Note to self:

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.

if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.

do it, do it, do it.
do it.

all the way
all the way.

you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, it's
the only good fight
there is.

- Roll the Dice / Charles Bukowski

Game of the Day: Ico

I forgot to blog about the fact that I finally got my hands on Ico a few days back mainly because I was too immersed into Prince of Persia as well as being pretty busy studying math so this place kind of fell a few notches on my priority list. However now that Prince of Persia has been completed I actually got around to opening up my brand new expensive copy of Ico and got to play for about thirty minutes. First impressions were that the graphics were much more outdated than say Shadow of the Colossus, but they were not totally horrible. Once I got control over the characters you could feel that this was an old game with an annoying last gen camera and a floaty sense of the character. I was let down initially I must admit and for the first ten minutes I regretted putting out so much money for something that I felt hadn't aged that well.

Then something happened, I met Yorda and the unique Team Ico-vibe instantly set into overdrive. It was absolutely charming to see these two characters interact and I loved that they couldn't understand each other due to Yorda speaking in some mysterious language. It really reminisced of my childhood experience coming to Sweden and still managing to make some friends despite not understanding a word of Swedish. This is where Ico really shines as a game, you really feel the childhood of these two characters, the innocence of only expecting good in another child and yes, it is extremely moving to experience this even at my age. The other thing I noticed was the heavy theme of displacement in the game where you really feel the isolation of this castle and how you're thrown into it with no information or back story to the events. This really made the first ten minutes downright uncomfortable and I think that was the point because it made the meeting with Yorda so much more reassuring and I almost felt myself sigh with relief despite knowing that she would be in the game.

The gameplay mechanic of holding hands with Yorda and guiding her through the level while at the same time protecting her works extremely well and really doesn't feel like an annoying chore, mainly because you actually care about her. Otherwise the gameplay in general seems to be much more of a puzzle-solving game than say Shadow of the Colossus but since I'm in the beginning of the game I haven't actually experienced any hard or annoying puzzles. The basic structure of the game seems to be very simple but what really stood out was the immersion I felt with the setting and the characters despite graphics that can only be called outdated. I think that it's because of the small details, like the menus being kept to a minimum and the simple act of saving is made into something special because you save the game by simply sitting down on a bench with Yorda. In conclusion I'm really looking forward to getting to know this game some more but so far it feels really great and special. I'll be sure to blog some more about it once I finish the game, hopefully soon but it might take some time since I'm quite busy this month.

Prince of Persia Finished!

Finished Prince of Persia today and this time I really went full retard on the game collecting all 1001 light seeds, dying less than a hundred times, doing all the time trials and in general only having two achievements left to do; excluding the ones found in the Epilogue DLC. It actually felt a bit more rewarding finishing the game this time around because I went the extra mile to try to take all the achievements in one run, it basically made the game more of a challenge. The other side effect was that it made the game last a few hours longer than when I just ran though it the first time. However I still managed finish it beneath the twelve hour mark, but it really felt bittersweet towards the end because I knew what was coming and that I'd have to leave these two wonderful characters once again.

Dreading the ending of a game is a bit weird when the ending is your favorite part of the game. I know that many people really don't like the ending of the game because they felt forced into action by the developers but I personally adore the ending because when I play this game I don't play and act like myself, instead I role-play and base my actions on my perception on what The Prince would have done in such a situation. I won't spoil the ending but I find it very sad and I do feel that it is the perfect ending for the game despite being a cliffhanger at heart. The game really feels like a sad love story when all is said and done. I love sad lover stories and I'm already missing The Prince and Elika. Now I can just sit here and hope that there will be a sequel to this amazing overlooked gem of a game despite lackluster sales *spits on Mike*.

Demon's Souls - Sleeper hit of the Year?

I'm starting to doubt my eye when it comes to judging if a game is going to turn out well or not. Two times now this year I've been convinced something was going to flop hard and both times I've been owned. First I thought inFamous was going to get butchered by the reviewers because it looked so generic and crappy only to see it get scores ranging from AA (8/10) to AAA (9/10) among the critics, so I bought it and had to be reminded that some games are just addictive to play despite looking crappy. Now the ownage returns in form of Demon's Souls a game when I first saw it I felt would be lucky if it got an A (7/10) at all. Then of course the people who got to play the imported Asian version started to speak up for it, but I still felt it could go AA (8/10) highest because it just looked like a generic dungeon crawler after all.

The final bomb that hit me you can watch above, my favorite reviewer - whom I tend to agree with the most - Kevin from GameSpot reviewed Demon's Souls yesterday and gave it a whooping AAA (9/10) status thus making this my biggest surprise hit of the year and a game I clearly must get my hands on. This game is supposedly brutally difficult so I'm still on the fence if I'm man enough to take it on. However I am feeling tempted by the challenge since apparently the difficulty is never cheap and it seems to be extremely rewarding to actually conquer it due to the deep combat mechanics. In retrospect; this game went from one I was never going to play to one I now feel obliged to at least give a decent chance. I guess it's time to buy a truly hardcore game soon and stop hiding behind my casual mask but woe is my wallet this holiday season. Let's just hope that I don't destroy another controller when I get my paws on this game.

Game of the Day: Prince of Persia

Today, after several weeks of waiting I finally got my GAME Exclusive Steelbook Edition of Prince of Persia for the Xbox360 (unfortunately the PS3 version of the Steelbook were out of stock). Of course I traded in my regular version of the game that I had for the PS3 shortly after ordering this Limited Edition which has resulted in minimal cash loss, it also helped ordering from UK which made it alot cheaper than if I had bought it here in Sweden. Holding this limited edition in my hands now I must say it was worth it. The whole package is black and super-stylish, at least when your remove the protective plastic around it with the out of place ugly Xbox360 green banner on it. The art is blueish and changes with the light, the backside has a smaller art with no stupid info ruining the godly black slickness. Surprisingly there are no extras with this Limited Edition but I don't really mind since I only bought it because I love the steel case and how stylish it looks. My only bonus being that now I can whore achievements from the 360 version of the game as well (SHUT UP, MIKE!!!).

Of course being a huge fanboy of this game I popped it into my Xbox first chance I got to unwind today and I am once again in love with it. The first thing that jumps at you is the amazing and colorful art style with some of the best animations in a game to date. Shortly after I am once again in love with the mostly desolate world, The Prince and my lovely companion Elika who's always there with snappy remarks. The whole game basically oozes charm and magic which completely grips me despite some shortcomings in the gameplay. It's a game that is very simple and doesn't exactly have a complex story but for me these are actually huge pros because I love the minimalism and the never frustrating platforming. It really makes the game more about the experience of admiring the view rather than running right through it and it's absolutely lovely that you have a constant companion throughout the game in Elika because it really makes the whole game about the relationship of these two characters. Sure, there are many clichés but they don't detract from the experience at all in my opinion and only serve to make the game feel like it's going back to basics of storytelling.

When I played this game for the first time about a year ago I wasn't really aware of Team Ico's games but I do remember this game being called a rip-off of their games on the internet. Now after I've played Shadow of the Colossus and know more about Ico I can say that there is some truth to those claims because it really feels like Ubisoft have gone out of their way to create an artistic and minimalistic game such as the two Team Ico games. They of course haven't succeed as well because they clearly didn't take the idea to the fullest, but I personally welcome the effort because it makes this game the closest thing this generation to a Team Ico game with gameplay that clearly has more in common with Ico and a story that reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus. I'm sure that will change once The Last Guardian rolls out next year but for now I am utterly happy climbing around in a beautiful artistic pastel world with my lovely companions The Prince and Elika saving the world together. Sadly I have now written myself into playing the game some more. Bai!

The Unbearable Lightness - Icon

Made yet another icon for Sarah. This one was founded on the mood I got from the book The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Neither the stock nor the icon are really related to the book per say but when I was working on it I kept thinking of the book and this was the result. I guess I found the same melancholy in both the brilliant stock as well as in the mentioned book. It's strange but I really enjoy working on these feminine icons because of their subtlety; they just feel more fluid and tender somehow compared to the ones I make for myself. Anyways stock courtesy goes to tknk@deviantArt.

Forza 3 Demo - Impressions

I've had to wait a week extra to get my paws on the Forza 3 demo due to no longer being a Live Gold member which was a major annoyance but now I've finally played the demo with all the cars offered and you can color me impressed. While the game doesn't graphically live up to the bullshots that Turn 10 has been feeding us it still looks absolutely beautiful but mainly it handles spectacularly, I really feel the weight of the cars and the faster I drive the harder it becomes to remain in control. However I should mention that I found the normal difficulty to be way too easy and would suggest anyone to play on hard because for me at least it felt much more natural and not as casualized. While the sense of speed in Forza 3 is no where near insane arcade racers such as Dirt 2 in many ways I found it much better mainly due to the physic on the cars, I also found the speed in Forza to be much more deceiving which urged another layer of caution from me. I should also mention that the audio was no hack either, the engines felt close and like they were roaring while the music was rightfully subdued. All of this was topped with a clean presentation in the menus that felt like they were inspired by Scandinavian design in their sense of cleanliness and accessibility.

In summary I can say that I'm deeply impressed with Forza 3 and it's the best racing game I have tried so far this year. I've never been into simulator racers such as the Forza and Gran Turismo games but Forza 3 really feels like you can adjust it to your level of challenge while still keeping the sense of simulation. I love the look of the game, the feel of it, the beautiful presentation in the menus and mainly the enjoyable gameplay. The whole package just feels like solid AAAE material for the Xbox360 and now I'm only judging the demo without the 400 cars and over a 100 tracks that will be in the full game. I can already see this becoming one of the best games this year with the critics as well as the definitive racing game of the year. In fact I'm so impressed with the demo that I'm considering a day one purchase of the game upon release, something I've never done with a racing game. The only one tiny blemish that I found in the demo was the cockpit view which really felt like a major downgrade after playing the Dirt 2 demo where you could actually look around with the right analog stick, but now I'm nitpicking and losing the plot. If you own a Xbox360 and are even remotely interest in racing games then download this demo because it's probably the best exclusive for the console this year.

Batman: The Killing Joke

I've been owning the newly reprinted Deluxe Edition of The Killing Joke for almost a year now, and despite its short length I never got around to picking it up and actually reading it. Well yesterday I finally read it and like anything else I've read from Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell) it's absolutely bat-shit (pun intended!) insane amazing. It's not only the amazing story centered around Batman and Joker, it's also the stunning art-work from Brian Bolland as you can see for yourself, which completely makes this one of my all-time favorite comics that I have ever had the pleasure to read. I've seen some images of the original coloring of the first print of this comic and thank god that Brian Bolland completely re-did the coloring for this hardcover Deluxe Edition. Not only are the colors more subdued and use darker tones but they also manage to be really colorful in all the right places with a composition that is really stark and telling. In short, the presentation is among the best one I've seen in a comic book up until now.

This is the Batman that I love; the pissed off dark knight that you will never even think of laughing at, the one you see in Christopher Nolan's new movies, the one I experienced while playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, the dark lonely and moody avenger Batman with no campy side-kicks like Robin and Batgirl. This is basically the ideal Batman story where violence is not held back, where crime actually feels as horrible, ugly and brutal as it's suppose to. But just focusing on Batman would be unfair in a comic which is clearly centered around the origins of The Joker. However The Joker serves as an unreliable narrator as he admits to his own uncertainty of the single event that made him to what he is, or as he puts it "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" and much like Batman this Joker is also like a definitive Joker interpretation. This is not the nice campy funny Joker of say Adam West's Batman, this Joker is a psychopathic homicidal maniac with no regard for human life and when he's funny it's in a dark hopeless way.