Jizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That is what I do when I am overwhelmed by videogaming goodness. That's exactly what happened to me last weekend. With a relatively free weekend, I planned on binging on Final Fantasy VII. I'm finally playing through it because it is required gaming, but I'm also engaged in a challenge with Asano's brother's girlfriend to beat the game first. She was on disc 2 before I even started, and I had several false starts, so this weekend was especially important for catching up.
Unfortunately, I had played Kameo: Elements of Power the night before while chatting with Asano. I got about 3 1/2 hours in, and I have to say I'm hooked. The audio-visual presentation is nothing short of stellar. The first thing I noticed was the gorgeous music. This is important to me because the first thing that hit me in others of my favorite games (Beyond Good and Evil and FFVII to name a few) was the music. As for the visuals, I have to give Rare a lot of credit. Many times when a game is delayed across 3 platforms, it ends up looking like a relic (Galleon is a perfect example). But Kameo looks stunning. Furthermore, the look and sound combine synergistically to create a feel that is perhaps best described as lush. It reminded me a lot of how Fable combined beautiful sound and graphics to create a world that felt alive.
Suffice it to say, the game just feels great. On top of that, the gameplay holds up really well. Granted, I haven't played much of it yet, but I really enjoyed it all. The levels are inventive and make good use of the fluid element-switching mechanic. Also, you can do optional side-quests and decipher puzzles to earn Elemental Fruit, which you can use to upgrade your elemental warriors. While you are encouraged to collect things (Elemental Fruit and cold, hard cash) they are actually useful for purchasing upgrades, which gives you incentive to collect them. I've long held the belief that there is no harm in collecting in platform games as long as there is some utility to it. Kameo doesn't bog down the experience with useless collect-a-thon-ing.
Aside from all the gushing I've done so far, the single biggest compliment I can pay Kameo is that, despite the fact that I had to play FFVII, despite the fact that I love FFVII, I was genuinely tempted to play it instead. After I successfully fought off the temptation, I was then tempted to write this post about how good Kameo must be based on that temptaion. I avoided that feeling as well when I realized that it, too, would preclude my playing of FFVII.
So I finally booted up FFVII, and that's when I made the mess referred to in the title of this post. So.... Much..... Gaming.... Goodness.... I had an absolute blast playing FFVII for about 6 hours (and then another 5 or 6 on Sunday). I'm about 44 hours in now, and it's already one of my favorite games of all time. In fact, it may just be good enough to take the long-empty throne as my #1 favorite game of all time. I'd just like to thank my girlfriend for making and hanging up signs compelling me to play FFVII, because without them, I just might have given in to the temptation that is Kameo.
-Joule
Unfortunately, I had played Kameo: Elements of Power the night before while chatting with Asano. I got about 3 1/2 hours in, and I have to say I'm hooked. The audio-visual presentation is nothing short of stellar. The first thing I noticed was the gorgeous music. This is important to me because the first thing that hit me in others of my favorite games (Beyond Good and Evil and FFVII to name a few) was the music. As for the visuals, I have to give Rare a lot of credit. Many times when a game is delayed across 3 platforms, it ends up looking like a relic (Galleon is a perfect example). But Kameo looks stunning. Furthermore, the look and sound combine synergistically to create a feel that is perhaps best described as lush. It reminded me a lot of how Fable combined beautiful sound and graphics to create a world that felt alive.
Suffice it to say, the game just feels great. On top of that, the gameplay holds up really well. Granted, I haven't played much of it yet, but I really enjoyed it all. The levels are inventive and make good use of the fluid element-switching mechanic. Also, you can do optional side-quests and decipher puzzles to earn Elemental Fruit, which you can use to upgrade your elemental warriors. While you are encouraged to collect things (Elemental Fruit and cold, hard cash) they are actually useful for purchasing upgrades, which gives you incentive to collect them. I've long held the belief that there is no harm in collecting in platform games as long as there is some utility to it. Kameo doesn't bog down the experience with useless collect-a-thon-ing.
Aside from all the gushing I've done so far, the single biggest compliment I can pay Kameo is that, despite the fact that I had to play FFVII, despite the fact that I love FFVII, I was genuinely tempted to play it instead. After I successfully fought off the temptation, I was then tempted to write this post about how good Kameo must be based on that temptaion. I avoided that feeling as well when I realized that it, too, would preclude my playing of FFVII.
So I finally booted up FFVII, and that's when I made the mess referred to in the title of this post. So.... Much..... Gaming.... Goodness.... I had an absolute blast playing FFVII for about 6 hours (and then another 5 or 6 on Sunday). I'm about 44 hours in now, and it's already one of my favorite games of all time. In fact, it may just be good enough to take the long-empty throne as my #1 favorite game of all time. I'd just like to thank my girlfriend for making and hanging up signs compelling me to play FFVII, because without them, I just might have given in to the temptation that is Kameo.
-Joule
posted by Voomp at
8:10 AM
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