Hello, beloved readers! If you happen to check the GameSpite Blurb store, you may be startled to discover that GameSpite Journal 11 is live and available. Much like Snake Eater, what a thrill. You can hit the book’s index page to read all about it. I will note here, though, that worked extra hard to keep the page count down on this issue, so the prices are much more in line with my original intentions for the GameSpite venture despite Blurb’s aggressive price hikes. The full-color hardcover of this issue costs about the same as the black-and-white hardcover versions of the older books. I feel like we have accomplished something here. And that something is “Putting a lot of writing into a volume that is reasonably priced.” I know gamer types are cheapskates, so I’m just looking out for you guys.
If you’d like examples of this issue and how its theme of “giving games we hate second changes” panned out, please refer to:
Tyler Lindler’s reevaluation of Rare’s NES brawler Battletoads, and
Lee Hathcock’s exploration of Black Sigil, the DS game I found so badly made I couldn’t actually bring myself to finish it for a proper review.
Please read, enjoy, and if you choose to buy a copy of the book remember that you can use the coupon code NEWRMN20 to get 20% off a purchase of up to $150 through the end of the month.
Worth it for your revisit of Xenogears alone, I’m sure.
I’m very complimentary and not at all mean to it! Which isn’t to say I liked it.
I’ve been craving Alixsar’s look back at Demon’s Souls ever since we were helping him get through his second chance on TT. Should be insightful, if anything.
Hurrah for the return of the longer article!
But wait, Xenogears? Why not Xenosaga? Wimp.
I kid. It looks like a great issue.
Also curious, when you writers in general replay through these games, do you use emulators and save states for the sake of, you know, actually being able to play through games like Battletoads?
If so, what are your preferred emulators and platforms to play them on?
From what I recall, the first time Parish played Xenosaga, he came terribly close to quitting videogames altogether (granted, there were probably a lot of other factors in the mix, but still). That’s not something he can do anymore.
Yeah, if I hadn’t been hired at 1UP shortly after, I would not be writing about video games. Xenosaga wasn’t the sole factor there… but it was part of it.
I like the general concept of this issue. It takes guts to go back to a game you didn’t like the first time and try giving it a fair shot. Or at least a high level of tolerance.
For me, that game was Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. I’m still no fan of its stale padded level design, but upon replaying it I had a lot of fun diving into the subweapon system. Jonathan’s got all kinds of crazy stuff to use, but as a whole it’s much easier to remember and utilize the specific attacks of his subweapon arsenal (typical Vampire Killer standards as well as crazy stuff like paper airplanes and balls & chains) than trying to remember which one of many monster souls or Latin glyphs do by name. Wrecking balls spin while standing in place, kunai fire in three-shot spreads, cream pies fly in a falling arc and make short work of Richter Belmont in the best way.
I even used Charlotte a lot more, too. She’s much more situational, but when she has an opening to charge a spell she can bring on the pain by hitting weaknesses.
Who would purchase a b/w hardcover edition? I just can’t imagine.
That aside, thanks for all your hard work. I can’t wait to see it.
I bought all the hardcover editions of the previous Gamespite books but, yeah, that was before they went color.
The option is there for people who want a hardcover book but (rightly) think Blurb’s color pricing is ridiculous.
Thank you as always Sir Parish for the discount codes. Can’t wait to check this one out.