Suikoden V mini-review

After the huge disappointment that was Suikoden IV, was there any way Konami could ever claw their way back in providing RPG goodness? Suikoden V is similar to Suikoden III in that is a good RPG game, but isn't a great one.

You play as the nameless Hero the Prince of Falena and son to the big boobed Queen Arshtat. The hero is an effeminate character, so expect to be confused for some time. Two years ago a town who was once thought to be most loyal to the Queendom of Falena revolted and rejected the Queen's rule. This despite the peace brought by the Queen whose rule over the legendary Sun Rune gives her power. The Queen orders you, the hero, to investigate the reason and the aftermath of the revolt. And so his and his friends adventures begins. Within the story lies tales of deceit and power struggle as the prince has to navigate through politics and feuding families to solve the nations problems.

Suikoden V has a standard RPG battle system, in that battles are turn based and menu driven. Up to six in a party can join a battle at any one time, an improvement over the much derided four party system used in Suikoden IV. Recruitment features heavily in the game as the prince is able to recruit 108 stars of destiny to help with his quest. It isn't mandatory to finish the game with all 108 recruitable characters.

The worst thing about Suikoden V is how badly the visuals has aged. With titles like Final Fantasy XII you can't help but feel disappointed by the archaic look of the title which at times feel like an early PS2 title or worse, a Dreamcast. While cutscenes are a joy, the isometric visuals used for exploration is dated and is easily surpassed by even Suikoden III. But let that not fool you as the storyline makes up for the graphical setback.

Despite some flaws, Suikoden V is a great game. It isn't a classic and therefore probably would not be hailed in the same breath as Suikoden II and III, but it marks a return to form for Konami's flagship RPG franchise.

8/10

NTSC owners can buy from Play-Asia where as PAL PS2 gamers should buy from Amazon UK

Muc-Off

Went to Halfords/Bikehut today and bought a bottle of Muc-Off spray cleaner. Will be heading down to Polegate tomorrow morning with Jenni and Tony to ride the Cuckoo Trail (hopefully the northern rain holds of a little bit). I haven't wash my bike since the trail two weeks ago and it is filled with grim, chalk, mud and other stuff (cow poo). I will try to get up early in the morning and give the mechs, chain, cassette and crank a quick scrub.

Software Impressions: Ordnance Survey Maps for Windows Mobile Pocket PC

I have been toying around with the new Memory-Map software. It has a killer base map sourced by none other than Ordnance Survey. 1:1 conversion too. What you see on the paper is what you get. Which means portable topographical GPS maps. Yay!

Along with 1:25k Explorer, 1:50k Landranger and 1:250k GB Road Atlas, the application also supports A-Z Street Atlas, IGN French maps (including 1:25k), Philip's Digital European road atlas, USGS DRG topo maps, Maptech marine charts, Civil Aviation Authority VFR charts, etc. Basically it is a do it all GPS software for walkers, cyclists, sailors, drivers, teachers, geologists and pilots. Incredible isn't it?

Memory-Map is also capable of rendering a 3D view of maps based on the proprietary QuickChart elevation data on all OS maps and GetMapping aerial photography. It is nifty and a useful feature to those not accustomed to interpretating topographical contour lines. You can toy around with sun light source with the mouse. Tracks can also be logged and viewed as a 3D flyover.

3D view of Devil's Dyke:



Unfortunately the 3D view capability isn't coded into Pocket Nav (the portable version for WinMob). If such a capability is important then consider ViewRanger for Series 60, which I tested on a Nokia N80. It works great, so if you are a fan of Series 60 and the great outdoors then do consider ViewRanger. I shot the Cambridge based developer an e-mail and it seems a Windows Mobile and UIQ version would eventually be released - though not in the near future.

In the mean time, apart from 3D view, Pocket Nav has extensive capabilities including the ability to display maps downloaded from Memory-Map, search & display index, monitor and track progress, support for Navman, Garmin, Magellan, NMEA or SiRF GPS, logging, etc.



Much of what you can do on Memory-Map can be done on Pocket Nav including creating new overlays such as waypoint, text and route. Overlays created on Memory-Map can be exported to be use on Pocket Nav and vice versa. However any modification to the maps are only limited to overlays. Until the 'run by tax-payer's money' OS organisation opens up, there is very little you can do to manipulate map data.



If you don't own a PDA, Memory-Map is also compatible with a vast array of dedicated GPS program, including those tailored for cyclists. Ah, what will we do without technology, us hopeless dependants?!

All screenshots based on maps reproduced from Ordnance Survey 1: 25,000 mapping © Crown copyright. All rights reserved.

Technorati tags: Ordnance Survey Memory Map Windows Mobile Pocket PC

DS Guitar M-06

This is simply brilliant. Who needs a real guitar when one can busk on the underground with a small DS? More amazing and funny videos at the link.

Update: Ubisoft will be publishing this title in the west as Jam Sessions and will come with 'localised' song sheets.

Still not a fan of Series 60

Last week I obtained a Nokia N80 for 'free' when I renewed my contract. Been testing it in place of my HTC Wizard. I have never been a fan of Series 60 interface and this new 3rd edition seems to be confirming it. The GUI - while flashy - is shit slow, counter productive and un-intuitive compared to PalmOS or Windows Mobile. But then again it is me. Many Series 60 fans has found it hard to migrate to touchscreen based GUI and vice versa.

A couple of negative stuff about this mobile. Despite having a 3Mp CMOS sensor, it still produce shit images. This is due to the smaller sensor size, lack of good lens and many other factors compared to dedicated digital compact. People who purchase a mobile to replace their digital or film cameras are just risking their memories.

There is still no touch screen interface on Series 60. Applications for Series 60 are still difficult to find through its archaic UI. It also uses miniSD - an absolute tosh of a format with no real identity (although to be fair the HTC Wizard also uses miniSD). It is hardly smaller than the SD format and is a giant compared to microSD (the probably successor to SD).

Now a couple of good stuff. The display is amazing. At a resolution of on a tiny screen, pictures looks absolute fantastic on it. I mean fucking brilliant. It is the HD display of all mobile phones. Too bad the N80 is so slow it probably wouldn't be able to play high bitrate videos.

The mobile itself is tiny - when compared to the Wizard. Built quality is awesome and when I checked, sure enough I found out that the unit I was holding was made in Finland. When it comes to assembling quality products nothing beats European factories.

I was finally able to download the new PC Suite from their website because the version that came in the CD would not connect to my PC, and therefore unable to sync with MS Outlook. The new version works well and isn't any better or worse than their counterparts (ActiveSync for WM and HotSync for PalmOS).

I returned the mobile a few days later and got the HTC Universe (O2 XDA Exec) instead. This thing is huge! But it works great. Speedier than the HTC Wizard, this piece of machine runs just about any application you can throw at it, including the resource hog TomTom 6. I am tempted to sell the HTC Wizard and keep this as my primary mobile - if it weren't for its size. Still I will give it a go for the next few days and see. WiFi signal isn't as strong as the Wizard, but the VGA screen makes up for a pleasent web browsing experience via Access NetFront (still the best portable browser hands down).

Technorati tags: Nokia Nokia N80 Series 60

Guy Fawkes Night

Didn't go out to see fireworks last night due to the unusually (for early November) cold weather (if you want pictures see last year's Lewes bonfire and fireworks posts). Instead stayed indoors and enjoyed the free show around the neighbourhood while sipping wine and munching down cheese. May try to enjoy this coming weekend's Lord Mayor's fireworks display though.

Technorati tags: Fireworks Guy Fawkes

MTB Review: CatEye HL-EL410 Compact Opticube headlight

Here is my birthday present from Jennifer. It is a CatEye HL-EL410 Compact Opticube headlight. Her way of forcing me into getting a front safety light!!



A reassuring sticker on the box claiming to be 100% brighter than the previous EL400 model only smacks in the face to those who previously paid for the older model (which is still on sale for the full price in some retail bike stores). Underneath the box are the words "MADE IN JAPAN / FABRIQUE AU JAPON". I am glad that CatEye did not source out the manufacturing to low QC China. Phew.



They didn't even skim on batteries, quality Toshiba triple-As included:



Bike geeks will be interested to know that the combined weight is only 78 grams.



Unlike other two piece systems(where the mount fixes semi-permanently to the bike), the bracket included allows a greater amount of flexibility for installation on different handlebars as well as helmet.



Mounted on my Trek helmet:



Mounted on a handlebar next to the CatEye LD210 safetylight.



If you want to go trekking in the middle of the woods then forget about using this alone. While it is bright enough for the darkest of alleyways, you should only use this as a backup light to be used with a high performance H.I.D., if you are planning on night trails. For city owls like us this works good enough.

Technorati tags: CatEye Bicycle

Suda 51's Contact mini-review

Suda 51 and Grasshopper's Contact was easily one of the most anticipated title of 2006. From the moment the game boots you will find that this isn't just any RPG. Faced with an old school computer keyboard of the first three function key, which is used to begin the game, all harks back to the good old 8-bit computing days. Then it begins. You tap the Professor, who finds your DS communicating device pretty impressive. He also asks a series of questions - personal questions mind you. Then we meet Terry.

I will explain the gameplay mechanism first. Contact does not allow you to directly control Terry. In fact the game revolves around three characters - Terry, the mysterious Professor and you, the player. While you can control Terry to a certain extent, the Professor mainly communicates with you. Put it simply, if there ever was a god, you are one - although you will taking your orders from the Professor. This is why the game is called Contact.

Battles are simplified. In order to command Terry to attack, you only need to toggle the 'A' button once. Terry will then attack the nearest NPC. The only control you have over Terry is to move him around, thus avoiding damage from enemies, or to toggle the battle mode off and run away. Special attacks exists in the form of touchscreen decals but this is limited. The game does allows extreme freedom in who Terry can attack, including friendly NPCs. In time if Terry attacked enough friendly NPCs, they will finally wise up and gang up on Terry. Stats are in real time. For example, anytime Terry gets hit, his defence level goes up.

A couple of unique gameplay mechanism exists in Contact, including one that almost mimics that of killer7's (it was developed by the same team after all). As Terry progress through, costumes can be unlocked (found) which gives Terry new abilities (jobs in RPG lingo). Basically certain weapons or abilities can only be toggled when Terry dons a costume. Want to cook? Then Terry has to adorn an chef costume. This is similar to killer7 where the main character has to 'morph' into another character in order to gain certain skills.

The graphics, while utilising 2D sprites to provide a pseudo-3D isometric view, is equally as unique. In order to separate the world in which the Professor and Terry are from, the developers went for two unique looks, one for the Professor's world (his spaceship) and another for Terry's. The Professor's section (top screen) has a look that is similar to the Mother series - isometric sprites, clean lines, simple geometry etc much like early SNES titles. Terry's world on the other hand, while still simply enough, is more like watching a moving surrealistic environment.

Contact, like killer7 is a brilliant but flawed game. At times, it is as brilliant as Mother 3 - which was fantastic (in the 30 minutes I tried to play with an FAQ translation until I grew fedup with having to switch on my PC just to play a GBA game - I will wait for the rumoured Mother DS compilation), and at times you feel like throwing your DS against the wall due to the frustration with the game's lack of direction. You can easily get stuck as objectives are rarely given, and those that come through from the Professor are often vague and cryptic. Having said that Contact is an experience. This is very much a game you could easily hate as much as I love!

7/10

Buy now Play-Asia or Amazon UK