Let's Play! ChuLip 6

How many episodes will it take before we get through a day in ChuLip? Well, we know at least more than 6...

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"And now for something completely different."

Ahh... the mid-to-late 90's. Remember the good old days of PS1/N64 when 3D really wasn't quite there yet? Seeing through Mario's head, the awkward block-shaped cars of Twisted Metal, and Lara's big square butt... but it was 3-D! Holy crap! How was the blue bomber's jump into 3-D? Well... different, that's for sure, and nowhere near as smooth as Mario or Link's, but I believe he fared pretty well assuming you can separate the Mega Man Legends games from the Mega Man and Mega Man X games.

Therein lies the reason why some people just won't like these games. They're really not "Mega Man" games. To be honest, I would say that Mega Man Legends has more RPG elements than platforming elements. In my opinion, however, this is what allows for the game to work on some levels. It's fun to find new special weapons and buster parts to customize/upgrade Mega Man.

Another thing that might drive people away from this game is its graphical style. I'm not referring to the blocky polygonal graphics, I'm referring to its extremely anime-like presentation. In fact, at times, it almost feels like an anime with its charming characters and silly storyline. I found this to be a plus, but obviously if you're one of those who hates that "Japanese crap," you're not going to enjoy the style.

I don't have a whole lot more to say about this one, but one thing I absolutely have to address is how much we take voice-acting for granted these days. While you can certainly find worse voice acting (i.e. "Dr. Wahwee" from Mega Man 8) a lot of the dialogue just sounds awkward or out of place. Of course, I'm writing this in 2010, 12 years after its release. 12 years ago, I probably wouldn't have thought it was awkward, I would have thought it was sweet to see voices in a video game. I missed subtitles though, as some characters speak more clearly than others.

All in all, I'm glad I gave this game a chance, even if I was 10 or so years late. The characters have a certain undeniable charm (particularly Tron and the servbots) that I couldn't help but enjoy. The game is far from perfect and isn't nearly as classic as the original Mega Man games, but it was trying something different, which sometimes deserves credit even when it doesn't quite get it right. Does this mean I'll be playing Mega Man Legends 2? To quote the servbots, "Roger!"

(Also, can you believe I found a sealed copy of this game this many years later? Already owning a copy, I gave the sealed copy to a friend who recalled enjoying the game when he was younger but never beating it. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed this belated Christmas gift.)

Let's Play! ChuLip 5

Watch as I yell obscenities with my mouth full of whale crackers at another frustrating session of ChuLip.

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Let's Play! ChuLip 4

We knew ChuLip might wear on our patience... but actually give us a challenge? We could not have seen that coming. Watch ChuLip challenge us as well as our patience.

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Let's Play! ChuLip 3

Here we discover some of the underground characters as well as a mysterious telephone pole. We also meet the sensuous "Onion Lady."

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Let's Play! ChuLip 2

Part 2 of our exciting Let's Play! of ChuLip.

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Let's Play! ChuLip 1

Here's the first episode of our Let's Play! of ChuLip. Enjoy.

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Let's Play! ChuLip "Trailer"

This is a product of the combined "efforts" of Sjon and I. It's a Let's Play! of Chu♥Lip. Not sure what that is? Neither are we, and we've played it for an hour or so. This is just the "teaser," but if we don't get on your nerves too much, you can look forward to more episodes to come.

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Hell Frozen Over

Upon completing Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, I find myself with mixed feelings towards the game. The experience, on the other hand, was a very good one... but it isn't much of a game. That's what makes it tough for me to truly evaluate this game. I highly recommend anyone who's a fan of psychological horror to play this game, but it still feels lacking. The gameplay can be divided into 4 categories, some of them far more interesting than others. The 4 categories are therapist sessions, exploration, puzzle rooms, and running.

The therapist sessions are interesting, and are among the best parts of the game. It's interesting to know that the answers you pick will somehow affect parts of the game. Despite how intriguing the therapist sessions are, the exploration portions are the heart of the game, which begs the question, "Does wandering around really constitute a game?" Once again, I enjoyed my experience with this game, but there isn't a lot of gameplay. In these exploration sections of the game, you know that it's safe, and nothing will harm you. There are many objects or "mementos" hidden about, but I believe you could beat the game without picking up a single one of these mementos. In the olden days of Silent Hill, nearly every item had a purpose, so this was difficult for me to get used to. I wouldn't be surprised if I could have finished the game 2 hours faster if I had simply just run towards my objective without looking around. 2 hours may not seem like a long time, but this is a very short game.

With the heart of the gameplay covered, that leaves only 2 more categories. The puzzle rooms should be the best part of the game. Unfortunately, the majority of the puzzle rooms have painfully obvious solutions and thus posed very little challenge. I am told, however, that I took the easy way out. Of course I didn't choose this easier path, but the ways in which I answered the therapist's questions and explored the town, I evidently was able to bypass a much trickier puzzle. Whether or not this is a positive or negative thing is debatable. It's good that there are multiple pathways with different puzzles; it offers a lot of replay value. On the other hand, it doesn't seem right that one path would have an extremely simple puzzle, and a different path would have a much more complicated puzzle. Some people want harder puzzles, and others would rather just see how the story pans out. What happened to the "puzzle difficulty" option that was used in Silent Hill 2 and 3? I'm sad to see that go.

Usually before or after one of these puzzle rooms, there is a "running" sequence. The combat in Silent Hill has always been clunky, awkward, and broken, (and don't even get me started on those "better" fighting controls in Silent Hill: Homecoming) so this game has elected to remove combat entirely. While I'm not entirely against the idea, these sections are more annoying than frightening really. I've always admired the monster designs of Silent Hill games, but how am I supposed to enjoy them if I'm constantly just running from them? Oh... I can't admire them because there is really only one type of enemy that has one variant. That's 2 similar-looking creatures total, and that's it. To be honest, I think the running sections could have worked if there were other monster types. For example, while running, when being chased by a human-type monster, crawling under a small opening would be more beneficial to your escape than if you were being chased by a dog-type monster.

Seeing as I have already been wordy, I'll conclude briefly. SH: Shattered Memories wasn't much of a game, but it was a very immersive experience that kept me playing to see what would happen next. Its short length may not warrant a purchase for many, but if you're a fan of the genre, it's worth a playthrough.