What the bloody hell have I been doing for the past four months? The Octopus has been sat here, thoroughly un-teased since Christmas! Not that such negligence threatened to break the seventh seal or render an apocalyptic tear in the space-time continuum but still, I've failed myself. And my two followers. Will they ever forgive me?
It has been ridiculous since getting back from the Xmas break in January though. We launched about a year's worth of games in eight weeks, went to number one in the all formats with TDU2 and invaded Libya (NATO not Namco Bandai).
Ridge Racer 3D and Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Drive both launched last Friday (25th March),
bookending a whirlwind start to the year. Now I've caught my breath, might be time to start updating this again.
Where to start though? I'm so out of the loop, I haven't even picked up Dragon Age 2 yet or downloaded Mass Effect 2: Arrival. The latter will be rectified shortly, the former...well...having read a dozen or so reviews, I've decided to wait until the price drops. I have it on good authority from some trusted DA:O fans in the industry that DA2 just doesn't match up.
One thing I am looking forward to getting stuck into though is the lengthily named, Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together for PSP. Having worked on Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 though - a title with such a long name it threw OXM's page design for the review into disarray - I'm hardly in a position to criticise other publishers' overblown game titles.
If you fancy a bit of SRPG gaming though, definitely pick up Tactics Ogre. It never released in Europe and is widely regarded by fans of the genre as one of the most challenging games of its kind. You can pick it up new from Game for £11.99 at the moment.
Tomorrow also sees the launch of The 3rd Birthday from Square Enix, the third in the Parasite Eve series, featuring the return of much loved heroine, Aya Brea. It's the latest in a string of planned PSP releases from Square Enix (get the Twisted Version!) all ticking RPG lovers' boxes. Also slated are Dissidia Final Fantasy Duoce....bollocks to it, I'm not typing that out...and Lord of Arcana.
We've just released Gods Eater Burst and the Crisis Core-esque, Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Drive to add a bit of variety to the SE dominated PSP line-up but it certainly feels like the platform is having a mini-resurgence. Happy days for me, I spend a large portion of my life on a train and a bit of handheld RPG fun sure beats playing Klondyke on my blackberry.
Anyway, I've got a ton of gaming to get through, not least because I went apeshit on ebay last month and bought about 15 retro titles: Evolution on Dreamcast, Breath of Fire III, IV and Dragon Quarter, Mechwarrior on Snes, Cool Spot on Snes, Boktai for GBA...the list goes on. I've got my eyes on a copy of Robotrek by Enix....it will be mine.
Bottom line is, lots more gaming in the coming months to generate lots more mindless musings.
