Archive for October, 2010


WR: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (PSP)

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Screenshot of P3Ps combat

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
Console: PSP
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Hours Played: 150 (no, that’s not a typo)
Progress: Finished the game

The Persona franchise is a popular series by the RPG aficionados at Atlus. What makes it different from many of its counterparts is that it is set in a contemporary Japan instead of Tolkien-esque fantasy worlds or post-apocalyptic futures. The fact that it centers around a group of high school students, though, is not particularly different considering that every other game produced and published by a Japanese software company seems to involve uniform-clad highschoolers. Persona 3 Portable (P3P) offers a hand-held remake of the excellent PS2 title, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, with additional content in the form of a new playable female character and unique story segments.  So how does this franchise fare on Sony’s portable console? Read on to find out….

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Second Opinion: Halo Reach (Xbox 360)

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Developer: Bungie Software
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Players: 1-4 (2-16 online)
Console: Xbox 360
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Hours Played: 20 (around 8-9 in single-player)
Progress: Completed the campaign on Heroic in Co-op, Reached Warrant Officer in Multiplayer

Read our original Halo Reach review here

nwitbraad recently posted a glowing review for Halo Reach.  I had a fairly different experience with the new Halo game and would like to share it with you.  To give context, I am a proponent of Halo in general.  I bought the Legendary editions of both Halo 3 and Halo Reach as well as the controller bundle of Halo 3: ODST.  I have played through all of the Halo games (with the exception of Halo Wars) and enjoyed them all to varying degrees.  I played 199 Halo 3 online matches since the game came out and am therefore well acquainted with the series.  How much less do I think the latest Halo game deserves than the 9.4 it was awarded recently?  Read more to find out…

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WR: Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010


Developer: Bungie Software
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Players: 1-4 (2-16 online)
Console: Xbox 360
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Hours Played: 25
Progress: Completed the campaign

Read a Second Opinion review for Halo Reach here

One wonders if Bungie, the developers of the Halo series, ever expected their first incarnation of Halo to become the phenomenon it is today. Regardless, the series has become one of the most important FPS games in the industry and having explored the adventures of the Spartan known as Master Chief, Bungie is ending the series by going back to the origins of the conflict between mankind and the Covenant by taking us to Reach, the birthplace of the Spartan project. A monumental title as Bungie has made it clear they’ll explore new franchises while handing over the reigns to the Halo series to Microsoft. While the last two titles in the series, Halo 3 and Halo ODST respectively, disappointed somewhat, Halo 3 with its multiplayer and ODST in the single player campaign, there is significant pressure on Bungie to go out with a bang and give players everything they liked about the franchise in one last game, read on to see if they succeeded….

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