I REALLY am liking the demo-for-download feature on the PS3. Before I drop sixty smackers on a game, at least I'll have some vague idea if I like it. PlayStation.com was kind enough to e-mail me and let me know that one of the PS3 games on my wishlist is available as a demo, so I tried that out this afternoon as a small study break.

Folklore is absolutely beautiful. The use of color rivals anything that Kingdom Hearts has dared to do. The original animators of Fantasia would collapse to the ground and weep and the sight of these colors. And of course I'm going to be wowed by the graphics, because everything I've seen in HD wows me.

The gameplay is interesting. I don't know the story as the demo really didn't tell me what was going on, but I'm traveling through the Netherworld (why, I don't know) and collecting Folks (why, I don't know) so I can battle Folklore (why, I don't know). To collect Folks, you have to use Folks to fight. Sounds quite familiar, doesn't it? You summon a Folk for different types of attacks. Some have slashing attacks, and others are only shields. You attack a Folk until its red essence hovers over its head. At that point, you absorb this essence (called a Folk's id) and voila, you have collected a Folk. When you collect enough of one type of Folk, you can incorporate the Folk in your battle system. Absorbing the id makes an interesting use of the SIXAXIS controller, not unlike some of the moves in Twilight Princess. When you lock on the id to absorb it, you must flick the controller upwards to retrieve the id, similar to yanking a fish with a fishing rod. The imagery is similar too.

When it comes to fighting the giant Folklore, the simple hack and slash moves are null and void. You have to tap into your inner Link and devise a painstaking strategy to unlock the puzzle of how to defeat them. The good thing is that you have a picture book with you that gives tiny hints how to defeat them. Of course, you have to find those pages for the book first.

All in all, it's very intriguing. It will more than likely find its way into my PS3 library, but only after I beat a few other games first.

I do have one beef to throw in about the PS3. I like the wireless controllers, but I don't like that the PS3 has to be on to charge them. Thankfully the charging cord is nothing but a USB cable, so one I had hooked up to my laptop (from my PSP) charged it just fine. I need to find a charging station for the controllers, and if Sony doesn't have one, they should make one.

I think my new goal with this site is to write every Sunday, no matter what. Since I'm back working at a Plaintiff's firm and drafting all the legal documents myself, I know that if I don't force myself to practice writing my technique will go down the tubes in a hurry.

To celebrate my new job, I bought a PlayStation 3. I had thought it would be an Xbox 360 first, but damn Sony and their whole, "Buy the 60 GB now, 'cuz when they're gone, they're gone for good" ad technique. They bought me hook, line, and sinker. The 60 GB is the only version that has the backwards capability with the PS2. I really didn't see a point in buying a PS3 without the backup capability. So as I pointed out to Shawn, my motivation for buying one now was to play PS2 games in HD. It was such a good idea in theory. The first problem is that PS2 games were never meant for HD output. I tried playing KH2 on the PS3 and the results were disastrous. The picture is scrunched in a bit to compensate for the HD, and some of the fast moving Heartless looked very pixellated. I had a hard time deciphering shadows and darker shades. It didn't make for a pleasant game playing experience. Very disheartening. I should have waited a few more months for the games I want to come out and got a 360.

However.

I did download the demo to Heavenly Sword. I will definitely buy this game. Aside from the fact that the graphics are absolutely stunning (I can't believe that they're so detailed in graphics now that you can see the pores in the skin), the hack n' slash technique is a blast. I've never played a hack 'n slash that had little mini-cutscenes during the fighting. A few times I was so mesmerized by these cutscenes, that I stared with my mouth open and didn't start fighting right away when the cutscene was complete. To my detriment. I was only allowed to play for two minutes, but the two minutes sealed my decision to buy the game. I may use this method in the future before buying other games, as $60 is a lot to whimsically spend on a game I've only read about.

Am I glad I bought it? Yes and no. I would have bought one eventually, but I wish I had waited and purchased a system that already has games I want to play. But then again, it's probably best for now. I still have KH2 to finish. If the journal isn't the death of me first.

Yeah, it's been a long time. First I went to Italy to celebrate my 30th birthday (I know, I know, poor me) and then I was sick for over a week with something I contracted from too much recycled air on a plane and having to sleep in the airport for a night. Then I started a new job this past week. (Yay me!)

So my gaming time has been scant (no, I actually didn't play any games on the various planes) as well as my internet time. My new job is very strict with the internet. Somehow I don't think blogging at work falls within those restrictions. But here I am, and I do have a game to talk about. I'm sure everyone is on the edge of their seats with this news. I can almost feel the tension and excitement over the netz.

Before I got a PSP, I edited a review article for a new puzzler called Crush. The article discussed how it was an unique puzzler in that you flip back and forth between 2 and 3D to get through the maze. I was instantly intrigued. I paid my $30 and sat down to one of the most unique stories (it's about an insomniac, Danny, who is using a virtual reality computer system, C.R.U.S.H. to unlayer his subconscious to discover the true reasons behind his lack of sleep) and mind-boggling puzzle games. What really cracks me up is that Danny has to collect different colored marbles throughout the maze to open the exit door (which looks like a manhole). It's like Danny has literally lost his marbles, and he has to collect them to figure out what's ailing him. I will say that if my subconscious looked anything like these mazes, I'd have difficulty sleeping as well. In order to get through the maze and collect Danny's lost marbles, you have to crush the 3D layout into 2D to move to the different areas of the maze. Oh and to crush giant cockroaches. If you don't, they will eat you. Like I don't have enough issues with cockroaches as it is.

Moving on...

There are four stages, with ten levels to a stage. I managed to get through the first stage without pulling my hair out too much. At this point, I was hooked. Then I got to the third level of the second stage. Now it's become a puzzler-platform. Honestly, if I wanted to play a platform game that was going to make me want to throw things across the room, I would have put in any Super Mario Bros. game. I worked my way through three or four more stages of the insane platform jumping that now accompanies the puzzles, and then I got to a level that was so reminiscent of MegaMan that I had to turn it off. For good. I have so many games to play that I don't see a point in playing something that will just frustrate the hell out of me. Gaming is supposed to be relaxing.

So for anyone that loves puzzlers and doesn't hate platforming as much as I do (OMG I'm having flashbacks of Castlevania), I really do recommend this one. I'm going back to RPGs and Adventure games that don't make me want to fling controllers into a woodchipper.