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One-a-Wednesday: From the Strategy Guide Archive–Castlevania Symphony of the Night Official Guide

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My copy of the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night strategy guide is in terrible, terrible shape. Sadly, it came this way when I bought it from a seller on Amazon a few years ago.

I completely missed the PlayStation One era of video games, so that means I never played this beloved Castlevania game. About 3-4 years ago, Matt Green of PresstheButtons.com challenged me to a few of his favorite games, and I reciprocated. We only completed one challenge each, but one of the challenges to me was to play Symphony of the Night. After I bought it from the PSN, naturally my next step was to find a copy of the strategy guide. I knew there had to be one.

I only got to the first boss and I determined the game really wasn’t for me. I’d like to try again some day, and at least I have the guide to hold my hand.

Monday Gaming Diary: Playing 3 RPGs at once…how long till I go crazy?

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You're doing what now?

You’re doing what now?

Not sure whose bright idea it was to pit me in three RPGs at once, but that’s where I am. Not only that, but all 3 RPGs couldn’t be more different from one another, in both gameplay and story, and two of them came from the same studio. I’m somehow playing Lightning Returns, Bravely Default, and South Park: The Stick of Truth. The pool is open for when I go insane.

Two are turn based, but they employ different modes of turn-based play. LR claims to be turn based, but the ATB gauge gives it a far more action-RPG feel. In addition, LR has the weirdest ways to level up and learn new skills than I have ever played, and that includes the mind wave slot machine in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

Whenever I sit down to play one, I really do have to relax my mind and run through a quick little tutorial to remind myself how this one works. I don’t have as many issues with Bravely Default, since it implements very typical traditional turn-based play with a slight spin on taking turns. With LR and SP however…wow. So many different commands and so many different concepts between them. I die in the first battle almost each time because I have to use that first fight as a reminder.

And I may be adding Final Fantasy X HD to that mix soon. Maybe I should play that on the Vita so I have four different consoles covered. I can’t be bothered with taking discs in and out of consoles. That’s precious seconds of time lost that I need to devote to these potentially long games!

LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins Mini-Review

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LEGO City Undercover: The Chase BeginsWhen I bought the Wii U, I bought LEGO City Undercover for my young son since he loves all things LEGO and loves playing my LEGO video games. I had little to no expectations for the game, and I was more than pleasantly surprised; I was floored by both how great the game is and how hilarious it is. After seeing that the 3DS had a prequel for the game, I was instantly intrigued. While Chase McCain’s backstory is certainly interesting and the game is fun, it’s not half as great as the first game. Yes, it suffers from prequelitis.

The Chase Begins‘ biggest flaw is how it copies the gameplay from the first game. As Chase goes through the first game, he has to learn several jobs to stay undercover, such as becoming a firefighter, an astronaut, and a construction worker. Chase learns the exact same occupations in The Chase Begins. If he already knew these jobs as the prequel suggests, why would he have to learn them all over again? I was hoping Chase would learn different jobs, or maybe it would introduce a completely different style of gameplay. Since it’s a prequel, why wouldn’t it?

As it’s a 3DS game, the dialogue is minimal at best. The best parts of LEGO City Undercover were the dialogue, so most of the humor is completely absent. When there is talking, it still has that zing, but there’s not enough to really label the game as funny as the first.

That said, none of this stopped me from completing the story and running around all of LEGO City to complete every single ridiculous mini-game and collectible. Some of that is from my sickness when it comes to completing LEGO games, and some of that is the fact I did have a bit of fun. However, I doubt I would have had fun with the game if I didn’t have LEGO City Undercover as a backdrop in my own database. Those who haven’t played the first game should overlook this one entirely.

South Park: The Stick of Truth Strategy Guide Giveaway

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South Park: The Stick of Truth strategy guideI have been eagerly waiting for South Park: The Stick of  Truth since it was first announced a couple of years ago, and I’m so excited it’s finally here. I’m even more excited that there’s a strategy guide for it, as that naturally bumps up its playing priority. The folks at Prima Games are so excited about it and love you all so much, they’ve given me an extra one to give away. After reading just the first 20 pages of the strategy guide, trust me, you guys are all in for a treat. It’s so obvious the writers had as much fun writing this strategy guide as this did playing the game.

So how do you win this? I’m getting to that, and I want this to be a little more fun than usual.

This will be available to both Twitter and Facebook fans. If you follow us in both venues, then hey, you can enter twice. Once again, it’s US contestants only.

Twitter Rules

  • Follow both @strategyreviews Twitter.
  • Tweet to @strategyreviews your favorite South Park joke and include the hashtag #FreeGuideFriday.
  • All entries must be in by Friday, March 7th, at noon. I will randomly pick a winner at that time.

Facebook Rules

  • Write a comment to the Facebook post announcing this contest with your favorite South Park joke.
  • Be sure to use the #FreeGuideFriday hashtag.
  • All entries must be in by Friday, March 7th, at noon. I will randomly pick a winner at that time.

You think you got it? Let the entries for this strategy guide commence!

One-a-Wednesday: Baten Kaitos Official Strategy Guide

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So this one isn’t so old, but technically it’s from three Nintendo generations ago. Baten Kaitos was a rare JRPG for the GameCube, a console that barely had a handful.

Baten Kaitos had a really interesting premise and a fun twist on using cards to dictate your combat strategy, but it’s another I never finished. I think I got to the second disc when I realized I couldn’t take the card system any longer. I have a feeling it had something to do with my milk cards going sour yet again.

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