Game Rant - Sengoku Basara X

4 Basara posts in a row... Ain't that a record or what? ;) Anyway, out of curiosity I tried this game for a bit the past 2 nights and my thought is well... it's a standard 2D fighter, that's pretty much it. ._.; I heard it's a collaboration between Capcom and the team who made Guilty Gear, but I wouldn't have a clue if it plays like GG. Personally, I doubt it; not to sound un-supporting but I wouldn't expect much out of a Basara fighting game. >_>;

As usual here are the three main characters, and they're the only ones I've actually 'trained' a bit on and cleared the game with. As we gamers know, all fighting games have their own 'combo system' and just because you play Tekken doesn't mean you know how to play Street Fighter. So with BasaraX, I don't know how its combos work and so naturally I play it like I play KOF... which helps a bit.

Above are two videos I recorded last night (I'm Yukimura/Keiji), and you'll see that every 'combo' I attempted is 'made up' based on KOF's standard combo pattern. XD It's quite fun, but I sure don't think I'll last playing this game (or any fighting game for that matter) for long, especially since there aren't too many characters to choose from. However, I'm still glad I gave it a try. It's always nice to be able to see my boys in a fighting game, which is something I've always dreamt could happen for Devil May Cry as well. Actually, what I thought was that Capcom could create a Capcom All Stars fighting game (in 3D graphics like SF4). Imagine Dante fighting it out with Akuma... 99 hit combo... *_*!!! Epic.

Game Rant - Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Part 3)

I'm back with more Basara crap! Surprise? >:3 Well, whatever, here are the next 4 characters (in order) that I've trained and obtained their final weapons. So far I've played this game for 37+ hours. @_@ That plus the 44 hours I used to spend on Basara2 = a total of 81 hours of whacking. Whooo!! I've got no life!! XD (Yeah, recently I've got no events whatsoever so I got nothing non-game related to tell. >_>)

Akechi Mitsuhide    明智光秀

Weapon: Two scythes
Longest combo record: 33,588 hits (#1 highest record)
Mitsuhide is the one man/character that I've overlooked/underestimated for the longest time (cos' he's a tad slow). As a character, he's a BDSM-loving sick psycho used to serve Oda Nobunaga but betrayed him along the way for his own ambitions/thrill. (You should check out his basara move XD!!)

As a user, he royally surprised me by turning out to be THE #1 long hit combo champion (to the best of my abilities, that is), beating the rest by a huge landslide.  (I managed to achieve 33,000+ hits with him; the 2nd highest after that is 19900+ with Yukimura) The reason why he can do this, I realize, is becos' 1) his attacks don't thrust enemies away and are very stable/steady 2) he is one of the only two characters who are able to 'attack' his own allies (so that you can stop them from interrupting you) Ever since, Mitsuhide has earned a brand new level of respect from me. *BOWS* By the way, his joke weapon is a guitar and mic set which he holds backwards, and his alternate outfit has him in bondage. LOLZ!! OOH!! @_@ He's also voiced by Hayami Sho (OMG!!) who does other characters like Aizen from Bleach!! *Swoons* 

Mouri Motonari    毛利元就

Weapon: A ring blade
Longest combo record: 19,800+ hits
Mouri is the second and only other character who, like Mitsuhide, can attack his own allies, which also makes him one of the easiest/best long hit combo characters. Mitsuhide can do so because he's a sick bastard who enjoys killing anyone, while Mouri can do it because he think of his own soldiers as disposable pawns and in no way does he care for their well being. Thanks to his unique weapon (as compared to most others), most of his attacks cover 360 degrees around him, making him less prone to interruption/getting back or side attacked. His joke weapon is a rainbow.

Sarutobi Sasuke    猿飛佐助

Weapon: Two giant shurikens
Longest combo record: 7,415 hits
Sasuke is the leader of a certain ninja clan who serve under Yukimura, who serves under Takeda, so in the end they're all together anyway. XD Like Fuuma, he can glide in mid-air (with the aid of a bird). His moves are nice and fast, and he has a handy move (like Oichi) that pulls closeby enemies over to him. However, despite that he doesn't seem to perform long hit combos as well as others. His joke weapon is two giant Basara game CDs, and he's voiced by one of the most common/popular seiyuus ever in the history of Japan – Koyasu Takehito (he voices too many characters I can't even begin to list) 

Mori Ranmaru    森蘭丸

Weapon: Bow and arrow
Longest combo record: 11,390 hits
Ranmaru serves Oda Nobunaga and wants nothing more than to impress and gain his recognition. Due to being small and lightweight (he's just a kid), he's pretty much the fastest character in terms of traveling speed. He's also quite friendly with long hit combos, except you'll tire your thumb pretty bad after all the nonstop button mashing (he requires more mashing than others). The only one move he has which is disappointing is his basara attack, which has zero flexibility and covers only a small range even tho' it looks somewhat devastating. His joke weapon is a giant-ass chocolate banana. LOL.

Game Rant - Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Part 2)

I've been playing this game for 20+ hours now so here's my inevitable rant. Listed below are the 10 characters I've trained and unlocked their final weapons (by completing the 100-stage arena), in order of who I trained first till last. I did the first four characters in Basara2 and the rest in Basara2Heroes (the save file is transferrable).

The videos I've posted for each character below are just for me to show any of you possibly-interested blog readers their 1) regular 8-hit combo 2) two out of several "unique" attacks 3) basara attack. It's rare to find fellow Basara fans to share this obsession with, you know?? X_x Anyway, enjoy.

Date Masamune   伊達政宗

Weapon: 1 sword (regular moves), 6 swords (basara move)
Longest combo record: 17,672 hits
The guy I first fell in love with since I first started this series back in 2005. Proudly, he's still and always my number one *__*!!! Naturally he's also always the first character I play/train. His basic combo isn't the flashiesta, but his basara move isn't too shabby, especially the last hit. Gratefully, Date is one of the easier characters in the game when it comes to performing long hit combos (which is Basara's feature). Also, it's obvious Date is designed to resemble Dante from DMC in some ways, and thanks to that his final weapon turns out to be Alastor, Dante's sword from DMC1, except, he has 6 of them. XD He is also one of three characters in Basara who sadly doesn't have a joke weapon, and he shares the same voice as Zoro from One Piece (Nakai Kazuya).  

Maeda Keiji  前田慶次

Weapon: A super giant nodachi
Longest combo record: 16,130 hits
Keiji's like the hot and human version of the Chinese monkey god, or so I thought when I first saw him in Basara2. As the new and third main character of the series, he sure is packed with a lot of power; his huge-ass weapon grants him a long/wide range and radius of attack (whether his attacks cover 360 degrees or less), which enhances both his offense and defense. Practically, his only downside is his slightly slower attack speed, which is easily covered up with everything else he can do anyway. Keiji is also one of the easier characters for long hit combos, except in his case he's slower and more open to back attacks. On a random note, he shares the same voice as Ichigo from Bleach (Morita Masakazu).  

Sanada Yukimura    真田幸村

Weapon: Two 3-point spears
Longest combo record: 19,951 hits
The loudest and most energetic dude in the series; I am impressed how and where he keeps all that energy. XD It's pretty the way he handles his spear, along with most of his moves. He also handles 'aerial combos' quite well. Like Date, he doesn't have a joke weapon and his final weapon is a tribute to Sparda – dual modified Spardas. XDXD!! He is voiced by Hoshi Souichirou, who does other characters like Kira from Gundam Seed and Goku from Saiyuki. 

Miyamoto Musashi    宮本武蔵

Weapon: An oar (LOL, apparently it's called an "eku") + a wooden sword
Longest combo record: --- (He can never make it! LOL)
In my opinion, Miyamoto is the cheapest character in the series, and is the only playable character in Basara2 without a story. He has very few moves and is definitely NOT one for combos, but surprisingly, he still turns out to be one of my favorites. Other than the fact that he has an ultra short basara gauge (which means he gets to do basara a lot faster/more often), what makes him cheap is two of his moves. 1) A regular attack where he throws about 20 stones over a distance (lotsa damage while keeping your distance) 2) His basara attack that's the most unique and damages the most of anyone I remember. To be honest, the damage is a bonus. What's truly fun and awesome about his basara attack is the fact that it's like baseball. XD Its attack range is horribly SHORT, but he'll send the people within 1 feet in front of him flying far away, and then he'll throw an object in the direction u point him at. If that object hits, then you'd have sucessfully inflicted its full damage. It's not that hard to succeed anyway, and it's so much fun!! XDXD!! 

Fuuma Kotarou    風魔小太郎

Weapon: Two ninja blades (+ two giant shurikens)
Longest combo record: 8,411 hits
My second top favorite!!! <333 In a few words, he's a silent assassin (no voice actor). He is also known as the legendary shinobi as no enemy who's seen him ever came back alive to tell the story. He's one of the only three characters (all ninjas) who can glide (for a short distance) in the air and is easy/good with long hit combos as well as "air combos". Very badass regular combo and basara attack (IMO). <3333 I use him the most in Basara2Heroes. On a random note, his joke weapon is a hilarious but beyond horrible rainbow-colored giant pin cushion. @_@!!! 

Katakura Kojuurou    片倉小十郎

Weapon: A katana + wakizashi
Longest combo record: 14,452 hits
Date's ultra-faithful right hand man. He's so dedicated to him they might as well get married. XDXDXD!!! (How I wish!!) He's quite alright to use, but he's not the easiest for long hit combos if not equipped with certain items. He's also the only character with an additional unique ability to charge his power (for a while) and unleash a series of devastating hits (but which does not help with long hit combos). He shares the same voice as Sephiroth (Morikawa Toshiyuki) and wields a giant leek as his joke weapon. XD

Takenaka Hanbei    竹中半兵衛

Weapon: A whip sword
Longest combo record: 12,237 hits
A (mask of) Zorro-like feminine-looking guy who's undoubtedly the game's top 3 long combo champions. (Most of his attacks are fast and generate a hell lot of hits.) In fact, he may as well be the long combo champion (especially if his attack power isn't too strong). He also has a very powerful (and kinda cheap) basara move that covers a huge area (even though he stays on the spot). I finished half the arena with him back in Basara2 and I never got to complete it, so I re-did it again in Basara2Heroes (teaming with Chousakabe).  

Chousakabe Motochika    長宗我部元親

Weapon: A giant anchor
Longest combo record: --- (He can't make it)
The only so-called pirate in the series who happens to fight with only one arm despite having a perfectly normal physique. Thanks to that, he has a slightly slower attack speed, and is also poor at long hit combos. To be honest, he deserves some credit for having pretty interesting/creative looking moves, but it's unfortunate they are slow or they don't connect. Based on his hobby, his joke weapon is a fishing rod. 

Azai Nagamasa    浅井長政

Weapon: A long sword + shield
Longest combo record: 2,100+ hits
Azai is the Power Ranger of this series. He's two-third as loud as Yukimura and constantly speaks of justice. His "hobby" seems to be eliminating all evil in the name of justice, as well as doing a lot of exaggerated power-ranger like poses. He attacks fast and is quite a flashy fighter in the overall (considering the way he poses every time he recovers from a move). However, despite his speed he's not the friendliest with long hit combos as most of his moves thrust/throw the enemies away (it's a shame...). His joke weapon is a paper umbrella, which fits perfectly with his pretty alternate outfit.  

Oichi   お市

Weapon: A doubled-bladed naginata
Longest combo record: 9,335 hits
Azai's dangerously emo and depressing wife. It's either a miracle or a curse how they ended up together. Basically, she is Azai's total opposite. She has a very slow attack speed (though not slower than some others) and is prone to getting hit first before her attack successfully lands on a boss enemy. However, in return she has stronger attack power (especially her basara) and is ironically friendlier with long hit combos, which was the reason I chose her as primary when I did the arena for her and her husband. Her joke weapon is a huge-ass voodoo doll with a nail struck through its head.

Game Rant - Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Part 1)

After well over two years, I'm back to Basara... again! XDXD!! It's awesome how I'm recently back into everything I was crazy about after a period of hiatus eh. Anyway, this time it's all becos' of my computer's graphic card. It actually burnt (the hell?) the other day and I had no choice but to get a new one, along with a new DVD burner since mine was faulty since the day I bought my comp =_=;

And thanks to the new DVD burner, I was able to burn games again for the first time in two years! *GASP* Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes, the expansion for Sengoku Basara 2, is a game I downloaded back in 2007 but never had the chance to burn until a few days ago... So mwahahaha~!!

A girl's just gotta have to love Basara man! It's so full of yummy boys!! *__*!! The best part in this expansion is! The previously unplayable sexy hawt silent ninja Fuuma Kotarou whom I'm currently head over heels with is made playable, and he's even made one of the top 5 main characters!!! KYaAaAaaa~~!! <3333 @__@!!! But of course... as yummy as he is I'm still #1 loyal to my all-time beloved Date Masamune. It's not everyday a fangirl gets a Japlish-speaking Dante Zoro hybrid samurai.

Just for fun, here are the pics of the top 5 main characters (also the top 5 most popular, I think?). From the left, they're Sanada Yukimura, Date Masamune, Maeda Keiji, Chousakabe Motochika and Fuuma Kotarou. (The first 3 are the main characters)

Since the save file for this expansion is transferable from Sengoku Basara 2, I start off with the 3 main characters at MAX level and Chousakabe at LV68, leaving Fuuma the only one at LV1. And so I was like yippee yay, and straight away started on his 'Gaiden Story mode' (on normal) and then 'Total Conquest mode' (on hard). Then, I was just one stage away from finishing Total Conquest when I ended up with Tadakatsu + Ieyasu's stage as the final stage and LORD I was stuck there for SO LONG!!! @#$%^&*!!! (Tadakatsu is always the ultimate strongest in any game this historical figure is featured in)

Basara had never been a tough game and I don't recall ever getting stuck at anything on any mode in the previous games so this came as a shock to me. I tried and tried again only to die and die again, and when I got pissed enough, I decided I should record a footage to rant about it right here:

It prolly looks easy eh, but that sure took me many times to beat! (Tho' not more than Phantom from DMC1 and Larxene from Chain of Memories) Yeah, I actually finally beat it after a few more tries after I finished compressing the above vid today =_= And!! That's only after I went and leveled him up through other modes to LV44 before I retried that stage again.

But to put it accurately leveling up didn't exactly help me much cos' his stats barely increased. What I did was a change of strategy, yes, finally. I decided that it's impossible to take out the boss with Tadakatsu (the Gundam) around, so I risked KO'ing him right before getting to the boss. (He will only KO temporarily, so I still have to beat the boss ASAP before he wakes up again and slaughter me as usual) Man, I swear they upped the difficulty level for this expansion; I could previously breeze through most everything in the previous games (cos' it's made to be easy).

Mind you, I don't mind the challenge but there's like 40 characters in this game and everyone can level up to a max of LV100, not to mention that there're a lot of items that they don't share and which require money to buy. GAAAHH!! SO TEDIOUS!!!! Especially now that they make it so much harder to level up and earn any significant amount of money!! *Smacks game around* X_X

But okay, enough of complaints! Now I shall get to the good part~ (only good for me LOL) As usual, thanks to this re-obsession, I got tempted.... to get this!! @_@

Mwahahahaha!! Not a surprise, is it?? XD I first saw it in a pre-order catalog last week at the local figurine store. It's so damn cute but it's like bloody $110+ for the entire set and they don't allow us to buy them individually. (I actually just wanted Date and Yukimura >_<!) I managed to scratch away the temptation last week, but now that I'm really back to Basara... resistance is futile... T__T You know the rest... D'OH!!! X_X!!!