*DISCLAIMER*

Yes, I’m aware that Persona 4 is not the last PS2 game. However, I’m going to be bold and say that it’s the last good PS2 game to come out given the system’s current release schedule.

With that said, I was not looking forward to Persona 4 AT ALL. In 2007, I bought Persona 3. In early 2008, I had to buy Persona 3 FES. Then all of a sudden I hear about Persona 4 coming out at the end of the year here in the states. It’s not like they’re pumping them out overseas, I know Persona 3 had been out for quite some time in Japan before it was released here. I didn’t like the art style, the cast of characters, the colors, or the fact it was coming out so early and I hadn’t even started on Persona 3 FES. Sounds like a personal problem, I suppose.

I bought the game anyways. I guess I’m just a fanboy, or something. I have to say that it’s a lot better than Persona 3. That game was fun, but it was very constrictive. In Persona 3, you were bound by a calendar, the moon’s phases, and how healthy your character was. In Persona 4, you’re bound by the weather. That’s pretty much it. There’s also quite a few cosmetic changes. While the concept is still the same, they’ve implemented it in way that just feels right. A lot of little changes can go a long way, I guess.

The story is a bit different, as well. Murders are happening in your town you recently moved to, and you somehow get involved. I don’t want to spoil it, but the main plot of the game is this land inside of a TV where most of the plot happens. This is where you’ll do the bulk of your fighting. It’s not like Persona 3 where you just go up a tower the whole time. There are still social links, where you go and meet friends, and say the right things to them in order to power up. You can hold jobs, trade in raw materials to make new items, read books, and other things you couldn’t do in Persona 3.

Persona 4 is a pretty solid game. A lot of RPGs these days get flack for being for being “turn-based” or old-school or something. Persona 4 might not be your modern action-rpg, but it’s definitely modern. It fulfills my needs, to say the least. Even though it’s on the PS2, it actually looks pretty good. I’m proud to have this game in my collection.

If you like this game, you can buy it on Amazon

The second episode of facepalm deals with Sega’s 32x add-on system. It kinda came out at a bad time, and failed pretty damn hard. The Saturn was already out in Japan. So nobody really wanted to waste their time with it. Some say that failures such as the 32x led to the impending demise of Sega’s hardware making altogether.

Not to say it was a ‘bad’ system. It had quite a bit of potential. Some games actually look pretty good on it. It’s just sorta ugly, and a whole wrong time/wrong place sort of situation.

Here’s our video for Facepalm Ep. 2 -- 32x:

This is the first part of *facepalm*: a series of articles in which I discuss things that make you slap your forehead with your palm. Embarassing things. Failed things. Yeah they make you cringe to think about them, but I’m giving them a fair chance. An objective look at the things society scoffs at and wishes didn’t exist. So what better subject to start out with than:

It’s been maybe a month now since I picked up the virtual boy, and I still only have two games for it. Mario’s Tennis and Wario Land. That’s perfectly fine though, I don’t think I’d want to subject myself to the other games. I’ve heard they were pretty bad.

So in a nutshell, the virtual boy is a strange mixture of a console and a portable system. It doesn’t really plug in to your TV, it’s just a huge visor thing you put your head into. There’s a screen for each eye, giving the illusion of 3D for some games. The controller is pretty clunky looking — and it takes six AA batteries. Hey! Just like the Game Gear!

Mario’s Tennis is actually kinda fun, but it’s just tennis with Mario characters. I give it credit though, because it actually feels like you’re on a real court seeing the player in front of you. Instead of most tennis games where it’s just an overhead view.

Warioland is pretty cool too. It’s a very solid platforming game. It attempts to use the 3D effects by having two planes objects can go between. Sometimes you can jump between the foreground and background. Which, is actually an interesting concept, because most 2D games only give you the option of jumping higher or lower.

The Virtual Boy is a goofy system that failed miserably. But if you ever come across one, I suggest picking one up. There are a handful of games that are actually kinda fun for it.

There is always something to be said about failed systems. Lately, I’ve been looking into bad systems. Well, in a sense that they weren’t supported for nearly as long as their competitors.