Unimpressive. I have to admit that for being a next gen title, DOA4 looks most unimpressive. Especially considering what Team Ninja have accomplished with this generation’s hardware.

A major graphical leap forward most likely would have resulted in a huge shift in art direction. I don’t care that it’s basically the same character models they used in DOA2, I like the porcelain doll look.

Hot, hot, hot!

This new character is scorching hot it a DOA-generic kind of way. You better not forget to give her a seifuku and panties with cute motive, Itagaki.

Don’t worry Ayane, I still love you.

More screenshots can be found at Gaming-Age.

————
Edit: Just realiezed that the new character might not be so new at all. There is a slight possibility it could be Lei Fang. While the forehead has become huge and the hair longer, the eye color matches.

I’d say this character lacks the chinese-look Lei fang has, but this looks like Lei Fang’s fighting style. Lets just say I was busy doing something else than to pay attention to details when I first saw the pictures.

I stumbled upon an old review of Lufia II a couple of weeks ago. There wasn’t anything special about the review. I didn’t even bother to read it through. But yesterday, it all came back. All memories, all tears.

I cried, I wept like a little girl because I remembered the dialogue Tia had had with Dekar before she left the party. Words can’t describe how sad I felt when Tia left and Maxim married Selan and never ever mentioned Tia again.

I couldn’t have cared less about Maxim and Selan. I was glad they got what they deserved. I couldn’t help but to smile and cry when Dekar appeared again near the end and when I saw Tia again in the epilogue.

It might sound silly, but I still pray that one day, Tia and Dekar will get together.

I have beaten your game, Lumines. That’s right, max score and all. Please send me a medal.

Your pal, abq.

P.S. send pocky.

I finally did it, 999,999 points. I made an attempt in the morning and screwed up around 850k. So I took a nap and tried again when I woke up. 999,999! And now it’s night… and I have three new anime episodes to watch.

I’ve uploaded PVs for Lights and Voice. Both songs are produced by Shinchi Osawa (Mondo Grosso) and performed by Eri Nobuchika. Lights is one of the songs in Lumines and Voice is Eri Nobuchika’s second single.

- Eri Nobuchika - Lights
- Eri Nobuchika - Voice

Eri Nobuchika’s Official Web Site

I see blocks everywhere. When I eat, when I read, when I sleep. Everywhere! I think I’m going insane. The blocks consumes my life. This must have been how Picasso perceived the world.

The reason for today’s late updates is Lumines. When it comes to games, I have this little obsession of doing absolutely everything. To obtain the last skin in Lumines, you have to get 999,999 points in challenge mode. I reached 863,162 today, it took over two hours.

By the way, don’t expect Tsubasa Chronicle and Gundam Destiny SEED to be up early tomorrow. Must get 999,999!

Note: Sorry for the lack of updates, I’m taking care of my backlog of games I haven’t finished.

I finally finished Shenmue II. It took two years, but I finally did it! Why people love this game is beyond me. I lost interest after 30 minutes with the bulky control scheme. When I gave the game another try months later, I discovered the boring game design. I mean honestly, how fun is it to start with a clue, ask one of the locals about it, learn a new name or location, ask a local to take you there, get a new clue and repeat this procedure over and over and over again? Lets not even talk about the lousy voice actors…

However, I recently decided to give Shenmue II another shot, and to my surprise, the last three-four hours were fun to play… or perhaps I should say watch. I appreciated the change of environment. The beautiful and serene forest path was a nice change from the hectic streets of Hong Kong. And unlike any of the other character, spending time with Shenhua was endurable, if not even pleasent.

During the showdown on the roof, all I wished for were that the goddamn game would end soon. My attitude changed during the last couple of hours though. Strangely enough, I actually wish to see a sequel. It feels as if the story has just begun to start, which is kinda unacceptable since it shouldn’t take two whole games to tell the introduction. Someone, please teach Yu Suzuki about proper pacing.