I remember playing Need For Speed: Underground 2 when I was a kid on the Xbox. My brother got it and I was in love with it. Especially the soundtrack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x8zPoYRRbQ
Damn, this was my shit. I remember when they'd say, "Hey, hey, yeahhh!!!!" And then I'd blast the nitrous oxide and go 350 mph on the highway. There was no better feeling at the time. It's weird to think that a game's music made me enjoy the gameplay even more. But that goes back to the "vibe" thing, so it kind of makes sense.
I wonder if video games will ever be as good as they were back then. Before all the microtransactions, having to pay for online play, money has been the biggest cause for video games downgrading. I used to have Tales of the Abyss for the Playstation 2 (by the way, amazing fucking game. One of the few that's made me cry), and that game was so pure, didn't suffer from any of the things that new Tales games suffer from today. I checked out Tales of Xillia from the library for the PS3, and man. That game is fucking horrible. So saddening. Such a beloved franchise, ruined with microtransactions on microtransactions on microtransactions. It's so hard to get Gald (in-game money) in that game, but it's available at disposal if you're willing to pay the money. Smh. In TotA it was a fun grind to get your Gald up, and when you spent it on something big, like an expensive ass sword (it was pretty funny because they had utensils as weapons as an Easter Egg, I was dancing on enemies with a knife and spoon lol), the payoff felt so worth it. All that grind, and you could reward yourself with something nice. Now, all you have to do is pull out your credit card and get whatever you want in-game. True, microtransactions weren't a thing for PS2 due to technology not being that advanced, but hey, maybe that was a good thing. I'm listening to Tales OSTs now lol, first Meaning of Birth and now Fury Sparks.
I'm talking about this in light of the whole Star Wars Battlefront thing that EA's been cooking up. I haven't played the game or even watched gameplay but hella people on the internet are getting mad that the entire game has been ruined because of microtransactions. And it sucks too because that franchise was so good. I had the game for the PSP and it was really, really good. The game was so popping that they decided to do a reboot for it. It was aight, I played it at the library with 9. The new game looks like it sucks though, because they're just money grabbing at this point.
Speaking of money grabbing, shoutout 2k. I finally have a ps4 now, and me, Adrian and Javi finally hopped on the park for the first time ever. It was a historic moment in our friendship. It sucks that we let 2k's BS slide when it comes to money grabbing, because they're the only good basketball video game out. I know all you Matthews will say "omg no NBA Live is really good too, probably better than 2k!!" No, it's not. Live is more of a simulation game, a more realistic game. 2k is super arcade like, and that's why I like it. No one plays video games to replicate real life, people play video games to escape real life. I do, atleast.
Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 came in the lib, so I gotta go get it soon. I told myself I'm not gonna buy any video games, except KH3 when it drops. Which is never.
