Hump Day Music: Take On Me

Well I listen to a lot of video game music in a week, but there are times when certain songs get stuck in your head.  Sometimes it does not have to have any relation to do with video games.  As Chuck ended last Friday, I would like to make this edition of Hump Day Music a tribute to everybody's favourite fictional cover band from Chuck, Jeffster.  Minor spoiler to those who have not yet watched the series finale of Chuck, in order to stop a bomb from exploding when the symphony comes to an end, Jeff and Lester jump at the opportunity to be the heroes and perform one last song.  From the fictional band that has covered many great songs from Africa to Mr. Roboto, Jeffster covered one of my favourite songs of all-time, Take On Me by A-Ha.

When it the song first started, it sounded familiar, but I could not put a name on it.  Then when the great synthesizers started blaring, I broke out laughing at how genius Josh Schwartz and Josh Fedak, the producers and creators of Chuck, were for picking this song as the final performance the Chuck faithful will ever see from Jeffster.  What followed was one of the best scenes in the series as Jeffster along with the orchestra they interrupt performs Take On Me while Chuck, Sarah and Casey try to disarm the bomb I mentioned earlier.  For those who have not gotten a chance to see this incredible performance, I am going to share with you guys a video of Jeffster's performance as shot by a person who worked on the show.  If you have not watched the series finale, go out of your way to watch it.  In my opinion, the best two hours you can spend watching anything on TV today.  And again, it has been a great five year.  Goodbye Chuck, you will be missed.

Launch Station: Soul Calibur V

Final Fantasy is not the only big new release that lands on store shelves today.  After four years, Namco hopes write another successful chapter in the tale of souls and swords.  With the fighting genre on the rise, Namco's newest weapon-based fighting game, Soul Calibur V could not come at a better time.

Soul Calibur V takes place 17 years after the events of Soul Calibur IV.  This jump in time has allowed Namco to create a new batch of fighters to fight alongside returning fighters such as Ivy, Voldo and Siegfried.  While half of the roster is made up of newcomers, these new characters are related to characters found in previous Soul Calibur games.  Carrying on tradition, Ezio Auditore da Firenze from the Assassin's Creed series is a guest fighter for this entry in the Soul Calibur series.  At least the assassin from Renaissance Italy fits more into the story and setting of the Soul Calibur series than the likes of Darth Vader, Yoda and Spawn (guest characters in past Soul Calibur games).  As with each new fighting game, developers effortlessly tweak features to make it the most balanced and satisfying fighting experience yet.  The same goes for Soul Calibur V as Namco has tweaked everything from super moves, now known as Brave and Critical Edge moves, to character creation to give both old and new players a reason to pick up this entry in the Soul Calibur franchise.

From what I have seen and read, Soul Calibur V seems like more of iteration than reboot in the Soul Calibur series even with the time jump.  New fighters seem more or less based off of fighters from previous entries in the series.  It could be another stellar entry in this great fighting series, but Namco really has not given fans like myself (who owns Soul Calibur II, III and IV) much incentive to pick up this new entry in the series when they can go back and play older entries in the series.

Launch Station: Final Fantasy XIII-2

Ever since the holiday season and the holiday game rush of 2011 came to an end, there have been little to no new games released.  Maybe one or two Game of the Year editions of a couple games, but nothing completely new.  Well tomorrow, January 31st, starts the first big game rush of 2012 as publishers and developers release their first wave of heavyweight games.  Among the first of this big wave of releases is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII.  Final Fantasy XIII-2 hopes to right all the complaints fans and critics laid on its polarizing predecessor.  Let us take a closer look at Final Fantasy XIII-2 before it releases tomorrow.

Immediately after saving the worlds of Cocoon and Gran Pulse in the finale of Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning is sucked into another world.  Trapped in this alternate reality, Lightning must contend with the evil forces of the main villain of this Final Fantasy game, Caius Ballard.  Left without a sister, Serah goes on a quest to find Lightning, which leads her to meeting Noel, a mysterious time-traveller from 700 years in the future.  Serah and Noel must travel across time and space in order to find Lightning and stop Caius Ballard.  Final Fantasy XIII-2's main focus is on improving on the XIII's shortcomings, mainly the extreme linearity of XIII.  You no longer have to travel down long hallways for hours on end as each location is open for you to explore, complete various side-quests or do whatever you want.  The Paradigm Shift battle system returns from XIII with some additions.  The first addition being little quick-time events called Cinematic Action that play at pre-determined moments in fights that keep you engaged while these epic moments happen on-screen.  The second addition is the ability to tame monsters to use as the third member in your party.  This third party member can be very useful especially for its special Feral Link move, which can deal a good amount of damage when needed.  Along with the additions to the combat, Square Enix has added Live Triggers, which serve as Final Fantasy's take on dialogue trees, and Temporal Rifts, little puzzle-like mini-games that play into furthering the story.

Story is a huge component of Final Fantasy games and time travel could provide some messy plot holes if Square Enix does not do it right.  I was not a huge fan of Final Fantasy XIII when it released back in 2010 and I am not really interested in Final Fantasy XIII-2.  It looks like Square Enix listened to the fans and critics and tried their best to right the wrongs they made with Final Fantasy XIII.  Hardcore fans of Final Fantasy and Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs for short) will most likely enjoy Final Fantasy XIII-2.  I do not think it will grab gamers who have their minds set on Kingdoms of Amular or Mass Effect 3 though.

Goodbye Chuck

Yes, this blog is about video games, not TV shows.  But Chuck is much about games and nerd culture as it is about crazy comedy and dramatic spy action.  From one of the primary settings for the show taking place in a huge electronics store parody of Best Buy to many mentions of different real video games such as Call of Duty and Gears of War to fake video games such as Spy Attack.  Heck, there is even an episode of Chuck that revolves around Missile Command.  If you disagree with the fact I am talking about this show on a video game blog, leave your reasons in the comments below, but I don't really care I am going to talk about it anyway.

Back in 2007, I was getting into a couple TV shows such as Lost and Heroes.  Right around the time season 2 of Heroes started, this new show called Chuck was on an hour before.  After reading a review of the pilot on IGN, I decided I would check it out.  I watched the second episode and was hooked.  The great mix of comedy and action just melted my heart and I fell in love with this little sci-fi show.  Year after year, Chuck would get to end of the season and us fans would fight to keep the show going for another season.  As we came to the end of season four, news broke that season five would be the final season of Chuck.  Well last Friday saw the series finale of Chuck and it was one emotional two-hour ride as it was the final time we would ever see these characters that we have been watching these last five years.  From the numerous nods to the pilot to one last performance from Jeffster, it was an excellent set of episodes that truly brought a good close to this great series. Even after all that has gone on, I still feel sad that there will never get to watch a new episode of Chuck.  I guess that is how it feels to stick with a show from the very beginning to the very end, dedicate so much time getting engulfed in the mythos of the show.  It feels very surreal and may take a few days for me to get over it.

Well Chuck, it has been five incredible years.  As much as I and many others would love to see a movie or more seasons of the show, I am glad that the show ended on its own terms instead of being cancelled or overstaying your welcome.  You made myself and many others smile, laugh and get excited on a weekly basis for the past five years.  Thank you to everybody who worked on the show for everything.  It has been one hell of a ride.  Goodbye Chuck.  You will be missed.

Bit by Bit: January 22-28

Yesterday was a busy day for me with work and such.  As I could not think of something to write for yesterday, I decide to put up two posts this weekend to make up for not posting yesterday.  Compared to the last week, I spent a little more time gaming.  As I do not have much more to say in this paragraph, let us take a look at the bests of the week.

Game of the Week
Like last week, most of my time was spent playing Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.  When you get into the story, gameplay and collecting djinn and other summons, you will not want to put it down.  I also played Groove Coaster and Run Roo Run on my iPad, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure and Luigi's Mansion for the Gamecube, Kirby's Dream Land on my 3DS and Rayman Origins for Wii.  It is hard to pick one Game of the Week as I enjoyed playing all of them, but I was most impressed with Four Swords Adventure.  After playing the free Four Swords 25th Anniversary Edition, I was a little disappointed in the single-player as it left something to be desired.  The game was meant to be played with multiple people and I felt that Four Swords Adventure would be the same.  Other than the fact that you can only play multi-player by using multiple Game Boy Advance systems and Nintendo Gamecube GBA cables, I was very impressed with Four Swords Adventure single-player.  You will definitely get the most out of the game by playing with others, but single-player is just as good.  Controlling all four Links by arranging them in different formations to solve simplistic puzzles and defeat huge amounts of enemies is very satisfying.  While playing, Four Swords Adventure reminded me of a Link to the Past.  I think that was due to overhead perspective both games share.  One day, I will gather four people together all with Game Boy Advance systems and Nintendo Gamecube GBA cables and I will experience how great the multi-player for Four Swords Adventure is.  For right now, the single-player is impressive enough to warrant it my Game of the Week.

Most Anticipated Game of the Week
I enjoy rumours of upcoming games and systems like anybody else, but I do not like to report on them until something is actually announced.  I cannot help for this rumour.  It is rumoured that Rocksteady, the studio behind Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, are working on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U.  It is suppose to be a darker take on the turtles with a half-shell, but still have some of the humour the cartoons and movies have been known for.  You will be able to play as Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello in the main game, but you will also be able to play as Master Splinter during flashback sequences.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Manhattan Crisis, the alleged name for the game, will run off of the engine used for Arkham City.  Considering how great Rocksteady's Batman games were, I am looking forward to see how they tackle the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles if this rumour turns out to be true.

Video of the Week
Created by using Portal 2 assets, one fan put together a Portal-style remake of "This Is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas called "This Is Aperture".  It is very haunting music video that hits all the right notes about the craziness that goes on at Aperture Science.  Nothing I say will do this video justice.  Just watch it and see for yourself.

On the Download: January 22-28

While there has not been many of new console game releases this month, there has been plenty of downloadable games for gamers to enjoy.  For those looking forward to all the big releases coming out in the next few months, there are plenty of demos on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network to keep you satisfied until they launch.  Talking about demos, considering that Nintendo seems to be releasing a new 3DS demo, there will be another quick impressions followed by two previews of new downloadable games for you to pick up this week.  So let us get rolling.

Last week saw the first demo come to the Nintendo eShop in Resident Evil: Revelations.  This week up on the eShop is a new demo for all 3DS owners to download.  This demo is for Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, which is set to release on the 14th of next month.  The Mario & Sonic demo allows players to try five events (basically mini-games) from the final game.  The events offered in this demo are Pistol Firing, Football (soccer for all us North Americans), Trampoline, Swimming and Bike Race.  These events are more or less hit or miss in both controls and fun factor.  One event, you will be loving the game, the next you will be cursing the difficult controls and play methods.  The Bike Race event even makes you keep the 3DS flat thus forcing you into a rather uncomfortable position.  At the core, Mario & Sonic is a mini-game collection in the truest sense of the word as the demo lasted all of eight minutes.  That will make for great portable play for those interested, but there will have to be a whole lot more events to keep some people playing for than a couple hours at best.  For young children or people who enjoyed the other Mario & Sonic games for the DS and Wii, give this demo a try and see if you want to pick up the first 3DS entry in this series.  For everybody else, this eight minute demo is more than enough time with this mini-game collection.

From the minds behind DS survival-horror games Dementium and Moon, Renegade Kid comes the Mutant Mudds.  Mutant Mudds is a platformer, where you play as an average kid tasked with the supernatural task of thwarting the plans of the Mutant Mudd army.  With your trusty water cannon and water-powered jet pack, you jump between the foreground and background, collect water sprites in order to power your water-based tools and destroy the Mutant Mudd forces that stand in your way.  With 40 levels over 5 worlds, Mutant Mudds is jam-packed with content.  For 9 dollars, Mutant Mudds should be another great download for the 3DS and the fledgling Nintendo eShop.

Earlier this week, I saw a trailer for one Jazz: Trump's Journey for iOS devices and it caught me by surprise.  It looked like one unique mix of side-scrolling platform game with a rhythm game.  In actuality, Jazz: Trump's Journey follows Trump in his journey to become a jazz musician and win the heart of the lovely Lady Poppy.  Like Mario, you traverse through levels by jumping from platform to platform and avoiding enemies and obstacles to get to your goal.  Unlike Mario, Trump has a trick up his sleeve and that trick is his trusty trumpet, which you can use to stop time.  With stunningly charming graphics, wonderful jazz music and what looks to be solid gameplay, Jazz: Trump's Journey could be another great and inexpensive game (costs only 3 dollars) for your iDevice.

Hump Day Music: Wind Waker Unplugged

Popped into EB Games today to find a good stack of Gamecube games just traded in.  As an avid collector of great Nintendo games, I had already had most of them, but two caught my eye.  They were The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure, which I have only come across once before and made the stupid mistake of not grabbing it when I had my chance, and Luigi's Mansion, a game I rented years ago and just did not enjoy, but at the price of 5 dollars would try again to see if younger me was wrong.  So I made sure that before I left that store I had bought both of these hard to find Gamecube games.  What got me though was all the nostalgic feelings remembering my times with that small purple cube I got after buying Four Swords Adventure and Luigi's Mansion.  The Nintendo Gamecube was the first game console I bought on my own and also was host to some of my favourite games I own such as Metroid Prime, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.  As a tribute to my fond memories of the Gamecube, I wanted to share one of the best pieces of music to grace, in my humble opinion, Nintendo's most underrated console.

The song that I will share with you guys as apart of this edition of Hump Day Music is from an independent musician from Sweden known as FreddeGredde.  As a Christmas project, FreddeGredde combined a bunch of tracks from the soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker along with one or two from other Zelda games to create an excellent medley he called Wind Waker Unplugged.  The Legend of Zelda among many other things is known for its beautiful music, which varies in genre and sound from game to game.  From what I remembered, Wind Waker's music was a little more joyous, bright and happy, which went hand-in-hand with the bright and cartoon-like cel-shaded graphics.  Listening to this medley brings up my times of sailing across the huge ocean that made up this new Hyrule en route to a new island just in the distant for me as Link to explore.  Great times, great game and a great medley.  So do not forget to watch the video below to listen to this beautiful music.