Underappreciated Gem: Jesus: Kyōfu no Bio Monster

When one typically thinks of the Famicom, platformers, shmups, and arcade style games are pretty much the first kind of games that come to mind.  But to those who have truly dug deep into the great titles the system has to offer, one can really see that there's more out there, particular some great visual novels.  Jesus: Kyōfu no Bio Monster, a Japanese-only release is one of those, and for a Famicom game, it's rather in depth plot and characterization really make it seem ahead of its time.  And despite its name, Jesus is not what you think it is.

Mini Review: Journey (PS3)

Pros:

-Graphics are top notch

-Phenomenal Soundtrack

-Offers an adventure unlike any game before it

-Fairly good replay value

-Online is always interesting

-A great, minimalistic story

-Fantastic art style

-Filled with great tension and emotion

Cons:

-Short

-Very easy

-Starts a little slow if you can't find a partner right away

Overall Score: 9.0/10

Thoughts: I honestly can't get over Journey.  It's truly a game like no other, between its unique style and its attempt to make something different of a game through companionship more than anything else.  The experience is fantastic and almost indescribable without just playing it.  If you have a PS3, you should absolutely play it and make sure you do not spoil anything about it.  Do it.

A Strange Piece of NieR Artwork

Here's a little oddity that I discovered after going through the Brady Game's strategy guide for NieR.  On Page 19, you can see a piece of artwork that is neither from Grimoire NieR or from any of the game's press releases:

It almost seems like someone simply redrew this piece of artwork:

So what could this be?  And why was it necessary to redraw the original Japanese art?  It's probably a piece of artwork created specifically for use in the guide book.  After all, it's hard to release a guide without that many images to help space out the large amounts of text.  It's also possible that the American one was designed to look less Japanese and more like something that came from the west in order to appeal to American players.  None of NieR's 2D artwork similar to the one above made its way into the book.  There aren't any names of any artists in the credits, so it's hard to say who drew this and where it came from.

There is however, something that sort of resembles this strange artwork.  An image, found in Grimoire NieR, of one of the DLC costumes resembles the artwork found in the strategy guide:

So this brings up another question.  Was the version of this found in the strategy guide a piece of artwork that didn't find its way in Grimoire NieR for some reason?  Or did someone really just take this one and the other piece of artwork and merge them into one?  Maybe there isn't much of a mystery behind this.  But I still find it interesting.

Mini Review: Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D

Pros:

-Masterful gameplay

-Sound is amazing, especially with headphones

-New additions from Peace Walker (crouch walk, damage rings, move while aiming) make the gameplay work very well

-Photo Camo adds a new layer of fun to the gameplay.  Some may feel it makes it feel easy, but I feel it can make the game more fair to beginners

-Character models are excellent and better than the PS2 version

-Quite possibly the best 3D on the system to date

-Great story, perfect for newcomers to the series and fans alike

Cons:

-Frame rate issues

-Controls are wonky without the circle pad, and just okay with it

-No extras (It would have been great to have Metal Gear 1/2 on the cartridge too)

Overall Score: 9.0/10

Thoughts: Metal Gear Solid 3D, despite its frame rate and control issues, remains my favorite version of the game.  It's easy to pick up and play, looks the greatest, sounds the greatest, and has great 3D that really does add to the overall experience.  

From One to Many: A Look at Metal Gear's Expansion of Locations

All Metal Gear games have had notable locations.  In fact, many of them have a single important location that the entire game revolves around.  But a person has got to wonder... Why did the series expand from one single location to many as it progressed?  And how exactly has this expansion helped/hurt the series?

Let's first remember the locations in each significant Metal Gear title: