Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP) PDF walkthrough released!

It is pretty much skeletal at the moment since there are a lot of switches in the game that needs careful attention. So far it's only 1.5MB and has 16 pages. Don't be fooled though; it covers your first 10-20 hours in the game alone. You can download it here.

Edit: (10/31/2008) Out for the 9 optional characters, you can only recruit 4 - depending on the conditions. I'll try to cover them all so replaying the game 2-3 times is inevitable. Everything is progressing fine but I still got Brothers in Arms and Gears of War 2 distracting me and forcing me to spend 1-2 hours of my daily gaming time. Don't worry, I'll be updating the guide regularly (at least weekly) so keep posted.


Gears of War 2 - First Impressions
I was able to get an advance copy of Gears of War 2. Me and my brother has finished it the other day. It was definitely bigger, badder and of course, longer than the first one. I will list some things to expect in the game and I'll try to prevent too much spoilers. Still, read at your own risk.

**SPOILER ALERT** **SPOILER ALERT** **SPOILER ALERT** **SPOILER ALERT**
- One of the Carmine brothers will return
- Wild Reaver goosechase (High-speed boss battle and escape using Reavers)
- Brumak assault (Brumaks are those large dino-like beasts with fitted weapons)
- New weapons: Yes we know about the flamethrowers, shield and hammerburst. How about a chain gun and a portable artillery launcher?
- Dom finds his wife! Happy ending or sad? You'll find out.
- Anya gets a retouch; she's a lot lovelier now compared to the first game.
- Centaur drive-in: The chance to control one of the Centaur light tanks of the COG.
- The collectibles will be in the form of magazines, artifacts, certain structures and a few COG tags - Razorhail: Falling hail shaped like broken pieces of glass; sharp as hell too!
- New enemies: That freakin mauler can be shot at the feet to bypass the shields!
- The mounted machine guns on vehicles and outposts will overheat but will have forced cooling (In Gears 1, the Troika heavy gatling/chain gun NEVER overheats)
- Sqquadmates can now REVIVE you (I never noticed them doing that all that time while I played Gears 1)
- No more Lambent (exploding) wretches; but new explosive critters will replace them. Fortunately, you can easily kill them from a distance or hit them back for a number of times for an achievement.
- No more berserkers (the blind Locusts that hunts by smell and hearing)
- The Queen's appearance is definitely a surprise!
- Improved weapons: The Hammer of Dawn seems to be more powerful since it can easily destroy large locusts with one, huge burst of energy. And the Lancer is a lot more accurate.
- New bosses and stages that you'll never expect in a Gears game.
- Meat shields are really pretty effective!

Finally the ending message. Its not the exact one but leaves a lot of room for a final, part.

"Can anyone hear me?... This is Adam Fenix... What have you done?"

Overall, the game is a blast. Now I can't wait for Gears 3. There is still too much story to tell. Gears 2 offers the same feeling with little to no modifications with the controls and combat systems but also offers entirely new experience.

Walkthrough Releases and Updates - 10/26

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS) Released!
You can download the text format walkthrough for this game here.


Tales of Vesperia (360) text walkthrough Released!
The main walkthrough is still ongoing (about 80% complete). You can also download the Title and Cooking guides separate text files. I have converted this for readers that doesn't have access to high speed internet connection or those who doesn't have a PDF reader readily available.

You can download the walkthrough and the guides here.


Progress Report:
I just got Star Ocean First Departure (PSP) yesterday and I am just about to start a new game later this afternoon. I will be releasing it on PDF format as promised though I may release a text format as well if I have time.

That's it for this week. Later guys!

~Paul

New Projects - October

With my PDF walkthrough for Tales of Vesperia 95% completed, Stephen Ng of IGN has assigned two new games for me to cover. The first one is the Xbox 360 game first-person shooter, Legendary.

As far as I have read and seen, Legendary will pit you against mythical beasts that have been released from the infamous Pandora's Box. We have already fought aliens, mutants, terrorists and Nazis through FPS games so this is like a breath of fresh air to me. Will humans and their technology prevail against the beasts of mythology? Me wants to shoot some griffins!


About this game:

Legendary tells the story of Charles Deckard, an art thief who is duped into stealing Pandora's Box. When he opens the box, he releases hordes of beasts thought to be fictional -- werewolves and gryphons and all means of beast and demon -- into an unprepared modern world. A full scale war between man and myth begins, and it is quickly complicated by the actions of powerful secret societies. As the person responsible for releasing this terror, Deckard's unwittingly become the only person capable of containing it once more and saving civilization from being destroyed by the terrifying creatures of the box.






The second game I'll need to write a walkthrough for is Star Ocean: First Departure. I have been a fan of the Star Ocean series. I even remembered finishing Star Ocean: 2nd Story for about 9 times back in the Playstation days. Originally, I was about to cover Valhalla Knights 2 but since I am really short on time (I am still half finished with my Tales of the Abyss walkthrough) I just declined it. I am glad that I found a working screenshot plugin for my PSP custom firmware version 4.01M33-2, so I can write up a PDF guide than the traditional text format I originally planned.


About this game:

Space Date 346: The crew of a Terran Federation ship arrives on the planet Roak. With the help of a stalwart band of local heroes, the crew must work together to unravel a mystery and halt a galactic war.

First Departure is a remade version of the very first Star Ocean, created anew with with 3D graphics and CG cutscenes. Initially released toward the end of the Super Famicom's life cycle, and never before localized for North America, the origin of the Star Ocean series receives a total makeover for the PSP system. Additional scenarios and characters, integrated 2D and 3D graphics in the style of the PS one game console sequel, fully animated movies, and other bonus features transform the game into a completely new experience.



Progress Report
I was planning to give myself a writing "holiday" until my next projects but I can't stop writing for some reason. *sigh*. I started playing Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure for the DS early this week and I am currently writing a simple walkthrough for it. I'll be releasing it soon enough.



As for Tales of Vesperia, I am currently converting it to text format. I am only doing it during the weekends, that may explain why its taking a long time to release it.


That's all for now. Laters!

~~Paul Vhayste

Beware of stolen guides!

Please Support our game writers!

Don't ever, ever buy game e-guides from Ebay or any auction site. Most of the time, these are blatantly stolen works of hardworking authors that contribute to several gaming sites. These guides should be free, regardless of format. I have a friend and fellow game writer that has her walkthrough stolen, pliagarized and sold in Ebay for $5.99. Please report any similar incidents to the authors. We writers dedicate countless hours of our lives, energy and resources just to deliver you quality content and help for the games you love. It is infuriating to have some gutless idiot to take advantage of someone else's hard work.

Tales of Vesperia PDF walkthrough updated!

Sorry for the 10 day delay. I have already finished reconstructing the whole guide so its pretty organized now. As a bonus, I have taken some time to add more sections.

• Titles
• Achievement List
  
• Giganto Monsters
• Cooking and Recipes

I will try to add the artes and materials section if I have time but for now, this is as complete as it can be. You can download the updated guide here. Enjoy!

Paul

Tales of Vesperia PDF Walkthrough updated!

Alright folks, the latest version of the guide is up. It covers everything from the main walkthrough and most of the sidequests. I am currently playing the game all over again to do all possible sidequests. I have mentioned in my last entry that I'll need to reconstruct the guide so it may take a while. I'll try to post another update within a week or so.

You can use the same download links from my previous posts to download this guide. Currently it has 136 pages and is 18.5MB. It covers up to the end of the main walkthrough, including the optional battle with Duke's third form - the Radiant Wing One.

~Paul Vhayste