tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78662774451608302172024-03-04T21:29:47.868-08:00GameOn!prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-28931285129134879232009-12-27T10:34:00.000-08:002010-01-30T13:38:56.948-08:00My Top Ten Games of the Decade, Part Three<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><b>8. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2 - 2003)</b></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Normally, I'm adamantly against remakes. Any time a movie, game, or insert-media-category-here gets the dreaded “re” treatment – remade, rebooted, reimagined, etc. – disaster follows. Though it's often a case of impossible expectations, there's also a fair degree of loss of identity involved; in other words, the qualities that made the original great are discarded or altered beyond recognition. I had to make an exception in the case of </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of Persia</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, however. Its franchise reboot (well, the first one of the decade, at least) stands as perhaps the greatest example of how to mix the classic elements of a game franchise with fresh ideas to create not a hideous Frankenstein's monster of a game, but rather a new classic.</span><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj_glf_E-RAvNkZL378XNQmYhp7XP3rJXDSuYygM6_A-I1_fRDXlgexjCUz2qnLY4npdfcQVIv6vu3c0rJygWaVvIel_OVoe7vzl9tK4YajBwkStWuQ6-kMnRUzLFPqT0p0O7sQLNDPw/s1600-h/sot1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj_glf_E-RAvNkZL378XNQmYhp7XP3rJXDSuYygM6_A-I1_fRDXlgexjCUz2qnLY4npdfcQVIv6vu3c0rJygWaVvIel_OVoe7vzl9tK4YajBwkStWuQ6-kMnRUzLFPqT0p0O7sQLNDPw/s320/sot1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419986775917984578" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><i>Prince of Persia</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> is at its core a game about exploration and acrobatics, and </span><i>The Sands of Time</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> takes that concept to heart. The eponymous Prince (nameless, of course) routinely performs </span><i>Matrix</i><span style="font-style: normal;">-like feats of agility with the slightest of ease: running up walls, jumping across high perches, and so on. The control is fluid and easy to master, yet encourages (perhaps even demands) tinkering and experimentation on the part of the player thanks to the oft-mentioned and innovative “do over” mechanic (the Dagger of Time, which allows the player to rewind time) . Apart from a hazy black-and-white vision before each new section, the player has no guidance as to where to go or what to do, yet thanks to the ability to reverse mistakes, it never feels impossible, only intuitive and ultimately satisfying.</span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><i><br /><br />The Sands of Time </i><span style="font-style: normal;">also manages to integrate some of the best elements from an innovative contemporary: </span><i>Ico. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">In the original Prince of Persia, the goal was to rescue the princess from the evil Vizier. In </span><i>The Sands of Time</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, however, the princess – the lovely, red-clad Farah – is along for the ride. In an interesting twist on the escort mechanics from </span><i>Ico</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, the Prince and Farah actually help each other out; save for the occasional arrow in the back, Farah is quite useful in combat, and absolutely essential for solving some of the puzzles. Such puzzles are directly drawn from </span><i>Ico</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, as the player's actions in one area can affect the environment in others. Though the core premise of “escape from the large and dangerous castle with your companion” is preserved in </span><i>The Sands of Time</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, it is given sufficient window dressing to make it seem fresh.</span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-LeNGAS9Ak5fi2CpNtDvheAk8sgn4Mmu2-jLcY2rMoBTbN94dFOeUkAYG1f_KibnLwvHq68zQo2pu-8HYkC6W83WSf6V2lj3nlDjhvZR6j1WGt9ETM7q3VKvnYJjZ32iak_-rUTjKwU/s1600-h/sot2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-LeNGAS9Ak5fi2CpNtDvheAk8sgn4Mmu2-jLcY2rMoBTbN94dFOeUkAYG1f_KibnLwvHq68zQo2pu-8HYkC6W83WSf6V2lj3nlDjhvZR6j1WGt9ETM7q3VKvnYJjZ32iak_-rUTjKwU/s320/sot2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419987059845485538" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">In fact, that “window dressing” is what makes </span><i>The Sands of Time </i><span style="font-style: normal;">so appealing in the first place. The presentation is bursting with verisimilitude, from water fountains replenishing health to the whole story being a fantastical Persian tale. It's sad that subsequent entries in the franchise <a href="http://www.mobygames.com/game/ps2/prince-of-persia-the-two-thrones/reviews/reviewerId,96480/">seemed to lose sight of this presentational style</a>, which ultimately required <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_persia_2008">another franchise reboot</a>. </span><i>The Sands of Time</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, however, stands as both a testament to the power of the rare remake done right and one of the best games of the decade.</span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><b><br /><br /><br /><br />7. Ico (PS2 - 2001)</b></span><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bNpoQ8u78N-5tuLnCjVypb0XrXUJKkOg6GruzGZUtVL6lAgWFfBpWvmJTPgFu_PO34Iwp7ms1BoElTPLuSx-hnJZHOKHkq58quz-AQGKNOeBdpXucqA_MISwU3RMk_jVnpO12l2azTc/s1600-h/ico1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bNpoQ8u78N-5tuLnCjVypb0XrXUJKkOg6GruzGZUtVL6lAgWFfBpWvmJTPgFu_PO34Iwp7ms1BoElTPLuSx-hnJZHOKHkq58quz-AQGKNOeBdpXucqA_MISwU3RMk_jVnpO12l2azTc/s320/ico1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419987201548668546" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >I'm not going to get into the whole “games as art” debate, but it seems that it's impossible to talk about <i>Ico </i>without someone bringing it up. I concede that it's definitely worth mentioning that <i>Ico </i>is one of the most emotional and provocative experiences the gaming medium has to offer – all with a minimal amount of dialogue, no heads-up display, and little more than a boy with horns leading an ethereal princess through an enormous and foreboding castle. Sure, it definitely sounds like some kind of weird work of art, but again, I'm not getting into that. Instead, let's focus on its standing as one of the best examples of holistic game design ever.</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><i><br /></i></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><i>Ico </i>is very minimalistic in its design, at least from an interface perspective. There is a jump button and an action button, and most of the familiar trappings of video game language are missing: health bar, points, etc. What is there is more than enough, however: the boy with horns, the princess, and a vast number of manipulable environments. There is a great deal of room for experimentation and exploration, which simultaneously manages to be frustrating and liberating for the player. Everything needed for the experience is on the screen, and increasingly complex despite its minimalistic simplicity.</span><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHYJZt7wO3mUmdPiRP4z5JfU9OstNTGAFpHFmrh1o1NDDw1bG0e2lILoCcluivQmu_PXa_P7JYYFZaNdXrdZYaUJYZFqToGkH6XJ9oDPXwFwrkdPYvpbBnTRT394Vx5ciI3qu4sjnrgI/s1600-h/ico2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHYJZt7wO3mUmdPiRP4z5JfU9OstNTGAFpHFmrh1o1NDDw1bG0e2lILoCcluivQmu_PXa_P7JYYFZaNdXrdZYaUJYZFqToGkH6XJ9oDPXwFwrkdPYvpbBnTRT394Vx5ciI3qu4sjnrgI/s320/ico2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419987451557201042" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">In this regard, </span><i>Ico</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> is very important in establishing the language of video games, and in many ways represents the maturation of the medium. It cuts down on the pillaging of staples of other media (specifically film) interspersed with <a href="http://prymusferal.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-i-have-come-to-dislike-rpgs-part_08.html">“dangling carrot” gameplay segments</a>. Yes, </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ico </i><span style="font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">does utlize a scant few cutscenes, but the overall theme of the work – that of escape, protection, and human connection – is conveyed perfectly well without them. The cutscenes become periphery, icing on the cake so to speak. In short, the player is forced to ponder the game on its own merits, and to determine some sort of meaning from their interaction with it.</span></span> <style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Honestly, it's starting to sound somewhat artistic to me. Maybe that's why it's so nearly impossible to discuss </span><i>Ico </i><span style="font-style: normal;">without mentioning the “a” word: not because it is art </span><i>per se</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, but rather because it is an indication of the language of the medium itself. Though the game itself has been outdone in this regard (by none other than its younger brother, </span><i>Shadow of the Colossus</i><span style="font-style: normal;">), </span><i>Ico </i><span style="font-style: normal;">was akin to the first word uttered in a new language of media. Sure, it was more of a whisper that went relatively unheard, and was only regarded much later after its praises had been repeated to others, but it was still an important statement in video games.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: verdana;"></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And oh yeah, it's a pretty darned good game, too.</span></p>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-47963875346024576232009-12-19T20:02:00.000-08:002010-01-30T13:38:31.882-08:00My Top Ten Games of the Decade, Part Two<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><b>10. Mother 3 (GBA - 2006)</b></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJMKN-SRVf2Lc3b_QMqQ_ar6JsPyqEhBx6IiLW-wMg7FssKrQQqGMMKzEUsiV6_s6HHLl2xDtE5KK_FhEI46qdJx5tZBO2GhmdvS-wcw6DZ0hcZ5GSUrTc6ZdjmVwhQgwnLPU8fuw0es/s1600-h/mother+3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJMKN-SRVf2Lc3b_QMqQ_ar6JsPyqEhBx6IiLW-wMg7FssKrQQqGMMKzEUsiV6_s6HHLl2xDtE5KK_FhEI46qdJx5tZBO2GhmdvS-wcw6DZ0hcZ5GSUrTc6ZdjmVwhQgwnLPU8fuw0es/s320/mother+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417166498647594018" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Considering all of the red flags of its development, it's a bit surprising to see a game like <i>Mother 3</i> on a top games list. <span style="font-weight: normal;"> After all, it had the deadly combination of being a highly anticipated sequel that took forever to see release – the equivalent of a death sentence in the video game world. </span>It was the follow-up to one of the most beloved (not to mention <a href="http://prymusferal.blogspot.com/2009/01/days-of-gaming-past-part-one.html">my personal favorite</a>) games of all time: <i>EarthBound. </i>Its<i> </i>development spanned over ten years, two consoles, and one cancellation, leading <span style="font-weight: normal;">one of the more fervent fanbases in all of gaming to become increasingly impatient and/or desperate. As if to pile on to the frustration of that fanbase, when the game was finally released, it turned out not to be much of a sequel at all, but rather a spin-off of its classic forebear – much like </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Chrono Cross </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">– sharing a single common character in a completely different setting. By all accounts, it should have been a disaster; a long wait for such an anticipated follow-up places impossible expectations upon a game – again, like </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Chrono Cross</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Even worse, at least for the non-Japanese gamers of the world, Nintendo decided that the short-term commercial failure of </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">EarthBound</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> – despite its horrible marketing campaign – in the United States meant that </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mother 3 </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">should never be released outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. As such, despite the game's release in early 2006 for the Game Boy Advance, the English-speaking </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">EarthBound </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fans waited in limbo until November 2006, when the largest </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">EarthBound </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fan community announced their own unofficial translation project. This, of course, took another two years, which meant that a full thirteen years passed between my playing </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">EarthBound </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">and playing its “sequel,” </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mother 3. </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Needless to say, I had extremely high expectations, which often spells <a href="http://prymusferal.blogspot.com/2009/06/arcanum-this-machine-needs-bit-more-oil.html">doom</a>.</span></span></p><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YvxkWkMd0rqxA20FFaSLE_1heGBREatnkwK9DuVoQjY2If81JHTeQzlB00mbV5bXxCPy6f6f1bUlZyp_Nd-KE8ROv5K63j0WKFU5r91MA6QXB9pMUhh3_J5QR5XQZzLHNkdF13TEtU8/s1600-h/mother3a.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YvxkWkMd0rqxA20FFaSLE_1heGBREatnkwK9DuVoQjY2If81JHTeQzlB00mbV5bXxCPy6f6f1bUlZyp_Nd-KE8ROv5K63j0WKFU5r91MA6QXB9pMUhh3_J5QR5XQZzLHNkdF13TEtU8/s320/mother3a.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417166826836512882" border="0" /></a></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mother 3</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, however, proved that a spin-off not only could be good, but that it could in many ways equal its beloved predecessor. The game has a certain something, a peculiar panache that only </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mother</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> series creator Shigesato Itoi seems able to deliver. Many of the central mechanics of </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">EarthBound </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">– itself a distinct parody of the almighty Japanese juggernaut </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Dragon Quest </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">– were expanded and refined in </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mother 3</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. Battles involved an interesting rhythm combo system, in which tapping the A button along with the beat of the battle music would result in critical hits and extra damage. The whimsical tone of </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">EarthBound </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">was still present, but channeled into a multi-chaptered tale of sorrow, loss, and industrialization – a metaphor for the good and bad of life that demonstrates both a distinct awareness of self and of genre. In other words, the game points out the flaws of the genre's stalwarts – in this case the overblown philosophizing bred of </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Final Fantasy VII </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and its ilk – and also one-ups them at their own game in refreshing, succinct simplicity. Such parody is, of course, the most important element of the series – a series of which </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mother 3 </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">is a worthy and solid member.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>9. Brütal Legend (360 - 2009)</b></span></p><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKveMowckvIN43rMVG8gzljogxjL5zR7vVWPCHcLOLzhf_eC5Cbrhs63AzBU436yyk7fXznwt9LKA9sQEGbQ8Q578Awvzd7O9qBL6pPGwiONgpuhdlltMdDCmrsVeIoixDTEmHHIiri6M/s1600-h/separator.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKveMowckvIN43rMVG8gzljogxjL5zR7vVWPCHcLOLzhf_eC5Cbrhs63AzBU436yyk7fXznwt9LKA9sQEGbQ8Q578Awvzd7O9qBL6pPGwiONgpuhdlltMdDCmrsVeIoixDTEmHHIiri6M/s320/separator.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417166985847934898" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Every so often, a game comes along that not only lives up to my expectations, but actually exceeds them. Even rarer still, however, are the games that manage to exceed my expectations despite the fact that, upon closer inspection, no single aspect of the game is exceptional – or indeed above mediocre. For whatever baffling reasons, these are the games that achieve heights much greater than the sum of their individual parts. </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Brütal Legend </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">is just such a game, transcending the seeming limits of its components to become an epic testament to the power of rock – and good core game design, as difficult as it might be for me to admit it. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">You see, the game borrows heavily from two games that I feel are two of the most overrated and undeservedly critically acclaimed of the past five years: </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>God of War </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">and </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas</i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">. The game is at its heart an open world sandbox, albeit a much more linearly structured one. Protagonist Eddie Riggs has a vehicle – in keeping with the game’s theme, a tricked out heavy metal mobile dubbed “The Deuce” – in which he explores the game world and finds missions. Such missions often involve heavy action, complete with </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>God of War</i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">-style combat. The bad part is, though, that such segments actually manage to be </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>worse </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">mechanically than the games from which they draw their inspiration – definitely not a good thing in this case.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Anyone familiar with previous Tim Schafer games, however, knows that this phenomenon is not altogether out of the ordinary, as most of his games do have a generic foundation in terms of their gameplay. </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Psychonauts</i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">, for example, is at its core little more than a basic 3D platformer typical of its generation. </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>The Secret of Monkey Island</i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">, likewise, didn’t do too much in terms of mechanics beyond the standard SCUMM engine games of the day. The games have a solid, if not particularly exciting or innovative, core design. What anyone familiar with previous Tim Schafer games also knows is that it’s not the core design that is important, but rather what is done with it – and it is in this respect that </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Brütal Legend </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;">is such a screaming success. As Eddie’s voiceover in the game’s opening sequence so eloquently states, a good roadie stays out of the spotlight, and helps someone else shine. So too do the game’s core gameplay mechanics combine to allow the game’s true potential to be realized, serving as a means through which to explore the game’s unique world.</span></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOmt7pYpSXR3qKFqlxiKTWaR07QaHJOM_jD1nbFm5N1y98z_Gsm_SXQCzeDhgKIFGxahnfohVAWtxwg0no-esqakFe6TX0Olbj_0fE98URGU-0Evlu_mY6XjKULm0PaATGt2KY2aTcdk/s1600-h/hell+yeah.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOmt7pYpSXR3qKFqlxiKTWaR07QaHJOM_jD1nbFm5N1y98z_Gsm_SXQCzeDhgKIFGxahnfohVAWtxwg0no-esqakFe6TX0Olbj_0fE98URGU-0Evlu_mY6XjKULm0PaATGt2KY2aTcdk/s320/hell+yeah.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417167642042334290" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">In no small way, it’s the world itself that makes the game so incredible to behold. Schafer reportedly wanted every single still shot of the game to look like a potential heavy metal album cover -- and it shows. Chrome, leather, and horns are plentiful, along with some of the weirdest and most epically awesome landscapes this side of <i>Psychonauts.</i> In short, it’s metal culture taken literally. In this world, metal is all-powerful, and the music really can change the world, inspiring an oppressed people to start a revolution. Amazing guitar solos – known in the metal culture as “facemelters” – can quite literally burn the faces off of the enemies of metal: hair bands, emo/Goths, and wicked demons. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">It’s all quite satisfying. If nothing else, there's nothing quite as gratifying as dismembering <i>über-</i>depressed, zombified emo kids with an axe dubbed “The Separator.”</span></p>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-4619101466698958522009-12-17T19:18:00.000-08:002010-01-30T13:37:48.658-08:00My Top Ten Games of the Decade, Part One<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >As I've been feeling a bit reflective as of late, I felt that it would be appropriate to take a look back at some of the best gaming experiences I've had during the past ten years. As such, I've narrowed down my top ten choices for what I consider to be the best games of the decade. Yes, I am aware that it's quite cliché to create a list like this (and even more cliché to assume that the decade will be over this year; it's not a new decade until 2011, folks). I am confident, however, that there's quite a bit there. </span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >You see, this decade saw my interest in gaming pass turbulently through several peaks and valleys. There were a few times when (gasp) I was about to throw in the towel for good. “Gaming's just not worth it anymore,” I'd say.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >And then one of these games would come along, drawing me back into the hobby that I've enjoyed for so long. This list, then, is less of a “best of” list and more of a collection of my favorite games of the decade – games that for whatever reason left a lasting impression on me.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >So, without further adieu, here are my personal choices for best games of the 2000s.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b>Honorable Mentions</b></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >Okay, so a bit more babble before getting to the “good stuff” – though don't make the mistake of assuming that the following games are not good. These are just a few of the games that, though quite influential to me, didn't quite make the final cut. Nevertheless, they deserve mention here, so here they are (in alphabetical order).</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b>Batman: Arkham Asylum (360 - 2009)</b></span></p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkkHQdikeSpZZl625XeY41u7viS5lFaRLPSwWj_lB1sJGpqzKT1e_kzL_DkAqZ6CqUatLZQfWRF78-e6p0wpwcYx6098dUYCew2iKJVBSmJ52WPDcIIS5D6k0A2SOuVU3dwtEMMxqmtk/s1600-h/batman_arkham_asylum_screen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkkHQdikeSpZZl625XeY41u7viS5lFaRLPSwWj_lB1sJGpqzKT1e_kzL_DkAqZ6CqUatLZQfWRF78-e6p0wpwcYx6098dUYCew2iKJVBSmJ52WPDcIIS5D6k0A2SOuVU3dwtEMMxqmtk/s320/batman_arkham_asylum_screen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416415594628806738" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >Pretty much every</span><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" > single <i>Batman </i><span style="font-style: normal;">game I've ever played has ranked somewhere between <a href="http://www.mobygames.com/game/snes/batman-returns_">mediocre</a></span></span><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;"> and <a href="http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/batman-the-caped-crusader">godawful</a>. To be fair, I haven't played a whole lot of </span><i>Batman </i><span style="font-style: normal;">games – I never played the highly regarded NES installment, for </span></span><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">example. To be even more fair, however, I've tended to avoid the franchise's video game outings altogether due to negative word of mouth. For whatever reason, it's just been a commonly accepted fact that </span><i>Batman </i><span style="font-style: normal;">games suck.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><i>Batman: Arkham Asylum </i><span style="font-style: normal;">changed that, and now, as Heath Ledger's Joker so poignantly stated, “There's no going back.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">Rocksteady Studios deserves a lot of credit for crafting what might well be the truest </span><i>Batman </i><span style="font-style: normal;">experience ever created. Players can be stealthy and swing from lofty pedestals and rooftops, yet still have the sense of might and mystique that the Dark Knight holds over his enemies. Even the villains are true to form, with the entire lineup of baddies – from Poison Ivy to Killer Croc – providing at the very least interesting cameos. The Joker, voiced brilliantly (yet again) by Mark Hamill, is as unpredictable and dangerous as ever.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">Granted, the game has a few major sticking points, such as repetitive and uninspired boss battles. On the whole, however, Arkham Asylum stands as the finest example of </span><i>Batman </i><span style="font-style: normal;">done right this side of </span><i>The Dark Knight.</i></span></p><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b>NCAA Football 07 (PS2 - 2006)</b></span></p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUeKxi2lNecTIqgFTxVtRzAJpXR4fZ7pfBFAjoLkpvuE_-YzOVEUq1_4et0gmuUd7DpGQuBOb4rrIT4BGAXFxObZA49mfEykyq6hmcPCdw57xxOgTWv2MeIecP0gyTBlbmW61BSsB3P4/s1600-h/ncaa-football-07-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUeKxi2lNecTIqgFTxVtRzAJpXR4fZ7pfBFAjoLkpvuE_-YzOVEUq1_4et0gmuUd7DpGQuBOb4rrIT4BGAXFxObZA49mfEykyq6hmcPCdw57xxOgTWv2MeIecP0gyTBlbmW61BSsB3P4/s320/ncaa-football-07-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416415426142994786" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >I'm a college football maniac, so it's little surprise that I've been an advocate of EA Sports' <i>NCAA Football </i>series since the mid-90s. Throughout that time, I've purchased the game on a yearly basis on four different systems (PS1, PS2, Xbox 360, and even PC), but one installment stands head and shoulders above the rest: <i>NCAA 07.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><i>NCAA 07 </i>was the game that finally managed to bring everything together in a solid package. The gameplay was smooth and tactical, with all the speed and pageantry of the college game. Playbooks were diverse and accurate, finally incorporating the crazy motions and versatility of the spread option offense. The dynasty mode was robust and intriguing, with fairly accurate simulated statistics (unlike its immediate predecessor, <i>NCAA 06</i>), the ability to accept transfer players, and in-season recruiting. Furthermore, the recruiting did not become needlessly cumbersome as it did with the move to the current gen consoles.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >About the only thing missing from <i>07 </i>was the Bowl Playoff option from the PS1's <i>NCAA 01, </i>a marvelous addition that allowed players to determine their champion the way the sport should: by using BCS standings to seed a playoff using the bowl games. Regardless of that omission, <i>NCAA 07 </i>stands both as the crowning achievement of its generation and the best college football game of the decade.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b>Portal (360 - 2007)</b></span></p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuqXofE2Ri-pWkZkOGj_XEV96P4MkTWvisUPo1lJNeWdmGSVRgNqDpWJpzTSw4AfocS0bMjp6EeAdlRTPgncMX9YcohsVtgw47aJuhSePL5e0JQS_LlOFlHshX4MCq4unhtolHCL-lRw/s1600-h/portal01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuqXofE2Ri-pWkZkOGj_XEV96P4MkTWvisUPo1lJNeWdmGSVRgNqDpWJpzTSw4AfocS0bMjp6EeAdlRTPgncMX9YcohsVtgw47aJuhSePL5e0JQS_LlOFlHshX4MCq4unhtolHCL-lRw/s320/portal01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416415750244887282" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >Yes, I played <i>Portal</i> on the Xbox 360. So what? It's one further trend of the decade: PC gaming is slowly but surely dying out.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >Besides, <i>Portal </i>is one game that is outstanding no matter what system it's played on. I'm still impressed by just how much was able to be done with such a simple idea: a gun that creates doors. While seemingly the most boring concept of the decade, it is presented in a manner that's unforgettable. A shooter with no killing? Intriguing puzzles? A story that's not only present but presented well? <i>Portal </i>caused me to reevaluate my opinion of FPS games – and then feel sad, because its lessons have yet to be heeded.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >The interactions of GlaDOS in particular left me feeling great about the experience. Cold, calculating, and with a distinctly inhuman sense of humor, the main antagonist evoked within me a sense of both purpose and sympathy. I wanted to kill her for what she'd put me through, but at the same time I couldn't help but wonder whether she was simply a product of her programming. Of course, numerous other musings of a philosophical nature resulted, all from the depths of a simple two-to-three-hour puzzle FPS. It's all a bit hard for me to believe, even after experiencing it for myself.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >The cake is a lie – or is it?</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b>Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS2 - 2004)</b></span></p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCZUaC79UkNaV96ixGiHfoDy4k4DduPEb7WD3sy6QBZYiefZ0fhuC5ehko-udBNXVhCgHyKCI-kQ-HUTWXTT4JAZ3E6IHMaCuyvrTuNaZra_jHEyh1hR5lThQTxNWSPvPNNFlkCOKFz8/s1600-h/sly-2-band-of-thieves.398287.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCZUaC79UkNaV96ixGiHfoDy4k4DduPEb7WD3sy6QBZYiefZ0fhuC5ehko-udBNXVhCgHyKCI-kQ-HUTWXTT4JAZ3E6IHMaCuyvrTuNaZra_jHEyh1hR5lThQTxNWSPvPNNFlkCOKFz8/s320/sly-2-band-of-thieves.398287.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416415810166024466" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >Don't let its kiddie exterior fool you – the <i>Sly Cooper </i>series is the best platforming series released in a long while, and <i>Sly 2 </i>is the best of the bunch. It's better than <i>Jak</i>, better than <i>Ratchet and Clank</i>, and better than “insert your favorite platformer here.” It's got all the basic ingredients for a 3d platformer: solid controls, varied mission types, and a fair mix of challenge and accessibility.<br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >What it has that the others don't, though, is a heaping dose of character... or is that characters? The cast of <i>Sly </i>is incredibly endearing, with the charm of the best written animated shows – think of the love-child of <i>Darkwing Duck </i>and <i>Gargoyles</i>. The lineup of villains is twisted and hilariously appealing. The heroes are no slouch either, forming a noble thief trio that works incredibly effectively together: Sly, the skilled thief; Bentley, the tech wizard and logician; and Murray, the slow but big-hearted muscle. Combine that with top notch writing, a simple yet effective core game design – a central chapter hub with various missions that build toward a final climactic heist – and a presentation that rivals the best animated productions, and every ounce of <i>Sly 2 </i>screams of quality fun.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" ><b>Xenosaga (PS2 - 2003)</b></span></p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZpQRE-jehF4rna4eYortdI5xwiiEOFD_Va7R8U5F-VBOCkDrbChGn95FfMxzUAZ0qhNRjsydXtcZ7IBOFo35RsItH5uO2RCttQeV5mluvsvLDDNLPLjSeJKFftBbY9xotvKMPdgoxAc/s1600-h/xeno-1b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZpQRE-jehF4rna4eYortdI5xwiiEOFD_Va7R8U5F-VBOCkDrbChGn95FfMxzUAZ0qhNRjsydXtcZ7IBOFo35RsItH5uO2RCttQeV5mluvsvLDDNLPLjSeJKFftBbY9xotvKMPdgoxAc/s320/xeno-1b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416415858985467234" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >A lot of my regard for <i>Xenosaga </i>comes from my admiration for its predecessor. <i>Xenosaga</i>'s first episode not only lived up to its pedigree, but even surpassed it. Its gameplay, though fairly standard for the genre, is varied enough to maintain interest. Its cast of characters, though heavily influenced by sci-fi anime stereotypes, is endearing and easy to relate to. Its story... well, it's the story that makes the game, and that's both a boon and a major drawback.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >The game's epic saga of a spacebound human race searching for their planet of origin is the yarn from which the greatest sci-fi is spun. This first episode (of a planned six) laid the groundwork for what most likely would have been a masterful tale. Unfortunately, several problems at developer Namco – including the firing of the series' creator and its lead writer – led to the severe truncation and eventual destruction of the series' potential. The two other chapters that were released exploited and ruined the strong foundation laid by the first, with the story devolving into utter nonsense with some religious symbolism arbitrarily thrown in. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style=";font-family:FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:130%;" >Since the first chapter's approach depends largely upon its successors for legitimacy, it must be taken as part of an ambitious yet horribly flawed trilogy instead of the highly promising beginning to one. It's unfortunate, though, because what a beginning it was.</span></p>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-13595045901990456132009-08-30T00:52:00.000-07:002009-09-02T16:46:09.516-07:00Rehash Redux, Dark Sun style<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >My last entry about my staunch opposition to the resurrection of long-dead franchises is about to be contradicted in a very poignant fashion. I spent so much time talking about how things that are dead should stay dead, that IPs should not be brought back from the grave, and so on... and then DARK SUN was announced. Anyone who knows me at all is well aware of how much I love the Dark Sun campaign setting, and just how overwhelmed by excitement I was when I heard that the 2010 campaign setting from Wizards of the Coast would be Dark Sun.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0lZ1moC1ZoQ5XhjKgO0rtD08tBDSrUv5OdLhgYzV0dYoJ11F_qT3hiDlw120E3Z5YcjzGVXiB1UUgXCbIrwTp5tnLHuqUoJ1ishnL4d8SLS2gU0n_aPS6ja90Oopr46hYDrlwnPCVBA8/s1600-h/4e+Campaign+Guide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0lZ1moC1ZoQ5XhjKgO0rtD08tBDSrUv5OdLhgYzV0dYoJ11F_qT3hiDlw120E3Z5YcjzGVXiB1UUgXCbIrwTp5tnLHuqUoJ1ishnL4d8SLS2gU0n_aPS6ja90Oopr46hYDrlwnPCVBA8/s320/4e+Campaign+Guide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375661861139825970" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><br />Yes, I previously have cited Dark Sun as a specific example of why dead or dying IPs should be left alone. My stance on the Revised Campaign Setting box from 2e Dungeons and Dragons remains the same: it was a good idea in some of its mechanics, but the strict adherence to the (admittedly pretty good) Prism Pentad as canon utterly ruined the setting. Instead of gritty, post-apocalyptic fantasy, we got pseudo-Star Wars (defilers as Sith and preservers as Jedi), among other questionable design decisions. Also, I am aware that the situation surrounding Dark Sun's impending return is eerily similar to that of the Fallout franchise. Like Fallout, Dark Sun has been acquired by a new company (Bethesda:Fallout::WOTC:Dark Sun) in between iterations. Like Fallout, Dark Sun had two versions produced by its original company, with a lengthy gap of time between the last release and the newest one. And yes, like Fallout, Dark Sun holds a lofty place in my own opinion, making any attempt to re-release it seem almost futile.<br /><br />Unlike with Fallout (I boycotted Fallout 3 and will never play it out of principle), though, I find reason for optimism in the re-release of Dark Sun next year. Of particular note is the fact that Bill Slaviscek and Rich Baker are the lead designers on the project. Though they are not the original creators of Dark Sun (Troy Denning and Tim Brown have long since moved on), they are two of the contributors to the setting that produced material that actually fit the tone and purpose of the setting -- books such as Valley of Dust and Fire and Merchant House of Amketch are certainly my favorite 2e accessories, if not the best ones produced. The fact that they are heading the project gives me great reason to trust that the original boxed set's tone will be preserved (no cheesy Dark Sun pun intended).<br /><br />That faithfulness to the original boxed set is perhaps the most important reason that I have for optimism toward Dark Sun 4e. James Wyatt, in an interview shortly after the announcement of Dark Sun 4e, emphatically stated that the campaign setting would be based off of the original boxed set, with the Prism Pentad as a possible outcome of the material presented. Since I feel that the designers' adherence to the Prism Pentad late in the original run effectively ruined the setting, it's encouraging to know that the same mistake won't be made this time around. Also, the fact that there will only be one product made for Dark Sun -- the Campaign Guide -- gives me reassurance that the setting won't be screwed up later on. (This is all in stark contrast to Fallout 3, which totally FUBARed the setting and kept piling on the mistakes. Of course, the public ate it up, much like they did with resurrected Family Guy -- then again, they are wrong. :) )<br /><br />I'm usually not very optimistic about resurrected franchises, but come on: it's Dark Sun. I don't know to what degree the setting will still be the same. Mechanically, I'm certain that it's going to be quite different. I think a lot of the new classes and rules in 4e are very compatible with the setting, but I'm more concerned with the way that the mechanics influence changes in the setting. After all, Dark Sun 2e was pretty heavily influenced by its admittedly unique mechanics. Despite any reservations, I'm mostly optimistic -- at the very least, I'll be able to get some cool new Dark Sun miniatures.<br /></span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-37575570308698270322009-07-23T12:02:00.000-07:002009-07-23T12:08:19.580-07:00Hype and Rehash<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Some things (the most important things, to be completely honest) are actually worth the wait. The same cannot be said of two of the games that I was looking forward to more than anything -- Ghostbusters and NCAA 10 -- as they are much less impressive than I was expecting them to be. This is not a case of impossibly high expectations a la Arcanum, either -- the games just are not that good, at least based upon my reasons for being interested in them in the first place.<br /><br />I'll start with NCAA, since that is fresher in my mind and I'll be better able to trash it... err, articulate my displeasure. The number one reason that I was looking forward to NCAA this year was the new Teambuilder feature. After so long, I'd finally be able to create a school and use it in online play. (Sure, I would also be able to use it in dynasty mode, but I'm less prone to playing dynasty these days since it has become a bloated and overly intricate shadow of its former last-gen self -- too much focus on boring recruiting instead of a streamlined and fun experience.) Naturally, this expectation was shattered by the wizards at EA, as created schools are not available in online play, but rather only in Play Now, Dynasty, and Online Dynasty modes. As all dynasty modes in this current console generation have become a mess that I refuse to put up with, that leaves me with only one option: Play Now. In other words, in order to play against another person with my North Florida Tiger Cats or South Texas Toros, two teams that I have spent many hours tweaking and perfecting, I have to go the old fashioned route: sitting in the same room in front of the same TV. While I actually prefer that method over online, distance and time constraints make it almost impossible to pull off very often (if ever). As such, the main reason for getting the new version of the game has been nearly negated, as my ability actually to use my created teams is effectively crippled. Fortunately, the game itself plays well, and has some really cool animations and plays (the flexbone is actually right in game, if not in dynasty simulation). I'm just disappointed that the game's major feature (for me, at least) didn't meet my expecations.<br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkvq-cuTtMtOMB021oKL3ZxXfMkOK1cCl9gBkoJRqQvJYdNFXaEmqWgTir05sSBGAjI8HfomOJTT1b6C6p8Lh7yOR1Yyuo_RAcyqwb3kE6u_l6p__9WdxvyDf5IEue17c7Y6hfRw7WGw/s1600-h/ncaa10tebow.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkvq-cuTtMtOMB021oKL3ZxXfMkOK1cCl9gBkoJRqQvJYdNFXaEmqWgTir05sSBGAjI8HfomOJTT1b6C6p8Lh7yOR1Yyuo_RAcyqwb3kE6u_l6p__9WdxvyDf5IEue17c7Y6hfRw7WGw/s320/ncaa10tebow.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361734058009826178" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >While NCAA's failings are in everything but the core gameplay (though I have some quibbles with that too), Ghostbusters is pretty much the exact opposite. It makes me really sad to say that, as Ghostbusters was part of the triumvirate of games (along with the as-yet-unreleased Brütal Legend and Beyond Good and Evil 2) that led me to get a 360 in the first place. My enthusiasm was still at its peak after my birthday, when I received the game as a gift. A couple hours in, I was still pretty psyched, as the game starts off in an exciting fashion: capturing Slimer, knocking the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man off the side of a skyscraper and crashing into the New York pavement below, and just the right blend of trademark Ghostbusters humor. Unfortunately, it started to get pretty bland from there. I've come to the conclusion that the game's lack of core variety is to blame. Though there are numerous locales, all of which are very well done and mostly interesting, the basic gameplay revolves around what amounts to little more than a generic clone of Gears of War -- a game that I'm not very fond of to begin with. There is only so much that can be done with the basic concept of shooting ghosts, and even at the game's six to eight hour length, the concept is being stretched pretty much to its limit. The story, though decent, feels like it would have been better as a movie -- at least until the latter third, in which it all starts to fall apart. Of course, in that case, why not just watch Ghostbusters again and enjoy true quality instead of slogging through uninspired gameplay to get a Ghostbusters fix? They did capture the feel of Ghostbusters, but the game itself wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it was going to be. I sincerely hope that the other two-thirds of the triumvirate are much more rewarding than this game was.<br /><br />A lot of the games of this current generation have only solidified my belief that too much of a good thing is never actually a good thing. In the case of the two games I touched on above, I was much happier with previous incarnations of the intellectual property. NCAA 07, for example, was leaps and bounds above the latest current gen offering. I got more quality enjoyment out of that game than perhaps any other NCAA game I've ever had, and that's saying something since I have bought the game on day one every single year except for 08. 07 had excellent playbooks, solid gameplay both online and off, and the classic PS2-era dynasty mode that I still believe is the best dynasty concept yet presented. In fact, the only flaw that mode had was the in-season recruiting, but apart from that it was pretty much perfect. The stats were simulated well, teams that overachieved were invited to change conferences, and there was a very streamlined presentation that is lacking on the 360. My participation in the BSW league only enhanced my enjoyment of that game. (Furthermore, created teams were actually able to be customized, though they still could not be used online.)<br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuusS67a6UBLvAF1hcZhRMlsWj2zmuFz22FIN6ix0moA_1jAEw9a9owfr_M6nYEyXlb2o_xCNDlMg4-gr04Wc_bteiWlzfHl7Frr_QJKms1_uNaPm5KPwTOYkaKpV8NDYR0fT0DqpUrqE/s1600-h/ghostbusters-video-game.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuusS67a6UBLvAF1hcZhRMlsWj2zmuFz22FIN6ix0moA_1jAEw9a9owfr_M6nYEyXlb2o_xCNDlMg4-gr04Wc_bteiWlzfHl7Frr_QJKms1_uNaPm5KPwTOYkaKpV8NDYR0fT0DqpUrqE/s320/ghostbusters-video-game.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361734328749436338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Likewise, the original Ghostbusters movie (and even Ghostbusters II to an extent) is so much better than the recent video game outing. Though this is in part an example of the perils of switching medium (to which I am pretty strongly opposed), it's also an example of something old being resurrected to ill effect. Of course, it's still supposedly the best Ghostbusters game ever made, but that's not saying much. I'm not necessarily convinced that it's the best, as the old PC version of Ghostbusters II did a much better job of conveying the feel of being a Ghostbuster for hire via its gameplay than this new game ever did. In that regard, the old game was much more effective at using the strengths of its medium to convey its core idea twenty years before the newer game. (Interesting... I'll have to pick back up on that thought at some point.)<br /><br />So many other games just feel like they've been done better in the past, especially on the PS2 or Super NES. More of my favorite games of all time are on those systems than on any others, which might make me biased to a degree, but perhaps it's just proving my point: there were fresher, more solid gaming experiences to be had on those systems than anywhere else (though PC has a strong argument). Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is much better than the reimagined Prince of Persia on 360 (and the two SoT follow-ups for that matter, furthering the argument that too much of a good thing is in fact a bad thing), BioShock is little more than a tweaked Doom 3 or Half-Life 2, and there's really nothing yet that can compete with the artistic qualities of Ico or Shadow of the Colossus. It's not that the newer games are bad -- I actually enjoyed both Bioshock and Prince of Persia. It's just that they don't seem to innovate to the same degree that some of the older games did. I can't really remember who said it, but the saying that "when you've got complete freedom, you tend to go with what you know; it's when you have to work under constraints that real creativity occurs" really holds true. Technologically, developers can do pretty much anything they want to these days, and it really shows -- both graphically and in the sense that they are sticking <span style="font-style: italic;">very </span>closely to what they know.</span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-81933240388731618352009-06-25T09:03:00.001-07:002009-06-25T09:19:25.619-07:00The Gamers: Dorkness Rising -- Roll a Save Versus Hilarity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoicSO6ZSPA3HNdNIpG30V_a6KS-2Yttm7S4rHrYgQoUVz2ooTi8sY0VNgeilrrI6wsjiclE3xox1fm6LfxcTuLbKKCh5q1FBWwycPVAiJA60fOItwHkT7iRTDLkFBThHF4-32e331aMY/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoicSO6ZSPA3HNdNIpG30V_a6KS-2Yttm7S4rHrYgQoUVz2ooTi8sY0VNgeilrrI6wsjiclE3xox1fm6LfxcTuLbKKCh5q1FBWwycPVAiJA60fOItwHkT7iRTDLkFBThHF4-32e331aMY/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351296792319605234" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;">Who knew that Dungeons and Dragons could be so funny? Anyone who's ever actually played it, of course.
<br /></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;">That said, I have to admit that I was still a bit apprehensive about watching </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">an allegedly humorous take on D&D. After all, pretty much any movie that involves Dungeons and Dragons to any degree ranges somewhere between unwatchably godawful (</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God</i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">) and "I want to poke out my eyes with a vorpal sword so as to eliminate even the slightest possibility of seeing anything this bad ever again" terrible (</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Dungeons and Dragons</i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">). No, D&D movies are not the absolute worst films that I have ever seen (that honor belongs to </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stuff">The Stuff</a></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">), but they are pretty darn close. It seemed fairly reasonable to assume, then, that </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Dorkness Rising</i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> would follow a similar path to critical failure (my first and last D&D pun in the review). Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only is </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Dorkness Rising </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">watchable, but it's actually a clever piece of satire on tabletop role-playing. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;">The basic plot of the movie details an aspiring writer-slash-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_master">Dungeon Master</a>, Kevin Lodge (whose first name most of his players don't even know), and his attempts to keep his game's focus on story. As such, the film transitions back and forth between in-game plot and happenings away from the game table. Of course, other players, such as the by-the-book Cass, simply wish to loot and pillage with wild rolls of the dice. It's a situation that should sound eerily familiar for anyone who has DMed a campaign of any sort. I certainly found myself flashing back to my own days running our old Dark Sun campaign, and couldn't help but snicker at some of the situations that arose during the movie, saying to myself "Yeah, that happened in our game."</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB93sW2USd20kYTAu9rCroOJO0R7y0C8fKyEaa7zp6RYJ7epRFbo2XpGQkhqiTPn6OC5wEXetj6DUQhM209cOdovICgyc6Yl3WPKk_cDUOPxBJjWdXQspGqiohHRifQXyHHb3Gb94jigc/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB93sW2USd20kYTAu9rCroOJO0R7y0C8fKyEaa7zp6RYJ7epRFbo2XpGQkhqiTPn6OC5wEXetj6DUQhM209cOdovICgyc6Yl3WPKk_cDUOPxBJjWdXQspGqiohHRifQXyHHb3Gb94jigc/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351297041467212610" border="0" /></a>
<br /><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">So why does this film succeed where so many others have failed miserably? The difference between this film and, say, any of the numerous other role-playing themed films (except for the niche LARP documentary </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkon_%28film%29">Darkon</a></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">, which is actually quite well done) lies in its faithfulness to the true purpose of role-playing games: silly fun and socializing. </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Dorkness Rising </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">has silly fun in heaps, as it pokes fun at numerous role-playing tropes while also depicting a stunningly accurate rendition of a gaming session. From secret player collaborations (distract the lawful good paladin while I blast this peasant with a fireball) to silly rules-based jokes (casting Animate Dead on the turkey dinner), it's all there in some form. Also, the movie is never taking itself too seriously, at least not when it comes to the in-game material. Most of the spells and magic items in the game, for example, are not actually in Dungeons and Dragons -- though Wizards of the Coast gave the filmmakers permission to use their product in the movie, many of the game mechanics were purposely left general. Compare that to the blatant and shameless pandering in other D&D films ("Did you gamers get it? That was the Fireball spell that he just cast! This is sooo D&D!"), and it's easy to see why </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Dorkness Rising </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">succeeds: it focuses on the </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>experience </i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">of role-playing, not the subject matter.</span>
<br /></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;">In so doing, the film really emphasizes the social element of role-playing. It really is all about getting together with friends to have a good time while telling a memorable story -- and of course kicking a little monster ass along the way. The film does an excellent job in presenting group dynamics, from the numerous clashes between the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_lawyer">rules lawyer</a> (Cass, who among other things insists upon playing as an elven monk) and the DM (Lodge, whose "Western" campaign setting doesn't have elves or monks) to the player with a propensity for dying (Leo, whose pathetic bard Flynn dies over twenty times in the film, including critically missing on a backstab attempt and accidentally killing himself). Players joke, team up against the DM, and even argue with each other during the film. Again, as a former DM myself, I related all too well to the situations the film presented.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxH89S1QvTzj15BuM_Mm5LEbxstH-X6_fxWnYcpLZsjBMtst1ckT5zHdoVpgQ7c4EwkTMRI0HHZk9L55ON_P-98aWeyIIEDCtQz3My_4_E9I4w520aQn64fuXsZ1gIMV-bxm6xusGwN0/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxH89S1QvTzj15BuM_Mm5LEbxstH-X6_fxWnYcpLZsjBMtst1ckT5zHdoVpgQ7c4EwkTMRI0HHZk9L55ON_P-98aWeyIIEDCtQz3My_4_E9I4w520aQn64fuXsZ1gIMV-bxm6xusGwN0/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351297381942977874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;">Of course, it would be a bit of a stretch to suggest that non-gamers would get much out of the film. Though there is a love interest, a small subplot involving Lodge's writer's block, and some other "general audience" elements, the bulk of the movie involves a lot of terminology and situations that are very uniquely part of the geek culture of role-playing. From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Party_Kill">total party kills</a> to males playing seductive female characters -- hilariously represented by both female and male actors -- with ridiculously high charisma, numerous role-playing cliches are touched upon. Though the filmmakers make a valiant effort to appeal to the "newbies" through the character of Joanna, who is new to role-playing (itself a pretty standard role-playing cliche: the girl gamer), by the time she's started her first gaming session, most non-roleplayers will already be hopelessly lost. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;">For those of us that do understand the difference between a Staff of the Magi and a Holy Avenger +5, however, the film comes highly recommended. </span> </p>
<br />prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-6921226776497413482009-06-18T13:05:00.000-07:002009-06-18T14:49:40.130-07:00Arcanum: A Not-So-Well-Oiled Machine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jU6jGvFBZPnV2ey8P2IwfYPLOfFCz-p7TIeLD1MnblzkB8WDzwytP0XE8SrdaeHP5z9zxhJnS9Q3N7gS8GNjvUxsylcwzHtTZGfEShpwlCaZRiqtqa9feIDEUXuXG_bQBv0noH1K8PQ/s1600-h/ac1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jU6jGvFBZPnV2ey8P2IwfYPLOfFCz-p7TIeLD1MnblzkB8WDzwytP0XE8SrdaeHP5z9zxhJnS9Q3N7gS8GNjvUxsylcwzHtTZGfEShpwlCaZRiqtqa9feIDEUXuXG_bQBv0noH1K8PQ/s320/ac1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348762437749244066" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Most of the games on this list have been influential to me as a gamer because of the positive impact that they had on me. As such, many of the games I've discussed are in one way or another among my favorites of all time. There are, however, a number of games that I don't particularly revere as paragons of the medium that have had just as m</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">uch of an impact upon me. Some of these, such as </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Knights of the Old Republic II </i></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">and </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Xenosaga: Episode II</i></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">, disappointed me on many levels for failing to live up to my expectations for the sequels of two of my favorite games. Perhaps the king of muddied expectations, however, is the freshman effort from the now defunct Troika Games: </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.</i></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> It's exceedingly difficult for me to stress just how much I anticipated playing this game, and ultimately how it frustrated me so badly that I did not finish it for the first time until nearly seven years after first starting it. It will suffice to say, then, that the game failed to live up to my (and many other people's) expectations for it.</span>
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<br /><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYl0zKHdUsK8AYkL9bElc6n61gpiG0_r0wzT00bGD11SbDFCkEPMY9ZRiOvLzNvH07CNWQEe9zwZjfEa1CK8jtVIQuM66jJdD88-11bNSqocmQpUXS5u6Hdmu59y8oADbMZwcoZTqdIs/s1600-h/Arcanum.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYl0zKHdUsK8AYkL9bElc6n61gpiG0_r0wzT00bGD11SbDFCkEPMY9ZRiOvLzNvH07CNWQEe9zwZjfEa1CK8jtVIQuM66jJdD88-11bNSqocmQpUXS5u6Hdmu59y8oADbMZwcoZTqdIs/s320/Arcanum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348762583798562178" border="0" /></a></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">It's really hard to understand just why this is the case, as the game has so many things going for it on paper. The game was the first from Troika, which was the then-new company of Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, and Jason Anderson -- the primary developers of the original </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Fallout</i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">, quite possibly my favorite game of all time. It promised to deliver the same style of RPG goodness as its half-brother, with in-depth classless character creation and a robust turn-based combat system. Most importantly, the game presented what I still consider one of the most creative settings ever presented: a Victorian-era fantasy world undergoing an Industrial Revolution. There were dwarves with pistols clashing with magick-wielding elves, half-orcs staging strikes to protest their subhuman factory working conditions, and railroads connecting the major cities of the world of Arcanum. It is a world of conflict: philosophically, between the utilization of physical law (technology) and the bending of it (magick); socially, between the old feudal system and the new industrial republic; and of course morally, between the forces of good and evil. In typical </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Fallout </i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">style, the moral conflict is quite gray; it is never explicitly clear just who exactly represents which side, a refreshing departure from the typical fantasy-based role-playing world. I couldn't wait to delve into such an interesting campaign world, as I am particularly fond of "alt-fantasy" worlds (such as the </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Dark Sun </i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">campaign setting). </span></span></span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">The setting's ingenuity, however, is muddied by its in-game implementation -- a fact that completely baffles me, given the game's pedigree. I suppose that Sierra, the game's publisher, is partly to blame, as it felt (somewhat correctly) that the game as it was would not be sufficiently marketable; as such, they suggested some changes that turned out to be for the worse. The most infamous change was the rather forced inclusion of a real-time combat system along with the original turn-based one. I assume that this inclusion was made due to the popularity of the </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Baldur's Gate</i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"> games, which implemented a "real-time with pause" combat system (which I consider to be the weakest aspect of the Infinity Engine). Regardless of the reasoning, the change was detrimental to both systems, as both are little more than a pale imitation of their counterparts in </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Baldur's Gate</i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"> and </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Fallout.</i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"> As a result, combat is utterly banal, and detracts from the game more so than any other single element in the game.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Of course, Troika shares the blame, as there are numerous issues with game balance and stability that are just as detrimental. Characters tend to become too powerful much too quickly, which leads to the game becoming quite uninteresting beyond finishing the main quest. Towns tend to look alike and are especially difficult to navigate due to the combination of a lack of an adequate journaling system and a very Victorian-era system of addresses. (Where is Devonshire Way again, and in what city? Good luck finding it, because the map won't tell you.) Add in a number of troublesome bugs and a pesky tendency for broken scripting in dialogues -- NPCs reminding the player of events that never happened, dialogue options that should no longer be available based on previous in-game events, and so on -- and the lack of quality control in </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Arcanum </i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">becomes readily apparent.</span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjse9LvjY0HgaMAp7IMjNjjPS7cf514TxWxPhZjBTtVArAzhQSB7mDxP0otdJiZs9uaxKj518lNjkeR1rIJXRXPl06vYjP21pw68ShB_layAmhBdKX8S56pE4OZW4bAsfNR34grkyi7QgU/s1600-h/arcanum_tasteofflame.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjse9LvjY0HgaMAp7IMjNjjPS7cf514TxWxPhZjBTtVArAzhQSB7mDxP0otdJiZs9uaxKj518lNjkeR1rIJXRXPl06vYjP21pw68ShB_layAmhBdKX8S56pE4OZW4bAsfNR34grkyi7QgU/s320/arcanum_tasteofflame.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348762978800631058" border="0" /></a></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Despite its technical failings, though, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Arcanum </i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">is still oddly compelling to me, due in large part to the setting and its exceptionally engaging main quest. Topics such as racism, the nature of power (and the abuse thereof), environmental awareness, and tradition versus innovation are prevalent in the main plot. Unlike in many other fantasy RPGs, they are handled in a very mature and even-handed fashion. The world of </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Arcanum </i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">becomes one that is exciting to explore, and each mystery -- such as where the lost elven civilization is located -- clamors to be unraveled. It is in these elements that the heritage of </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Fallout </i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">shines through, and they more than counterbalance the great frustrations of the game's technical elements. In fact, they make the game worth playing when it otherwise would not be.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Though my very strongly mixed feelings about </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Arcanum</i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"> are obvious, my experience with it has been an overall positive one. I feel like I have grown as a gamer due to my experiences with this game, despite the fact that it is not even close to one of my favorite games. (Favorite settings? Sure. Favorite games? Nope.) </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Arcanum </i></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">has helped me to tune my critical eye toward games, showing me that a little patience and care can reveal the greatness in what appears to be an altogether lackluster title. Furthermore, it is a prime example of the danger of hype -- games seldom live up to ridiculous levels of hype, be it from the media or self-induced.</span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Check out my MobyGames review of <span style="font-style: italic;">Arcanum </span><a href="http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/arcanum-of-steamworks-magick-obscura/reviews/reviewerId,96480/">here</a>.
<br /></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></span> </span></span></span></span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-35058393627429169342009-03-01T12:40:00.000-08:002009-03-01T13:08:00.616-08:00Top Five Games: PC<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>5) Doom</b></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWicdx4FDY8t8vM0MvEkjQcs09bhk7TI03cI3XkEr1atG18mWRYqpXDE1z0OW1MEjjwsMcKoDO7YiP9F8Voc7cO9TLifB6SfmcfpTFXXPlcYqLa_Cz5tTYg4njn_wL4zmZNorKuQheoY/s1600-h/1.jpg"> </a></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWicdx4FDY8t8vM0MvEkjQcs09bhk7TI03cI3XkEr1atG18mWRYqpXDE1z0OW1MEjjwsMcKoDO7YiP9F8Voc7cO9TLifB6SfmcfpTFXXPlcYqLa_Cz5tTYg4njn_wL4zmZNorKuQheoY/s1600-h/1.jpg"> <img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWicdx4FDY8t8vM0MvEkjQcs09bhk7TI03cI3XkEr1atG18mWRYqpXDE1z0OW1MEjjwsMcKoDO7YiP9F8Voc7cO9TLifB6SfmcfpTFXXPlcYqLa_Cz5tTYg4njn_wL4zmZNorKuQheoY/s200/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308326380303339570" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">The game th</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">at practically single-handedly popularized the first-person shooter genre still holds a fond place in the </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">hearts of most gamers. No game before had ever gone where </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Doom</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> went -- literally, to Hell </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">and back. The weapon </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">selection and variety of demonic terrors to shoot down made the game popular, but its amazingly solid gameplay is what made it a classic. The feelings of terror </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWicdx4FDY8t8vM0MvEkjQcs09bhk7TI03cI3XkEr1atG18mWRYqpXDE1z0OW1MEjjwsMcKoDO7YiP9F8Voc7cO9TLifB6SfmcfpTFXXPlcYqLa_Cz5tTYg4njn_wL4zmZNorKuQheoY/s1600-h/1.jpg"></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">and anxiety, of the fear of what might lurk around the next hellish corner, have only </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">been successfully reproduced by </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Doom 3</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> -- the 2004 re-envisioning of </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Doom</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">. Even this newfangled update, though, pales in comparison to the sheer enjoyment of the original. From blasting imps with the shotgun, to mowing away pinky demons desperately with a chainsaw, players cannot hope to find an experience quite equal to that of the original </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Doom</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>4) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</b></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWnl-dCy211KHYs2vcqamvNZI4g9VZSdh0QfnrPsazwE73C2BmzOP_PGR1R63Qoqiaw3MnmqqmGfFjZN7bTb91u4hiUKRTFwvdoWko-XnLc7h5Op8QIOXILx82PbbiX5ljAi-QLuuQ9U/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWnl-dCy211KHYs2vcqamvNZI4g9VZSdh0QfnrPsazwE73C2BmzOP_PGR1R63Qoqiaw3MnmqqmGfFjZN7bTb91u4hiUKRTFwvdoWko-XnLc7h5Op8QIOXILx82PbbiX5ljAi-QLuuQ9U/s200/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308326731874541570" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Though technically not a PC game -- it was originally released on the Xbox in early 2003 -- the PC port of BioWare's phenomenal Star Wars RPG is vastly superior to its console cousin. This RPG has the look, feel, and experience of adventuring within the Star Wars universe -- a feat that has often been attempted in gaming, yet seldom accomplished. The player creates his own character and travels through several well-known Star Wars locations, such as Kashyyk (the Wookie planet) and Tatooine (home of Luke Skywalker). The Sith Lord Darth Malak is one of the most evil villains in gaming, and the plot twist is regarded as one of the most shocking (or at least interesting) ever. If all of this was not enough, what gamer can deny the sheer joy of wielding dual lightsabers of customized color? This game is simply amazing, and is an extremely faithful adaptation of George Lucas's cash cow. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>3) Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn</b></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaovkiSGno77-QFu80uCIb13_KaGwwYbM3FHbquBwl6xcipDMsdlUEG5eFLdbBVu4V3x_PQwfbgZ9bNq3HUtoSIPiaVmUUFKGCNgKYpYyYRgautwnk8lOyCQlieiPzUsmz8jicMAgipo4/s1600-h/bg22.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaovkiSGno77-QFu80uCIb13_KaGwwYbM3FHbquBwl6xcipDMsdlUEG5eFLdbBVu4V3x_PQwfbgZ9bNq3HUtoSIPiaVmUUFKGCNgKYpYyYRgautwnk8lOyCQlieiPzUsmz8jicMAgipo4/s200/bg22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308328032534860034" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;">It's really hard to do <i>Dungeons and Dragons </i><span style="font-style: normal;">justice in videogame form -- one need only look at the number of abysmal (or at best mediocre) renditions of the role-playing progenitor for proof. Bioware, however, hit the nail on the head with </span><i>Baldur's Gate II</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, seamlessly integrating the classic tabletop rules into an intuitive, easy to use format. The game's second chapter alone stands to this day as the best videogame interpretation of </span><i>D&D</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, allowing the player to lead a band of adventurers on numerous quests throughout the Forgotten Realms in search of vengeance, adventure, and of course treasure. Of course, the game presents an excellent, epic quest and many memorable characters (such as the unforgettable Minsc and Boo). The game's only fault is its strict adherence to </span><i>D&D </i><span style="font-style: normal;">rules, which unfortunately break down at higher levels of play. Still, </span><i>Baldur's Gate II</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> is the best example of rollicking </span><i>D&D </i><span style="font-style: normal;">fun yet created.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>2) Planescape: Torment</b></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyMGv25WwT7hifU8qGofSXmfo-KzGxFRuoqFVV1wN7zqGCdyGX5rQ3T4X7k02Lc_3VHt5EIs80UOcnVbXTCJkPn7k2FMnxsWad0OKOlSfcMpyFp6xMPC09i7zUYjmHhBI_I6nztb3bEs/s1600-h/c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyMGv25WwT7hifU8qGofSXmfo-KzGxFRuoqFVV1wN7zqGCdyGX5rQ3T4X7k02Lc_3VHt5EIs80UOcnVbXTCJkPn7k2FMnxsWad0OKOlSfcMpyFp6xMPC09i7zUYjmHhBI_I6nztb3bEs/s200/c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308327088453511154" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">Set in the gritty and quirky </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Dungeons and Dragons</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> setting of </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Planescape</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">, </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Torment</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> is a testament to the power and enjoyment of the computer role-playing game. The main character, the Nameless One, is an immortal amnesiac whose memory is erased every time he dies, and players try to unravel the mystery of his existence and purpose -- all the while encountering some of the most awe-inspiring, breathtaking, and downright bizarre sights the multiverse has to offer. Some of the Nameless One's companions include a loudmouthed, disembodied floating skull; a lawful good succubus; and an animated suit of combat armor bent on exacting justice upon all of existence. The story stands as one of the best ever told in gaming, and the wonders of Sigil and the many planes of existence must be seen to be believed. This game features quite possibly the finest blend of story and role-playing ever created. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>1) Fallout</b></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTk_BSy7qa_BncbzO07VjZEzc2pm26UsGXVEKbyZvNHkb9iHmndsAb9H_oPdpLGIYeC1ZQDR16hy8FQGES6W1F4lrHUOID6u0r9r0d2JRhAKcB2e1ocJ0bNcONawFXFJ9OgnKLbihcnk/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTk_BSy7qa_BncbzO07VjZEzc2pm26UsGXVEKbyZvNHkb9iHmndsAb9H_oPdpLGIYeC1ZQDR16hy8FQGES6W1F4lrHUOID6u0r9r0d2JRhAKcB2e1ocJ0bNcONawFXFJ9OgnKLbihcnk/s200/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308327314128273906" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">Though its sequel made many essential improvements to the gameplay, the original </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Fallout</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> is the better of the two. This post-apocalyptic masterpiece is one of the most beloved and innovative games ever made. Drawing its inspiration straight from 1950s pulp-fiction, </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><i><span style="">Fallout</span></i></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=""> thrusts the player into southern California, post-nuclear holocaust, with staggeringly great results. The game is all about experiencing the wonders and dangers of this harsh extrapolation of the future, and in this respect it admirably succeeds. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. character-creation system is quite innovative and effective, allowing the player to create and assume the kind of role that he or she desires. The game is uniquely playable and able to be finished with many different character types, with each yielding a completely unique playing experience. Also, who could forget Dogmeat? This game is one of the best role-playing experiences to be had, PC or otherwise. </span></span> </p>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-78066123024032399412009-02-08T11:22:00.000-08:002009-02-08T13:36:26.788-08:00The DLC Non-Fix<meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I recently learned that </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of Persia</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> on 360</span> <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172585">is going to receive a downloadable expansion pack </a> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">at the end of the month. Entitled </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Epilogue</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, the reputedly three hour expansion will add a new area of gameplay as well as wrap up the loose ends from the game's really open-ended ending. While I'm excited (despite the fact that the expansion will probably be overpriced at $10), I'm not exactly sure how to feel about the idea of an expansion for the game for two main reasons.</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There's the obvious argument against DLC in the first place: that a game should be complete when it's purchased on the shelf (virtual or otherwise), and shouldn't require DLC to bring it up to a hundred percent. I'm not so much behind this argument in that sense -- PC gaming has released patches and expansions for years, and a great number of console games have shipped buggy and/or incomplete (think </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">KOTOR II</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, among others). My argument instead lies with the ratio of pricing to content, something that a lot of DLC add-ons in the era of Xbox Live have failed to adequately address. PC expansions tend to be robust, and in many cases constitute a new game in and of themselves. Two of the more successful expansion packs for two of the more successful PC games of the last decade -- </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">StarCraft: Brood War </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-- effectively served as new chapters in their respective series. </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Throne of Bhaal </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in particular was more like the third chapter of the </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Baldur's Gate</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> saga, adding new classes, powers, and a good thirty hours or so of gameplay to what was already a hearty RPG. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">So what's the point, you ask? True expansion packs such as </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Throne of Bhaal </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">justify their price tags (</span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ToB </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">retailed for $29.99 upon its release in 2001) with substantial content. The consumer gets what he or she pays for in that case. With DLC like </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fallout 3</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Operation Anchorage </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">or (possibly) </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of Persia:</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Epilogue</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, gamers are paying $10 for an extra two or three hours of gameplay -- hardly an acceptable ratio of extra content to cost. While I certainly expect that </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Epilogue </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">will be enjoyable, I'm not sure that it will justify its price tag like PC expansions usually do.</span></span></p> <div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >
<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(Spoilers ahead.)</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br /></span></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >
<br /></span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Perhaps more importantly, though, I take great issue with the artistic implications of this particular expansion. While </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of Persia</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s ending was indeed open-ended, I didn't find this problematic in the least; in fact, I found it very refreshing and creative. After defeating Ahriman and Elika's father, the Prince is horrified to learn that the price for victory is Elika's life -- the magic that was keeping her alive was the very magic that was destroying the world with the tar-like corruption. The end credits roll while the player is forced to lead the Prince, grief stricken and carrying the dead body of Elika in his arms, out of the temple. The game doesn't end on such a sour note, however: The player must then lead the Prince to destroy the very wards that he spent the entire game constructing, releasing Ahriman in a desperate attempt to restore life to the woman he loves. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Despite the missed opportunity to include a monumental element of player choice and interactivity in this ending sequence (letting the player choose whether to release the wards and revive Elika, or simply to accept the tragic outcome of the Prince's heroism and ride off into the sunset), the game's ending stands as a very artistic accomplishment, both from a storytelling perspective and as an example of interactivity in the gaming medium. While </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Shadow of the Colossus </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">had a strikingly similar interactive ending sequence, and the developers of </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of Persia</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> admittedly were influenced by Team Ico's previous games, </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of Persia</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s was effective in that it provided an adequate resolution to the Prince's growth as a character while at the same time leaving the story open enough to allow for a sequel.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The problem, then, with attempting to tie up the loose ends in the story is that it effectively negates the artistic elements of the ending that make it so appealing in the first place. I am rather fond of games that don't end cheerily, or that illustrate the difficult sacrifices that a hero has to make in order for the world to be saved -- and what happens when that same hero tries to undo the tragedy that his actions have caused. </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Persia</span>'s ending does exactly that as-is. </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Shadow of the Colossus </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">did the exact same thing, and admittedly did a better job, but imagine if Team Ico were to have released a downloadable "epilogue" to that game. Would the game still possess the same level of artistic statement that it does now? I think not.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Admittedly, Ubisoft probably cares less about artistic intent than it does about turning a profit -- it's entirely reasonable to believe that the ending was constructed specifically for sequels and/or DLC add-ons. If </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Epilogue </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">sells enough at $10 a pop, they'll have no problems in that respect. Still, it makes me a bit sad to think that an ending that I found to be one of more refreshing and intriguing ones in recent memory (other than </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Shadow of the Colossus</i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s) could be effectively negated, or at best neutered, by a quick, overpriced add-on. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" align="left" lang="en-US"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That said, I'll still get it most likely, as </span><i style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prince of Persia </i><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">was one of the more enjoyable games I played last year. I just wish that the content were either more robust or less expensive -- I'd feel a lot better about an expansion pack than a downloadable epilogue.</span></span></p> prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-57507558007344168052009-02-02T13:20:00.000-08:002009-02-03T05:56:45.573-08:00Final Fantasy: How Many Until It's Truly "Final?"<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >I really have to hand it to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy</span> series for having the most contradictory title in all of gaming. Despite the fact that it's been going on for well over twenty years now, the series simply will not end -- despite some horrible trends that have irrevocably changed the series, mostly for the worst.<br /><br />Yes, I know all about the story of the original title's development: It was supposed to be the "final" game that the fledgling development house SquareSoft was going to make before going broke, and it was a "fantasy" game heavily inspired by <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons and Dragons</span>. (Don't believe me? Take one good look at the character classes and bestiary.) That first game -- much like its contemporary, <span style="font-style: italic;">Dragon Quest</span> -- feels incredibly archaic by today's standards. Again, like <span style="font-style: italic;">Dragon Quest</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy</span>'s basic style of play involves little more than grinding levels until the party is strong enough to advance to the next area of the world, then repeating the process until eventually confronting the end boss. There was little to no story of which to speak, the characters were generic and generally devoid of any sort of personality beyond that implied by their huge sprites, and combat was largely repetitive (not to mention the fact that the characters apparently couldn't differentiate between living and dead targets, causing characters to have to waste an action if their target was slain before their turn).<br /><br />However unplayable it may be today, though, the original title was a huge success that laid the foundation for the series that would eventually become synonymous with "role-playing games" for a great number of console gamers. For instance, the Super NES's RPG Renaissance yielded such beloved entries as <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasies II</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">III </span>(<span style="font-style: italic;">IV</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">VI</span> for the Japanophiles), which took the series beyond its humble beginnings into the realm of greatness. The characters still adhered to specific classes to some degree -- though III did not really label them as such -- but they were so much more than their skill sets. These characters had personalities that were well-developed and believable (well, except for <span style="font-style: italic;">II</span>'s Kain -- how many times can one person betray allegiances?), which really allowed the player to develop a special connection with certain characters. The additional flexibility accorded in <span style="font-style: italic;">III </span>to customize the four member adventuring party only enhanced this aspect -- players were able to bring along their favorite characters and develop them as they saw fit. This emphasis on characters and their relation to the player allowed for some very sweeping and moving plots -- without a doubt the shining point of the series. Add in high production values and some of the best music of the 16-bit era, and you've got a recipe for success.<br /><br />However, it was not until the behemoth <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy VII</span> was released that the series became the flagship title for console RPGs. Ironically enough, it was also the beginning of the series's descent into inanity -- what I like to refer to as "Nomura-itis." I won't elaborate too much on this point, as GameSpite.net's Jeremy Parish has already hit the nail on the head in his excellent article, but it will suffice to say that the emphasis shifted to overly broody amnesiac heroes portrayed in all their full and poorly-articulated glory by way too many cutscenes. The PlayStation-era entries in the series are the prime culprits of this infraction, as their stories are jumbled messes (even more so than <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears </span>-- quite an accomplishment), and the characters are largely uninteresting and above all interchangeable. <span style="font-style: italic;">VII</span>'s Materia system and <span style="font-style: italic;">VIII</span>'s Junction system, in their attempts to bring limitless customization to players, instead made the characters themselves largely worthless. <span style="font-style: italic;"> VII</span>'s characters, for example, were defined not by their character traits (however based on blatant stereotypes they might have been), but rather by the equipment and Materia they carried. Likewise, characters in <span style="font-style: italic;">VIII </span>were defined by how many spells they had junctioned to their equipment, as well as which Guardian Forces they had equipped. Despite their popularity and the fact that these two games are largely responsible for the massive following that the series has, these two games are my least favorite of the series for all of the things that they did wrong. It is particularly telling that <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy IX</span>, the final PlayStation entry, took three steps backwards as far as story and character customization is concerned, yet holds up much better than its two immediate predecessors.<br /><br />The PlayStation 2 entries, <span style="font-style: italic;">X </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">XII</span>, were largely creative and original though, despite failing in one of the two areas of character customization (<span style="font-style: italic;">XII</span>'s license grid, which basically results in a party of über-clones) or story (<span style="font-style: italic;">X</span>'s sub-par effort despite interesting characters and an excellent gameplay system). <span style="font-style: italic;">XII </span>in particular was a huge leap forward for the series, moving away from some long outdated abstractions such as random battles and </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >separate battle screens. Everything in <span style="font-style: italic;">XII </span>takes place seamlessly, thanks to a (mostly) well thought out Gambit system. To be fair, <span style="font-style: italic;">X </span>also did away with the abstraction of a world map, and <span style="font-style: italic;">XII </span>continued in that vein. <span style="font-style: italic;">XII</span>'s amazingly detailed world of Ivalice stands as perhaps the most vibrant and engaging world in the entire series.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Nomura-itis appears to be the forecast for the franchise's foreseeable future. <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy </span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-style: italic;">XIII</span> appears to be headed back down the dark and detestable road of ruin. Perhaps it's a sign that the series truly should live up to its title, but many gamers weaned on the stylings of <span style="font-style: italic;">VII </span>are eagerly awaiting their next venomous dose of Nomura. The series will not be ending anytime soon, that's for certain -- an old dog living well beyond its prime.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span><br /></span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-39796640602142816132009-01-13T12:09:00.000-08:002009-01-13T16:05:50.029-08:00Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil: The Underdogs That Could, But Didn't<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bbHPpT-XnfKTQeS2e1Bvs74gOq9AGk8edIc36lV3fHLbpfhHz56rnlXD581rbZSxaOvT9fyUvDccmdxYuQecvoXoifyn1ZaiklIXJAzlhKPA3F51VkNbpvVM79F-aU8HBbfW6VScgi0/s1600-h/fbge.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bbHPpT-XnfKTQeS2e1Bvs74gOq9AGk8edIc36lV3fHLbpfhHz56rnlXD581rbZSxaOvT9fyUvDccmdxYuQecvoXoifyn1ZaiklIXJAzlhKPA3F51VkNbpvVM79F-aU8HBbfW6VScgi0/s320/fbge.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290878944216951122" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >
<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >The video game market really makes me upset at times. Several of the games on this blog tanked horribly at retail, their praises sung upon high by the critics while piles of copies sat on store shelves collecting dust, weathering price drop after price drop. Though most of these games became cult classics (<span style="font-style: italic;">EarthBound </span>in particular), two of the games that I truly appreciate have faded into relative obscurity despite their excellence. Part of the problem, though, is that these games were underdogs from the start; they never really had a fighting chance, despite their actual quality.
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<br />I'm talking, of course, about <span style="font-style: italic;">Psychonauts </span>and<span style="font-style: italic;"> Beyond Good and Evil</span>.
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<br />These two games' status as underdogs might come as a bit of a surprise when their pedigree is considered. <span style="font-style: italic;"> Psychonauts </span>was the brainchild of Tim Schafer, who is known for creating top-notch games such as <span style="font-style: italic;">Monkey Island </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Grim Fandango</span>. Though some of his previous games also recorded fairly dismal sales, they were innovative, creative, and oozing with personality. These were games that would last, that would stick with those who played them. Likewise, <span style="font-style: italic;">Beyond Good and Evil</span>'s mastermind was Michel Ancel, the French developer who is known for games such as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Rayman</span> series. Both of the games had the reputation of their respective “evil geniuses” behind them, so it was a good bet that they would be wonderful examples of the medium as well.
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<br />They most definitely delivered, pulling players into unique and realistic worlds... realistic in the sense that you were immersed in the game, which is always an indicator of a great game. <span style="font-style: italic;"> Psychonauts </span>put players in the role of Raz, a young psychic who sneaks away from the circus in order to attend a summer camp for young psychics and train to become a Psychonaut. The setting oozes with flavor, as it truly feels like a summer camp--except with Tim Burton-esque children as the campers. When things start getting odd at the camp and people start losing their minds (literally), it's up to Raz to save the day. Of course, he does this by jumping into people's minds in order to get clues, solve their problems, and so on--all in pure platforming glory. This leads to some truly unique worlds: a weird Escher-like version of suburbia where everyone is paranoid about “the milkman,” a wargame between the ancestral memory of Napoleon Bonaparte and his descendant, and a Tokyo-like city inhabited by fish people who are trying to defeat the Godzilla-inspired “Gogglor” (a giant Raz). The milkman area is one of the funniest and strangest video game levels I have ever played, and the same level of humor persists throughout the whole game. What other game allows you to summon your wise (albeit not quite sane) mentor by luring him out of your head with a strip of bacon?
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<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_CB_nn3kCP0NEPao5p0VRuoG2gxFMlBbanXHimh6ndDDVLbTMdzVInHrLdtj8Stntw7Bld8fwdNQ_SvpH9DDBtcnxPiH8lYlPjOAlV5ONF7ZEO-9uAI_BWGTraDi9YimOzEbwsirQxo/s1600-h/psychonauts1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 118px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_CB_nn3kCP0NEPao5p0VRuoG2gxFMlBbanXHimh6ndDDVLbTMdzVInHrLdtj8Stntw7Bld8fwdNQ_SvpH9DDBtcnxPiH8lYlPjOAlV5ONF7ZEO-9uAI_BWGTraDi9YimOzEbwsirQxo/s320/psychonauts1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290879045416539122" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Beyond Good and Evil</span> was equally immersive. It paints the vibrant world of Hillys, where a war against alien invaders is raging. These aliens, the DomZ, are being held off by the Alpha Sections, a sort of military police faction. Not all is as it seems, however, as the protagonist, a young freelance photographer named Jade, becomes entangled in a quest to uncover the truth about the DomZ, the Alpha Sections, and just what is really happening on Hillys. The quest proceeds in a believable, logical fashion, and there is a good reason for every mission that is undertaken. Of course, most of the missions have a heavy focus on stealth, but this is understandable given the enormity of the task which Jade must accomplish: uncover evidence of the truth behind the conflict, take pictures, and distribute them among the people of Hillys. Hillys itself is explored in a vaguely <span style="font-style: italic;">Zelda</span>-like fashion, but though many critics constantly referred to the game as “PS2's answer to <span style="font-style: italic;">Zelda</span>,” there is only a passing resemblance. There is a lot to find, a lot to explore, and although the game itself is short, it is rich in experience.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NsVbrp8cYiBD8L3Iqk2-F1KEUe5oEzb-pwqcIqJtl2tkWuZgyG6ePsFt-TY2IlF0Qnu5JMuh45BYqnrtcUEd0_M3EtdyS2sVMaC95dNDNlaYfVUW6_TK1M3qxow1ZL9oJGS8xvepc4Q/s1600-h/BG&E+group+picture.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 407px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NsVbrp8cYiBD8L3Iqk2-F1KEUe5oEzb-pwqcIqJtl2tkWuZgyG6ePsFt-TY2IlF0Qnu5JMuh45BYqnrtcUEd0_M3EtdyS2sVMaC95dNDNlaYfVUW6_TK1M3qxow1ZL9oJGS8xvepc4Q/s320/BG&E+group+picture.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290877204745573762" border="0" /></a>
<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Both of these games play just as well as they are presented. <span style="font-style: italic;"> Psychonauts </span>is a well-designed platformer, and most of the powers that Raz earns as the game goes along have a practical and intuitive use. Likewise, Jade's ability to sneak around in the Alpha Sections' bases and take pictures feels intense, but never frustrating. Part of the immersion is that the characters really feel like an extension of the player: you ARE that character, and their world and task are yours. Sure, both of the games suffer from a tricky and somewhat frustrating endgame, but these are minor flaws when viewed in comparison to the magnificent whole.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">So why did these games fail so miserably? I can only speculate, but I strongly feel that their status as original intellectual properties really turned a lot of gamers away. You know what to expect if you buy a <span style="font-style: italic;">Madden </span>game or a <span style="font-style: italic;">Mega Man</span> game; buying something that you've never heard of before can be a bit scary and more of a gamble. Compounding the problem is the fact that neither game received much in the way of advertising, so a lot of people didn't even know that the games existed in the first place. These two things sent the two underdogs to a quick bargain-bin death.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It's a real shame, though, that so many people missed out on two such wonderful games. Anybody that complains about the lack of originality or charm in current games should ask themselves whether or not they played <span style="font-style: italic;">Psychonauts </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Beyond Good and Evil</span>. If the answer is no, then they should track down a copy of each immediately; they will quickly realize that there are indeed some creative, innovative games being produced, even if nobody really recognizes them.</span>
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<br /><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><meta name="CREATED" content="0;0"><meta name="CHANGED" content="0;0"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-46638929471047619142009-01-11T17:18:00.000-08:002009-01-11T19:02:17.605-08:00God of War: An Overrated, Overhyped Mess<a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3wZSMig1tFEcVSvjEFhu-Fg-XbRV-4xT-sopQnDkbIHYsYxq2jaAThE69FTnpK5vkdeQrKoRmWYkY09S2KznJc2pX74PEzM0y-DFf7Q5dwMtsArAwZpSiu4T5f2d7IfdQx6BRwNvH8tI/s1600-h/5928.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3wZSMig1tFEcVSvjEFhu-Fg-XbRV-4xT-sopQnDkbIHYsYxq2jaAThE69FTnpK5vkdeQrKoRmWYkY09S2KznJc2pX74PEzM0y-DFf7Q5dwMtsArAwZpSiu4T5f2d7IfdQx6BRwNvH8tI/s320/5928.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290218038438983938" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >There's no other way to say it, so I'll just be blunt: <span style="font-style: italic;">God of War </span>is not a good game. It starts off well, with a first level that is quite memorable and gets the player's attention in a big way. Unfortunately, the game pretty much peaks a little bit before the halfway point -- from there it gets really old really fast. You fight the same repetitive variations of the game's three or four base enemy types a bajillion times, with some areas that feature nearly infinite respawning. The last few levels of the game, instead of featuring intuitive and challenging puzzles, regress into mere exercises in "thinking like the developers," often requiring highly arbitrary "objectives" in order to pass to the next area. (These objectives are often something like clearing a level of every enemy, as well as the hundred times each one respawns.)<br /><br />There are definitely several things in the game that seem really cool at first glance, but upon closer inspection simply don't make much logical sense. For example, in Poseidon's "challenge" in Pandora's Temple, a generic god that claims to be Poseidon requires the "ultimate sacrifice" of a human life in exchange for passage. Putting aside the fact that for Kratos -- little more than a soulless killing machine of the gods -- taking a single human life is not even close to a meaningful sacrifice, it is hard to explain just <span style="font-style: italic;">why </span>exactly there were a dozen or so Greeks hanging in cages in the room immediately before. How did they get there if it was supposedly so difficult to get into the temple in the first place? They are rather conveniently just <span style="font-style: italic;">there </span>so that Kratos can sacrifice them. Furthermore, why is the brilliant Rob Paulsen (Morte from <span style="font-style: italic;">Planescape: Torment</span> and Raphael from <span style="font-style: italic;">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</span>, among other roles) so criminally underutilized in such a meaningless role as the voice of this arbitrarily-placed sacrificial sod?<br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Jh1jBgCwXnB2dzZsNBPJsxlutH70A1VHTwyjnulp6nSHNHN7togEKlhGSGL6zIB71yY4h_5pAdbJM5-4hqO2JUY-Sfq7zTYJuVRol_6ZBzVsTmlRUxsXDNw7yi4lOi7NvgjmBLq2VbU/s1600-h/god_of_war_gameplay.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Jh1jBgCwXnB2dzZsNBPJsxlutH70A1VHTwyjnulp6nSHNHN7togEKlhGSGL6zIB71yY4h_5pAdbJM5-4hqO2JUY-Sfq7zTYJuVRol_6ZBzVsTmlRUxsXDNw7yi4lOi7NvgjmBLq2VbU/s320/god_of_war_gameplay.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290218592612243122" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Speaking of meaningless, what was the point of utilizing Greek mythology </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >if it was only going to be used in name only </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >for such a lacking, generic story? Call me crazy (and numerous rabid <span style="font-style: italic;">God of War</span> fan legions most certainly will), but does merely using some very basic names and titles of certain Greek gods and monsters actually count as being based upon Greek mythology? Pretty much every Western work of literature could be considered to be based upon Greek myth in that case. Just because there are characters called Ares and Zeus, and just because there are monsters that only in the most liberal sense resemble the minotaur and Medusa, does <span style="font-style: italic;">not </span>mean that the game is based on Greek mythology. To be fair, though, the tone -- bloodthirsty amorality and childish, vengeful deities -- is pretty well done.<br /><br />The game's art direction is certainly of a high caliber. If nothing else, the game features beautiful character and location designs that are excellently presented in what is one of the best looking games for the PlayStation 2. The characters remind me a lot of Gerald Brom's work for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Sun </span>campaign setting, and some of the areas -- such as the Hydra's sea, the game's first level -- are pretty breathtaking.<br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSq2SMOsp9tE2zJfUmYkgSd7e0bYKJVbncxKCCfabkyGLycybAQS7bceizF1tajB6W_b7uGyQ5hPzgxoDb76cwx5By3JuNPoO-QhZNESJ8dt4o0QWeCt-ttBwGkq578DMtpmzl78D1yo/s1600-h/god_of_war_chains_of_olympus_06-l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSq2SMOsp9tE2zJfUmYkgSd7e0bYKJVbncxKCCfabkyGLycybAQS7bceizF1tajB6W_b7uGyQ5hPzgxoDb76cwx5By3JuNPoO-QhZNESJ8dt4o0QWeCt-ttBwGkq578DMtpmzl78D1yo/s320/god_of_war_chains_of_olympus_06-l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290218337405573810" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Unfortunately, a lot of those areas -- especially Hades, as its name might imply -- are nightmarish for all the wrong reasons. There are numerous parts that are various combinations of ridiculous, cheap, and ridiculously cheap, such as Hades's eternal spinning column of pointy things. Such areas feel unfair and designed for no other purpose than to look cool and to brutally frustrate the player. Combine this propensity for insta-kill areas with a horribly static camera and the "point-o'-one-thousand-respawns" in every other room, and you've got a recipe for terrible.<br /><br />Again, most of these problems are in the latter half to two-thirds of the game. The first few levels are brilliantly done, albeit with an ulterior motive, I fear: addiction. Like a crack dealer giving a free hit in order to get his client hopelessly hooked, <span style="font-style: italic;">God of War</span> tries to hook players with a heavily appealing intro -- I still feel that the opening level is one of the better lead-ins to a game in a long while -- before devolving into base crap.<br /><br />If only <span style="font-style: italic;">God of War </span>could maintain its momentum for the entirety of the experience -- as well as lose the shoddy, half-assed Greek mythology angle -- it'd be a hell of a game, and perhaps even the game that it was hyped up to be. Instead, it's a terrible letdown that comes nowhere near that level of alleged greatness, and </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >easily </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">stands as perhaps the most overhyped and overrated game of the past decade.</span><br /></span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-26478618868919018642009-01-10T18:57:00.000-08:002009-01-10T19:00:06.527-08:00Why I Have Come to Dislike RPGs, Part Four<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >6) Overly ambitious, pretentious "plots"</span><span style="font-size:130%;">
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<br />One of the first rules of writing is that there are no inherently new plots to be developed. Therefore, a successful writer will either do something a little bit different (adding a twist to an existing story) or do something a little bit better (improve the delivery of a story). Unfortunately, many RPG writers seem to mistake "different" and "better" for "more complex and/or ambiguous." It seems like every RPG these days tries to go balls-to-the-wall with its plot, including numerous seemingly mandatory philosophical references direct from a community college </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Intro to Philosophy</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> textbook (if not throwing in the whole book altogether and hoping for the best). Most of the time, combined with translation issues, this approach results in a poorly realized plot. Of course, when the general design philosophy of most RPGs is the dangling carrot of slogging through battles to reveal the story, the story had better be pretty damned compelling – and unfortunately, this is seldom the case. (Perhaps even more unfortunately, many RPG players actually think that this complexity for complexity's sake makes for a BETTER story. The writers cannot take all of the blame for this problem, I fear.)
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<br />Quick, why was </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Knights of the Old Republic II</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> noticeably inferior to its predecessor? Too many bugs you say? Well, yeah, but what else? Uninspired combat with waves of generic baddies? True, but what else? That's right: the shambled train wreck of a story that tried to be complex simply for complexity's sake. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Star Wars</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> has never had a complex plotline, as it's always been little more than a pseudo-myth ripped straight from the pages of Joseph Campbell. The first </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >KOTOR</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> realized this, and as such provided a plot that was suitable in scale, albeit with one incredibly compelling (yet somewhat foreseeable, if you pick up on all the clues) twist. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >KOTOR II</span><span style="font-size:130%;">, on the other hand, made things sound much more complex than they actually were, giving the illusion of a deep plot while in reality delivering very little of note. By doing something different (i.e. adding a twist to the standard </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Star Wars</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> story) while staying fairly simple, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >KOTOR</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> crafts a compelling story that accentuates the game rather than taking away from it.
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<br />Similarly, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Final Fantasy XII</span><span style="font-size:130%;">'s story is nothing to write home about at first glance: a standard story of regency and succession. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, however, as it is streamlined enough to be compelling. Compare that to </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Final Fantasy VII</span><span style="font-size:130%;">'s "plot" – a horrific monstrosity whose construction is the RPG equivalent of a Jackson Pollack painting, but less coherent – and it is easy to appreciate how much care and effort went into making sure that </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >XII</span><span style="font-size:130%;">'s plot actually makes enough sense to render game world interactions worth undertaking. Again, if you're going to utilize the dangling carrot, make sure that the carrot is tasty. Better yet, make sure it's a carrot, not a genetically modified carrot-like substance with all kinds of unnecessary additives and carcinogens.
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<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Conclusion</span><span style="font-size:130%;">
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<br />Many console-style RPGs suffer from most if not all of these genre-killing problems. Perhaps it is simply due to the fact that, for whatever reason, this style of game is still popular and selling well with the gaming audience. Necessity breeds innovation, and there is apparently no financial necessity for RPG developers to change what they are doing. (As I write this, the DS remake of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Dragon Quest V</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> is utterly annihilating its competition on the Japanese game sales charts.) Unfortunately, their stagnation results in a genre that has become bland, rife with problems, and for the most part unappealing to those such as myself who once counted themselves part of the RPG fanbase. The console style role-playing game is anything but, as it has become more of a pseudo-interactive B-movie platform than anything involving actual role-playing. Furthermore, these console-style design sensibilities have infiltrated the once-fertile PC RPG landscape, as evidenced by games such as </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Oblivion </span><span style="font-size:130%;">and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Mass Effect</span><span style="font-size:130%;">, making the descendants of classics such as </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Fallout </span><span style="font-size:130%;">and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate </span><span style="font-size:130%;">as desolate and unappealing as their console cousins. It is for these reasons that I have divorced myself from the console RPG fanbase, and can no longer support the direction of the genre that I once held in such high esteem.
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<br /><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><meta name="CREATED" content="0;0"><meta name="CHANGED" content="0;0"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-73911143258598596262009-01-10T10:55:00.000-08:002009-01-10T11:06:52.498-08:00Xenogears: An Ambitious Failure<a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dx1XsXkvmb9Bj6wVqsExifLXv80buRnHW8v_srIwWC8LBIrlvyfNslBNcb4yRoyoUeVldQx8RBeZMe-6r7tYlpNP5E82T8leHlbOwj8sRI_Lq4yQJiKQuvfn5TCkr9Q78PXUMdy2yZA/s1600-h/xenogears_box.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dx1XsXkvmb9Bj6wVqsExifLXv80buRnHW8v_srIwWC8LBIrlvyfNslBNcb4yRoyoUeVldQx8RBeZMe-6r7tYlpNP5E82T8leHlbOwj8sRI_Lq4yQJiKQuvfn5TCkr9Q78PXUMdy2yZA/s320/xenogears_box.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289741924720129346" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Ah, <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears</span>: the game whose content was considered so offensive and so overly religiously-themed that it almost did not even see the light of day in the US. Of course, this was the aftermath of <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy VII</span> making Square one of the most powerful companies in terms of pushing units in the US, and after Electronic Arts agreed to help Square distribute some of their games, <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears </span>was finally released stateside. It was highly critically acclaimed (then again, what Square RPGs weren't in those days? <span style="font-style: italic;">SaGa Frontier</span>, anyone?), but for most gamers it was a “love it or hate it” affair. Obviously, the game's appearance on this list is indicative of which side of the fence I staked my claim on, but there is truth to the notion that the game failed miserably on many levels. It's the few successes that it achieved that made this game stick out to me; the things that it did right, it did very well.<br /><br />The sheer ambition of Tetsuya Takahashi is perhaps to blame for some of the failures of <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears</span>. After all, the story is MASSIVE, and relates the tale of the entire history of mankind in the game world. What starts off as a standard, run-of-the-mill story of two nations at war and the related political intrigue blossoms into something much greater and more sinister. The way the story is told is masterfully layered; every time a question is answered, two more questions take its place. I remember being completely enthralled, and I was completely hooked well before I got to the conclusion of the first disc some thirty hours in.<br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCV2wc0ew7_lYYlSG6aKE720dp_dS1r0_98NS_x_kKmDiEFnhoRrXQe9Z-WHgsot9MAtdhV2ft3L6AqjQebWERwZj6vZZLFRr5rXZeuj-wifqUpWshXRGeQHMkuZcZwGhBWMAkzhVngM/s1600-h/xenogears.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCV2wc0ew7_lYYlSG6aKE720dp_dS1r0_98NS_x_kKmDiEFnhoRrXQe9Z-WHgsot9MAtdhV2ft3L6AqjQebWERwZj6vZZLFRr5rXZeuj-wifqUpWshXRGeQHMkuZcZwGhBWMAkzhVngM/s320/xenogears.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289742091339333266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >If you listen closely enough, you can STILL hear echoes of the complaints about the second disc of <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears</span>, which became more of a “tell the story, go to a dungeon, tell more story, repeat” endeavor than anything else. Granted, this was a design choice necessitated by encroaching deadlines, but the difference was still very stark. Personally, I was not bothered by the second disc because, as I said, the story had me in its clutches. Yes, the game would have potentially been better had the second disc been more like the first, but that would have made the game perhaps a hundred plus hours long.<br /><br />No, the flaws that I find with the game stem from relatively minor things such as the smorgasboard of anime references, the textbook philosophy, and the terrible translation. Giant robots are one thing, but having a team of females whose robots combine like Voltron is a bit much. Sure, terrible translations were the norm in those days (think <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy Tactics</span>), but the sheer amount of dialogue in <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears</span> made it even more problematic than other RPGs of the time.<br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwh5qzd9ytD0n0ivgH82OMNM1dP4XmNjBDNP1OYvXSeopjNssHUtK6PrxGOuRXn8nT5xzH1mHCj5oegAwKu8-UDkH7xEU9vPq3CmMR1VCoXwOIprH4RSVoqRRD3PXAqWCDv_z8tHATrQ/s1600-h/g-elements2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwh5qzd9ytD0n0ivgH82OMNM1dP4XmNjBDNP1OYvXSeopjNssHUtK6PrxGOuRXn8nT5xzH1mHCj5oegAwKu8-UDkH7xEU9vPq3CmMR1VCoXwOIprH4RSVoqRRD3PXAqWCDv_z8tHATrQ/s320/g-elements2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289742256939907954" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >The combat system was also problematic for me for a couple of reasons. First of all, boss battles ended up boiling down to the strategy of “charge your action points to 25, then unleash a large combo and repeat.” There was really not that much variety to them. Secondly, though the gear battles started out being pretty fun, they were inevitably a straightforward affair as well later in the game.<br /><br />But oh, the story! There is no doubt that storylines were the focus of Square's RPGs in the PlayStation era -- which is kind of scary to think about considering how many of the games had a jumbled train wreck passing as a story (think <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.gamespite.net/toastywiki/index.php/Games/FinalFantasyVII">Final Fantasy VII</a></span>). <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears </span>had its jumbled moments as well, but I didn't seem to object to accepting them in light of the larger picture. I actually cared about what was happening to Fei and company. I wanted to know the secrets behind Solaris and the Ethos. Just who was this Grahf guy, anyway? (Of course, it's blatantly obvious now, but at the time I didn't catch on.) The answers to those questions were for the most part satisfying, which is perhaps even more difficult to pull off.<br /><br />Despite the game's flaws in gameplay (I won't even get into the jumping puzzles), the blatant copying of WAY too many anime clichés, and a scope that was way too ambitious for a PlayStation game, <span style="font-style: italic;">Xenogears </span>was a spectacular experience for me. I realize now that it failed in many areas, but it still holds a special place in my gaming heart. The sheer wonder I felt from piecing together the puzzle (except for the all-too-obvious Id scenario) has seldom been matched.<br /></span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-14106542429417552422009-01-10T09:05:00.000-08:002009-01-10T09:08:27.811-08:00Why I Have Come to Dislike RPGs, Part Three<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">4) Random / unavoidable battles</span><br /><br />Sure, combat is fun sometimes (depending on the RPG), but being forced to fight enemies every three steps is a bit much, even for an abstraction such as an RPG system. The assumptions behind a random battle system (and to a lesser extent, a respawning system, which for simplicity's sake I will lump together with random battles) are, upon inspection, so ridiculously absurd that you have to wonder why they still exist in the first place. <br /><br />First, random battles assume that there is an inexhaustible supply of enemies in any given dungeon or region of the world map. No matter how many enemies your party or character slays, there is always an infinite number more ready and waiting to be felled by the character's sword. Though fighting against impossible odds and succeeding is certainly dramatic, it's disheartening to know that no matter how many enemies you defeat, you are never any further along than where you started (unless you defeat the boss and magically leave the dungeon due to the dangling carrot cutscene). There is a definite sense of accomplishment in games such as LUNAR, where there is a finite number of foes in any given dungeon: you can "clear out" the dungeon. If you're going to be forced to be a menial exterminator, you should at least be allowed to complete your task satisfactorily!<br /><br />Of course, even LUNAR suffered from the second assumption behind random/unavoidable battles: that combat is the only way to resolve conflict. This is primarily the case in console RPGs, but PC RPGs such as Baldur's Gate suffer from the same conceptual flaw in many areas. Combat is required in many areas not because the character's actions necessitate it, but rather because "that's how the game is supposed to be played." What if I want to play a character that is a smooth-talker? Why shouldn't I be able to at least attempt to solve a conflict non-violently? Apparently, it's as simple as the fact that the designers believe that a game should be about fighting your way to the next dangling carrot. Then again, it could be due to the next reason I have come to dislike RPGs:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5) "Grinding"</span><br /><br />Though Dragon Quest had its share of this kind of thing, I fully blame Blizzard for the current rash of this RPG design problem. Sure, it is fine for games like Diablo, but true RPGs should not be about fighting battle after repetitive battle in order to amass power and wealth. There should be some driving purpose to the player's actions, whether it be progression of a plotline or whatever other sort of reason – in other words, "role playing." Opportunity for role playing necessitates a context for everything that the character is doing, and grinding or powergaming is not something that should be readily embraced -- again, games like Diablo exist for that kind of thing. It is effectively materialism on a virtual scale: do menial labor in order to be able to acquire that kick-ass sword you've wanted ever since you first saw it for sale in the local merchant's stock.<br /><br />Of course, this problem is inextricably intertwined with several of the other ones that I have already listed, such as random battles and length, and it is certainly a "chicken or the egg" argument to attempt to determine which causes which. If I need to fight, fine, but there needs to be a good reason for that fighting. Providing a believable context for battle not only adds to the verisimilitude of the game itself (which is of utmost importance in an RPG), but it makes the battles themselves more memorable. Instead of being the dreck of the genre, such memorable battles actually heighten the game due to their scarcity and emphasis upon the player.</span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-67787806432583137232009-01-09T08:23:00.000-08:002009-01-09T10:24:09.178-08:00Planescape Torment: What Can Change the Nature of a Man?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLJMh68TBC_-nVMHlf4GZYagY5UISL7aG3n-JeUQk-IzusVHtIPAlT2maYNlGb0imToKBbDcdG2xqW7r7n807YJrA4AfM4tjdly9yxq2BxueyJuWYBlTE70WY-eIkJaK_toXbwhPSslc/s1600-h/250px-Planescape-torment-box.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 311px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLJMh68TBC_-nVMHlf4GZYagY5UISL7aG3n-JeUQk-IzusVHtIPAlT2maYNlGb0imToKBbDcdG2xqW7r7n807YJrA4AfM4tjdly9yxq2BxueyJuWYBlTE70WY-eIkJaK_toXbwhPSslc/s400/250px-Planescape-torment-box.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289332615149003794" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Chalk this one up as another unfortunate casualty of the video game market.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There is absolutely no reason that this game should have tanked at retail. That is exactly what happened, though. The game did go relatively unnoticed when it released in late 1999, despite the ravings of critics across the board. Maybe everyone was hustling to protect their computers against the dreaded Y2K bug. Then again, maybe the really intimidating "he's not QUITE dead" guy on the game's box turned a lot of consumers away from the game.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whatever the reason, I can't really say that I blame the gaming public, though, as I really don't recall having very high expectations for Torment either. After having purchased </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >on a whim about a year earlier and being completely surprised, there was no doubt that I was going to get the next</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >D&D</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-licensed RPG from Black Isle. I mean, what was there not to love? It was going to be like </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, but in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Planescape</span> Campaign Setting, wasn't it?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Well, yes and no... but that is definitely a good thing. Being set in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Planescape</span> setting, which was itself a very off-the-wall and original </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >D&D</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> property, set the tone for the game itself to carve its own path in the world of PC RPGs. </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> it most definitely was not, although there were some similarities. They ran on the same Infinity engine, and as such played in a very similar manner. The interface was a bit different, but otherwise things were about identical gameplay-wise. </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" > Torment</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, however, had a much tighter camera, getting in very close to the characters instead of the more overhead view of </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That closeness to the characters represents the game as a whole. The focus was on The Nameless One and the odd crew of cohorts that he gathered on his quest to find out who he really was. The characters are not cardboard RPG cutouts either, breaking away from typical clichés of the genre: a wisecracking floating skull, a chaste succubus, and a rogue modron (imagine a talking microwave with wings, limbs, and a crossbow) that operates off of sheer computational logic (voiced brilliantly by Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta). The characters banter with each other in witty and often hilarious ways, and you literally could spend an hour of play having a discussion with a party member and come away happy. Despite their absurd natures, all of the characters felt real.</span><br /><br /><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy55ZIs1MoURoFfYTUjfi7r0_qwReUV43Bx7Oq_Lmq7rvRSGQUtpnoicm-7QvGrPsHtK2tUhDaWyFD_kkrX4dDo0dGxsFuM2nkVKthIHTYVBqXQx4a0fHSh0XlOIZUE8TlRiBogbJMFiY/s1600-h/b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 364px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy55ZIs1MoURoFfYTUjfi7r0_qwReUV43Bx7Oq_Lmq7rvRSGQUtpnoicm-7QvGrPsHtK2tUhDaWyFD_kkrX4dDo0dGxsFuM2nkVKthIHTYVBqXQx4a0fHSh0XlOIZUE8TlRiBogbJMFiY/s320/b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289331783521628482" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Following the trend of several other RPGs that have been influential to me, </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Torment </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">provides these characters with a rich and unique setting thanks to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Planescape</span> license. Some truly bizarre things can be seen, experienced, and fought against in Sigil and some of the planes that are visited throughout the course of the game. I mean, what other games allow you to venture into the first layer of The Nine Hells (err, Baator... lovely </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >2nd Edition D&D</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">) in order to visit a Pillar of Skulls that can provide the answers you so desperately seek? I really can't think of any at all that provide the same sort of bizarre setting in such a masterful package. The fact that the <span style="font-style: italic;">Planescape</span> setting was implemented so incredibly well just makes the game that much more of a masterpiece.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The opportunities for actual role-playing, though, were even greater than in any other game I had played before (or after) it. Granted, you did not get to make your own character like in </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Fallout</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, but in effect you could make the Nameless One into whatever kind of character you chose. Perhaps even more importantly, however, the three “cerebral” statistics--Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma--actually served a purpose. There was great fun to be had by playing an exceptionally intelligent and insightful smooth-talker. </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" > Torment </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">resembled </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Fallout </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in this capacity, as there were few battles that were required in order to finish the game. In fact, much like in </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Fallout</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, you could defeat the final boss without even raising your sword (metaphorically, of course, as, due to a developer's in-joke, there were almost no swords in the game--apart from the Sword of Trias, usable only by Lawful Good characters at the end of the game), provided you had come upon certain information or items prior to the confrontation.</span><br /><br /><a style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbVXt6oFP52tGbS9ZSugl2TK6SsuIrY636xGXIvlsZtsQfBGmu8DP15b0S4tiZ5nt0sViy9OEGbsTCf5toSmMSNd8KQIlwmCFpWDrytCL51jlP65_u_vGDc3gcFGWuGMoX7wwTGw6GMY/s1600-h/c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 358px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbVXt6oFP52tGbS9ZSugl2TK6SsuIrY636xGXIvlsZtsQfBGmu8DP15b0S4tiZ5nt0sViy9OEGbsTCf5toSmMSNd8KQIlwmCFpWDrytCL51jlP65_u_vGDc3gcFGWuGMoX7wwTGw6GMY/s320/c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289332094498162738" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This was fortunate, as combat in Torment was definitely a step backward from that of </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Battles ended up being little more than a glorified click and watch affair, with little to no strategy to speak of. It really didn't matter, however, because the battles were a mere side note to the meaty, robust storyline. </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" > Torment </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">is as close to literary as an RPG can be, and it succeeded in achieving what </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Xenogears</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> tried and failed to do (and without the annoying anime clichés). The story unfolded in layers, and each revelation led to a new chain of events that eventually led to a startling conclusion. The only problem, though, is that since it was presented in a fairly free-form manner, you could easily miss an important bit of information if you forgot about something or were unable to utilize certain items (I'm talking about you, Bronze Sphere).</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It definitely had some flaws, but </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Planescape: Torment</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> was a masterpiece ahead of its time. No game that I have ever played has matched the storytelling capability of Black Isle's creation, and only </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Fallout </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">has provided a similar ability to freely role-play in a unique and interesting environment. It is a shame that it sold so poorly, although that seems to be a common theme among many of my all-time favorite titles. It wasn't just </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> dressed in <span style="font-style: italic;">Planescape</span> clothing as I had originally expected, but that ended up being a very good thing indeed.</span></span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-50888428702508479812009-01-08T17:31:00.000-08:002009-01-08T17:35:36.607-08:00Why I Have Come to Dislike RPGs, Part Two<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">2) “Dangling carrot” style progression</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Work your way through a dungeon, fight a creature arbitrarily deemed to be a "boss" character, then watch a five minute cinematic that reveals a scant bit more of an overarching narrative. Repeat over and over until the narrative reaches its conclusion. Much like with my issues with RPG length, my beef with this element of traditional RPG design is not with the design itself. I have no problem with a story being revealed bit by bit as the player progresses through the game. Oftentimes, however, these poorly designed dungeons are full of uninspired "puzzles," wave after wave of generic baddies, and exist solely for the purpose of providing the player with something to do, a way to kill time so as to prevent the game from being little more than a third-rate CGI film. I'm not really sure who decided that this console-style approach to RPGs was "fun," but it's little more than dangling a carrot on a string in front of a mule to get him to do menial tasks. In this case, instead of plowing the fields, the menial task is more akin to that of exterminator: clear the dungeon of troublesome pests and be rewarded for the effort with a shiny bit of bland exposition.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">3) Enemies that scale to your level</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I am not limiting this problem merely to games such as </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Final Fantasy VIII</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Oblivion</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, in which the enemies literally scale in power in accordance with your own characters' levels (though this is certainly problematic and absurd in its own right). Instead, I am speaking in more general terms about the gameplay balance face-saving convention of dispatching more and more powerful enemies as the game progresses. Routinely fighting rats and common thugs with 20 HP in the early stages of the game is one thing; routinely fighting against elite soldiers and mages that are just as powerful as your epic-level demigod of a character in the late stages of the game is totally unacceptable. </span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Only very special characters make it to the higher levels of experience. As one </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> supplement stated, a truly epic-level character is pretty much a one in a million individual. For every hired goon that you encounter in late-game random encounters to be of a similarly high level to that of your characters is borderline insulting. It cheapens the player's accomplishments, as well as reeks of developers taking the lazy approach to game balance. Epic-level characters should be doing epic-level things, not merely mowing down artificially-enhanced baddies in the same manner as they did in the game's early hours. Likewise, epic characters wield awesome power – it makes zero sense to deprive the player of the fruits of his or her accomplishments by making all of their opponents equally powerful (and thus immune or highly resistant to the new powers that the player has spent so much time to acquire).</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">To be fair, tabletop RPGs like </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">D&D</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> suffer from a similar problem, as they too tend to collapse at the higher levels of experience. This issue is not limited to CRPGs in any case, but it's much more apparent and bothersome in the videogame experience.</span>
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<br /><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-87206417134109796502009-01-08T11:12:00.000-08:002009-01-08T11:34:16.717-08:00Why I Have Come to Dislike RPGs, Part One<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >This article is a bit difficult for me to write. You see, I used to swear by RPGs. During the PlayStation era, pretty much every game I purchased was some form of RPG: </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Final Fantasy</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >, </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Chrono Cross</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >, and the like. I even really liked </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Xenogears </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >(and admittedly still admire it, at least for what it was trying to do if not for how it actually did it). Though I was by no means an RPG addict who would play everything released under the label of RPG, I did have a distinct gaming preference. This taste extended even to the PC, where the "truer" RPGs such as </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Fallout </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Baldur's Gate</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" > held sway. My complaint is not so much about that style of game, as it has sadly gone the way of the dodo (due in no small part to the prevalence of console-style design sensibilities – see </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Oblivion</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >). </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >No, I am focusing more on the console style or "JRPG" as it has come to be called. For my purposes, I consider a console-style RPG to be a game that involves a set of characters, possibly user-created but not usually, that progress along a fairly linear path toward an end goal. The focus is most often a grand, epic story, punctuated by dungeon crawling, combat, and treasure accumulation (i.e. "phat lewt"). The characters grow in power, usually by gaining arbitrary experience point awards that result in gaining levels. </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Dragon Quest</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" > and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Final Fantasy</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" > are the prototype console RPGs, but games such as </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Knights of the Old Republic </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Oblivion </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >also fall squarely within the console-style designation as far as many of their design philosophies are concerned. (They are perhaps "hybrids" more than anything else.)</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Though I used to love this style of game, I have since come to believe that the genre is so horribly flawed that it can no longer be considered worthwhile in any sense of the word. I still love some of the older games, but newer entries in the genre seem stale and outdated – stagnant entries in a stagnant genre. Before you label me an old fogey who refuses to "get with the times," I will outline many of the outrageous holdovers of the RPG genre that, for whatever reason, continue to interfere with the its ability to deliver a truly quality experience more than twenty years into the genre's development. Many of these things were forgivable fifteen or even ten years ago; today, they are an embarrassment.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >1) Length</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Length on its own is not necessarily a bad thing – I enjoy a thoroughly engaging epic quest as much as the next gamer. What I am talking about specifically is an artificial sense of length, most likely intended to make gamers feel that they are getting their full $50-60 worth of gaming goodness. RPGs are perhaps the most nefarious perpetrators of this gaming bloatedness, chock full of repetitive fetch quests, mini-games, and level building that seem to have no other purpose than to provide an “epic” (basically the gaming equivalent of calling something "nice") sense to what would most likely be an otherwise straightforward and unremarkable game. </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" >Game developers take note: a gamer's time is valuable. Despite beliefs to the contrary, many of us do have other things to do, such as spending time with family and friends, doing our jobs, or participating in any number of other hobbies we might have. Artificially lengthening a game merely for the sake of meeting some arbitrary 40-50 hour (or more!) genre mark does not make for a better game. Nine times out of ten, it actually makes the game worse. As Wired.com's Chris Kohler said in one 1UP podcast, every good 50-hour game has an amazing 15-hour game trapped inside. I definitely agree: It is better to have a quality game of 15 hours in length than a 60-hour "epic" that is stretched so painfully thin that it is obvious to even the most casual player.</span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-65669125587099931082009-01-06T13:14:00.000-08:002009-01-13T16:08:14.680-08:00Fallout: Roam the Wastes at Your Own Pace<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XRtV4H06blJdNbRFM4MGfefuDS696dSRBS6pon4VIiFLyND3lpcQex5PgDwe9lgEF5VvF1odCb58tl-CIwVgZQ_y8zB5ByVqffR5VGEpIyCvZctoLPgirFkViVrh8XDJ-RDdq0fdbgs/s1600-h/Fallout.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XRtV4H06blJdNbRFM4MGfefuDS696dSRBS6pon4VIiFLyND3lpcQex5PgDwe9lgEF5VvF1odCb58tl-CIwVgZQ_y8zB5ByVqffR5VGEpIyCvZctoLPgirFkViVrh8XDJ-RDdq0fdbgs/s200/Fallout.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288294556799173010" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">If I loved EarthBound because of its charming quirkiness and parodic nature, then I loved Fallout for its grittiness and depth. It is no secret that I am biased toward PC RPGs; I just feel that the PC variety has traditionally provided more opportunity to role play and focused less on a linear plot (though both sub-genres do have their merits). In Fallout, the focus was more on interacting with the game world -- and what a world it was.<br /><br />Admittedly, I got in on Fallout about a year and a half after it was released; even then, I played Fallout 2 first. I saw the game's box and read the back and, after having already heard some buzz about this “gritty post-apocalyptic RPG,” I decided to purchase it. Though the game engine was refined in its sequel, fixing things like a clunky inventory interface and iffy relations with NPCs in the party, the original Fallout did a better job of presenting a truly believable pulp-styled post-apocalyptic setting. (Also, the amount of in-jokes was kept to a minimum, instead of the “heap 'em on because we can” mentality of Fallout 2.) The sheer playability of Fallout, though, amazed me then and continues to amaze me.<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZA3gyhZtK5i7XYFhhi9zkilyUalvEQ0oh0EagwJgmDtViIorebSy1wHATjhGSXi7_kPG-0yPHqjxE41-htJe7tWEdW7_-KNf-JZs-REz9dGK4XD_Ardb5Ly6asijNiD9ZHtxFMazDpc/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZA3gyhZtK5i7XYFhhi9zkilyUalvEQ0oh0EagwJgmDtViIorebSy1wHATjhGSXi7_kPG-0yPHqjxE41-htJe7tWEdW7_-KNf-JZs-REz9dGK4XD_Ardb5Ly6asijNiD9ZHtxFMazDpc/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288296863242652610" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Though much is made of the SPECIAL chracter creation system, all of the praise is really warranted: the system was truly original and, more importantly, effective. If I wanted to create a small, highly-intelligent weakling, then I was free to do so; likewise, if I wanted to create an ogre of a character that could barely speak in complete sentences, I also had that option. What made it even better, though, was that the type of character that I created actually had an impact on how I could get along in the world. A highly charismatic and intelligent character could talk his way out of pretty much anything, whereas a stupid brute would end up having to fight his way out of a lot more situations. Every situation was solvable by any kind of character, for the most part.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />That freedom extended to the game world in many ways, and is perhaps the best thing about Fallout from a design standpoint. I could really do anything that I wanted to, whether it be saving Shady Sands from raiders or stealing from an old woman. I could be a hero if I wanted to, but I didn't have to be. That freedom was really unrivaled until Grand Theft Auto III came along four years later; in many ways, it still is unrivaled in terms of how very well-implemented it was. If a role-playing game is supposed to be about actually playing a role, then Fallout succeeds on many levels: not only does it allow you to actually choose your role, but it provides ample opportunity to play it however you see fit.<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIE66p46LFRWBOT1aFrHl5m-hQfo0mNmU_b-FNGiLZMJyPDBJPagnMTmCeLIEZzJ08SrCYh1KbhLL6tYtpYwp1sRJVXKGKCDyWxWboxIhKloPnBpmQLLR5u9Rr5Qrdg397MbJGu7gA9uk/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIE66p46LFRWBOT1aFrHl5m-hQfo0mNmU_b-FNGiLZMJyPDBJPagnMTmCeLIEZzJ08SrCYh1KbhLL6tYtpYwp1sRJVXKGKCDyWxWboxIhKloPnBpmQLLR5u9Rr5Qrdg397MbJGu7gA9uk/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288296155561220450" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Of course, the grittiness and violence of the game did appeal to me as well, but it just seemed like a natural extension of the game's setting: in a world gone to hell, only the strongest will survive. It just seemed fitting that I could take a semi-automatic gun and, in meticulous turn-based fashion, unleash a spray of lead into my opponent's head and cause it to burst messily. Of course, the guy would scream in agony as I inflicted much more damage than he could handle... and when plasma weapons got thrown into the mix later in the game, melted foes were plentiful.<br /><br />The combat system is still my favorite of all-time in any RPG, period. I don't care what publishers or the current gaming public have to say on the issue: turn-based combat is vastly superior to real-time. Maybe it's my background in D&D that leads me to love turn-based combat systems, but there is just something really appealing and, well, tactical about being able to make my move and prepare for my next turn, watching each move unfold on my screen. It makes combat involved and actually interesting, as opposed to other games such as <a href="http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/ravenloft-strahds-possession/reviews/reviewerId,96480/">SSI's Ravenloft games</a> (speaking of D&D), Might and Magic VI, or (shudder) Oblivion, where combat consists of “approach enemy, click mouse until dead, repeat.” Even the wildly popular Black Isle D&D role-playing games--Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, etc.--suffered from this drawback. Yes, there were some definite flaws to Fallout's system, but it was far and away the best approximation of combat that I have ever had the joy of experiencing in a video game. (Also, who didn't giggle with juvenile glee the first time they figured out you could target an enemy's groin?)<br /><br />Atmosphere, gameplay, and above all else, freedom to play however I want. There are a scant few games that can readily claim that they have all of these things in abundance, but Fallout is part of that echelon of games. For that, it is just as important to me as EarthBound on the scale of video game greatness.<br /><br />Check out my MobyGames review of Fallout <a href="http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/fallout/reviews/reviewerId,96480/">here</a>.<br /><br /></span></span></span>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7866277445160830217.post-78041974592621330962009-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:002009-01-08T11:22:12.316-08:00EarthBound: Breaking the Fourth Wall<p face="arial" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> </p>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLw81Cg_nIx8t26RtL4zC_JJegqnmGnrxG0HrQJ-4IFbN_YS9XcqvRsmhxeYKJjEuiwJT4PI8s4qD3K1vXbTVSESCh4aqIujJ273Y2ZUNJmwGD1KZTTKVc8J9tDpacII8erAYFDZXi7s8/s1600-h/256px-EarthBound_Box.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLw81Cg_nIx8t26RtL4zC_JJegqnmGnrxG0HrQJ-4IFbN_YS9XcqvRsmhxeYKJjEuiwJT4PI8s4qD3K1vXbTVSESCh4aqIujJ273Y2ZUNJmwGD1KZTTKVc8J9tDpacII8erAYFDZXi7s8/s320/256px-EarthBound_Box.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288285284466851026" border="0" /></a> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">Perhaps it would be best to start this blog with a brief discussion of EarthBound. The fact that I have played through this game numerous times (around 13 or 14 probably) since its release in 1995 is particularly telling--the only game that I have played anywhere close to as many times through is </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">Fallout</span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">. It is no stretch of the imagination to state firmly that this is probably my favorite game of all time; it holds a place in my heart that is reserved for only a select few games.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">What is it about </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound</span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""> that I love so much, though? Admittedly, the game is not very pretty to look at, so it isn't the graphics. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound's </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">graphics are very simple and, especially considering some of the other games coming out at the same time near the end of the 16-bit era, very low-tech. They do not really push the limits of the Super NES hardware in even the smallest way.</span> </span></span></span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">Is it the “quirkiness” or the “trippy battle backgrounds” that were spouted on about </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">ad nauseum</span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""> during the game's marketing campaign? Well, sort of, but not really the way that they were marketed. Yes, </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">is definitely quirky, but as Tim Rogers pointed out in his excellent</span> <a href="http://www.largeprimenumbers.com/article.php?sid=mother2">article</a>, <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">these elements of the game were marketed so heavily because the advertisers really didn't have any idea how to sell the game to the gaming public. Granted, the trippy music and backgrounds were quite good, and the battle system changes to the traditional </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">Dragon Quest</span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""> formula--the rolling HP counter, the ability to see enemies on the overhead map, etc.--were quite a welcome change of pace from the more mainstream console RPGs of the day (a fact that </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">Chrono Trigger </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">also used to its own advantage). These things alone, however, do not make </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">what it is to me.</span></span></span></span></p>
<br /><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsa0iZFHS3JSaxiQs615yAXJJ3hf6VAxrFH6GEeg_ZrpXAuUDKw5tJrjqrIoAlbFqNTjpUbZ4JfhbYfWpdMCUl3sKWIY9M6a9pYeryZWudI1cy2PQkdCNcgASXfN_R1hBaY6aBEVkeMU/s1600-h/earthbound-battle.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsa0iZFHS3JSaxiQs615yAXJJ3hf6VAxrFH6GEeg_ZrpXAuUDKw5tJrjqrIoAlbFqNTjpUbZ4JfhbYfWpdMCUl3sKWIY9M6a9pYeryZWudI1cy2PQkdCNcgASXfN_R1hBaY6aBEVkeMU/s320/earthbound-battle.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288286578278265138" border="0" /></a>
<br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">No, what </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">really </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">sold me on </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">was something that, as a 12-year-old seventh grader, I could only feel, but not really articulate. The game was quite simply </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">hilarious</span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. There was always some weird joke or spin on an RPG convention that would at least make me smile, if not laugh out loud. From Picky Minch trying to “cast a magic spell” early in the game, to all of the moles in the desert mine claiming to be “the third strongest,” to rummaging through trash cans to find hamburgers, </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">was full of funny and/or strange moments that gave it personality and a unique charm.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">That charm, however, lies distinctly in its existence as a </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">parody</span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""> of the tradi</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">tion</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">al console RPG. The simple graphics take on an added meaning when viewed as an intentional par</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">ody of the then-simplistic </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">nature of RPG graphics compared to action or adventure games. (This was, of </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">course, before </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">Final Fantasy VII </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">came along and made FMVs and shiny graph</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">ics m</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">andatory for RPGs.) There were a lot of instances where the game made it explicitly clear that it was aware of its own existence as a video game. The most obvious example of this is when, after crossing to the port in Summers, the game stops to ask the player's name. That player later gets another chance to confirm his or her name in the Tenda Village. Also, when Ness first gets </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">the Town Map from the library, the librarian is sure to remind him to push “You </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">know, the X button... near the top, haha.” While the game puts on an air of being serious, you know it is never taking itself too seriously.</span>
<br /></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqikNS5ml_aY7TGFywibKkmSmPAILzQwV9TUxRx8IEuRMsb3PuFmy3ymaVIGXi2X3VesMF5uCfqYhcLzli3HPvDqZPxW3K8AKPCeIWEQm3xDtD4i-jt8jn-FvcY2ZZ31NZCUsiDB7YyI/s1600-h/onett13%5B1%5D.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqikNS5ml_aY7TGFywibKkmSmPAILzQwV9TUxRx8IEuRMsb3PuFmy3ymaVIGXi2X3VesMF5uCfqYhcLzli3HPvDqZPxW3K8AKPCeIWEQm3xDtD4i-jt8jn-FvcY2ZZ31NZCUsiDB7YyI/s320/onett13%5B1%5D.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288284190690082290" border="0" /></a> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">And that is, for all intents and purposes, what makes </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">so great overall. The game is just plain fun to play, and is an excellent take on the traditional console RPG. There are just enou</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="">gh differences to make it unique, but the game's content is what truly sets it head and shoulders above the rest in my mind. Parody and satire have a great impact on me, and </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">EarthBound </span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">is one of the finest examples of RPG parody that has ever been made. It</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">is a shame, then, that more people did not get in on the joke when it was readily available. I just count myself among the lucky ones; thanks to one of my last issues of </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="">Nintendo Power</span></i></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""> providing a really interesting preview of the game, I was able to get in on a game that has provided countless hours of enjoyment... and one that, no matter how many times I play through it, always seems to have some new joke or twist that I never noticed before.</span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That staying power is the sign of a truly great game, and is to me reason enough to count </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">EarthBound </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">as perhaps my favorite game of all time.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-family: arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Check out my MobyGames review of EarthBound </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.mobygames.com/game/snes/earthbound/reviews/reviewerId,96480/">here</a><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span>
<br /></span></span></span></span></p>prymusferalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224289918483767689noreply@blogger.com0