And I Still Haven't Finished Devil May Cry 3!

So this is an update on the games that I'm supposed to finish (and already finished playing through) before the end of this month. In my post on February 12, I said that I was going to complete three games. I'm done with 2, although one of these was not part of the list initially (more on that later).

The first game that I was able to complete was Devil May Cry 4. I know I said I'd start with Devil May Cry 3 but turns out there is a limit to my masochism. When you've been playing a game for an accumulated 20+ hours and you still haven't finished it you'd probably feel that it isn't worth any more of your time too. Well, I still have 2 days to finish the game so I think that would be fine by me. Currently, I'm working on an article regarding my impressions and reflections after Devil May Cry 4 and Strider (that's the other game that I finished).

Strider is actually the first game that I pre-purchased/ordered (via Steam) so I had to make sure that I played it first over Devil May Cry 3 and Darksiders 2 (at this point I already completed Devil May Cry 4 on Devil Hunter difficulty). The game was actually fun, albeit a bit short. I'll go into more detail on that in another post. Well, that's it for my update, check back within the day for my impressions/reflections of the games I've played this month.  

Am I a Masochist at Heart?

Devil May Cry 3 has made me realize two things: Vergil is a d*ck and this game is for masochists. Seriously. I've been playing the game for a week now and I'm stuck on the 20th mission which is the third boss fight with Dante's twin brother Vergil. I mean the guy's near invincible and no amount of timing, Air Raiding, and Air Hiking I do will save me from his Yamato combos. Man, and you add the crappy camera that this game has and you're sure to get killed in the first 5-10 minutes of the fight. Even at Normal difficulty this final boss fight is difficult. I've spent more or less 2-4 hours getting killed by the guy. Well, I'm pretty sure that I'll get the hang of it if given three to four more hours but man, I'm seriously thinking that I've been a masochist all along because of this game.

The start of the fight.

That aside, my impression of the game has somewhat changed in the last week or so that I've been playing it. Seeing the game's metacritic rating I actually had low expectations of it and that's probably the reason why I enjoyed it. Of course, there's the crappy camera and the crappier backtracking segments of the game but those things aside I actually liked the idea of finishing a game that people thought was really crappy. It's really unfair to say that the game is bad as what most Steam users are saying on their reviews of the game. Most of their beef with the game was with the fact that the port was sloppily made but since I've never played the PS2 game I couldn't really offer my two cents on this issue. However I will say that I enjoyed playing Devil May Cry 3 for the PC regardless of what people are, and have been saying about it.

After 8-10 minutes Dante's life meter is nearly depleted while Vergil's is the complete opposite.

The combat system is, in my opinion, where the game truly shined. It actually takes a lot of skill and strategy to be able to beat the hordes of enemies and the bosses in this game. If they were able to fix the camera with this port as well as the gamepad and keyboard configurations then this probably would have fared a lot better. But all that's water under the bridge now and it is what it is. 

I'm never gonna rest until I beat this game, dammit!

What I could advise people who have plans in buying this game either through Steam or on PC-DVD is to lower your expectations about it. For a game that was first released in the early days of the Playstation 2, Devil May Cry 3 and its graphics have seen better days. If you're expecting it to have the same level of detail with its graphics as games released 2 or 3 years ago then you'll just be disappointed. But like what I said earlier, it is a fun game. The English voice acting was great although I would have preferred it if there was a setting to turn on Japanese voice acting on it. The fact that you need to be able to master the controls in order to be proficient at the game is a big plus for me. There are a lot of games now that just let you mash buttons and don't require any skill and strategy at all to finish. Overall, I would recommend buying this game if it were on sale on Steam or on any other service/establishment that sells it (I got mine through the Steam Capcom Sale). Would it blow your socks off? Probably not but who knows? Devil May Cry 3 just might awaken the masochist in you.

Globe's FUP and How F'ed Up It Is

Much has been said about Globe Telecommunication's announcement of it's Fair Use Policy or FUP and how the company has been misleading its consumers with their unlimited data promo. In a nutshell, the way the Globe FUP works is that if a subscribers exceeds the data limit of 1GB per day or 3GB per month their data connection will be throttled from HSDPA/HSUPA (or LTE for those who have phones that support it) to 2G (EDGE or GPRS). 

Globe stated that its FUP is justified because a lot of telcos from other countries have implemented something like it. The problem here is that the network infrastructure that they have in place here in the Philippines simply can't compare to what telcos in countries like the USA have. More often than not the maximum download speed I get for my data connection is around 1-2 Mbps on a good day. Sometimes it'll be lower than that. The only way that they could justify the implementation of their FUP is if they guarantee its download speeds and not mislead prospective customers with marketing word plays like "up to 42 Mbps download speeds (for LTE)".

Another issue with the Globe FUP is the fact that 3GB per month for the data cap is simply not enough. This holds true for people like me who tether their computers to their phones to access the internet. And if you're a gamer who downloads games through Steam, then you'll undoubtedly go past the data cap in under a day. This is really a shame though because if there was one service that could help minimize the blatant piracy of software and games here in the Philippines, it would have been Steam. Data capping is never good for gaming, whether it's console, handheld, or PC. Gaming platforms nowadays are slowly integrating digital downloads as part of their system's online service. 

7.12 GB data consumption for Feb 4 - March 3 of this year.

56.75 GB data consumption for Jan 4 - Feb 3 of this year.

When I first heard the news I was outraged. I've been a Globe subscriber for more than 2 years and I just got my plan renewed for another two years last August or September. The reason why I chose Globe is because I trusted that they would deliver on their promise of unlimited internet. I didn't sign up to just use their service to access Facebook or check on my email. I may be in the minority here when it comes to data usage but I shouldn't be penalized for using something that's been touted as unlimited. 

To Globe's credit I've yet to experience being throttled for my data usage. However the fact still remains that one of these days that might happen as evidenced by my data usage in the above screenshots. This doesn't also mean that I approve of the Globe FUP because I know that somewhere in the Philippines someone just reached the 3GB data cap for the month and now he or she is experiencing crappy download speeds. If the problem is with network congestion then there's only two solutions for it. Either Globe improves it's network to accommodate new subscribers or it stops taking in subscribers. Unfortunately both of these options will cost the telco money that's why they came up with a third option which is to screw their current subscribers so that they could get more subscribers that they could consequently screw.

It's a screwed up system and it's not doing gamers and non-gamers any good. Data capping and throttling should stop. I hope that someone from Globe reads this. I know I've been up to my old habit of disorganized writing but I think I was able to convey my point clearly. Disregard the Globe FUP or come up with another one that's friendlier to your subscribers like me who regularly use 50-100 GB of data per month and who got your unlimited data plan for that specific purpose.

Games I'm Playing This Love Month

We're near the halfway mark to February and the hype-train for Valentines day is in full force. I'm sad though because my girlfriend and I won't be able to spend our 2nd Valentines together. Then again, I really am not concerned about Valentines cause I think it's just another way for businesses to siphon off money from us. So what if I'm going to spend my Valentines with my family? Nothing wrong with that right? For me, what's wrong is the fact that most people make too much of a bid deal out of the 14th of February. Wouldn't it be better if you professed your love to your significant other everyday? It'll be better if the both of you played videogames instead of going to a posh restaurant where you're bound to have your pockets emptied.

Well enough of the bitterness and on to the topic and purpose of this site: to document my lazy gaming habits. In my last post (which was a about a couple of weeks ago), I said that I'd finish Bionic Commando before my flight to Manila on the 26th. True to my lazy nature, I didn't finish the game or any other game in my backlog of 58 Steam games for that matter. Anyway, I've thought long and hard about this and I'm thinking of finishing three games in a month's time. Right now I'm working on Devil May Cry 3 and 4 as well as Darksiders 2. I thought of starting with 3rd person beat-em ups first because for me they're easier to complete and personally, I just like playing these kinds of games.

Devil May Cry 3 is the first game on this list that I'm playing and I just managed to beat Agni and Rudra earlier. At a rate of 5 missions a day (more or less), I'll probably beat the game by February 14.

On a side-note, I'm currently learning how to program using Python and I also downloaded an app on my ipad called Artrage. I really want to try my hand at developing a simple game just to see if I could. Remember that I have no prior experience with programming (I took up a class in Turbo Pascal way back in high school and I've completely forgotten all about it, so that doesn't count) much less game design so this project of mine will probably take longer to materialize. Art is a different matter though. I've been doodling/sketching for years and although I'm not really that good at it, I really enjoy the whole experience. Will probably post a couple of pages from my sketchbook as well as my Artrage output.

That's all for now guys. Keep on playing and dreaming!