Tag: Playstation 2

#WeeklyGameMusic: Glass Moon (カルタグラ～ツキ狂イノ病～)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

In a rare look for this series, this week’s #WeeklyGameMusic is a track from a Japanese (…and adult…and violent) visual novel: Cartagra ~Tsuki kurui no Yamai~ (or in its original Japanese: カルタグラ～ツキ狂イノ病～), developed by Innocent Grey. MANYO’s track, Glass Moon was, as this writer understood it, originally composed with lyrics in mind; however, this writer wasn’t able to find the vocal version. Still, even its instrumentals are great. Take a listen:

Naturally like all Visual Novels, Cartagra read like any other choose-your-own-adventure stories, with graphics, sound, and music to accent the experience. The story is set in 1950s Japan, where ex-police officer Shugo Takashiro is taking on freelance detective jobs. Bit in the dumps, he received a missing person report that immediately catches his interest: it turns out his former girlfriend, Yura Kozuki, whom he had to sadly leave to fight World War 2, has now gone missing. With the help of Kazuna Kozuki, Yura’s twin sister, the two look for clues on what happened to her, only to find a terrifying series of events lurking in the background.

Cartagra is a Japan-only game released for the Playstation 2 and Windows. Fan translations to English does exist, though this writer hasn’t tried them yet.

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#WeeklyGameMusic: Planet Novalis: Tobruk Crater (Ratchet & Clank)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

Back to them classics! This week’s #WeeklyGameMusic is from Insomniac Games’ classic, Ratchet & Clank. Planet Novalis: Tobruk Crater, composed by David Bergeaud, merges together action, thrills, and a little bit of swing to create a unique track like no other. Come take a listen:

Ratchet & Clank stars a humanoid feline creature named Ratchet, and his robot buddy, Clank. The story begins with Clank crash-landing onto Rachet’s home planet. Fortunately, Ratchet is a very handy repair-creature, and fixes up Clank in no time. Thankful, Clank informs Ratchet that a greedy race of aliens are planning on overtaking Ratchet’s planet to use up all its resources. The two agree to team up and defend their home from these incoming forces, which of course meant they’ll have to up their…arsenal.

Ratchet & Clank is a third-person collectathon, much in the same vein as Banjo-Kazooie. Platforming and swinging wrenches will be one of the early moves the player will be learning when starting this game series. That said, perhaps the most stand-out feature the series has is its creative library of long-range weapons. That’s right, that raunchy pun in the prior paragraph isn’t just for show (or a reference to a subtitle in one of the series entries): these games are all about guns, and lots of it! Get ready to pummel aliens in sci-fi city environments, all bundled with wonderfully smooth and expressive animations that really adds to the cartoon-factor.

The first Ratchet & Clank was originally released on Playstation 2. It has been re-released for Playstation 3, Vita, and 4.

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#WeeklyGameMusic: Ryoshima Coast (Okami)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

#WeeklyGameMusic: New week, new music.

This time, we visit ancient Japan from this brilliant piece from Okami. Make way for the epic music, Ryoshima Coast by Hiroshi Yamaguchi! It’s a wonderful composition most fitting for a game that re-tells numerous Japanese fairy tales.

Okami starts with feudal Nippon (“Japan” in Japanese) getting swarmed by monsters and other evil spirits. With the country in peril, the guardians summon the sun goddess, Amaterasu, to rid of all evil. The problem? She’s a lazy wolf, and since the citizens of Nippon doesn’t have faith in their gods, she’s also very weak. Alas, it’s up to (?) the one-inch-tall Issun to wake her up, and encourage her to beat up monster to save the day!

Okami is an action-adventure game, frequently compared to the Legend of Zelda series, that not only manages to stand on its own, but even excel beyond its original inspiration. The game features tight combat system and dungeons with puzzles that even left a Zelda veteran like myself scratching his head. Special to this game is the brush power-ups: “items” are spawned by literally drawing them into the world. Not only does this make puzzle quick to resolve once a solution is found, it also makes the said powers convenient for use on combat. A lot of experimentation is possible in this vast, oriental fairy-tale world.

Okami was originally developed for the Playstation 2. It was also ported on the Wii, complete with wand-based drawing controls. Lastly, a HD remix is downloadable on the Playstation 3.

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Weekly Game Music: The Flaming Tree (Tsugunai: Atonement)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

New week, new music.  This week, we return to a calmer tune, with a hint of wonder.  Yasunori Mitsuda composition, The Flaming Tree, has a mysterious feel to it.  Quite fitting for a spiritual game like Tsugunai: Atonement.

Tsugunai: Atonement tells a story of a daredevil mercenary named Reise. When he attempts to retrieve the Treasure Orb as one of his missions, however, the gods angrily handicaps him by splitting his soul away from his body.  Now only a ghost, Reise must atone for his sins by possessing other people and helping them aid their life.

Tsugunai: Atonement is a turn-based RPG.  Unlike a generic JRPG, however, the “party” is only one character Reise happened to possess at that time.  In this sense, the town acts as a character hub for Reise, where each possessee have their own special abilities.  Once possessed, Reise may visit a nearby dungeon to fight through monsters and defeat the main evil.

Tsugunai: Atonement was released on the Playstation 2 in 2001.

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Weekly Game Music: Corruption With Rage and Melancholy (ObsCure II)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

New week, new music.  Ready to get scared?  Here’s an excellent sad music from the horror game, ObsCure II.  Corruption with Rage and Melancholy by Olivier Deriviere is the type of music that’s exactly what’s written in the title: a swing of two linked emotions.

ObsCure II narrates the misadventures of 4 college friends who discover mutated monsters in their university.  They quickly discover the Black Pores from the previous game has started to spread among the students, mutating them into monsters.  The students attempt to uncover the source of the vile plant products.

ObsCure II is a horror game, complete with bad weapon handling and uncomfortable camera angles.  Differentiating itself from many games of the same genre is the American college theme and the inclusion of co-op play.

ObsCure II was released on PC, Playstation 2, and Wii in 2008.  It was later ported to PSP and PSP Go.

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Weekly Game Music: moony [advanced] (Futari No FantaVision)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

New week, new music.  Since the holidays is just around the corner, here’s a little festive trance music from the Japan-only puzzle game, Futari No FantaVision.  Introducing moony [advanced] by Soichi Terada.

Futari No FantaVision is actually just a 2-player version of a game that was released in the US, FantaVision.  In FantaVision, you control a ray that can detonate rising fireworks if you’ve successfully aimed at three or more like-colored fireballs.  The game becomes a sort of rhythmic puzzle game, where you attempt to detonate as many fireworks as possible.

Futari No FantaVision was released only in Japan on the PS2 in 2002.  It’s “prequel,” FantaVision was released in the US on 2000.

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