Who’s up for some Forza 4 this coming Friday? We may even do it every Friday there on if we get a good turn out, if you fancy playing let us know here or DM us on Twitter @Gamer_Nights add Belshamaroth 69 to your friends to join in on the night

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This weeks FPS Sunday will be Battlefield 3 on the Playstation 3, if you fancy playing let us know here or DM us on Twitter @Gamer_Nights add Belshamaroth77 to your friends list.

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Everyone that I’ve spoken to recently about the Final Fantasy series has played them when they were growing up and none of them have a bad word about them. Sure, there is a difference in opinion when it comes to which is the best one but nonetheless, each person has a personal favourite. Now I shall confess here, I never played a Final Fantasy game growing up. When I witnessed someone playing them before, I always had the same opinion – what a pile of rubbish. They never appealed to me — the characters didn’t have a gun in their hand and they were not shooting everything in sight however, I had never really given the Final Fantasy games a chance to win me over. Recently, I’ve decided I wanted to change that first opinion I’ve had since about the age of twelve so here’s my story of one Scottish girl playing Final Fantasy X as a newcomer to the Final Fantasy series.

Now I could of started playing with hate running through my blood  but I decided that I would start with a clear mind, cram all my teenage opinions to the back of my head and give FFX at least a couple of hours to try and win me over out of the dark side. It’s safe to say that couple of hours were not needed — half an hour later and I had found a new love in my life to join the likes of Ezio Auditore and Batman. My thoughts for the rest of the night were based around three things; “Why did I ever think these games were crap?”, “My god look at the time! That is no way the time” and “Tidus *swoon*”.

The first element of FFX that grabbed my attention was in fact, the soundtrack. An odd component of a game to pick up on within the first initial hours of playing but nevertheless, it impressed me. I felt each song complimented the story perfectly and with the exception to the Assassins Creed series, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed listening to a video game’s soundtrack so much without having to sit and play the game to enjoy it. I’ve often found myself just chilling out with it playing through my iPod.

As I’ve mentioned before, I started really liking the main character, Tidus. Whether it’s wrong for the fact that he is no doubt younger than me or the main one – he’s a video game character, it didn’t dawn on me. There was something about his cheeky humour that he’s surrounds himself with that made me realise that made me love playing as him and notice Final Fantasy X was going to provide me with a brilliant experience that I’ll never forget. I’m not  wanting to spoil too much of the story behind Tidus’ character for anyone who hasn’t played FFX but, for those who have and will know what I’m talking about, I felt like I could relate to Tidus’ background on a certain level.Between the constant arguments with his father and what happened with his mother at a young age as well, even if you can’t relate to what’s happening in the story, the way they are told pluck at the emotional heartstrings. I really enjoyed and admired the storytelling in the game which is where the FFX characters come into this review. Square Enix (was named Square Soft at the time of FFX being released) have really ensured that every character has a gripping and emotional story to tell,  which is unravelled throughout your time playing the game.  As well as Tidus, you can play as a variety of characters such as Auron, who I felt brought an aura of wisdom yet something was mysterious about him that I couldn’t quite figure out. Wakka who brings a high level of enthusiasm and his hair was impeccable. Yuna appeared to be the shy person of the group however there is something about her that makes her a very dangerous woman to be around which I really liked. Adding in the goth-like appearance of Lulu carrying that adorable Moogle and the excitable Rikku and I was rapidly running out of places to hate with this game.

Final Fantasy X isn’t the most recent instalment of the Final Fantasy series, what with it being over ten years old now that we’re in the year 2012, so I fully expected everything visual about the game to be less stunning compared to nowadays. Sure, the initial gameplay graphics are that of which you would expect of a game of FFX’s age – slightly blocky and animations not exactly perfect but, the one thing that shocked me where the cut scenes. After ten yearsm they appeared as if they look as they should belong in a Japanese animated movie with the characters faces reflecting so much emotion, the buildings holding so much detail put into them and the effects on the water along with everything else that Spira offers left me in awe.

As expected, the enemies that you encounter on your time spent playing FFX is something that on one hand, funny and yet on the other, downright frightening. The appearance of some of these enemies have made me laugh and/or be frightened but they’ve always made me admire the work that’s gone into taking a normal ‘monster’ such as wolves or trolls, then making it almost an entire different monster just for the game but , in the process, still maintaining the features of the initial monster such as, the Wendigo for example — appears to be a troll-like monster however has some moves hidden under his fur.

As I’ve mentioned before, 99% of the games that I have been playing recently involved guns and running around as a macho man so FFX provided a real big change of pace for me. My feet (or my hands really) were in unfamiliar territory when the moment for a battle arrived. I had played some turn-based-strategy games growing up, such as Pokemon although, I was never any good at them due to that big ‘S’. Strategy has never my strong point when it comes to games as I forever dive head first into the battles and not think about my actions however; I gave FFX my best shot. With some help from friends and the internet to take down some of the bosses in the game, I now feel more comfortable playing strategy games than what I was before although there is still room for improvement. By me slowing myself down to play the game properly, I found FFX to be a relaxing game to play as I was forcing myself to slow down and just enjoy wonderful world that Spira brings to you.

A feature that I wasn’t looking forward to adapting myself to was the levelling up of the characters. Again, this is unfamiliar territory for me however with the helpful step-by-step tutorials for each part of the process, I was soon dipping my toes into the big sea of levelling up. Soon I was finding my battles easier; strategies were slowly forming in my head, what was the best attack against this type of enemy and so on.

It’s safe to say after playing Final Fantasy X for twenty odd hours although loosing what feels like days, my love had flourished into a massive fan-girling one. My opinion has changed dramatically with regards to not only the Final Fantasy series, but the genre as a whole. As well as wanting to delve into the realms of Gaia, Blue Planet and most recently, Gran Pulse, I want to venture into the spin-off games from the Final Fantasy series – Kingdom Hearts. I really wish that I had gotten into the series at an earlier age as I’ve found that, if FFX is anything to go by, I’ve missed out on an amazing series of games. Providing a game that covers puzzles, strategy battles, action and a compelling storyline, it’s safe to say that Final Fantasy X is a game that I’ve never played the likes of before. I’m surprised at even putting in 20+ hours into playing FFX , which is where most games nowadays would have already drawn to an end,  I’ve still got a lot of story to cover in the game and I’m looking forward to what the experience is like.

If you’ve never played the Final Fantasy games like myself, my one piece of advice would be to go play it, even if it’s just for a couple of hours. FFX deserves at least a couple of hours to try and win over your heart like it has done with mine.

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RuffiansFC Needs You!!!!!!

Game – Fifa 12

System – Xbox 360

Date – 08/02/12

Start Time – 8:30pm

Finish Time – No set time

Places – 11

DLC – No

Fancy taking to the football field and pulling on the Ruff FC shirt?? This fixture night will be on Weds 8th Feb at 8:30pm. Our match nights at the moment are having another massive turn out which is fantastic but please book your place below or I might have to have a queue of players on the subs …
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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review

For me, Final Fantasy XIII was one of the weaker games in the series due to its guided paths, shoddy saving system and numerous other problems that i can’t be bothered to moan about. It was pretty pants if i’m totally honest and was a disappointment compared to previous titles. But i have to give credit where credit is due because developers Square Enix held their hands up and took every bit of criticism on board. So have they pulled a rabbit out of the hat and made Final Fantasy XIII-2 the game it should be?

The fact that it’s Final Fantasy XIII-2 tells you straight away that its follows on from its predecessor so don’t be surprised when you start playing it that some elements are the same as in Final Fantasy XIII. But do not fear, there is no longer a guided path. There is however an exciting main quest which has added side objectives to keep everyone interested rather than just following the main story.

RPG games are by no means, a five minute adventure. They take time to explore and complete and even when you’ve completed the main story, there is still usually plenty of stuff you haven’t done.  Final Fantasy XIII-2 is no different. It will take you a good 35 hours to get through the entire game but be warned, there is a lot of dialogue to get through, which if you’re not into sitting through dialogue, then this game isn’t for you.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 does indeed pick up from where its predecessor left off. Without spoiling too much, i’ll just let you know that you’re on a mission to save the world and rescue Lightning because she buggered off somewhere at the end of the last game and nobody knows where the hell she went! The story is a fun, crazy and interesting play-through that you’ll get sucked into, even if you aren’t a fan of the series.

The battle system, disappointingly, has not been touched which means you can just auto-battle fights if you want to, but the levelling-up system is good because you have all of the freedom in the world to mould the character into how you want. If you’re like me, you’ll be pumping up those power roles!

The game is fairly easy to play-through and enemies are fairly easy to kill until you get towards the end of the game. Here the baddies suddenly seem pretty darn indestructible and you’ll be asking yourself, “WTF jut happened?”, because you are easily kicking booty one minute, the next you are getting a spanking.

Overall, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is an improvement on the last game with plenty of side missions, a fun story and plenty of DLC to come. The end of the games leaves you thinking as to what will happen next and you’ll be eager to find out after playing through this great game.

12 second review – Final Fantasy is back on form and a great improvement from the last game, albeit quite similar in areas. The battles can be a bit pants but with a great story and plenty of DLC to come, you’ll enjoy this.

GamerSpy Rating 4/5

Platforms – PS3, Xbox 360

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Hi Flavio and thanks for doing this interview with us, right lets get on to the questions.

Why are your games free when there’s games out there that are nowhere near the quality of yours but are pay to play?

As you know, the free-to-play market is having a big impact right now, and there’s a good reason for that. We’re able to reach a much larger audience for our games and the players can decide how much their experience is worth. It can seem counter intuitive, but the results speak for themselves.

Bust those Brawls

Do you think that the social aspect of your games is what keeps people coming back to them? I myself am just getting into integrating social media in our site, any tips?

Everyone has their own reasons, but the social aspect is very important, of course. Online games are essentially about the interaction and competition with other players. Social media is a key platform to engage and interact with the community, so it’s great that you’re taking steps to integrate it. To be effective you need interesting, unique content and good dialogue with your audience.

Shocking Stuff

Which game out of MicroVolts and Brawl Busters, do your Team play the most?

That’s a good question, but it’s hard to be sure. It usually depends on which game has the latest build to test. Sometimes the competition heats up and you can tell who plays which game the most.

Do any of you play console games and if so which?

We play PC games, console games, mobile games, and even board games. That would be a very long list, but I’m partial to action games.

What inspired and motivated you to get into to the online gaming industry?

Being closely involved in the development, marketing, and the operation of our games gives us a great perspective on the games industry. Our generation also grew up playing video games, so it’s an attractive industry and an exciting time.

So after Brawl Busters what’s your next project going to be, can you give our readers a hint?

There’s a few surprises being announced this year, however not today. I can tell you that multiple projects are in the works for 2012.

Brawl Busters is free-to-play and can be downloaded from www.BrawlBusters.com

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Soul Calibur V Review

It’s actually the sixth instalment in the fighting series and with fighting games feeling sometimes a bit ‘samey’, is Soul Calibur V any different from the last game in the series, but more importantly, is it any good?

If you’re new to the series and you like a beat ‘em up then you will enjoy this. But if you’ve played the previous Soul Calibur games then i’m afraid to say that it’s more of the ‘ same ****, different day ‘ stuff! So three years after the last Soul Calibur, not much has changed. There are new characters, a new story campaign and a Critical Edge super move system but the rest of the game is just too familiar.

Soul Calibur V is a weapon-based fighting game which isn’t hard to get used to. To make things easier, there is a new Critical Edge system which allows you to perform a combo super cool moves. You do this by building up your Critical Gauge when beating the crap out of your opponent and when it’s full, KABLAMMO!!! You can kick ten sacks of living horse manure out of your opponent by unleashing an amazing combo to send them to hell!!! It works similar to the Ultra Combo system which appeared in Street Fighter IV.

Not only can you perform an assault with the Critical Gauge but you can also go on the defensive and perform Guard Impacts. These are timed blocks that will open your opponent up for attack. But to be honest, instead of faffing about using energy to perform these silly blocks, it’s best to just go all-out-attack.

Years after Street Fighter 2 set the standard for beat em’ ups, players now expect different game modes other than the usual ‘ versus modes ‘ and ‘ single-player campaign ‘. So what does Soul Calibur V offer in the way of different game modes? Not much would be the answer. The Story Mode is okay, it’s by no means fantastic. There’s a lot of unwelcome storyboard stuff, repetitive dialogue and you have to play as one character, a new bloke called Patroklos. Saying that, you do get to play as his sister a couple of times as well as another new chap, but it’s basically you controlling Patroklos. The story mode will take you a couple of hours to get through unless you really are rubbish at fighting games.

Story Mode is not the only thing on offer. There is an Arcade Mode which sees you compete in six time-based battles, a Quick Battle Mode where you’ll fight in over 200 battles and a Legendary Souls Mode which you can unlock by completing the story mode.

You can once again create your own character and apply any unlocked items. Whilst the creation side is good fun, the fact that you have to apply a set move-set is a bit of a let down! I would love to have been able to mix up a move-set which should have really been something available to do seeings that it’s now the 5th game in the series.

Whilst i feel the single player modes are okay, they’re night breath-taking. But after all, when i was younger and playing Soul Calibur down my local Arcade, it was my mates rear ends that i would be kicking. So Multiplayer is where it’s at for me.

Online is an absolute dream. You can play in a Ranked Match or Player Match and whilst you are waiting for your turn, you can view other players battling it out. A nice touch is the ability to register your online friends as rivals so that you can then compare each other’s records.

A new Global Colosseo Mode puts you into a lobby which has up to fifty slots. From here you can challenge any player in that lobby.

There are ten new characters but the only way to find out how to use them is by going through a pretty daunting training school. I personally recommend that you jump online, maybe to YouTube, type in your chosen characters name and see how to perform the moves.

The graphics are amazing and the fighting system is superb. Soul Calibur V is a fun fighting game that is let down by its lack of modes and its ”we’ve seen this before” feel. But if you’re a fan of fighting games and haven’t played a Soul Calibur game for a while then i’d suggest you take a look.

12 second review – An awesome fighting game with some compelling online action, only let down by its lack ofsingle-player modes. Still worth a look.

GamerSpy Rating 3/5

Platforms - PS3, Xbox 360

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RuffiansFC Needs You!!!!!!

Game – Fifa 12

System – Xbox 360

Date – 01/02/12

Start Time – 8:30pm

Finish Time – No set time

Places – 11

DLC – No

Fancy taking to the football field and pulling on the Ruff FC shirt?? This fixture night will be on Weds 1st Feb at 8:30pm. If our match nights carrying on how they left off from last year then we will be having another massive turn out which is fantastic but please book your place below or I might …
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This week Joey from the last save loaded Podcast Rides in to town along side the Saloon Regulars Mike, Kyle and David and we also managed to lasso Belsh in to his first apperence.
This week we talk about our favoriteDevelopers, and Mole rats!!!!!

If you wish to see what made us laugh, and to leave us feed back Join our forums here

Also to Hear more from Joe and Last Save Loaded be sure to visit them at Last Save Loaded
And Download there latest Podcast at Last Save Loaded iTunes

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Quarrel is a word-based strategy game that mixes up the likes of Scrabble, Risk and even Countdown. It was first released on iOS last summer and has now landed on the Xbox 360 courtesy of publisher UTVIgnition!

Quarrel puts you in control of some land and an army of troops and you have to take over your opponent’s territory by beating them in word battles. When you go into battle, you and your opponent are both presented with the same 8 letters. You get more points for picking out high-scoring words. You can choose how many soldiers ( up to 8 ) you want to enter into a battle but be careful because the more soldiers you enter, the more you stand to lose, should you not win. Certain letters will give you more points than others so it all depends on which kinds of witty words you can come up with. By winning battles you take over territories and win the game by owning the entire island.

You can have up to 4 players playing but only 2 people play a battle at the same time. But what i do like about the battles is that even if you’re not in one, you can still have a go at making the words out yourself. It’s a great part of the game because there’s nothing more boring than sitting around doing nothing, waiting for your turn.

Quarrel — XBLA Trailer courtesy of UTVIgnition

I have to say though that some of the words you’ll come across are pretty much impossible to get. There were words that i had never even heard of and i’m quite an intelligent kind of guy, or so i like to think anyway! But then again, that’s what makes the game challenging and educational at the same time.

There are 5 game modes set over 12 different islands. The modes are Daily Challenge, Domination, Make Match, Showdown and Quick Match. Obviously the further you progress, the harder it gets. To start with the AI Player will struggle to think of 8-letter words but as you progress, the AI Player will nail almost everything so you’ll have to be on your toes.

If you get fed up with playing against 3 other computer opponents then you can go online and take on the world.

Quarrel is great game.  It not only gets you thinking but teaches you new words at the same time. There aren’t many word games on consoles these days and to be honest, we’d love to see more like this!

12 second review — A very addictive and challenging word game that, at only 400 Microsoft Points, is an absolute bargain! Well worth a purchase!

GamerSpy Rating 4/5

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