Top 10 Best Video Game Soundtracks

How's it going fellas?! Welcome to Kupo!1UP once again. This post as u can see from its title is about the best soundtracks in the gaming industry according to my opinion. Although i think that most of u will agree with me. In each song there is gonna be a video as well with best version that i ve found on the web or with the original one. Well here it goes.

10. Mortal Kombat (Main Theme) 

Mortal Kombat holding the sceptre of arcade fighting in history has an extremely wild electronic soundtrack. Fast paced and with a melody that haunts your andrenaline, makes you feel invinsible and wanting to kick everyone's ass! Just what a game like that needs, nothing more and nothing less.

9. Dungeon Siege  (Main Theme)

Percussions, pianos and horns are joining forces like this is gonna be ur last battle. A massively epic tune sings a melody like never before in the gaming history filling the listener's soul with courage, bravery, and an "its me or you" feeling! Enough said. Enjoy!

8. Broken Sword - The Shadow Of The Templars (The Templars)

That conspiratorial, classic, point n' click adventure, gets dressed with such mysterious and bewitching eastern vibes that u can only open ur ears and listen to them if u like it or not. The mesmerising feeling of sweet guilt and that something ancient is watching you haunts the air in this Broken Sword masterpiece!

7. The Legend Of Zelda (Main Theme) 

So many things can be said about this enormously gorgeous soundtrack but i m sure all of u have heard at least once this Legend of Zelda theme. Being 25 years amongst us this legendary tune have scarred us all for life!

6. Wild Arms (Main Theme)

Having the japanese people constantly merging the "far-west" melodies with the anime style and culture we get a song like the one thats being heard in the intro of Wild Arms. Cowboyish whistles and sweet guitar tunes take us to a western, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, world like no other in the gaming history!

5. Silent Hill (Main Theme)

Twisted, disturbed, sadistic and abnormal yet sweet and sad are what playing Silent Hill feels like. The same feelings are being etched onto the mind, each time one hears that tune of this survival horror masterpiece!

4. Max Payne 2 (Main Theme)

A tragic hero with an urban touch. Thats what Max Payne is to me. The sounds of cello and piano reflect the soul of the vengeful cop along the reckless journey to avenge his brutally murdered family. The heart-beat heard in the song feels like watching everything in slow motion as a devastating truth gets revealed before the eyes of the gamer!

3. The Witcher (Seawall)

A really carefully and with talent composed score piece, reflects the harsh times of the fantasy-medieval age The Witcher narrates. Sad, calm, and grand at the same time Seawall is a soundtrack that definitelly will be remembered for quite a long time.

2. Metal Gear Solid 3 (Way To Fall)

Legendary yet betrayed. Thats what MGS3 is in a few words and that is what the lyrics of Way To Fall are saying! An even bigger tragic hero, that has given everything for his comrades and country and has received only lies, Naked Snake is the person from whom everything began.

1. Final Fantasy VII (Sending A Dream Into The Universe)

Though Final Fantasy VII is literally full of great tunes and themes i believe that this one is the most meaningful. Sometimes plain compositions tend to be greater than complex ones! "Sending A Dream Into The Universe" is the whole game into some notes, at least for me, and its title includes the writer's concept.

White Knight Chronicles Review (PS3)

Every Christmas that free time is more than the rest of the year i focus on to games that need more attention and devotion than others. And most of them are RPGs. (yes u are gonna hear a lot RPG's stuff from me). So last Christmas i gave my heart to White Knight Chronicles a part turn-based time part real time battle JRPG developed by Sony Computer Entertainement. Though the sceptre of the genre if u ask me goes to Squaresoft (yes i know its SquareEnix nowadays but i liked Squaresoft more) Sony has a really decent and competitive past in the RPG history with its best release being the Legend Of Dragoon for Playstation. So this review is about White Knight Chronicles one shiny diamond for the new generation RPG fans.

PLOT: 7.5/10

Hmmm.. well the plot if u think about it, it isn't anything groundbreaking but its unraveling pretty well as the time goes by. Its about a phenomenically insignificant young lad named Leonard that tries to save the kidnapped cute and innocent Princess Cisna from the malicious hands of the Dark Lord Dragias as she is the key to their evil plans. When Leonard recklessly tries to wear an ancient armor-artifact he then realises that he is being chosen by it and his quest (as urs) beggins. Well thats a quite raw summary of the plot dont think that its that simple but that is the main story, around which is being built a quite deep non-linear and flexible scenario. It is worthy to be noted here that as i was playing WKC i noticed many similarities with the Legend Of Dragoon such as the ability of each character to transform into Knights as in LOD u could transform into Dragoons.

GAMEPLAY: 7.5/10

In WKC u have to do things as in most of the classic JRPGs. You control the main character Leonard and you built a party of 3 (including Leonard (sometimes the party joins one guest uncustomisable character who aids in battle)) and u set off to complete your main quest which basically is getting updated regulary and completed when u finish the game and along the way u are given the chance to do various sub-quest as well, just to buff ur party up! Character equipment includes swords, axes, lances, bows, shields, bracers, gauntlets, boots and so on and they are visible on them if equipped, which is an aspect that i actually liked quite a lot and it's rarely met on JRPGs. Menu is accesible with Triangle button where there are options such as Combat Setup, Items, Magic, Learn Skill etc. where u can optimize ur party and its battle behavior. Oh, i said battle... One of the things i anticipate to get to know to when i firstly play an RPG is the battle system. So it happened with WKC as well. But thats what filled me with thoughts... Well u see a fully turn-based time battle system is fully customisable as u can plan ur strategy precisely and turn the outcome of each battle to ur advantage. In a part turn-based time battle system the things are a bit more automated. What does that mean? Having to control actually only one character, ur focus is turned mostly on him/her. The player just adjusts the behavior for each possible situation for the secondary party members as he can control only one at a time. It may seems that the choices are many but in reality you will find urself making pointless circles around an enemy (and i say pointless cos u cant even avoid being hit that way) waiting for the time gauge to fill just to strike again.

One new thing is that the player has the option to fully customize combos choosing moves from a list of learnt ones and he is also being given the opportunity to name the combo as he wishes! Each character has his limited capacity for items (same thing at LOD ;) ) and the characters can exchange items to make room in each one's inventory. The character can attack, defend, use items and transform during battle. Simple attacks dont cost anything but some moves or combos cost a certain amount of AC. Same for the Knight tranformation option. The character must have the wanted amount of AC to be able to transform into the Knight. In the beggining  you are called to create ur own character. The options are a lot as u go through shaping him/her but unfortunately if u plan playing offline he will be just a secondary character. The offline WKC focuses on Leonard. The created character starrs in online mode! One more thing i found interesting is the presentation of each location and character! Also there is the choice of downloading new content (DLC) through the PSN.

Now about the online mode of WKC. Its a really decent attempt to make an offline JRPG with an online aspect and gameplay choice. The player has to play a bit of the offline storyline at least till the appearance of the first Knight. Then, near the town outside the castle, u are given Geonet which can used in save points in order to go online. There there is a brief setup such as assigning online ID, online status, choosing photos ... and finally the online interface is up. This is where there is the homepage, adventure log, friends (that u have made online), some rooms to choose whichever suits u etc. The online gameplay is almost like every other online rpg. The player can team up with other player from around the world. assist each other to complete quests, make gestures for fun, take pictures etc. Personally, i prefer the offline mode as well because the story in online mode is neglected and usually online games in consoles have "expiring dates".

ATMOSPHERE/MUSIC: 9/10

This is the part where WKC is at its best. The music is so well composed that it takes u to a different place. Its epic fantasy-medieval touch suits so well to the scenery that it couldnt be better. The battles themes are so intense that they give the feeling that u are in the battle urself. The atmosphere is really well given that combined with the medieval music it gives a magic almost ideal sense of how a world should look like.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

One more strong aspect of this JRPG is its graphics.  Designed with details, vivid colors and a lot of fantasy and creativity they give the impression tha it is a an interactive, grown-up, fairy tale on screen! Its landscapes are breathtaking the nature around the characters is realistic and their costumes suit really well in the "age" and world that they are in. The cinematics are plenty and a very nice break from the endless battles that can be tiring and, personally, they reminded me those of FF IX and Legend of Dragoon.

OVERALL: 8.25/10

Summarizing White Knight Chronicles is one of the best choices for an JRPG fan, especially if he had played Legend Of Dragoon in the past. Its a game with deep story, stunning graphics, wonderful soundtrack and it can promise you that you will spend more than 40 hours with it so why not give it a try?! After all the JRPG choices on PS3 are quite limited!

Tekken 6 (Online/PS3) - Hints n' Tips (Pt.2)

This post includes several things i figured out while playing Tekken 6 online on PS3 or some things that i forgot to mention on the previous relevant post. So here are again some useful tips that will definitely help you have less tension during battle and will make you enjoy it more! There are things that u should do or things that its just good to acknowledge in order to know how the system behaves.

1. Assign Buttons For Grabs

In Tekken 6 it is all about speed, memory, and counter attacks. Thats why u have to be precise in ur buttons input while playing online. A really good easy still unexpected way to "counterattack" a combo or an enemy's attack is to grab him (because many online players tend to smash the buttons for combo n juggles and forget to duck to avoid a grab or input the correct combination to avoid it). But I personally have found myself pushing Triangle and Circle for grabbing but instead of grab the character merely punches. That means the input was incorrect so my opportunity to strike back in time is ruined. So make ur life easier. Just go to Options > Controller Setup > Game and assign ur grab combiantion buttons to the L1/L2, R1/R2 buttons accoriding to ur style and ur personal gameplay! u can do the same, of course, with combos other than grabs.

2. Let It Auto-Upload

Lets say u ve been palying online for half an hour and u just finished a battle. Ur are at the screen where u can : Select Character, Return to Online menu n so on. Dont Quit Game or Turn Off the system at that point cos ur online progress wont be saved. There is even the possibility that the game will "crash" and recognise that action as deserting a battle and next time u sign in to play Tekken Online u will be punished and warned for future similar behavior. It has happened to me so it can happen to anyone. Instead of quiting like this choose Select Character. On the character selection screen press Start and let it go through all the saving and auto-uploading process then quit as u like. 

3. Keep Up Your Rank 

If u are a begginer then welcome. But u should have something in mind. If u try entering "Ranked Match" its most likely that you will end up having many more losses that wins, not being able to bridge that chasm no matter how good u will be in the future. You will end up hating Tekken 6 and swearing at other players and the system for dirty battles and unwanted lagging. Well the above might be true but if u know what ur doing u can avoid those situations. Instead of playing "Ranked Match" choose the next option "Player Match" and then "Quick Match" . In that mode u still play online which means with other players around the world, which means the unexpected human factor is active, but there is no Rank or W/L count to ruin it. You can learn and practise there with no pressure or the fear of demotion and when u feel like owning the character and like you know what you are doing enter "Ranked Match" . Another good idea to practise is to find someone online and invite him/her to play together. Some will say to adjust the difficulty level at ultra hard and play "Survival Mode" but i ve tried that and its quite boring and u ll always play with the CPU which means no human factor. Well whatever suits to each one of u! 

Sony Ceases Manufacturing PS2

AAAAAAA!!! No more PS2!! The most popular console ever, Sony Playstation 2, will finally and really soon be a legend. Sony has announced that the production has ceased in Japan meaning that the remaining consoles in stores will be the last we will ever see! 

The legend of all consoles with a past of 13 years since 2000 has sold 150.000.000 units worldwide and more that 1.500.000.000 game titles making it the most successful gaming system in history! 

PS2 has blew away in competion Sega and Nintendo and even surpassed PS3, 3 years after its release! Most gamers now have focused their interest on the upcoming PS4! But if u wanna hear my advice go out there and get the remaining PS2 consoles before its too late and becomes rare and collectible! There is still time for PS4. . . 

Source:

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/sony-officially-confirms-playstation-2-retirement-1122888

NFC Technology - Used Games No More!

Hiya there fellow Kupo1UPers! I wish you have a great New Year with lots of love, creativity and of course gaming! 

I thought it would be good to welcome the new year with something i read over the internet and it really got me thinking. Well the reason was the NFC Technology that the gaming companies, including Sony, are planning to use in order to limit the sales of used games. This specific technology will be applied to the "next-gen" consoles making the systems able to recognise if the gaming disk was used before in another system so that its reproduction will be impossible.

This fact by itself is quite disturbing for many reasons. The gaming was and will always be an expensive hobby (and im not talking about those that play PES or LOL) especially for those who wanna build a decent collection of games or want to play regularly the new titles. Its quite difficult for someone to find 50 or 60 euros to buy one single game that will probably spend just a few hours with it. People prefer to buy used games with much less cost even if the condition is not perfect. I, personally have built my collenction with used games that work fine without "damaging" my pocket. And this is happening only because the companies intend to make a big profit. And instead of making the gaming market more tempting for the buyers they cut off the choice of the but original titles. 

This is not that strategic. That way u cant make someone pay a lot of money to purchase something, u simply make him not buy it at all. Or at least make him buy it when it will be a lot cheaper. The buyer/company relationship is interactive and the first cant exist without the second and the other way around. So if the gamers stop buying, the companies will be made to close down or to increase even more the prices in order to make a profit from a less bigger group of consumers. If the companies stop to produce there will be no next generation gamers to support and so on.. So it seems to me that they may not have so much power over us as we have over them because most gamers wouldnt give a considerable amount of money for a single game no matter how they'd love to. We need to feel supported in order to be supportive, thats the law of market (at least the gaming market) for me and those were my thoughts on the subject. Urs would be really appreciated and welcome! 

Source:

http://techblog.gr/videogames/next-gen-gaming-consoles-no-second-hand-99003/