I Love Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (for GameCube)

I have finally acquired Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for GameCube. The game has been on my must-have list ever since it was first released. Mind you, I actually preordered the game back then, but was betrayed by an online game store. There is no use bashing that very store since it no longer exists. At any rate, I have now, three years later, finally gotten my hands on A Wonderful Life. "You call the game a must-have, but you still waited three years before you bought it?" Yes, that is correct. I have never called the game a must-have-immediately, now have I? Besides, the game is just as wonderful now as it was back then, right?

So how wonderful is life then? Well, compared to real life, it is nothing less than awesome. I get up every day at 5, so early that my cow Eirika (named after Fire Emblem, of course, since I decided that naming a cow after real people was just a little too cute) is still too sleepy to enjoy some affection from her owner. If you get near the cow, a little picture of a heart shows up next to the picture of the Y-button. Pressing it will have you express your feelings for the cow. But after some researching, I have discovered that this particular cow is not in the mood for affection until 6:00 AM. I then give the cow something to eat, whereafter I proceed to my special field (the very fertile one) on which I grow tomatos and watermelons. I didn't choose watermelons just because Kaji from the cartoon Evangelion grows them, but rather because the very big lady at the farm next door told me that watermelons should be sewn in spring. And it is spring now. In the game, that is. Once I arrive at said field, I water my crops with a small watering can. Some might describe this as a rather tedious process, as I have to water each individual tile (I still have less than 20). One might also, however, describe it as a relaxing affair, one that might even give the farmer (or player) greater insight into the mysteries of the world. I would put my money on the latter, as there simply must be a very good reason for the watering to function as it does.

Finished with my crops for now, I return to my, now awake, cow and milk her. If I feel hungry, I might drink some of the milk, since I might have nightmares if I go to bed hungry. So far, I have survived on milk alone. Any spare milk, I offer to any people I pass by in town, hoping that it might benefit me in the end. Some people might even ask for milk while others will only comment on your fine produce without actually accepting my fine gift.

At this point, it will usually be time for my daily stroll. I always visit the farm next door (or the neighbouring farm if you prefer), where I hope to catch a glimpse of the girl I am going to marry someday. Within a year, actually. There are two other possible brides-to-be in town, but I like this one the best so far. See above for a picture of her. If I feel up for it, I might go into town and look for the two other girls. Although I'm not exactly in love with them, it might be a good idea to keep options open.

Back from my stroll, I like to take a six-hour nap before I water my crops once more. I then return to bed and sleep until the next morning, provided there aren't any kind of exiting events going on. I wonder if sleeping as much as I do might exclude me from experiencing certain things. In real life, there is certainly no disadvantages to sleeping as much as possible.

So there you have it; a usual day in my farming life. Somehow, this virtual farm life seems much more fulfilling than your average day at the university. And even though this might appear as an open-ended or, to use a strong word, pointless game, I must say, that the goal of the game seems much more obvious than in the legendary Sonic Heroes.

I'm off to milk Eirika now.

End note: I have, quite deliberately, referred to "Evangelion" as a cartoon rather than an anime. After having studied Japanese for three years, I have without question gained the right to refer to anything by its proper name.

I Love 3rd Strike

Apparently, there is just no real competition. Granted, Street Fighter Alpha (the whole series) is nice, Capcom VS SNK 2 is just plain awesome and Capcom Fighting Jam offers nothing new except for extended loading times. None of these games, however, offer any real challenge when compared to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike; at least that's what the guy over at Itu-Thesis thinks. Is he right? He probably is. There's just nothing that beats all those frames in 3rd Strike.

I Love Street Fighter Alpha

The reign of Sony's evil controller is finally over. Arcade Sticks have arrived and they have brought with them a new era of healthy hands. Street Fighter was always meant to be played with a stick and giant buttons, and I'm starting to wonder if the same could be said for pretty much all games. Although I'm used to 3rd Strike, the Alpha games are not bad at all. The first of them shows its age somewhat, but it still seems to be a major improvement from SF2. Move on to Alpha 2, however, for a wonderful and colourful experience. My favorite characters are by far Sagat and Sakura. Sagat because he's stronger than most and says "Tiger" all the time, and Sakura because she's awesome.

"Your favorite character isn't Ryu, WTF?" I can hear you thinking. But let's face it; Alpha's young Ryu is nothing compared to his more adult self from SF3. Besides, it can be fun to play as someone other than Ryu, like Sagat and Sakura. Of course both of those have pretty much exactly the same moves as Ryu, but let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?

Yes, Bison and Chun Li are awesome as well, but I can't get used to those pesky wait-2-seconds moves. At least not yet.

Ah, Ryu, as beautiful as you were meant to be...

I Still Love Team Rose

So there it is. Amy the She-Sonic, Big the Cat (yeah!) and What's-her-name the Rabbit have defeated Dr. Eggman and are now the victors of Sonic Land. I just can't help wondering... Did I beat the game, or did the game more or less beat itself?

Oh! Is it because I was playing on easy-mode because I chose Team Rose? I see, I see...

Still, the game is absolutely fantastic. 10/10

I Love Team Rose

So I finally let Sonic Heroes have a spin in the GameCube, and I gotta say this is a clean 10/10. I mean this game is freakin' fast, marvellously fun and incredibly cool at the same time.

As everybody else, I had to start out by picking a team. As previously stated, there is just no way I'm going to miss a chance to play as Big the Cat. To my surprise, the game states that Big's team, Team Rose, is recommended for players who are new to action games. Action games? Wha-? I reckoned that to be an indicator that Team Rose is nothing less than an easy mode, something I consider below my dignity as a veteran gamer. But there is just no way I'm playing as anyone except Big the Cat. And so it was.

Here we are then; having completed 5 or 6 levels of the game as Big and his two friends, who are both girls; one more girly than the other. And boy have they made strong impressions already. There's the pink one, her name is... Amy? She's like a pink, female version of Sonic. And then there's the rabbit, whose name is... oddly forgotten.

Just how cool is Big the Cat then? Well for one thing, he is not at all retarded, and his voice is just badass. I guess he reminds me a bit of the two-headed ogre from WarCraft II, before it became an ogre-mage.

I just cannot describe with words how I feel about Sonic Heroes. You just have to play it for yourself.

"Oh, there you are, Mister Sonic!"
"Amy!?"
"I'm sooo gonna marry Sonic!"
"We're outta here!"
"Oh you are not getting away that easily!"

Then the level starts, and Team Rose is standing on some kind of platform. Huh? What? Am I supposed to hurry after Sonic or something? Huh? What? Is he even here? I don't see him. Hmm, I'll try having Big the Cat smash that box. LEVEL CLEAR. What the-? A-rank? I...

(...)

Seth takes the lead in the Paladin league

I have recently acquired Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, which I consider to be the 8th game in the series. I seem to recall, that The Sacred Stones was released on the same date as Path of Radiance in Europe, but since The Sacred Stones was released many months before Path of Radiance in Japan, it seems reasonable to consider The Sacred Stones as Fire Emblem 8. Yes, I am well aware, that I could have saved both time and effort by referring to the games as SS and PoR, but I'm just not into that kind of stuff.

After playing through the first ten levels of The Sacred Stones, the game has proven to be every bit as entertaining as its predecessors, although it is, of course, pretty much exactly the same, just with a new story and new good-looking characters. There are a few new additions however. The level-up system lets you make some choices, and there are also a few new classes and a bunch of scary monsters.

The most impressive thing about The Sacred Stones is of course its initial Paladin - Seth. Seth is a fascinating character. He is devilishly handsome and even calmer than most of his paladin colleagues.

Everybody who has played more than one Fire Emblem-game will know that the game usually supplies the player with a powerful Paladin to help out the weak level 1-heroes, who might have a hard time surviving the first couple of battles. These paladins are always remarkably cool, calm and extremely loyal veterans, who will gladly give their life for the hero. The first of these paladins was the now renowned Jeigan from Fire Emblem 1, here seen as he appears in Fire Emblem 3 (which includes an enhanced remake of the first game).

Most players will probably be more familiar with Marcus, the paladin from Fire Emblem 7, which was the first Fire Emblem to be released outside of Japan. First-time players will likely fall into the trap - I know I did. You field Marcus in every battle and let him level up to level 20, only to find out, that he cannot change class - he is pre-promoted. In the end, he's just plain useless compared to most other characters, and you will regret that you let Marcus have so many of the precious experience-points, instead of giving them to the little girl, who was so weak at level 1, but who would have ended up killing the final boss with a single blow. But of course, getting "tricked" by the game this way makes it all the more fun, and you just cannot stop loving those paladins.

Since The Sacred Stones was my... 4th Fire Emblem game, I was, of course, not fooled this time. Although I love looking at Seth, I am not going to let him have a single experience point. Or is this the one game in the series, where the paladin actually ends up as the strongest character?

... Probably not.

Big the Cat temporarily holds Augustus Caesar at bay

First things first: Since today is... August 5th, I have the right to change opinions and loyalties regarding all matters. Thus, Sid Meier's Civilization IV is henceforth to be considered pure genius, except for the fact that it prefers to be run on a computer that is more skilled than mine.

Once again more or less absorbed by the world of Civ, what could be more exciting than the "Warlords" expansion. The great part of this expansion is supposed to be these new scenarios which, admittedly, look interesting. I cannot help but fear, though, that most of them are played on HUGE! maps; something that my computer certainly can't handle very well. This didn't stop me from searching through the capital to find the cheapest place to buy Warlords. The standard price of 250 kr is just a bit to much for someone as cheap as me. It is, after all, just an expansion, and on top of that, it's not a Throne of Bhaal sort of expansion, now is it? At any rate, I could buy it on Play for 18£ which must be around 200 kr. I could buy it from a Danish internet store for about 225 kr, or I could go nuts and crazy at the same time, and just pick it up for those darned 250 kr in EB. Of course GAME, for which I have a bogus-card, didn't even have the game yet, although it was several days, or at least one day, after release. Bogus!

On my quest for a reasonably priced Warlords, I came across a pile of GameCube-games, at the price of 100 kr each. There was nothing really good in the pile; no Fire Emblem and no Chibi Robo, but there was Pokemon Colosseum and there was Sonic Heroes. I like the fact that Colosseum comes with a free memory card. I know that a single save-file will take up the entire card, but still, I feel treated well by that card. I had the Colosseum and Sonic in hand, and thought: "Heck, I'll buy both". But then again, will I ever get around to playing them? But then again-again, they will never, ever get cheaper than this, and you know you want them in your own pile of games. In the end, I went home with just Sonic (and Knuckles and Tails) and now he lies on my table, eagerly awaiting to be played.

So you want to know why I bought Sonic and stopped looking for cheap Warlords? Well... Deep in, I know that Sonic Heroes is not all that. Then again, I have never played a Sonic game before, and you gotta start somewhere, yes? The thing that intrigues me most about Sonic Heroes is the fact, that there's supposed to be a playable character in there called "Big the Cat". Ha ha! That's hilarious. That he really is a big cat makes it even more hilarious.

So, for now, I guess I will have to wait a while before playing the Romans as Augustus and then play a Sonic-game as Big the Cat instead. Still, isn't it a little silly that I'm not even going to play as Sonic in my first Sonic game? Plus, we all know that I will most likely play the un-expanded Civ IV for another week before I even consider playing Sonic. And then, there's also Battalion Wars...

(...)