game is now a permanant character and he is pretty cool. His voice actor does a cool accent. Jack the Ripper is also a squad member and it's the Ripper of legend. His a good guy (more on the historical characters later). His pretty sweet with blades and general bad-ass attitude. Finally the last new member is Alisa Van Helsing, Abraham Van Helsing's daughter and probably my favorite character in the game because she is hella cool. She one of the best character designs I have seen in a minute.

So as I mentioned it's cool how this game has so many historial and mythical characters. I've already mentioned Jack the Ripper, Elisa is the daughter of famed vampire hunter Van Helsing (of Dracula fame). Herbet West is named after the re-animator made popular by H.P Lovecraft (Cthulhu linkage) and Carmilla is also a famous female vampire and of course, Hitler.

Speaking of vampires, I now know why Jude sucks and didn't get no cool powers.
**SPOILERS** It's because he was destined to be turned into your nemesis and become evil because he was turned by Vlado (the main bad guy). **end SPOILERS**

It was a nice twist and one I did not see coming.

Now onto the bad. I mentioned it before but having to watch every single dialogue cut-scene again and again after you fail a mission is so lame. I can't believe the game designers didn't see the flaw in this. Sure you can fast forward the cinematics and the dialogue scenes can be fast forwarded but it's a chore. On top of the can't save during battles crap it's one of my biggest annoyances with the game.

Another thing I found out is 'Dead is Dead'. If Herbert doesn't re-animate a dead squad mate, that person stays dead for the rest of the game and you lose that person's skill set. Ohh and to top it off, you get the bad ending as well. Hah! It's not really a bad flaw (like above points), it does add a lot more strategy to the game and makes you want to keep your squad alive no matter what. It's different but people mention other srpg's have this mechanic so I guess they'll were being true to the genre.

All in all, I like the game more then it drives me crazy so I'm enjoying myself. More blog on Op: Darkness to come.

P

P.S. The Super Sniper Rifle rules.

RAVE: Cthulhu Saves the World

It was a short but boy was it an action packed ride. Cthulhu Saves the World was sublime experience.

The game played like a dream and I really enjoyed every moment of it. Sure some dungeons got confusing but that's their purpose, you work your way through them and when you explore off the beaten track, you find juicy stuff.

I really have to say I enjoyed the following

-Humor. All the humor was not forced at all with some really laugh out loud moments for me. I can't say I had this much time laughing with a game since Breath of Death VII.
-Characters. All the characters were well designed and all had massive amounts of charisma. Cthulhu is in a world of his own tho, probably the most verbose RPG character ever which is so rare in a genre of silent protagonists.
-Battle System. Just like BoD VII system but a lot of stuff is added and subtracted (healing items breaking combo count) that made it feel even better.
-Limit on random battles. Ahh I wish all games had this. And if you want to grind and get more levels you can always pick a fight lol. Smart!
-Everyone levels up. Another awesome idea that I wish other games borrow. The fact that un-used party members still level up like normal is great for when you want to create a new team. Also it's a smart way of making sure you try all the characters.
-The graphics. A massive step up from BoD VII, towns look awesome and very reminiscent of Shining Force games (one of my fave series). In game graphics and animations are sweet to watch as well.
-The soundtrack. Awesome, already downloaded it and loving it.
-The story. It's a spin on a time old tale. It's no Lost but it hits all the right notes.

However as much as I love this game, I do have some small gripes with it.
-Save/ Restore only active party. It's strange that when you save your whole party Magic Points are not restored, only the active members.
-Item/ Equip/ Selling. This system still feels awkward. It's better then BoD VII because you can now sell items/ armor but the fact you need to equip items and un-equip items to sell them feels not streamlined. It's getting there tho so I know the next game will be a even bigger improvement.
-Highlander difficulty. It was a really surprise that I didn't get pwned much in the normal mode of the game. However Highlander's difficulty is a real challenge. Being able to only use 1 character and still having to fight tons of enemies? Hopefully after I buff my characters a bit more I won't see the game over screen so much.

All in all tho, I can't front, this is one of my favorite games I have played on my Xbox 360. I eagerly wait the next chapter in the Zeboyd saga. I highly recommend this game to any one. Not even just RPG fans. Any one can get into this game and enjoy it. It's that GOOD.

P