deKay's Lofi Gaming

Shadow Complex (360)

Two of my most favourite games serieseses ever: Castlevania and Metroid. Why do I mention them? Because Shadow Complex is just like them! OK, so it’s more modern day, and there are no aliens or vampires (yet, at least), but it’s the same mazey, upgradey, shooty platformy aceness! Hurrah!!

My picks of E3

Overall, I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t more proper new games at E3 this year. There were plenty of good games, but most have either been known about for ages, or were sequels. So, what I’m looking forward to:

Too many games!

It’s that time of year again. Well, actually, it’s not, which is the problem. Traditionally, there’s slim pickings for new games around this time of year. The busiest times for releasing new titles (especially big titles) is normally around Christmas and often over Easter too, but the July-October period is like release death in the UK. Except this year. As well having Bioshock released this week already, there’s fahsands more out between now and the end of November. Before the …

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (360)

Finally! Symphony of the Night is in my grasp! Well, sort of – it’s on my Xbox 360’s hard drive. This is the first of the “Metroidvania” style Castlevania games, and I’ve just been playing it. As always (well, except for that GB one and the PS2 one…), it’s great. I’m Alucard, who plays much like Soma did in Aria of Sorrow, and the graphical style is much like Circle of the Moon, so it’s like a kind of mish …

My love for Castlevania

How did this happen? I’ve always liked Castlevania games, and was quite excited about 18 months ago when Dawn of Sorrow came out, even though I hadn’t really played a Castlevania game since the SNES one about 12 years previous. But good as it was, it didn’t propel me into buying any other, older, Castlevania games. Last year, however, when the first details of Portrait of Ruin for the DS were filtering onto the internet, I thought I’d best pick …

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)

After half an hour of searching, and finally resorting to watching the first part of a speedrun on YouTube, I eventually found somewhere I could reach but hadn’t been to yet. And so, I had opened up a huge new area! In fact, my exploration status went from about 65% of the castle, to 102% in this evening’s play. No, that isn’t a mistake – it turns out there are two castles. Cripes. Both are effectively the same layout, but …

The art of ignoring video games

If you know me, or if you read this blog, or monitor my Usenet and forum posts, then you’ll know I buy a lot of games. Like, loads. I play a lot too: most days I put in an hour or so, longer at the weekend. This may appear to be a very long time to non-gamers, but you have to consider how much time I don’t spend watching TV, which is far more passive and couch potatoey. One look …

Serious Sam: Next Encounter (GC)

I have about ten million known good games as-yet unstarted sitting on my shelf. Things like Metroid Prime: Echoes and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. I even got Fahrenheit cheaply this morning. So what did I decided to pick up and play today? Well, this obviously. Graphically, it’s nothing special. Originality is out the window. The puzzles are few and simple, and there’s nothing much to recommend it. However, there’s lots to shoot and the dialogue is genuinely funny. Best …

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Castlevania seems to have turned into a sort of Metroid clone since Castlevania IV. Not that I’m complaining, since I really enjoyed Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission, and this kind of fills the hole that their completion has left. In may ways it is better too. You get more freedom over where you’re supposed to go, and there is less hand-holding. There is still all the exploration and upgrades, but there are so many upgrades to find, choose, use, and …