I've said it (too) many times, to pretty much everybody: I want/need to finish my Baldur's Gate 1 game. First step is of course reinstalling the beast.. I didn't even remember if it was a DOS or Win9x game! The six CDs (with the expansion) were still waiting for me in my PC games binder..

That installer is a blast, looking back at the specs needed.. It told me I needed more free hard disk space - that I only had 2 gigs left while I had was really at 71 gigs. Oops, such big disks didn't even exist at the time..

I decided to go for broke and choose the "huge" cache option: 240 megs! Then the hard question: is your CPU faster than 200MHz ?

After everything was copied I was treated to a Descent 3 movie - "optimized for internet modem play" ! I admit it was bleeding edge at the time.. BG and the ToSC expansion date back to 1998 and 1999. Ahhh memories!

The last time I tried reinstalling the game it was on a laptop, with a LCD screen.. 640x480 with a fixed pixel sizes makes for a tiiiiny image. At home I still use a CRT, and I was surprised to see the game looks ok across 19 inches. I'm guessing I'll still hurt for the 800x600 support of later versions of the engine, but I thought it'd be a lot worse so I'm pleased.

I found my archived savegames, and I can only hope it was on the same version or at least compatible with the patch version I installed.. Not much I can do but reroll if something gets messed up. I'm now at the hardest part of getting back to an old game on an old savegame: trying to remember. Remember where I was, what I was doing.. Who I was in fact, and what kind of stuff I could do..... I see I'm a Dwarf, Ftr6/Clr6 multiclassed. Recently I read a whole lot of AD&D 3.5 sourcebooks, so seeing THAC0 again is a bit dizzying :) I'll have to read the quest log to see if anything comes back to memory.. Or just explore everywhere again and see what's left to burn and destroy !

Not sure if I'll keep a detailled log, but there should be at least some impressions making their way here along the way.. I'm also starting a pen-and-paper Forgotten Realms campaign this next Saturday with a bunch of friends, so it'll be interesting to compare the same region told by different people (the game will be set 25 years after the game's timeline).

Edit: I just found this. Might be interesting if I hit a major bug and have to reroll, but I don't think I'll risk my game for now..

We moved recently, so we've been opening boxes, installing stuff and just plain old busy at home in the last few weeks... Same weekend as the move was my birthday! Yeah I guess I finally reached the age when I shouldn't be trusted.. oh well. Good thing is, I got a new heap of games! 3 DS titles, 2 for the PS2. The PS2 isn't totally hooked up yet, so I didn't even unwrap the games (GTA Vice City Stories and Rogue Galaxy) -- but I clocked in a lot of time on the DS in the last few weeks, both at home relaxing and during the comute to and from work. So here we go for comments:

Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney

I borrowed this from Maze some time ago, but only recently really got into it. I got stuck in my first session mostly because I didn't bother to RTFM. The game is a good mix between a graphical adventure and pick-your-own-adventure story telling. Some sequences will have you visiting places, talking to people and examining scenes to find evidence and items to progress along. Then you have the court drama. In the end it's a huge branching dialog, but you have to press people on for details and highlight holes in their stories.

Most of it is done via a menu interface, with easy access to the 'court records' (your inventory if you will) at pretty much all times. Originally it was a GBA title, but they added touch and dual screen features to the game with great success, and added a 5th case. That last case also has a more 'advanced' way to look at evidence, letting you turn and manipulate objects in your possession. The interface might be a turnoff for some.. It's basic, it's old school, but it works.

The reason I got stuck at the beginning was because I didn't know that almost all the time "pressing on" witnesses is both needed, and risk free.. The only time I used it at the beginning I managed to find one of the few places where the judge strikes you out for the attempt. Bummer. If you strike out 5 times in a section the verdict goes immediately against you and you have to start from the last save. Grumble. There's a almost-auto (it prompts you automatically) save between each major step, and you can suspend gameplay at anytime.

Phoenix Wright really shines in the writing. Rather important detail, since it's mostly dialogue you'll be looking at while playing. Characters are quirky and nicely fleshed out, and you can get into a love/hate thing with many of the people you'll come across. It's also frequently funny, getting lots of grins and a few genuine out loud laughs out of me. Getting to the end of this was like finishing a good book. Good length, satisfying. Recommended.

Elite Beat Agents

 One of my bday gifts. I had heard a lot about it, and the original japanese version, from Hotkey. Mix a kind of DDR-type-rhythm gameplay mechanic with manga and anime sequences and a cheering/cheerleading theme, and you've got EBA. Yup, it's weird :-)

You're part of a team helping people in distress.. A dog looking for the way home, fending off alien abductors, helping a family cope with the loss of a love one, anything goes. How do you help? The squad gets on site and... cheers! There's no pompoms, but they're not missed.

To make the cheer work you have to tape and drag your stylus on the touch screenon targets appearing corresponding to the beat. Of course it gets from easy to hellish depending on the song you pick and the difficulty setting.. I haven't finished it yet, still missing the last song.....at the easiest setting :( Having to tap the same spot multiple times isn't that easy in some songs, and maybe it's just me and the way I hold the stylus, but often I missed stuff because I had to get my hand out of the way to see new buttons that had appeared. A problem that doesn't exist in lets say DDR.. But not much of a choice using a touch screen.

As with any music-based game, the song choice is the main factor deciding if you'll like the game or not... Quite frankly, I would have liked maybe the option of playing the japanese songs.. I liked EBA, but as a friend pointed out, some of the songs must really be cheap to license since you always get them in music games. Enough of YMCA and Material Girl and Avril Lavigne! Pleeeease can we get better and more original stuff? Localization (at least on this title) can't be that expensive, maybe they should invest in the music selection instead..

So I like it, but I can't help but be a little frustrated at missed potential because of the tracks. The quirky japanese attitude of the storylines and animations just isn't matched by the retro/classic/cheesy american pop.. I'd recommend checking the list before buying it.

Super Princess Peach

Another gift, that came with an explanation of sorts: "I have it and it's really nice, but I thought maybe it wouldn't be something you'd buy for yourself". lol :) Sooo.. What's this one about?

Bowser manages to get the VIBE SCEPTER and capture Mario, Luigi, and a bunch of toads. Luckily Princess Peach was away at the time, and upon her return decide to take matters in her own hands and heads out to rescue everybody! That's about all there is story wise :) The game is straight up classic platformer with a 'feminine' twist / gimmick. Princess Peach can use different moods/emotions to her advantage. Joy will allow her to fly and create a little cyclone around her, rage will produce flames and make her stomp in frustration, crying will start the waterworks and make her run fast, and the last one restores your hit points. Your mood usage is limited by your 'vibe gauge'.. You can refill it by having Perry, your talking magical umbrella, absorb ennemies.

Yup! A talking magical umbrella. It also makes you float in the air after a jump and shoots little blasts after you buy the right upgrade from the store.

In classic Mario fashion you'll see many worlds each with its own theme (forest, desert, ice, ghost house, etc). There's 6 levels in each world, plus a boss stage. Each level has 3 toads you need to rescue. It's not really mentionned anywhere at first, but you need to find and free ALL of them to be able to access the last boss, which of course is Bowser. The level design is interesting enough, possibly light in puzzle/mood use elements in my opinion. It's light, you'll rarely feel like throwing the DS at the wall (just happened after too many 'just one more level' at wee hours of the night), and it's colorful and fun. Just try to ignore all the 'vibe scepter' stuff.. Someone must have had a good laugh translating this :)

Beating Bowser then opens up 3 new levels in each world.. With new toads to free, new puzzle pieces and music pieces to find. There's also minigames to unlock, but they kinda feel rushed to me.. It's just another way to spend the gold you find -- after unlocking a minigame you'll have to buy access to more levels for them. The store also sells a couple of new powers and hit point and gauge upgrades, which are a much better investment.

Good game, good length. Only pass if you're allergic to high levels of cuteness.

Puzzle Quest

I had read a bit about the buzz surrounding this one online.. Weird choice of the dev -- they had a PC demo of a game released on the PSP and DS *only*. There's a rumored PC version, but it sounds like they hadn't thought about it at first. Odd! Anyway. I tried this after Maze bought it (planning many sleepless hours looking over the little one I'm sure) and I simply got hooked.

Who would have thought that adding a RPG to a bejeweled-match-3-gems-type of puzzle game would work this good ?

You get the classic RPG setup. Pick a character class from the list of Warrior, Knight, Druid or Wizard and travel across the kingdom to fulfill quests and battle evil. The twist here is that battles take place over a puzzle grid. Matching colored gems will give you the corresponding type of mana while matching coins and stars will give you cash and experience, respectively. Matching skulls does direct dammage to the opponent.

Unlike a lot of puzzle games where you go against someone, like Puyo Pop or Super Puzzle Street Fighter Turbo, both characters use the same grid, playing in turns. If you match 4 or 5 gems instead of only 3, you get a free turn. Your class determines your list of spells and abilities -- with the mana you gather you can cast a spell instead of simply switching gems on the board!

You can also build your citadel, gain control of cities to collect taxes, capture monsters to use as mounts or research their abilities to add to your arsenal, collect runes to craft items, gain new companions... For a "puzzle" game the gameplay elements are surprisingly deep! Graphics are good, presentation is nice, I do like the cut scenes and quest intros.. Of course most quests fall into the usual cliches of 'go kill such and such' or 'take this to its destination' but it's not really an issue -- doesn't matter what the quest consists of, it will still be resolved by the same battle system. One small annoying thing is the music, which I turned off after only a couple of minutes. I read the PSP music and effects are better, but I don't think I'd trade the touch screen interface and the dual screen layout just for that.

Solid game, get it. It had been a while since a game kept me up til 2h30am ! I'm really hooked.

I guess I'll eventually get a PS3, but not anytime soon.. Let's say they at least need to cut the launch price in half before I consider it within reasonable reach.

The good thing about that is that THIS should be available as a Greatest Hits by the time I get to it!

In the meanwhile there's Super Paper Mario coming out for the Wii next week. I'm still looking for reasons not to get it and coming up short ;) Just wondering what's the deal with the red-and-blue glasses. It was gimmicky with Sly 3, don't think there's been many advances in the field of cereal box grade items......

In other news I'm almost done unpacking and installing everything in the new apt so I'm getting back into gaming! Woohoo! Almost done with Super Princess Peach on the DS so I guess I'll have to write about it soon.