tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78407128500830613332024-03-21T15:38:49.262-04:00Terry PlaysTerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-61603525797096007282020-06-21T21:37:00.002-04:002020-06-21T21:37:15.637-04:00http://terry-torres.com/plays/<a href="http://terry-torres.com/plays/">http://terry-torres.com/plays/</a>Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-15332128775393759452018-03-13T14:23:00.002-04:002018-03-13T14:24:06.830-04:00My answers to the Famitsu Japanese games questionnaire<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">https://www.famitsu.com/news/201803/09153407.html</span><br />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Name or nickname</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Terry</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Age</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">from 30 to 39</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Gender</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Male</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Region</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">North America</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">favorite Japanese game(No.1)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Chrono Trigger</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason(No.1)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fast-paced, clever, dynamic</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">favorite Japanese game(No.2)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dark Souls</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason(No.2)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Deep, mysterious, complex</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">favorite Japanese game(No.3)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bayonetta</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason(No.3)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Improvisational, over-the-top, cool</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■When you play Japanese games, which aspects of games are more important to you?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Story/Narrative Elements</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">If you choose Other, please explain below.</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What did you love the most about this game?</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which aspects of the game did you like? Please check all that apply and/or explain other aspect you liked.</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without choice</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Who was your favorite character among 4 champions and why?</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">選択なし</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which of the following was more important to you and why?</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">選択なし</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What did you love the most about this game?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The freedom to set my own goals and balance what I have to do with what I want to wear :3</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which aspects of the game did you like? Please check all that apply and/or explain other aspect you liked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gameplay</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The mindset involved in fighting and the mindset involved in quest management / maximizing rewards are both very different, but very engaging.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What was your favorite monster and why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Anjanath</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">If you choose Other, please explain below.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I always manage to fight it in the most interesting terrains.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which weapon do you use the most and why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Insect Glaive</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I like to move fast, and maximize the buffs I get in the short time that I have them.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What did you love the most about this game?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The ambition. Nearly every aspect of the game is directed toward expressing a consistent feeling.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which aspects of the game did you like? Please check all that apply and/or explain other aspect you liked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Story/Narrative Elements</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Art Elements (Character, Environment, etc)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Character Design</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Music</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The gameplay is the weakest to me. The many different weapons offered the least interesting decisions making and did not convince me to change my play style.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Who was your favorite main character and why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">9S</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">None of the main characters are as interesting as the machines.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What was the most impressive ending and why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">E</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This ending is the whole point of the game. The player is forced to decide what they value and why they should keep fighting.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Incidentally, the multiple endings did not impress. They could have found a way to make it fit into one play through and keep it cohesive.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What did you love the most about this game?</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which aspects of the game did you like? Please check all that apply and/or explain other aspect you liked.</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without choice</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■How did you feel about the difficulty?</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">選択なし</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What was the hardest boss to beat or level to complete?</span><br />
<span style="color: grey; font-size: x-small;">Without input</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What did you love the most about this game?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The way that I always want to play just one more day. Until it went on for too long and I got bored.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which aspects of the game did you like? Please check all that apply and/or explain other aspect you liked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gameplay</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Art Elements (Character, Environment, etc)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Music</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">All of the systems tie in so well together, I was always excited to make a decision to see how it would effect everything else days later.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Who is your favorite main character and why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Makoto Niijima</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Frankly, every other character is a jerk.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What was the most impressive scene?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The opening scene.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What did you love the most about this game?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The way I start so weak and become so powerful.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Which aspects of the game did you like? Please check all that apply and/or explain other aspect you liked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gameplay</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Story/Narrative Elements</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Art Elements (Character, Environment, etc)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Other aspects</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The game is unusual in how replayable it is. For the first playthrough, I can be very slow and careful and savor the horror. On the next playthough, I can run around like crazy attacking everything with the knife. Both ways are very fun.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■What was the scariest scene?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">When I was pulled out of the car in the first boss fight and run over. I did not expect that culd happen.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">■Who did you save, Mia or Zoe and why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mia</span><br />
<br style="font-size: small;" />
<span style="color: #00aaee; font-size: x-small;">Reason</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I mean, she's my girl.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00216002090850443864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-49783087316264157282017-04-11T15:02:00.002-04:002017-04-11T15:22:24.402-04:00Persona 5 is great, but its characters...<i>Current in-game date: 5/27</i><br />
<br />
I know a lot of people are, <a href="http://www.avclub.com/article/persona-5-lives-and-dies-its-writing-253353">rightly</a>, ragging on the translation. But, honestly, I think the original script is open to criticism, too. The characters – at least in the first two months – just aren't real or interesting or consistent enough. I think it's totally fair to compare them to characters in Persona 4, since they're based on the same archetypes.<br />
<br />
In Persona 4, your Bro is <b>Yosuke</b>. Yosuke has a crush on an older classmate who dies early on, and the rest of his arc constantly refers back to his failures – he didn't tell her how he felt, and he couldn't save her. This is also complicated by his family's background, since they run the big new department store in town which competes directly with the store run by the family of his dead crush. Yosuke has plenty of notable surface-level traits (he jokes, he complains, he's clumsy, he's tactless), but the game's tragic inciting incident forces him to spend the rest of the game trying to figure out what his role is in his family, his circle of friends, and his hometown.<br />
<br />
In Persona 5, your Bro is <b>Ryuji</b>. What I get about Ryuji is that he used to be a punk, and now he's less so, but people still think he's trouble. On paper, this fits in great with our main character's back story and the game's driving theme – in resisting what society makes you, you tend to become it. What's missing is a tangible action. Ryuji's misfortunes, it turns out, can actually be blamed on the game's first major boss, which basically absolves Ryuji of responsibility in his own origin. So what does he have left to learn?<br />
<br />
In Persona 4, your next two team mates are <b>Chie</b> and <b>Yukiko</b>. While they're distinct characters, their relationship beautifully illustrates what makes that game so good. Chie's perceived image in school is as a boisterous and outgoing (to use a loaded term) "tomboy". Yukiko's image is pretty, ladylike, and impenetrable. We meet them as good friend, but when it comes time to actually confront their Shadows, we learn how codependent they are, how jealous they are of each other, and how their attachment might be based on their own respective inferiority complexes. As time goes on, the same feelings that spawn their jealousy also gives rise to a true understanding in each other. It perfectly illustrates the transformation from a childhood friendship of convenience to an adult friendship based on mutual respect.<br />
<br />
In Persona 5, <b>Ann</b>'s role seems to be The Girl. And what do you do with your primary Girl? In Persona 5, I guess you figure out as many sexually comprising positions as possible and go to town. Her reactions to these situations provide no insight and make less sense as time goes on. She objects to these situations, but offers no rebuttals or alternatives because either 1) she's an idiot or 2) the script says so, so here we are. Her thought process during these moments are never connected to her experience as a professional model. In fact, her profession basically never comes up. Almost as though it's a flimsy excuse to have a tall, skinny, hot girl hang out with us. Add to this that she was a target of constant unwanted sexual attention just a month prior and, not only does the player and rest of the cast come off as cruel and stupid, but the story feels completely disjointed from itself. Why not use what little we know about Ann's past experience to inform her current situation, instead falling back on, frankly, typical anime bullshit of a girl waving their arms and screeching, "You want me to do WHAAAT??"<br />
<br />
The only party member I actually like so far is, amazingly, the animal mascot. What makes <b>Morgana</b> work is the simple hook in his backstory: he has all this knowledge about this strange new world, but he doesn't remember who he used to be or what he used to look like, so he's decided to help YOU so that you can help HIM. This noble quest of self-discovery is what makes his goofy and weird behavior funny, making use of the best parts of Teddy's story in Persona 4 while avoiding the more, uh, unBEARable parts. It also means a lot when someone who told you up front they want to use you for their own gain starts to actually like hanging out with you.<br />
<br />
That's it! The difference between the Persona 4 cast and and most of the Persona 5 cast is HISTORY.<br />
<br />
Persona 4 really captures the feeling of being new in town, because, even when you're in the moment with your friends, you know they're all still dealing with their own past, and you're able to help them work through those problems.<br />
<br />
In Persona 5, I don't feel like I'm missing a damn thing. Ryuji and Ann don't feel like they have mysteries to unravel. They seem to be exactly what they look like, at least until the script needs them to act some other way.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00216002090850443864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-59633527413880196432016-04-03T17:44:00.000-04:002016-04-07T04:44:44.677-04:00I think the Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo sucked, and the users at Giant Bomb agree.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKasge9ZVc_edpX-JPHDG9vI4zxuz6LkKr7r_FG5janoYAJ_eqCdXlDkLWz_BTgdwDqlzScISKXJwVSvSLHmFyNlH0lQA1-1-nD6SdBCwp-sVp84ifAKhcHfWs44r1a6pyzmMoIvt6iCd/s1600/avery+sucker.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKasge9ZVc_edpX-JPHDG9vI4zxuz6LkKr7r_FG5janoYAJ_eqCdXlDkLWz_BTgdwDqlzScISKXJwVSvSLHmFyNlH0lQA1-1-nD6SdBCwp-sVp84ifAKhcHfWs44r1a6pyzmMoIvt6iCd/s320/avery+sucker.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>From the thread <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/final-fantasy-xv/3030-21006/forums/platinum-demo-impressions-1794532/?page=1">Platinum Demo Impressions</a>:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Thank god for this thread. Looking at positive reactions on YouTube, I felt like I was living in a cuckoo clock. I downloaded the demo after watching the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiI7SMQA59Q">awesome trailer</a>, and I played it in the same room as my wife, trying to come up with nice things to say while I was going through it.<br />
<br />
"Okay, the controls are kinda responsive. The battle transitions are pretty smooth." Knowing me, she said, "Do you believe anything that you're saying?" and I finally admitted, "No."<br />
<br />
The trailer had panache and drama, and the demo didn't have any. The coolest part was when I stepped on a switch and Leviathan soared over me and into a lake, and then just... disappeared. It's like none of the teams working on this were ever in the same room. "Here is an ENVIRONMENT; insert SPECIAL EFFECTS; insert MONSTERS - good job, everyone." It didn't feel crafted at all. Really, why did any particular encounter have to occur in any particular space? It was all just Some Stuff Happening.<br />
<br />
I was looking forward to the novel concept of playing in Noctis' dream to, like, get into his headspace, find out more about his character. But then I realized they set it inside of a dream for one reason: so they wouldn't have to think about how to transition from one environment to the other. "Oh, shoot, how do we get from the forest to the toy room? Ehh, just say it was all a dream and call it a day."<br />
<br />
Remember waiting for the release of previous Final Fantasy games? The question I always remembered asking about any new one coming out was: "So what's the new core mechanic? What's materia all about? How does junctioning work? Sphere Grid? Gambits?" What are the new possibilities being demonstrated here? What makes this the Next Step in the series? Really, what is the POINT of this demo? What's the Thing we were supposed to see that was meant to confirm how we shouldn't skip this game when it comes out?<br />
<br />
The demo didn't seem to know. Instead of introducing me to a world, showing me how I should play the game, showing me what makes a strategy more worthy in one situation than another, what's the tactical difference between dodging and warping, they were like... "Circle attacks, Square dodges. Here's some <strike>Heartless</strike> Nightmares. You're a truck now. It's a dream. Whatever. Here's a summon monster."<br />
<br />
Cool. Can I summon it?<br />
<br />
"Uh... No." The game barely cared that I was playing it.<br />
<br />
And for those defending it as "just" a tech demo:<br />
<br />
<b>1)</b> I didn't play Episode Duscae. I borrowed FF Type 0 from a friend, but found out that he had already "claimed" the digital copy of the demo, so I couldn't play it. As a result, this demo is ALL I HAVE to go on. I also didn't like Type 0 much, either. So I'm not gonna pay money for a game I know I don't like to play a demo that I am now PRETTY SURE I won't like.<br />
<br />
<b>2)</b> It's not called the tech demo - it's called the <i><b>PLATINUM</b> DEMO</i>. And then at the end of it they asked me if I wanted to pre-order the full game. If this demo isn't supposed to be representative of the game, someone tell Square Enix, 'cause they don't seem to know.<br />
<br />
At first I thought the multimedia / Florence and the Machine / Lena Hedey movie stuff was kind of cool, but it was only cool so long as I thought FFXV would be any good. Now that I don't think it is, I realize now how stupid all of the other stuff is – they're doing the same crap they did with FFVII and FFXIII, banking on the success of a franchise without having even finished it. In marketing this way, it's like they're saying, "Oh, FFXV isn't just a GAME – it's an EXPERIENCE!" It lowers the stakes for all of the projects under the umbrella as a result.<br />
<br />
No. Stop it. Just make a game.<br />
<br />
There's also just the fact that they're acting like this is an action RPG... While this demo has no RPG-ing, and barely any action. I never had to be thoughtful about my resources or my equipment, and the fights are impactless. The warp sword is ALMOST cool, but hitting things just doesn't feel fun. The Nightmares just kind of melt under your flailing, and the Iron Giant is a wall you can't be killed by.<br />
<br />
If you really wanna understand how I feel, check out this video:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y2vCko6V4pQ" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
You can watch the whole thing, or jump to 4:57.<br />
<br />
Have you gotten to the part with the red circles?<br />
<br />
FFXV feels like the circle on the top.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Other users' insights:</i><br />
<br />
+ I'd gotten fairly excited for this game (never played the first demo), but this thing just knocked the wind right out of my sails. Also has me really worried about FFVII Remake, which I was already way more excited for than XV.<br />
<div>
<br />
+ When you push L1 and R1 at the same it brings up a bunch of swords around Noctis, which does... something. I dunno.</div>
<div>
<br />
+ Transforming to a beast showed how static the maps are. You're telling me that this animal that includes rocks crumbling in his attack animation can't bring a lawnchair to fall?</div>
<div>
<br />
+ Also I forgot how much I hate the Japanese take on children, particularly the sounds they make when lost and befuddled. So many stupid, unnecessary "gahs" and "huhs?"<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
+ I kind of hated this(?).<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
+ I haven't liked the design and art choices in a Final Fantasy game since IX, not a huge fan of SquareEnix's sci-fi takes. I don't know the man's name but isn't that crazy zipper guy in charge of this game and KH3? I don't like his style.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
+ ...All that said, if I had to boil time my problem with this demo into a sentence, it would be "<b>I don't see the product of 10 years worth of work.</b>"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
+ XII I played multiple times and enjoyed thouroughly. XIII was okay at first but I got tired of it after awhile. This I just wanted nothing to do with immediately.<br />
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00216002090850443864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-77657801853217719952015-12-03T11:33:00.000-05:002015-12-03T23:18:23.784-05:00United States Gun Culture in Parasite EveOn <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpyU0obRxO4">Day 3</a> of Parasite Eve's six day journey, during a sequence of events that are peaceful as they are chilling, our blonde, blue-eyed hero Detective Aya Brea is joined by her hot-blooded partner Detective Daniel Dollis on a stroll through an evacuated Manhattan seeking to liberate resources from abandoned businesses to use in their battle against the mysterious being known as Eve and the mutated creatures at her disposal.<br />
<br />
They are followed by a civilian biophysicist named Kunihiko Maeda, whom they've allowed to travel with them, since his research on a being similar to Eve from his native Japan may prove useful. And he's also some skinny, unarmed nerd, so what harm could it do?<br />
<br />
When the player takes control, the trio will eventually end up standing in front of Sams [sic] Gun Shop. When approached, Maeda rubs the crown of his head and says, "They weren't kidding when they said they sell guns here in America, were they..."and then reverts to a looped animation of furtive glances to the left and right.<br />
<br />
When the door to the shop is examined, Aya will notice that it's locked. Her partner Daniel tells her to step to one side.<br />
<br />
"Daniel, no..." says Aya. "Sorry, but it's the only way,"<b> </b>Daniel responds.<br />
<br />
With a flourish, Daniel pulls out his concealed firearm and shoots at the glass of the door surrounding its handle. Aya knows to cover her ears and turn away from the breaking glass. Maeda doesn't have time to react, and so makes no move until after Daniel already holsters his gun.<br />
<br />
"Are... are you really a cop?" he asks.<br />
<br />
"We think so," Aya says. "But we don't have scientific proof, if that's what you're asking."<br />
<br />
As the player peruses the the shop for ammunition, Aya can find Daniel casually glancing between two products, and waves his arm out generously when approached. "Go ahead and pick your favorite accessories, ladies!"<br />
<br />
Maeda, hunched over, peers through the protective glass at the bounty of weaponry, small and large: "This is just too much."<br />
<br />
__________<br />
<br />
There are are two NYPD officers who manage the weapons dispensary at Aya's Precinct 17 offices. The first the player meets, Wayne, coolly and possessively spreads his arms along the width of the front desk. "So what'll it be... Shotgun? Rocket Launcher?"<br />
<br />
Wayne stands at attention when his supervisor, Torres, walks in to reprimand him. "Idiots like you are the reason why guns won't disappear from this country!" Torres tells Wayne to get his ass back to the storage room, and let a responsible adult handle the registration process.<br />
<br />
That's right: the officer in charge of registering and dispensing new firearms to other cops HATES guns. He's not too obstinate though, and recognizes that gun violence is systemic, referring to it as a "vicious cycle" of law enforcement relying on guns because criminals do, and vice versa. Moreover, he recognizes that it's fair to bring heavy weaponry to a battle against an unstoppable, mutated terror.<br />
<br />
Once Aya leaves, she's met by Wayne gain. Although Torres will only modify Aya's firearm with a permit, Wayne bypasses Torres' authority by letting her know that she can tune weapons on her own through the game's Tool system, the mechanic the player will use most to overcome mitochondrial monstrosities. "Trust me," Wayne says, "you can never have too much firepower".<br />
<br />
__________<br />
<br />
During the events of Day 3, Precinct 17 comes under attack by Eve's mutated creatures. As the player makes through way through the hostile territories, they reach the weapons dispensary and find Wayne over a fatally wounded Torres. "Why didn't ya shoot, man?!" Wayne asks him. Torres reveals that he hasn't even fired a gun since his daughter died. "Torres, you can't blame guns for that!"<br />
<br />
"I suppose... you're right..." Torres concedes. He encourages Wayne to take good care of the place, and then dies.<br />
<br />
Afterward, Wayne hands Torres' gun over to Aya, a decent weapon that he always kept in top working condition, although he never used it. Wayne reveals that, although Torres was an excellent shot, after his daughter's accidental death he stopped using guns - and, in fact, he relocated to Precinct 17 for the express purpose of filling the dispensary position and keeping all the guns in check out of a sense of duty.<br />
<br />
And so the gun safety expert, constantly surrounded by weapons that could be used for self-defense, dies because he is unwilling to use one. Meanwhile, the brash gun enthusiast lives on because of his love for weaponry.<br />
<br />
________<br />
<br />
Parasite Eve is one of the few games by Square to take place in a world not framed by fantasty or cyberpunk aesthetics, and the very first to take place in a representation an actual real world, current time location. In a Square game, a player often makes use of magical items and equipment to surmount obstacles. Of course, magic doesn't exist in 1997 New York City - aside from the magic of Rockefeller Center at Christmastime. In lieu of giant swords or glowing crystals, the player uses something much more down-to-earth: guns.<br />
<br />
Even then, firearms in Parasite Eve are treated with the same pomp and reverence as any mystical weaponry. Some of them even have fantastical qualities that sound feasible with the right wording - some ammunition is corrosive and deals acid damage, some grenades explode into... ice, and deal cold damage.<br />
<br />
Consider that, to the average player within the originally intended Japanese audience, an actual gun might as while be a magic sword, and that playing Parasite Eve might be as close they will get to gun ownership.<br />
<br />
Parasite Eve only briefly meditates on gun ownership and the use of firearms, but the choices made clearly indicate the game's origins. Maeda, the only Japanese character in the game, can rather easily explain concepts related to genetics and biochemistry, but can't quite wrap his head around the nature of American gun culture or the behavior of a New York City police officer.<br />
<br />
This same outside perspective, though, offers a measure of moderation that isn't often seen in the national conversation regarding gun violence - a willingness to admit that the right answer isn't always obvious.<br />
<br />
Wayne and Torres clearly both represent the opposite perspectives on guns in the country, with Wayne seeing no problem with putting limitless firepower in the hands of a citizen who wants it, and Torres not even believing that law enforcement should be using such weapons. It could be said that Torres, who dies, is the loser this debate. His ideas, though, live on in other officers at Precinct 17, who clearly had great respect for him, and in Wayne, who must take on his responsibilities. Although he did die during this one unbelievable situation, for the most part, aside from battles against monsters, his mediation on the vicious cycle of gun violence rings true.<br />
<br />
That said... Wayne is much more cavalier about dispensing firearm modifications to Aya than Wayne was, going so far as to give them out in return for trading cards. What kind of trading cards? Trading cards with pictures of guns on them.<br />
<br />
You can train someone to be responsible, and you can put obstacles in the way of someone who wants a firearm, but in the end, gun culture is bigger than any law or any one person.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00216002090850443864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-57605624188402358062015-07-31T22:17:00.001-04:002015-08-03T08:35:13.249-04:00Tifa and AerisThere is one single moment that tells you everything you need to know about Tifa and Aeris, and the kind of people they are.<br />
<br />
The calculations that go into deciding who Cloud dates at the Golden Saucer is based on how many invisible "affinity points" a given character has. Based on certain actions and dialogue choices, Tifa, Aeris, Yuffie, or Barret can gain or lose points.<br />
<br />
When my wife and I played the game again this past year, we were determined to date Barret. We were successful -- with the help of a handy guide. Rather than spoiling the fun, the guide actually provided a lot of funny insight, like how romantic or gruesome particular decisions were interpreted based on the amount of points gained or lost.<br />
<br />
But the biggest revelation comes pretty early on in disc one, when you have to infiltrate Don Corneo's lair.<br />
<br />
If Aeris is chosen as Don Corneo's date, you can say to Tifa:<br />
<br />
"You alright?" and lose 2 points for Tifa<br />
or<br />
"We gotta help Aeris!" and gain 3 points for Tifa.<br />
<br />
If Tifa is chosen as Don Corneo's date, you can say to Aeris:<br />
<br />
"You alright?" and GAIN 3 points for Aeris<br />
or<br />
"We gotta help Tifa!" and LOSE 2 points for Aeris.<br />
<br />
Aeris and Tifa don't even know each other yet, but Tifa is still ready to help her, and Aeris doesn't give a shit.<br />
<br />
That even the behind the scenes MATH of the game supports the characterization is fucking INSPIRING to me.<br />
<br />
But still, it shows what good characters they both are. They've both had tumultuous pasts, but Tifa had the luxury of a stable home life for her formative years. Aeris, meanwhile, has had to run, hide, and mistrust all sorts of authority figures to stay alive and sane. Indeed, it could be seen as admirable that she's maintained her kindness despite so much trauma, but her somewhat arrested development shows that she was not unscathed. Her penchant for pink, her coyness, her fixation on guys in uniforms, making a living in a busy city selling flowers at 22 (?!) years old... all seem to bely an unwillingness to grow up because, well, her actual childhood sucked! While Cloud lacks a strong identity, Aeris actively manufactures her own. This, ironically, is what allows her do commit her most heroic act, and also her most dangerously naive: sacrifice herself for the sake of the world. Could it be that Aeris simply wasn't very happy inside?<br />
<br />
Tifa, meanwhile, had her most traumatic experience at the cusp of adulthood. Because she has strong ideals ingrained on her by her family and her teacher and her peers, she is able to hold onto them and carry on, even after tremendous loss. This leads her to being somewhat reticent at times, like Cloud, but unlike Cloud, she is also sincere and usually more honest about her feelings.<br />
<br />
I love these characters. Not just because the have crazy destinies and origin stories, but, besides all that, they're fucked up in the tragically banal way that lots of real young adults actually are. And they still carry on and care about each other.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/NtqSO6t.jpg" width="600" /><br />
<br />
<i>From my comment on <a href="http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/04/the-final-fantasy-vii-letters-part-8.html">this</a></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00216002090850443864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-31513786813738917412015-02-04T16:01:00.000-05:002015-02-05T19:16:43.617-05:00So I played Suikoden (or, Sometimes old ways are best)Konami's <b>Suikoden</b> lacks the panache of some of its contemporaries from Square. Some of that has to do with technical know how, but also knowing how to deal with technical limits.<br />
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Characters in <b>Chrono Trigger</b>, like most Squaresoft games of the time, have a repertoire of expressions and motions that are reused and recontextualized throughout the game. Crono dealing the final blow to the Dragon Tank is incredibly awe-inspiring at the time it occurs, because we haven't seen him pull off anything quite like that yet. The violent thrust, especially coming after being wronged by the kingdom, adds a wrathfulness to him that we may not have expected. It is empowering, then, when you can voluntarily make Crono take similar actions as you learn his more complex techniques. By the end of the game, you'll have seen the animations quite a few times.<br />
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<br />
Here we have a really lovely and nuanced set of animations as the hunky doofus Flik plays host to the cougar counterfeiter Kimberly in order to enlist her. The scene has still more animations with fine detail, like hand movements and head tilts. Moments that are played like this in <b>Suikoden</b> - featuring a choreographed blocking particular to a location and a set of available props - can be counted on one hand. Flik and Kimberly do not drink sake again - these animations are unique to this scene. The commitment to this brief scene is admirable, but is it efficient from a development perspective - creating an asset that can't be reused?<br />
<br />
In the time before 3D models were commonplace, animations could not be shared amongst characters like they are today. Sprites aren't like models that way. In 1995, to design and animate 108 characters for a new piece of hardware is no mean feat. A character needs to face and walk in all the cardinal directions, attack, use an item, get hurt, and be knocked out. Multiply that by about 80, and that's lot of work for a developer diving head first into a new franchise in a relatively strange genre.<br />
<br />
The choice, then, to decide where to spend time applying unique, narrative-driven animations must have been difficult. (Especially when, it seems, battle animations and field animations are run on different engines and aren't interchangeable) Since it would be impossible to give every potential character in your party an animation appropriate to a particular point in the story, the choice was to leave leave most character reactions abstracted and up to the imagination. In exchange, story scenes with predetermined casts like the above have moments that make them stand out. That said, this particular scene is not particularly moving or informative, so in the end, the animations themselves are what make them worthwhile.<br />
<br />
A lot of <b>Suikoden</b>'s charm comes from this unpredictability in the narrative and the turns in tone it takes. Each leg of the journey reveals a different weapon or ally you attempt to bring into your army, but they aren't all alike in execution. It's not always easy to tell ahead of time what moment will result in a new unit, or a large scale battle, or a boss fight, or a duel. Or whether all of the above might occur back to back or simultaneously, for either a short duration or a long. This pattern keeps you guessing what will come next, forcing you to always be prepared and make use of each of the assets at your disposal as often as possible.<br />
<br />
Although the brisk pacing makes you eager to find what big fight is around the next corner, the most disappointing thing about Suikoden is that, for the most part, there isn't one. Many times you may load out your party with the best equipment possible, find a great combination of characters with all the right runes and Unite attacks to make short work of any boss you'd find, and it rarely ever comes. There are only about 12 boss fights that involve the party you choose to bring with you, and half of them are weird monster lacking any narrative justification. The only way to measure the success of your tactics otherwise is against the randomly encountered riffraff along the way. It's a shame when there are so many interesting ways that 30 runes and 80 playable characters combine that there aren't that many appropriate challenges to test them on.<br />
<br />
The other great challenges you face come in the form of great battles between thousands of tiny soldiers or one-on-one duels. They're both essentially games of rock-paper-scissors. That makes them sound simplistic - and really, they are - but that's not the whole story. Large-scale battles let you make your rock, paper, or scissors really big if you have the right people on your side, and duels challenge you to decipher which instrument your opponent will use based on context clues. The fact that so much rests on each decision, and that these situations come up as rarely as they do, makes the moments up to your choice quite intense.<br />
<br />
What really makes <b>Suikoden</b> work, the urge that drives you even when you can't quite tell what character you should be using or how difficult the coming dungeon will be, is the constant growth you enjoy as times goes on, like a lovely colorful garden. Even just the recruits you gather mandatorily add up to make a huge cast. That so many people are willing to join you, and that so many of them have sound reasons for doing so - the main ones being vengeance and employment, but there's also glory and a hope to belong to something larger - reinforces the worth of your objective. Their personalities are portrayed succinctly and surprisingly deftly through a character portrait, their combat ability, and a few lines. Letting imagination take care of the rest, the 108-member cast of <b>Suikoden</b> is less annoying and/or pointless than most of the 40 playable characters in <b>Chrono Cross</b>.<br />
<br />
Games like <b>Suikoden</b> invite player imagination by applying just enough abstraction in the right places. Older games than this have suggested fantastic battles between opposing armies, but few have let you put a face and a name to so many individual participants before. There is a limit, of course. You can't identify each of the thousands of soldiers that fight for the Liberation Army in the grand battles that occur a few times through the game, but knowing all the kinds of people that you've met across the land, you can assume what they might be like.<br />
<br />
Liberation Army headquarters in the castle on the lake is a precursor to the hub worlds of later years, the lobbies of MMORPGs, the Normandy of <b>Mass Effect</b> - a small space that indicates the largeness of the world outside it with each addition to your war assets. With so many of your supplies being provided within your own domain, Suikoden could have done what later games would do, and simply teleport you to your next mission when necessary. Instead, they kept the iconic 16-bit world map with which you can go from place to place, random encounters suggesting the severity of each journey. Crossing the land by foot does provide a sense of ownership and responsibility that helps make your fight for peace worthwhile.<br />
<br />
Some aspects of old design should be thrown out, and some aspects are simply tied to the technology or the trends of the time and die off naturally. The <i>world map</i> is a unique vestige of old design. It was not abandoned because it was a feature that arose from having to deal with old technology, but because even new technology is incapable of presenting an entire world in realistic proportions, and new trends wouldn't allow for a diminutive version of your protagonist crossing even tinier mountains to get from place to place. Today's method of representation, after the graphical arms race of the past decade and a half, has come to lean on 1:1 realism. The virtual space within games today are bigger than ever - there is more traversable surface area, anyway - but it can be argued in some ways that, without being able to artfully present an entire explorable globe, the scope is smaller.<br />
<br />
At around the same time, <b>Final Fantasy X</b>, <b>Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter</b>, even <b>Wild Arms 4</b> were all games that did not let the player traverse a world map, even while previous entries in their series did. (<b>Dragon Quest 8</b>, interestingly, would pull an Elder Scrolls and make the distance between towns and dungeons realistic in scale - while keeping random battles). A game could not be on a powerhouse console and fail to deliver on visuals, nor could a game deliver on visuals and find a way to justify the minimalist abstraction of an old-style world map. I tend to believe that the questing beast of realistic scale lead to the downfall of JRPGs that struck a few years back, leading to games that could not rewrite the traditional JRPG script to match these narrower scopes. <i>(Consider <b>Kingdom Hearts</b>, a game about traveling multiple worlds that are each made up of about a dozen rooms or so, or <b>Xenosaga</b>, a game about humanity and the cosmos that is completely linear - but, mostly, consider the shittier games that copied both of these)</i><br />
<br />
Naturally, it took years of failure to adapt to new trends for players and developers alike to realize that there is a place for old design. That's why <b>Bravely Default</b>, a 2014 handheld game with a world map, received such good response in comparison to <b>Lightning Returns</b>.<br />
<br />
It's also why - I hope - Sony and Konami had the good sense to bring back interesting gems like <b>Suikoden</b> for reappraisal. Looking back, simplicity and abstraction in a game may seem like symptoms of technological constraint, but when you consider the best possible choices that could be made at the time, the effectiveness of some ideas never truly age.<br />
<br />
The question at the end of the day is, how do you best provide any kind of fulfilling experience? By knowing when to show off and knowing when to let the user's imagination do the rest of the work.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00216002090850443864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-22045273758067696272014-08-12T18:47:00.002-04:002014-10-31T12:33:11.610-04:00Robin Williams and the Hero of Time<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1atEAxxSsWQ" width="480"></iframe></center><br />
In my mind, this commercial was for <b>A Link Between Worlds</b>, not<b> Ocarina of Time</b>. For me, as <b>Zelda</b> games go, Robin Williams is more strongly connected to <b>A Link Between Worlds</b>.<br />
<br />
Because here was the first celebrity death in my life to make me shed tears and the first <b>Zelda</b> game to make me shed tears.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOC3vixnj_0">As Egoraptor said</a>, <b>The Legend of Zelda</b> has for many years been reduced to a series of symbols without attention given to their context. The treasure opening sound effect, the keys, the boomerangs, and of course, Zelda and Link, themselves symbols of wisdom and courage.<br />
<br />
<b>Zelda</b> - a lot like the American comic book in its Silver Age - became stale and predictable. So something has to give. There has to be a desire for growth. What if we took these symbols and deconstructed their purpose? What if <b>Zelda</b> had a Bronze Age?<br />
<br />
As colorful and charming as it is,<b> A Link Between Worlds</b> is also the closest we've come to looking at Hyrule from an achingly realistic perspective. Many, if not most, <b>Zelda</b> games deal with duality in the world - light and dark, future and past.<br />
<br />
Lorule is the version of Hyrule in which things did not go right, in which its residents could not fully maintain their roles. Society could not stay harmonious, the Triforce could not stay whole, and the wise ruler could not stay virtuous. This leads to civil war, the destruction of their sacred treasure, the deceit and barbarous acts of Princess Hilda - Lorule's parallel of Princess Zelda. They are fallible and imperfect, not like symbols, but like people.<br />
<br />
Lorule allows us to see a glimpse of the characters we've known for years at their absolute worst - at their absolutely most honest. Desperate, selfish, shortsighted, scared.<br />
<br />
<center><img src="http://i.imgur.com/qjNeiwr.jpg?1"></center><br />
And of course, the big question that you often forget to ask (because you're having so much fun) is: If Lorule has an alternate Zelda, where is its alternate Link?<br />
<br />
What does a hero do when the mantle becomes too heavy? What can a hero do when the difference between what other people see in him and what he sees in himself diverge so fully that it's too painful to bear? Where can a hero go to escape the lie that his life has become, the lie that he himself has participated in by virtue of his existence?<br />
<br />
If he's lucky, he can slip away and find someone a little bit like him to help him do the things he is too afraid to do himself.<br />
<br />
<center><img src="http://i.imgur.com/40Sl8KL.png" /></center><br />
When Ravio, the bumbling merchant who's been gouging me for rupees for hours, finally pulled off his dumb bunny hood, my heart jumped into my throat.<br />
<br />
Ravio, for all intents and purpose, is Link at his worst, his most vulnerable. When he revealed his identity, I felt like I was looking at Link - someone who I've known my whole life, someone who was born in 1987, the same year as me - for the very first time.<br />
<br />
Only now, only after all of these years, only after seeing him at his most selfish, his most cowardly, his most honest, did I feel like I truly understood him.<br />
<br />
Being a hero, being someone who others rely on to make their lives safe and happy, must be terribly hard.<br />
<br />
Please take care of your heroes.Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-5825450786610475022014-03-18T16:16:00.000-04:002014-10-31T12:40:31.569-04:00In defense of Nash from Lunar<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CLdfbBcCuMs" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
You don't know Nash, because you didn't play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ripBa8Ga8">Lunar</a>, but you can assume that he is a complete douchebag.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Trigger Warning: Nash.]</span><br />
<br />
You meet Nash in a forest, stuck under one of those stick-and-box traps from cartoons. He is obviously a huge idiot, but he pretends that he's not only not an idiot, but incredibly benevolent, smarter than you, and he assumes you are stupid enough to fall for a similar trap.<br />
<br />
He believes he is also trustworthy and professional, and name-drops his boss, the leader of the prestigious Magic Guild of the Floating City of Vane, who trusted him with a mission to the dirty surface world. So Nash is also a classist, elitist, opportunistic asshole.<br />
<br />
Nash is also a coward. He has a crushing infatuation for the guild leader's daughter, but denies it at every turn. Instead of telling her, he is over-protective and condescending toward her. Even after spending a lot of time in harrowing situations with her, he never admits his true feelings.<br />
<br />
Nash is so cowardly that, even after a long journey together, he leaves the party and willingly betrays her, you, and your entire traveling party to help the worst person in the world carry out his evil plans and seek mercy from him.<br />
<br />
I hate Nash. I love Nash. We need more Nashes.<br />
<br />
The other day, USGamer had a bit on <a href="http://www.usgamer.net/articles/final-fantasys-producer-asks-what-makes-or-breaks-a-localization">the nature of localization in Square Enix games</a>, and how it can improve. I recognized this for the trick question that it is: a translation can never be truly good if the thing being translated is actually bad.<br />
<br />
<i>(I say this, of course, trying not to forget that my understanding of Lunar is based on its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar:_Silver_Star_Story_Complete#English_version">famously contentious English localization</a>)</i><br />
<br />
It all comes down to the story, and in an RPG that means it all comes down to the characters, and writing characters means writing an ensemble.<br />
<br />
Many the relationships in popular Western RPGs are based on mistrust, desperation, and manipulation. Fallout and Elder Scrolls has you constantly second-guessing people's motives, and fooling people into giving you what you want. In Mass Effect, the crew assembled on the Normandy is made up of people with grudges and trust issues, and some don't even want to be there. True camaraderie is something that can only be established after these issues are overcome.<br />
<br />
In poorly written JPRGs, this is a one-and-done deal. "Oh, we beat that first boss together? Great: friends forever, now. We'll never disagree again." Every scene after that is just people standing in a row, being polite to each other and basically all having different visual designs but basically the exact same outlook. Nobody does ever does anything you don't expect them to. Even good games fall into this trap, like Bravely Default and, by the end of it, Persona 4.<br />
<br />
It's fucking boring, pointless, and possibly a cultural thing, which makes it all the more depressing. Maybe Japanese gamers just want to see beautiful people be nice to each other all of the time, I don't know.<br />
<br />
I mean, shit, there's a ton of problems with RPGs and their stories, writing original characters and giving them all a believable excuse to stick together. But if I can give one piece of actionable advice to someone making a JRPG, to elevate even the most cliched plot: write a Nash.<br />
<br />
The brilliant part of Nash's character is that his betrayal is surprising at first glance, and then perfectly natural upon reflection. You might wonder how Nash even gathers the conviction to turn his back on the only thing he seems to care about, until you realize that his action is a clue to the deeper meaning behind his shallow behavior up until this point: <i>Nash's dread of death is deeper than his capacity for love.</i> Typically that's the kind of sentence you'd use to describe a RPG villain, not a RPG hero. And yet here we have a terrible person standing right next to your other faithful allies.<br />
<br />
And even a single Nash allows for so much to play with in a story. What do other characters say about someone like him? Do they show pity or contempt? How far will they go to correct his behavior?<br />
<br />
In the end, Mia - the meek, back row, magic-using girl that Nash has been fawning on and patronizing for hours of game time - walks up to him and <i>smacks him in the fucking face</i>, leaving a red handprint that I'm sure many fans still remember fondly. It is the single violent action she commits outside of battle, and it's the moment she realizes that being docile and accommodating won't make every problem go away.<br />
<br />
Characters doing awful things lets other characters do amazing things. And those ups and downs break up the fucking monotony inherent to all RPGs.<br />
<br />
I'm trying to think of any other video game character who pulls a Nash (leaving player control of his own will to act against you), and I'm having a hard time. It's such a fucking good schtick, why does no one else do it<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.imgur.com/jWz7vEq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/jWz7vEq.jpg" height="320" width="144" /></a></div><br />
EDIT: <a href="http://badassdigest.com/2014/08/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-guardians-of-the-galaxy-and-the-art-of-constructing-jo/">Speaking of writing an ensemble with conflicting perspectivesf...</a><br />
Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-29541342438215250062014-01-30T17:06:00.003-05:002014-04-03T11:58:34.378-04:00The Torres Bros. Podcast Review: Bioshock InfiniteTim, Brendan, and I haven't round-tabled about a game since <a href="http://terryplays.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-torres-bros-review-3rd-birthday.html">The Third Birthday</a>, but as soon as Tim finished Bioshock Infinite, we had to have it out.<br />
<br />
Trigger warning for people who like Bioshock Infinite.<br />
<br />
<h1>
Bioschlock Infinitum</h1>
<br />
<a href="http://terry-torres.com/Bioschlock%20Infinitum%201%20-%20Two%20Ways%20of%20Spelling%20the%20Same%20Game.mp3"><b>Part 1: Two Ways of Spelling the Same Game</b></a><br />
We tackle the introduction, "racism", Columbia, combat, Elizabeth as a character, and their problems.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://terry-torres.com/Bioschlock%20Infinitum%202%20-%20Grodd%20Only%20Knows.mp3"><b>Part 2: Grodd Only Knows</b></a><br />
We leap between dimensions and talk about the acting, writing, plot, twists, ending, and their implications for society.<br />
<br />
<b>YouTube Reference Materials</b>:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_u18_BKczg&list=PL3V4GEDjHT7wYnRNpUJDY3UPzaqbRsqIe">The Lighthouse Puzzle</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkYz722lWIk">Elizabeth, the waifu</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxU2eqZtYmc">It's like poetry, it rhymes</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g-oTvfrFn8">Secret lullaby password</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R0ZZF4O0K4">You are the demons</a><br />
<br />
<b>EDIT 1/31</b><br />
additional reference materials:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHpqYaYH4Hc">Preston E. Downs</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_3CqCYOlXQ">Helpful Yorda</a><br />
<a href="http://www.somethingawful.com/flash-tub/peezle-time-wizards/">It's Time to Time</a>Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-78008745404581824372014-01-30T17:06:00.001-05:002014-04-03T11:59:12.624-04:00The Torres Bros. Podcast Review The 3rd BirthdayMy brothers, Tim and Brendan, and I got together a while ago to review The 3rd Birthday, Square Enix's worst ever treaty violation.<br />
<br />
It was our first night together since Christmastime, so we were excited AS HELL to talk about this, and well, we started recording around 10 at night and we stopped around 2 in the morning. We cover the game with a fine-tooth comb from beginning to end, with plenty of (non-boring) tangents related to many other games (Resident Evil, Mass Effect, Illusion of Gaia, etc.) and ideas (sci-fi and art, etc.).<br />
<br />
It's in .mp3 format, split apart into four segments for palatable listening.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h1>
3rd Birthday Stinks and We Don't Like It</h1>
<br />
<a href="http://terry-torres.com/3rdBirthdayCast1.mp3">Part One: 3rd Birthday Stinks and We Don't Like It</a><br />
Some Parasite Eve 1 talk and a lot about 3rd Birthday's premise and setting.<br />
Spoiler Level: Low <br />
<br />
<a href="http://terry-torres.com/3rdBirthdayCast2.mp3">Part Two: The Greatest Foe Lies Within (Bad Games)</a><br />
All the gameplay and the entire plot up to the ending gets dissected.<br />
Spoiler Level: HUUUGE<br />
<br />
<a href="http://terry-torres.com/3rdBirthdayCast3.mp3">Part Three: It Was the Best of Time Zero, It Was the Blurst of Time Zero</a><br />
The entire ending under the microscope.<br />
Spoiler Level: Monumental, and not just for The 3rd Birthday. PE1, PE2 and even Chrono Cross get spoiled.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://terry-torres.com/3rdBirthdayCast4.mp3">Part Four: One More Final: I Need You (To Make Good Games Again)</a><br />
Final thoughts, a lot of talk about recent and past Square games.<br />
Spoiler Level: MinimalTerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-59198379592764515892014-01-15T11:01:00.000-05:002014-01-15T11:37:00.293-05:00So I started playing Grand Theft Auto 5At first I was excited. Now I'm ready to stop.<br />
<br />
I wanted to start a mission with the awful paparazzi guy, so I stole a car to get to that side of town. About 15 seconds later, the police are on me, and my wanted level is at 3 - y'know, three white stars up in the corner. I thought maybe I could start the mission and the police would go away. No, I can't do missions while the police are chasing me. So I drive around for a few minutes, into a dead end, jump out of my car, over a divider, and just sprint away.<br />
<br />
When I finally lose them, I steal another car, evade police detection, and make it to the side of town with the paparazzo. But as I turn into the driveway to start the mission, thinking that the mission would start automatically when I did so (which usually happens), I end up bumping into the paparazzo, who just kind of... runs away.<br />
<br />
So I drive waaay up the street and wait for his little map indicator to come back, drive back, park away from him, get out, and start the mission.<br />
<br />
Then as we walk down the street he gets hit by a bus making a U-turn. Mission Failed.<br />
<br />
I always thought the growing realism of sandbox games only made them less fun. Things like having to elude the police in a stolen car should be fun, unless it's getting in the way of something else I want to do.<br />
<br />
Another big problem I'm having is that I'm sick of GTA protagonists somehow being "better" than the people they're working for. Every word out of Franklin's mouth is always about how dumb or petty other characters are, or how stupid the thing he's being asked to do is.<br />
<br />
What sucks about that is I <i>also</i> happen to think that all the characters are stupid and petty, and everything we do is stupid. I did three really dull missions in a row, and for each one Franklin mostly just complained through the whole thing.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://terryplays.blogspot.com/2013/04/so-i-played-bayonetta-again.html">For the most part</a>, the player and the protagonist should want the same thing, and for the most part, that thing should be accomplishing the next mission objective. Contrast the self-aware reluctance of Franklin with the doggedly sadistic passions of the Third Street Saints in any given Saints Row. When the missions objective reads, "Save Shaundi," and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85xMRa5UqgQ">I Need a Hero</a> is playing, you better believe the Boss is saying to his pals, "I'm gonna fucking save Shaundi!" When Bayonetta slinks into a room and says, "I'm here to beat up Angels," and then Angels start coming after her, you're gonna say, "<i>I am also here to beat up angels.</i>" The least you should do for the player is reinforce that what they're being asked to do is worth doing, that they and the game are on the same page.<br />
<br />
So the 15th time Franklin asked something to the effect of, "Why am I even doing this?" I was like, "Good question!" and quit the game.<br />
<br />
I actually really like Franklin as a character. His reluctance to do dirty work despite his obvious skill at it says a lot about the unrelenting siren call of criminal life. That same struggle was easily the best part of Niko's story in Grand Theft Auto 4, as well. But that motif is somewhat self-sabotaging in a game that doesn't feel the need to invite deep thought about any of its other messages. The talk-news and the commercial segments that parodize vapid American pop culture seem less biting now than they did in 2008. Four whole seasons of South Park have come out since then.<br />
<br />
There's also a seeming confusion between what counts as satire and what is just biased observation. Yeah, west coast tennis instructors <i>do</i> have affairs with clients. Sure, aging black women <i>do</i> uses cliched mantras to inspire self-confidence. Uh-huh, pop sensations <i>are</i> actually older than they let on. And? The observations themselves fall flat since the characters themselves aren't deep enough to invite scrutiny over their ways of life, nor are they broad enough as caricatures to invite laughter and derision. Cut scenes start up and I just twiddle my thumbs until Rockstar is done thinking they've made a point about some facet of modern life, waiting until I can pick the controller up again and play the goddamn game.<br />
<br />
The parts of the story I've liked best so far are scenes with Franklin and his allies in crime, mostly because they're actually focused on character growth. At this point there's still a question of how far Franklin is willing to go to gain independence, and his respect for others shifts as he tries to answer that question for himself. What's nice about this pre-Michael segment of the game is that there's far less "parody" - more plot development and less lame "satire".<br />
<br />
The reasons there isn't as much "biting satire" in this early segment of the game is that there is nothing to satirize. People like Franklin - stuck in a cycle of violence with friends and opportunities constantly drifting in and out of his life at with the whims of society at large - actually exist in the real world. If there are any jokes to be made here, they're only to be touched by writers who know what the hell they're doing. Even Rockstar's writers know well enough.<br />
<br />
So they stick with the same old targets: rich white people, Fox News, and most kinds of women. "Okay, writing staff, here are your Safe Topics. These things are funny. Everything else is <i>off limits</i>. We don't want to confuse or alienate anyone who matters!"<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.gta5tv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/gta-5-artwork-51827938befaa.jpg" width="600" />Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-14534475263821194092014-01-02T17:49:00.002-05:002014-01-02T20:59:33.473-05:00So I watched Beyond: Two SoulsI say "watched," you may assume, to suggest that <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b> is more of a movie than a game. In reality, that isn't quite true, either. <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b> isn't really a game <i>or</i> a movie. And I don't say this to suggest that <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b> is somehow bolder or more expansive than either a video game or a movie, or that it defies categorization. I refuse to put a label on <b>Beyond: Two Souls </b>because, if I were to do so, whatever category I were to put it into would be irrevocably worsened.<br />
<br />
It is not a video game, nor is it a movie. If pressed to define it, I'd say it's a twelve-hour piece of performance art where some innocent fuck is tricked into spending sixty dollars on a boring, useless item, then is compelled to use it despite a mounting sense of rage of disgust.<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
My relationship with David Cage, <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b> intrepid W R I T O R and D E R E K T O R, is a complicated one, except that it's actually very simple, because I hate him and I think he's a piece of crap (and a racist). I loathed <b>Indigo Prophecy </b>with the force of a thousand suns--enough to temporarily blind me to the surprising successes of the later <b>Heavy Rain</b>, which I now begrudgingly admit is an innovative and highly enjoyable piece of game-making, for all its wacky Europeanisms.<br />
<br />
So I approached <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b> with a skeptical but overall neutral point-of-view. I didn't want to deprive myself of a fun experience, but it's hard not to feel twice-shy being once so bitten. And there was a very specific moment in our playthrough, towards the end of the first act, that made me go cold with incredulity, and erased any charitable feelings I'd allocated for Cage.<br />
<br />
There was a point in which Jodie, our implausibly old-name-having protagonist, has to walk through a ruined medical facility. There is an encounter with an enemy that asks you to follow the on-screen prompts to evade danger and progress. We missed several prompts somewhat clumsily, and I was actually rather surprised that we cleared the challenge, remembering how easy it was for Madison Page to meet any number of context-sensitive grisly deaths in her encounter with the good doctor in <b>Heavy Rain.</b><br />
<br />
Anyway, immediately following this sequence, Jodie got stuck in the wall trying to exit the room, frozen and inanimate (but still crying and panting--thanks). Ah. Well. Glitches happen, it's no <b>Fallout: New Vegas</b>--at least not yet. So we restarted the chapter, participating in the QTE fight again, this time never missing a prompt. It was at this point that we realized is that, despite how much better we were at pressing the appropriate buttons this time, the scene played out in exactly the same manner as it had previously. Our suceesses and failures merited no rewards or consequences within the scene.<br />
<br />
What we realized is that were never really truly <i>participating</i> at all. We were just along for the ride, humoring <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b>.<br />
<br />
What greatly angered us was another realization. Does David Cage know that we're humoring him, or does he really think <i>he's</i> humoring <i>us?</i><br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
There is another point in <b>B:TS</b> where Jodie has to run away from something terrible that's chasing her. Just to see what would happen, I put the controller down on the floor. Would Jodie be captured by this monster and torn limb from limb?<br />
<i><br />
</i> No. Some moments later, Jodie, on her own, ran away.<br />
<br />
(Spoilers will get slightly more persistent from here forward, but only slightly. After all, you've seen everything that happens in this "game"--the reversals and surprises and betrayals and losses you encounter as Jodie are all rote recitations of the same Hollywood junk you've seen crammed into games for the last fifteen years. Even the least savvy of eight year-olds can tell you the most shocking twists to expect in such a formulaic offering. DUDES! Your idealized mentor father-figure is actually MORALLY AMBIGUOUS OMMMMMGGGGAAAAAAADD!?!?!?!?!?!)<br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
Later, we wanted to find out if it was actually possible to get intimate with one of the other characters in the game during a romantically-charged scene. (And I don't mean "emotionally close," I mean "can we get THIS penis in THAT vagina?") So I Googled "beyond two souls walkthrough". What a redundant phrase. For the most part, <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b> is a walkthrough of itself.<br />
<br />
We discovered that there was, indeed, a way that the chapter could end with sex AND a Playstation Network Trophy. We figured we'd go for it. As long as we're going through this, we might as well get some gamer cred, or whatever.<br />
<br />
However, there was a disclaimer in the walkthrough for this particular portion of the game:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">NOTE! If in [the chapter] "Like Other Girls", the protagonist was groped by the bar’s clientele, no closer relationship with Ryan will happen.</blockquote>I know you're probably reading this sentence because you had already finished the previous sentence, but I want you to go back and read it again.<br />
<br />
In this story about the supposed complexity of a human being's life and identity over the course of many years, it is suggested that <i>because Jodie was sexually abused several years prior, she is incapable of intimacy in the present.</i><br />
<br />
There aren't many choices you can make in a chapter that actually affects the events of another chapter - just one reason the boneheaded achronological narrative is just a bloody smoking hole in the foot of the story - but Cage made sure to fit in the little moral that <i>if you didn't have the foresight not to avoid your attempted rape, you are damaged goods.</i><br />
<br />
Not only is this thing void of good ideas, whatever ideas it manages to portray are toxic for society and antagonistic to humanity. <br />
<br />
* * *<br />
<br />
While experiencing <b>B:TS</b> I was often on Twitter, writing thoughts about it as they occurred to me. Although this form of expression is troubling in several ways, it is appropriate for the works of David Cage. Deep analysis isn't terribly necessary. All that needs to be done is present without irony exactly what occurs in <b>Beyond: Two Souls</b>, and any intelligent person can construe that it is lesser than garbage.<br />
<br />
What follows are more detailed extrapolations of my Tweets as I experienced <b>B:TS</b>. These are essentially a list of observations in the order they were made.<br />
<ul><br><li><b>B:TS</b> opens with Ellen Page's talking head, sounding confused. This is running motif in Cage's work - big heads seeming unhappy. Supposedly, this is the end of the events of the story, and the following chapters take place BEFORE this point. This scene is mostly meaningless considering we have no idea who this is or when this takes place. It's not like Sunset Boulevard - there are no expectations set up here.<br />
</li>
<br><li>After every chapter, the wavy-looking "timeline" for Jodie's life is displayed, along with the name of the next Chapter and at what point on the timeline it occurs. It would be neat if this were a screen in which you could select what chapter you wanted to experience next. It would even feel somewhat immersive if the next chapter did not proceed until you pressed X to indicate you were ready to relive this memory. Instead, the timeline is just a loading screen, loading whatever part of Jodie's life Cage thinks you should walk through next. Though it is marginally useful in finding out at what point the next chapter occurs based on chapter you've already seen.</li>
<br><li>Child Jodie is a pretty good actor. Way better than the French kids Cage got to play children from Philadelphia in <b>Heavy Rain</b>.</li>
<br><li>Willem Dafoe plays Jodie's mentor and father figure, Nathan, trying to find out how she connects to her invisible psychic/ghost friend, Aiden. He does it through all the usual bullshit ways movie paranormalologists detects psychics - by asking her to pick cards with pictures on them.</li>
<br><li>You can control Aiden by interacting with objects marked by blue dots and knocking them over. This is Aiden's primary purpose: knocking shit over. The game asks you to knock things over. But then at some point you knock something over and everyone in the lab starts freaking out. We start to think, "Okay, I guess we'll stop knocking shit over." But the story doesn't proceed if you don't knock more shit over. In order to convey that Aiden is sometimes "out of control" and "dangerous" the story forces us to force Aiden to knock shit over. Aiden doesn't feel "out of control" to me. He just seems to be stuck in a story in which he is "out of control," despite the fact he is completely in my control.</li>
<br><li>Nathan, calming Jodie down, says, "It's alright, Jodie, it's over." Jodie responds, "It will never be over." ಠ_ಠ Yep, because real people talk this way.</li>
<br><li>The next chapter, bafflingly, takes place at Sheikh Ahmed's black tie gala. At this point, Jodie is in the CIA, and she's going to use Aiden to find out what important secrets she can find in Sheikh Ahmed's house. It's one of the few times you have reign to float around and do stuff. Unlike other games in which you can decide how to use your powers to solve the problem in front of you, Aiden can only use certain powers on certain objects that the story needs to be interacted with to progress. Imagine a Legend of Zelda game in which the room you are in has a locked door, and there are switches all over the walls, and there is only one switch that opens it, but that switch is glowing blue, and the other switches actually don't do anything. That is every sequence with Aiden.</li>
<br><li>Jodie is wearing a dress with her entire back exposed. The texture of her back is somewhat terrifying - as though her skin is paper thin and you an see every muscle fiber under it. This is one of the most unsettling dips into the Uncanny Valley, but sure not the last.</li>
<br><li>The bathroom signs for Ahmed's place feature a <i>veiled</i> face over the door for the women's bathroom, and a <i>bearded</i> face over the door for the men's bathroom. This seems racist to me, but then I've never been to the Middle East.</li>
<br><li>The next chapter involves a birthday party at some brat's house. Nathan thinks it'll be good to meet kids my age. He already picked out the present for the birthday girl: an old collection of the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Our guess is that the girl will think it's a terrible gift and that it will act as an additional reason we should feel absolved for torturing her later. We are right.</li>
<br><li>The party has beer and weed. We indulge in both. We also get to pick the music. We picked disco. Another brat said it was a stupid, and changed the song. We weren't sure if that moment was to get us to hate that girl, or just <b>B:TS</b> trying to simply negate another one of my choices.</li>
<br><li>You can score with some limey kid, but in the end, he and the others turn on you for being a "witch." Their bright idea for dealing with witches? Lock them in a closet. <i>'Cause that won't backfire.</i></li>
<br><li>It totally backfires. This is the only point in the story where we feel as though Jodie, Aiden, and us are on the same side. We toss knives and set fires. We're finally having fun, despite how blurry and floaty Aiden is.</li>
<br><li>There is a chapter that has us training to be in a special division of the CIA. It plays out like an actual montage. Pressing X to run over tires. Pressing X to solve... math equations? Flicking the analog stick to punch dudes. Do we really need this shit? I have an invisible ghost friend.</li>
<br><li>Suddenly Aiden can "heal" wounds by just kind of floating over them. This is used again I think four more times afterward. </li>
<br><li>Jodie's step parents are really funny. The mother might actually be a good actor, but it's hard to tell in this game, since nobody says things that regular people say. The father is hilarious. He just is always angry and often shouting. At some point I think you get a Trophy based on whether or not you display hatred toward him.</li>
<br><li>For the most part, the only way for things to progress is for Aiden to knock hist over. This could easily be called Knock Shit Over Simulator Pro.</li>
<br><li>The first wham-bam "blockbuster" sequence involves going through a ruined medical facility where people are trying to harness the awesome power of ghosts for ??????? reasons. It is at this point that all the seams show, if they haven't already.<br />
</li>
<ul><br><li>All QTEs are rigged in your favor.</li>
<br><li>Solving puzzles means switching to Aiden to knock over the "correct" thing - Aiden, really, is just a more complicated QTE.</li>
<br><li>You can read memories from dead people's corpses or possessions, but they only tell you what you already know.</li>
<br><li>People respond to crises and tragedy in ways that don't make sense. "Go!... Nothing but... DEATH... in there!" </li>
<br><li>The logic of Aiden's powers and the ghost world are completely inconsistent. Sometimes Aiden can help Jodie, and sometimes she's all on her own. Aiden can beat up ghosts, but they can't do anything to him.<br />
</li>
<br><li>Jodie does things she should know better than doing. Like taking the elevator instead of the stairs in an emergency. What the FUCK is actually wrong with you. I don't care if you have a magic zombie-goast pal to bail you out--take the stairs, you lazy bum.</li>
<br><li>Jodie seems to know how to find and shut down the power for a unique piece of machinery. She doesn't think to just cut all of the wires around her, but instead has to cross through a ghost tornado for reasons.</li>
<br><li>Fighting the ghosts - which should be a big deal, they're fucking flying screaming horrors that have the power to make people kill themselves and each other - is exactly as fun as knocking shit over in the rest of <b>B:TS</b>, in that it's not. They could have invented a different action specifically for fighting the ghosts, but it's the some input as knocking over paper and water bottles and crap.</li>
<br><li>Nothing is scary or surprising, because most humans have seen a movie before, and sound cues indicate what's going to happen all of the time.</li>
<br><li>The engine Cage uses to make these games only heightens the excitement and drama of small things - most famously The Lizard trial in <b>Heavy Rain</b>. It is incapable of capturing the complexity of a fantastic action sequences the same way most video games already can pretty well.<br />
</li>
<br><li>Jodie's thighs are <i>too fucking thin.</i></li>
</ul><br><li>Jodie tells Nathan, "Don't let them do that again. If they open a passage, there'll be nothing left." The bad news? I think we're supposed to be surprised that they do it again. The worse news? Because of the way the story works, it won't be relevant for another 10 hours.</li>
<br><li>The chapter in which Jodie is homeless and makes friends with homeless people invites a question for anyone interested in seeing more scenarios that aren't typically presented in video games: Why isn't the whole game about using your ghost powers to overcome and navigate the challenges of being homeless? Because 1) Cage does not have anything poignant to say about being homeless, 2) he hasn't met enough black people in his life to write about more than one in the same story for too long, and 3) despite all the smoke he blows about taking video games to a new level, he's afraid NOT to put in more scenes that involve the same guns and violence that every video game has.</li>
<br><li>There's a point where you can accept someone's sexual proposition, but even if you do Jodie just <i>changes her mind about it.</i> Again, your choices are negated if David Cage doesn't like them, yet he's still willing to put women in dangerous and titillating situations without seriously confronting their consequences.</li>
<br><li>There are maybe one or two times where Jodie has prophetic visions in her dreams. These were likely put in so the plot would make slightly more sense. Since the story is presented out of order, it totally doesn't work.</li>
<br><li>By the way. Aiden is pronounced throughout the game as "Eye-den," except for one point when Willem Dafoe pronounces it "Ay-den." He probably pronounced it that way because that is how you are supposed pronounce the name Aiden. Cage did not deign to correct Willem, even if it meant an inconsistency.</li>
<br><li>Women in David Cage games exist to 1) be fucked or threatened with unwanted fucking, 2) be beaten up, 3) be impregnated, 4) cry, or 5) all of the above.</li>
<br><li>Flashbacks to Child Jodie are mostly complete wastes of time. The only good part is when you have a snowball fight.</li>
<br><li>Girls' Night Out is the chapter is which Jodie is whiny, entitled, and uses her powers for stupid reasons. Rather than making you appreciate Jodie's growth, it only highlights how often Jodie is whiny and entitled throughout the story.</li>
<br><li>The Navajo chapter has already been equated to a bad episode of the X-Files. Doesn't that sound great, though? What if every chapter was Jodie drifting into some town and solving their ghost problems?</li>
<br><li>Believe it or not, the sequence in which a white girl teaches a Navajo family how to deal with the vengeful spirit that their ancestors foolishly summoned to repel the White Man 200 years ago is still not the most racist thing David Cage has written.</li>
<br><li>The horses on the Navajo ranch are wearing English bridles, while they should be wearing Western bridles. They're the only horses in the game, I mean, come on</li>
<br><li>Also, nearly every time there is an elevator in this game, a sign nearby refers to it as a "Lift". It's like in <b>Heavy Rain</b> when abandoned lots were referred to as "wastelands". Cage would never let a copy editor near his precious script.</li>
<br><li>Nathan's back story is illuminated <i>very</i> quickly<i> </i>and <i>very</i> late. Cage probably had exactly 6 hours with Willem Dafoe to just cram everything in.</li>
<br><li>Also, I know I said Nathan was Jodie's father figure, but is he <i>really?</i> Seriously.<i> </i>I can't think of a single nice thing he does for Jodie, or even a single lasting lesson he imparts on her. Nathan's assistant Cole is nicer to Jodie than basically anyone else in the story, and he's still just a "supporting" member of the cast.</li>
<br><li>The one environment that gets reused over and over is the dorm that Jodie stays in while working with Nathan. It's suggested at one point we should feel sentimental about it, even though it is the least impressive looking residence in the whole game and nothing pleasant ever happens there.</li>
<br><li>It's during The Dinner scene where we had the brilliant revelation that the game might have been better if the chapters were divided between those in which you controlled Jodie and those in which you controlled Aiden. As is, the opportunites where you can control Aiden seem arbitrary, and when you actively control one to sabotage the other, as in this scene, it seems as though your presence at best deteriorates the story and its logic, and at worse puts you in control of the character who is in the least interesting situation at the time.</li>
<br><li>David Cage loooooves making women take showers with their hands against the wall being all live, "Uhhh, I just looove being NAKED and wet." It's not sexy, though, because Jodie washes her hair while it's still pulled back in a ponytail. <i>Grrrrrross. </i>No shampoo, no conditioner, just a pile of wet, dirty, smelly hair trapped in a festering pile. Help <b>me</b>, Aiden!</li>
<br><li>It seems to be completely arbitrary, as well, what actions get QTE prompts. Opening a bottle of wine gets two. Putting on a diving suit doesn't get any.</li>
<br><li>Ellen Page is a fine actress. But she just doesn't have the range to hold my interest or sympathy for 20 hours.</li>
<br><li>Ellen Page is also one of the least expressive actors in Hollywood. She's known for having a somewhat monotone voice and deadpan delivery, no matter her role. This may make her an excellent choice for some movie roles, but this makes her particularly poor one for an animated medium. Compare Ellen Page's extremely faithful motion capture to that of Kristen Bell, from the <b>Assassin's Creed</b> series, and you'll see a markedly less wooden character model, despite the less sophisticated technology. Bell is a naturally more animated, physically/facially/vocally expressive actress, which makes her tremendously more interesting and engaging to look at when rendered as a 3D nonhuman.</li>
<br><li>There's a scene in which someone gets news that someone they cared about died. It's hard to tell, though, because literally no one acts like they would have had it occurred in reality. Think about it: if someone asks you, "What's happened?" after getting this news (first off, fuck them for not figuring it out while they're in the room with you) would you say, "A truck... wrong side of the road... drunk driver... sentence fragments... just phrases!"</li>
<br><li>The saddest part of the game is that there is a dedication to someone who had died. Which means, even having known the death of a friend and colleague, David Cage STILL wrote this scene. This man doesn't know what empathy means. He can't even empathize that Americans use elevators and not lifts!!</li>
<br><li>And again, it's even more jarring when, like, <i>name actors</i> have to work with <i>horseshit</i>.</li>
<br><li>There is a chapter that is, basically, just the first act of Metal Gear Solid 4, except with a lot more floating around and wondering, "What the hell do I do now?" Yep - that's David Cage! Pushing the envelope by making you kill brown people in a blown-out desert town! In a video game, no less!</li>
<br><li>Jodie gets betrayed at some point. The suggestion is that we, too, should feel betrayed, but by this point she has made so many poor decisions - decision the game railroaded you and her into making - that it just feels like it's her fault. In another game this would feel like a revelation. Here, it just doesn't fit in with the birthday party and the homeless pregnancy and the estranged father figure and all the other stuff that happens in the story that has nothing to do with CIA missions.</li>
<br><li>There are no fat people in this game. Cage probably hates them, too.</li>
<br><li>In case you were wondering, yes, even while on a government mission, Jodie is still whiny and panicky and complaining. </li>
<br><li>Your purported love interest is a terrible person who lies to you. You have the option to forgive him, when you should have the option to push him into a fast-moving river.</li>
<br><li>As <b>B:TS</b> approaches its "climax," several new characters are suddenly introduced who are conveniently "the bad guys".</li>
<br><li>If you put down the controller during a bout with one of these villains, you will still live and they will still die. They are so inconsequential that you don't even need to fight them to succeed.</li>
<br><li>Jodie is knocked out by antagonizing forces more than once after walking through a door. Considering she can see through walls, this likely means that she is <i>an idiot.</i> </li>
<br><li>The only reason that the climax occurs is because several people do really stupid things that make no sense. </li>
</ul>Every once in a while <b>B:TS</b> made us say, "If only this was the whole game." If only the whole game was spent spying on enemies governments. If only the whole game was exorcising ghosts. If only the whole game was trying to get a boyfriend. If only the whole game was stealing and turning tricks on the street.<br />
<br />
One of the hallmarks of the truly great auteur is the ability to self-edit, and show self-restraint. Tarentino edited Gogo Yubari's vengeance-seeking twin sister Sakura out of the already incredibly genre-bending and seemingly unrestrained <b>Kill</b> <b>Bill</b>. He prioritized a cohesive, coherent narrative over simply cramming in all the stories he'd originally hoped to. And Cage seems to think of himself as an auteur, but ultimately he shows no fidelity to his own narrative--he is too eager to spill his every thought to just buckle-down, focus, and <i>tell us a goddamned good story</i>. Like a five year-old recounting his day at school, <b>Beyond: Two Souls </b>is filled with "and thens." <i>And then she's a witch with magic powers. And then she's a secret agent. And then she's an angsty teenager. And then she's a jilted lover. And then she's a homeless person. And then she's a great white savior to a bunch of hunky Injuns. </i>And, like listening to a five year-old, I can only nod my head woodenly, praying his mother will save me from his incoherent babble before I eat my own hands out of boredom and frustration.<br />
<br />
Instead, it's all of these things and more. Nothing lasts long enough for it to become important. It's none of these things and less.<br />
<br />
<b>tl;dr: "SHIMISANIIIIII!!!!!"</b> Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-45195869921628211592013-12-30T15:25:00.002-05:002013-12-30T15:28:58.187-05:002013 in GamesIt turned out that <b><a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121064-Naughty-Dog-Flat-Out-Refused-to-Change-Last-of-Us-Cover">women do exist</a></b>.<br />
<br />
<b>We all tried to figure out </b><a href="http://blastbombshell.com/2013/08/21/gaming-has-two-big-problems-and-these-aint-them/">t</a><a href="http://blastbombshell.com/2013/08/21/gaming-has-two-big-problems-and-these-aint-them/">he difference</a> between "sexy" and "sexist". <br />
<br />
<b>National Public Radio</b> was <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/04/01/175911265/bioshock-infinite-a-first-person-shooter-a-tragic-play">successfully duped</a> into <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/12/22/256345375/a-game-with-heart-gone-home-is-a-bold-step-in-storytelling">jerking off</a> to something it doesn't even really understand.<br />
<br />
<b>Hideo Kojima made baffling decisions</b> more in line with the corporate shills his fans have lambasted for years, including but not limited to 1) creating a single new female character that wears a bikini and can't talk, 2) splitting the next Metal Gear into two games with console-specific bonuses, and 3) allying with Spike TV to make any major announcements. Meanwhile, Kiefer Sutherland looks on.<br />
<br />
<b>Nintendo, like a waking Sauron,</b> <b>amassed power through its once-thought flop, the 3DS, </b>reviving several franchises with entries considered to be the best in their series, mostly by getting rid of all the shitty ideas and mechanics they come up with over the last decade. Yes, Virginia, you can finally level up Magikarp without using it!<br />
<br />
<b>Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD took slightly longer to develop than the original game.</b> Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/8/4815534/the-legend-of-zelda-the-wind-waker-hd-took-only-six-months-to-develop">The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is ported to HD in 6 months</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Call of Duty: Ghosts</b> was critically panned. It still makes 40 zillion dollars.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, <b><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-ghosts-producer-on-scary-cost-of-aaa-development/1100-6414781/">AAA developers were still s-s-scared of how expensive it is to make their games</a></b>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It is kind of a bummer that games are getting so hard and difficult to
make," [Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin] added. "People want better and better graphics, they want more
realistic looking art assets, and that comes at a cost and that's a
hard thing to have to deal with."</blockquote>
<b>Poor, needy AAA developers were taken hostage by fat, greedy, thuggish consumers</b>, held at knifepoint, forced to take realistic-looking art assets out of their own children's mouths.<br />
<br />
<b>Several new video game consoles came out</b> but no one is really sure why or what they're called or what they doTerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-9868066281159129312013-09-18T16:33:00.000-04:002013-09-19T19:26:58.885-04:00So I finally finished Soul Sacrifice (or, The Nature of Memories)<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/ss-banner_zpseda38162.jpg"><br />
<br />
(I mean, it's not really a game you complete, but I think I'd like to declare my being finished with it)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://terryplays.blogspot.com/2013/06/so-i-played-remember-me-and-then-i.html">So a while ago</a>, I talked about the method that games use to explore certain ideas. The conclusion I was trying to reach is that a story's message doesn't have to be clumsily delivered through its plot or parroted by characters when you can use things like game mechanics and world-building and repetition of ideas (in other mediums these are called <i>motifs</i>) to influence the tone of the story and the lasting impression the player takes from it.<br />
<br />
<b>Vagrant Story</b> is not the Holy Grail of gaming I once thought, but its script is still a benchmark for video games. The plot focuses on an infiltration mission and political machinations, but through its protagonist it explored the nature of human memory and its importance in forming one's identity several months before the Christopher Nolan's <b>Memento</b> would do the same thing.<br />
<br />
Certainly, Vagrant Story was not the first game where the nebulous nature of a character's memories (or lack thereof, as many will remember how common amnesia was as a trope compared to now) were integral to the understanding of the story, but after Vagrant Story, I can think of plenty of games that put the nature of their characters memories, personalities, and identities front and center - especially where Square Enix was concerned.<br />
<br />
In games like <b>Final Fantasy IX</b>, there was still some subtlety to the proceedings. At the game's outset, the mystery of Vivi's identity is planted, and finally bears fruit much later on when the difficult nature of Zidane's memories echoes the turmoil we've known to be growing within Vivi. It's a fitting payoff for such a long-term narrative, and answers are delivered in full at a decent pace.<br />
<br />
In contrast, as the <b>Kingdom Hearts</b> games rolled on, all subtlety went out the window, and the nature of memory became the focus of the story. Though it's probably untruthful to say the games discuss the "nature of memory" so much as memories are just weird, malleable plot points. While games like Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy IX ask the player to consider how important our perception of events in the past are to understanding our present selves and the way we are understood by others, games like Kingdom Hearts asks... similar questions in much less helpful ways, mostly by using terms that don't reflect the complexity of the self. According to Wikipedia: "Roxas is a 'Nobody', a being created when the series' main character Sora briefly lost his heart during the first game of the series."<br />
<br />
Games such as <b>Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria</b>, the <b>Xeno-</b> series, and... guh... <b>The 3rd Birthday</b> all consider memories and identities to be malleable things that can be lobbed around like softballs as major plot points. The thing about having confusing plots heavily focus on character's identities shifting and changing is that, after going through all the effort to keep it all straight in my head, <i>the last thing I want to do is think about the nature of memories as they apply to me.</i><br />
<br />
A digestible plot and satisfying mechanics keep my reptilian brain happy and occupied while my mammal brain considers the implications of the game's message. A complicated plot where I have to spend time drawing parallels between characters' predicaments and my own is order to make sense of the importance of the proceedings is a waste of brain activity better spent on anything more fulfilling.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to <b>Soul Sacrifice</b>, possibly the only game to use malleable memories as a valid plot point.<br />
<br />
Soul Sacrifice is a grotesque fairy tale. The premise is simple. You are imprisoned by an evil wizard with plans to sacrifice you when a magical talking journal bound in flesh slides into your cell and tells you that if you read and relive the events of the entries within, you will be able gain the powers of the long-dead sorcerers detailed, learn the nature of your captor, and defeat him.<br />
<br />
I say that Soul Sacrifice is a fairy tale because the nebulousness of the world allows for a certain suspension of disbelief. You are told very little, so that when very strange and unlikely things happen, you say to yourself, "I guess that's how things are in this world."<br />
<br />
This is a world were magic is not clean energy, but more like a nuclear weapon, leaving fallout about to mutate lands and beasts. Magic is an extension of the greed within every living thing, from trees to rats to children. Magic is constantly threatening to make things worse for everyone.<br />
<br />
Only state-sanctioned sorcerers are capable of wielding magic safely, paradoxically for the purpose of eradicating the monstrous abominations created by magical radiation. Sorcerers are widely feared and hated as a symbol of violence and degradation, but are the only things keeping people safe.<br />
<br />
The way sorcerers in particular are able to deal with monsters is through the art of sacrifice. They absorb the essence of fallen foes (who, in their weakened states, take on the form they once had, whether it be a mangy cat or a wrathful man) and seal it within their right arms. As a rule, sacrificing more foes makes the sorcerer stronger.<br />
<br />
In doing this, though, sorcerers also takes some of their target's essence into them, their soul, the thing that is the sum of their experiences and feelings.<br />
<br />
Absorbing a very powerful, very willful soul can affect the behavior and, YES, the memories of the sorcerer.<br />
<br />
But you can save monsters, too. Instead of increasing your attack power through sacrifice, being a savior can boost your life and defensive power, as well as allow you to recruit allies to your cause. However, although saving some monsters can provide certain passive boons when saved, the rewards are often dubious (powers aren't as good, allies are dumb), and on the whole (at least according to the game's lore) authorities do not tolerate sorcerers acting as saviors, since they are contracted executioners, not judges.<br />
<br />
Still, as the one in the field, you have the choice. Every time you fell a monster, you can choose to either save it or sacrifice it.<br />
<br />
What's great about the story is that rules of a sorcerers duties are set forward very early on. Sorcerers kill monsters, and they sacrifice them, becoming living silos of malice. You take these rules for granted. The game keeps you so focused on killing monsters and getting stronger that, after a while, you don't think twice about the nature of what you're doing, and the progression of the story becomes secondary to the progression of the challenge. As with any diligent sorcerer, it becomes a numbers game. How many of what kind of monsters do I need to kill to get enough powers to kill that next monster?<br />
<br />
By keeping the player focused on the mechanics of play, the game frees itself to influence the player's thoughts from behind the scenes, rather than awkwardly confronting them about the game's "point" via cutscene. In Soul Sacrifice, the mechanics drive the player forward, but they also connect directly to the nature of the story and the plights of the characters. The way that a single decision annihilates all other realities, the way we value or cast aside things based on their usefulness, the ways in which growth may transform us or make us more like who we truly are.<br />
<br />
When the game finally reveals its hand - when the nature of the relationships between the very small cast of characters starts to slide into focus - that's when you finally start to think about the implications of what you've been doing. <i>Not because the game begins navel-gazing and actively discusses the nature of itself, but because you are put in a situation where you can't help but wonder what it means.</i><br />
<br />
Soul Sacrifice does this in the same way every good game has done it. At the game's climax, you are asked to do something you've done a thousand times before, but for an entirely different reason that puts your entire experience up until that point in a different perspective.<br />
<br />
And while the ending does indeed come down to a binary decision, I am pleased to inform that neither ending is truly good or bad - or, well, I didn't think so. Though I felt that one ending was, dare I say, more poetic and more in keeping with the tone of the game than the other. Believe or not, this dopey, macabre little game, like a fairy tale, has a very beautiful moral. From the creator, <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mightyno9/mighty-no-9">Keiji Inafune</a>:<br />
<blockquote>My own life story has been the inspiration of this game. I was put in a lot of situations where I had to make tough decisions. I learned that things don’t go well just because you want to be famous or rich or a better person. You have to constantly think what you’re willing to give up or sacrifice to make things happen.</blockquote>Sometimes I feel like the importance of a story can be broken down into an equation. <i>(Decisions made</i> x <i>frequency)</i> / <i>time</i> = <i>importance</i>, or something. The more time you spend thinking you understand something only to find how wrong you were always seems to pack an emotional punch, no matter the situation.<br />
<br />
Time, however, is also Soul Sacrifice's draw back. As glad as I am that I played it, it's hard for me to say that it's truly a <i>great</i> game because it is exceedingly repetitive. I literally stopped playing for a few months for that reason. Often times you'll find yourself asked to do missions very similar to those you've done before with very meager rewards. These rewards do build up over time, but they don't feel as essentially fulfilling as other similar kill-thing-and-receive-loot games like Monster Hunter or Dragon's Crown.<br />
<br />
But, hey, there's <a href="http://operationrainfall.com/soul-sacrifice-delta-announced/">a new version</a> coming out. Maybe then I could suggest this game unequivocally. Until then, Soul Sacrifice is probably the best boring game I've played all year.Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-35718023082537610932013-08-26T11:53:00.000-04:002013-08-26T12:50:40.247-04:00Earthbound and Deadly PremonitionSo there's this game.<br />
<br />
It looks like it was supposed to come out, like, 7 years before it did.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-1_zps66bf8aa6.jpg"><br />
<br />
Publishers were so unconfident in its appeal, they tried to sell it based on how unappealing it seemed.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-2_zpsfef69423.jpg"><br />
<br />
The core gameplay is basically copied directly from another game that redefined its genre,<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-3_zps7b75438b.jpg"><br />
<br />
though it also includes its own semi-realistic unique elements, like eating food and using a phone to save.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-4_zpsf699fa5f.jpg"><br />
<br />
It comes from the mind of this one Japanese guy,<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-5_zps0e7de602.jpg"><br />
<br />
and takes place in his perception of the United States,<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-6_zps19081604.jpg"><br />
<br />
and the whole thing is filled with homages to all of the things he likes.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-7_zps0830feee.jpg"><br />
<br />
The story is a goofier retelling of a story that's been told once before,<br />
<br />
<table><tr><td>[Any game in which you have to collect 8 of something before beating the last boss]</td><td><a href="http://eyzmaster.blogspot.com/2011/10/vgr-deadly-premonition.html"><img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-8_zpsfb5602fb.jpg"></a></td></tr>
</table><br />
and there are a lot of weird people doing stuff that doesn't make sense all of the time.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-9_zps0fd98124.jpg"><br />
<br />
But because you spend so much time with them, you start to really care about them,<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-10_zps17a0958b.jpg"><br />
<br />
and as things get more and more earnest, as the end draws closer, the emotional weight of everything has been built up so subtly that you did not expect the sudden urge to cry at the mind-bending climax.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/_deadly-earthbound-11_zps3b6b4a7b.jpg"><br />
<br />
<br />
There are more significant parallels, still, but that would mean spoilers for both, and you're not ready for that yet.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So ever since Earthbound came out on the Wii U's Virtual Console - which is an incredible concession on Nintendo's part, but since none of the music in the game has been removed, clearly Nintendo of America's insistence that the game could not be re-released due to copyrighted song samples was a huuuuge lie - everybody's jumpin' back onto the bandwagon that I've been carting all on my lonesome.<br />
<br />
Amongst all this, though, some good reading has appeared. Not only did Nintendo give <a href="http://earthbound.nintendo.com/">Earthbound its own site and sweet promotional video</a>, there's also a <a href="http://earthbound.nintendo.com/message/">brief essay (no, more like poem) from Itoi himself</a>, reflecting on Earthbound and its purpose.<br />
<br />
There's also more than one interview online with <a href="http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/07/marcus-lindblom-earthbound/all/">Marcus Lindblom, the man who almost single-handedly localized Earthbound for the West</a>.<br />
<br />
These things made me realize that all of my favorite games, to some degree, are like Earthbound; in that they not only make great use of the interactive and long-form nature of the medium, but also are unafraid to include the strange, personal things that other single-minded, artist-driven mediums have been using for many years.<br />
<br />
With Earthbound's re-release, there is a new layer of purpose to my writing. Now that people are actually playing it, we can actually discuss its importance - what it got right, what others have ignored, and who has been paying attention.<br />
<br />
It is my belief that <a href="https://twitter.com/Swery65">SWERY</a> paid attention.<br />
<br />
Earthbound fans - please, play Deadly Premonition.<br />
<br />
Deadly Premonition fans - please, play Earthbound.<br />
<br />
You all clearly have a masochistic streak, so it should be easy for you.Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-8056464028267604762013-08-03T16:09:00.001-04:002013-08-04T10:37:39.694-04:00Holy cow, I just realized something about Metal Gear Solid 2Metal Gear Solid 2 is about legacies. About passing the torch.<br />
<br />
I mean, I always knew this, but I never knew just how deep it went.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/1040044-snake_raiden_zps00d2eedd.jpg"><br />
<br />
The most obvious torch is the one passed from Snake to Raiden. The whole purpose of the S3 project to recreate Raiden in the image of Solid Snake. Although the Patriots are the ones in charge of the project, Snake himself ultimately sees Raiden through his transformation into a hero, both for the day and for Metal Gear as a series.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/Young_Raiden_zps95f33c36.jpg"><br />
<br />
Though Solidus tries to pass his own torch to Raiden on more than one occasion. Raiden and other child soldiers fought under Solidus in the Liberian Civil War. At the end of the game, Raiden is then victim to expository monologues by both Solidus and the Patriots' malevolent AI with the goal of getting him to appreciate their perspective.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/Dead-cell_zps1d7134ad.jpg"><br />
<br />
Of course, Solidus has been a father and light-bearer in more than one way. Not only is he former United States President George Sears, he is also the leader of Dead Cell, a former SEAL group that become the terrorists holding the Big Shell hostage in wanting with the demands of Solidus, their founder.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/Fortune_zpsc2016e2f.jpg" width="200"><br />
<br />
Though members of Dead Cell have their own torches to bear, as well - some more successfully than others. Fortune's father, Marine Corps Commandant Scott Dolph, is killed in the Tanker incident, and she harbors a hatred for Solid Snake as a result. Her husband, former Dead Cell leader Colonel [no first name given] Jackson, is convicted of mishandling government funds and dies in prison. Also, her mother commits suicide. Fortune picks up Colonel Jackson's mantle and leads Dead Cell toward its terrorist destiny. And her superpower of extreme luck - succeeding in every mission with suffering any injury - she believes was inherited from the ghost of her father.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/12_zps66e1cba0.png" width="580"><br />
<br />
Then there's Peter Stillman, the bomb disposal expert who faked an injury to gain sympathy from others in spite of the fact that he trained Dead Cell member Fat Man in bomb disposal - in the end, equipping him perfectly to become the mad bomber of the story. Fat Man agrees to the mission specifically hoping to show up his former mentor. Stillman dies wishing that he had held onto that torch.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/175px-Otacon_MGS_zps6e3925b9.jpg"><img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/EmmaE_zps36fb54f1.jpg" width="200"><br />
<br />
Then there's Otacon and Emma. Part of me remembered Otacon teaching Emma what he knew, and then realized that it's Emma who creates the virus that disables Arsenal Gear. In a way, they each inherit something from the other. Moreover, they both have to the carry the fucked-up history of their parents. Not to mention Otacon's whole family history when it comes to war crimes.<br />
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<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/Mgs2_deepthroat_zps5c4f7d9c.jpg" width="580"><br />
<br />
And then there's the babies, the literal genetic heirs of the previous generation. All of Olga's work as a double (triple??) agent with Snake were a means to expose the Patriots and discover the whereabouts of her daughter, Sunny, whom they had taken hostage. Before she dies, she gives Snake and Raiden the task of saving Sunny.<br />
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<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/sunnyfamily_zpsb9c2b5f9.jpg"><br />
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Sunny, ultimately, becomes Snake and Otacon's adoptive daughter and becomes a technical genius under Otacon's tutelage, avenging others whose lives were ruined due to PMCs created in the Patriots' wake.<br />
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<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/Raiden_Civilian_Family_zps42696be6.jpg" width="500"><br />
<br />
Raiden and Rose, too, end up with a baby of their own. Raiden, who only recently took charge of his life, has to take charge of another, as well. Though he's slow to rise to the occasion.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/14472428_zps3d130c2f.png"><br />
<br />
MGS2 was bearing the torch carried by MGS1, a game that defined, technically, the Playstion One, through it's extensive real-time visuals, dual-analog controls, and hours of recorded voice. MGS2, in turn, would define the Playstation 2 by including first-person view to expand the scope of the detail of the new generation, and even making use of the Dual Shock 2's pressure sensitive buttons. So it's kind of like Sony is passing a torch to itself.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
More than anything, though, MGS2 is a torch lit by Kojima to pass to us as both a warning and a promise. The digital age we live in now has brought with the the ability to deceive and manipulate people on a massive scale - but it also brought the tools to cut through lies and share our experiences with others, and keep us all connected, sharing the stories of our pasts with one another.<br />
<br />
We are who we are because of those who came before us. That's why it's called Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.<br />
<br />
<object width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/BrL7wo5-nJo?version=3&hl=en_US&start=652"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/BrL7wo5-nJo?version=3&hl=en_US&start=652" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
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<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m17xy3wZoK1rnbxrmo1_500.png"><br />
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<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqxkrbGWMY1qas001o1_500.png">Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-72277134385601695072013-06-29T17:01:00.001-04:002013-06-29T17:10:41.146-04:00Highwind just finished Panzer Dragoon Saga<a href="http://www.pavilionboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28512"><i>[By this guy here.]</i></a><br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9XL8ufOTrFU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Holy cow. I GET IT.<br />
<br />
I don't know where to begin.<br />
<br />
The style and atmosphere of the game are incredible. It's like HR Giger, Ancient Egyptians and the Japanese got together to create a desolate - alien - dying world.<br />
<br />
That said - good god the graphics are terrible. I mean - wow. No wonder the Saturn flopped. Everything is so chunky and choppy and blurry it's insane. The draw distance is really bad. The fact that the concept art, style and visual design are so incredible makes the horrendous graphics that much more depressing. I can't imagine how great this game would look even on a PS2.<br />
<br />
The music is astoundingly fitting with the universe. Its very brooding - often minimalistic - but sometimes bombastic when the time is right. Definitely up there in my opinion with best music ever in an RPG. Top 5 for sure.<br />
<br />
I love how few random encounters there are. I'm not even sure if there ARE random encounters or if all of the battles are somehow triggered precisely on your progress. But this makes flying around and just exploring the areas really enjoyable. You level up naturally - no need for useless grinding. You get more powerful simply as you progress through the game - and there's no nonsense otherwise.<br />
<br />
The battle system is great and it is absolutely INSANE that no one has tweaked or simply ripped it off. The battles are much more like puzzles than simply mashing on the attack button. You actually have to THINK and engage in how to take down the enemies and it's all the more rewarding when you do.<br />
<br />
The story is cliche but I like it. I'm a sucker for it. Ancient mysterious powerful girl - fight to regain human freewill - blah blah. It works - I'm down with it every time, apparently.<br />
<br />
EVERYTHING is in Japanese - the whole game is in subtitles and even the end game credits are all in kanji. Wat. Did SEGA even try to localize this game whatsoever? I have no idea why they even printed the 30k copies that they did in the US. Really weird.<br />
<br />
Oh guess what guys? FLYING ON A DRAGON IS AWESOME. Why are there not more RPGs where you get to fly around on a dragon? Can someone fix this immediately? Thanks.<br />
<br />
It's also a great length. 12-14 hours long. Can we get more RPGs this length - instead of uselessly padding them to 40-100 hours?<br />
<br />
In summation - I loved it. The art style, battle system, atmosphere and music are so unique it's incredibly memorable and enjoyable. I would love to commission an artist for some paintings based on the art. It's that good.<br />
<br />
It's craaaaaaazy that these innovations are just seemingly lost and ignored. Why are JRPGS still cranking out the same tired Dragon Quest mechanics when innovations like Panzer Dragoon Saga existed FIFTEEN years ago. Sad.<br />
<br />
Is it worth the $300-$450 its going for now? I don't know. That's up to the buyer - I guess. I recently paid $120 for a Fleetwood Mac concert I didn't want to go to for my brother's birthday. So whatever. olol.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m922q9qRsd1rabd6ho7_r1_400.jpg"><br />
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<img src="http://fuuka.warosu.org/data/jp/img/0098/90/1350516333909.jpg">Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-2571418931655027672013-06-19T14:10:00.004-04:002013-06-19T16:13:44.131-04:00So I played Remember Me, and then I stopped.<img src="http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Remember-Me.jpg" width="600"><br />
<br />
Why is parkour still a thing in video games now? It was a key component in Assassins Creed and Mirror's Edge, and it should have stopped there. (I'll accept inFamous, too, because at least it's fun then.)<br />
<br />
But, here we are, still climbing up the sides of buildings. Like, EVERYONE can climb the sides of buildings <i>so easily.</i> Doesn't that seem like a really hard thing to do? That didn't used to be a thing. In older video games, when we came to a wall we were like, "Well, I guess we better find a way around it." But now everyone's trying to just climb over it.<br />
<br />
It's a cute idea, but you can't put that genie back in the bottle. In the old days the question was, "If I have a grenade launcher, why can't I explode that locked door off its hinges?" Now it's, "If I can climb THAT wall, why can't I climb EVERY wall??" It's funny. As aesthetics get more realistic, the occasional inconsistencies with video game verisimilitude become more insufferable.<br />
<br />
But then, hey, I guess I shouldn't be surprised parkour is so present in a French game. A French sci-fi game. About memories. Called <i>Remember Me</i>.<br />
<br />
The Ghost in the Shell series was a very dire and realistic meditation on the nature of technological progress and its influence on politics, the planet, and the self. It's a crime drama first, but the themes of memories and identity run throughout all of the proceedings.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Remember Me opens like, "You lost your memories! Because a company called Memorize decided they could do whatever they wanted with your memories! Now take 'em down, so we can all have our memories back! Even if you have to mess with other people's memories! And remember to remember to memorize memories!"<br />
<br />
Now, isn't it kind of obvious that the big twist is gonna come when you get your memories back? I know it's a sci-fi, but it feels really silly and regressive to just make your plot <i>actually involve</i> what your game is thematically addressing.<br />
<br />
Maybe I'm getting stuck on this, but... You're supposed to use the plot to convey the point, the same way you use a frying pan to cook a steak. You can't take the meaning of the game and then build the plot on that. You can't cook a steak with another steak.<br />
<br />
To be fair, there is other stuff going on in the game: the haves vs. the have-nots. The rich can afford to relive their own happy memories, while the impoverished can only scrape together the memories of others and go nuts in the process. There's even a character early on whose decision to do something drastic is based on a very expensive hospital bill she has to pay. It actually feels just barely relevant at times.<br />
<br />
But it's not just plot and aesthetics you use to convey meaning: it's mechanics. The script seems to be telling us that the game is about the malleability of the human psyche, and that my character is a genius hacker. If that's so, how come I spend less time rewriting people's memories - which is, in fact, a very neat and juicy bit of the game - and more time punching junkies and climbing up and down the sides of walls?<br />
<br />
The thing is, Remember Me isn't the first game that's about running toward a glowing waypoint or climbing and punching things like a drunk amnesiac baboon. But it's the last one I deign to play.Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-3994524456743376272013-06-19T10:19:00.001-04:002013-06-19T10:19:24.189-04:00re: Abstraction<a href="http://www.pavilionboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28485&page=2">[by a man named Dreamknight]</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote>I think neglect of the battle system is why the genre is now more or less going extinct. Most people just can't take grinding through dungeons for 30 hours anymore.</blockquote>I think its bigger than JRPGs.<br />
<br />
By and large more powerful technology has removed many of the abstractions we used to have in games. Back in the day it was challenging to land a jump in Tomb Raider because Lara was stuck on a grid and the low visual fidelity made it hard to gauge if you could make a jump or not. These abstractions made the act of jumping and exploring in itself a challenge. Now we have games where you can hold down a button and cling to the world in lightning fast real time.<br />
<br />
JRPGs are going through the same thing, things aren't abstracted through menus anymore, why use a menu when you can swap weapons and spells on the fly? And just mash X to win like in Kingdom Hearts/Crisis Core?<br />
<br />
Abstractions are probably the most meaningful component of a video game that most forget about, or even complain about. They may seem artificial but I feel they are vital in setting up the thematic/mechanical beats that get a player involved and invested.<br />
<br />
The proliferation of large game worlds is problematic too, a lot of open world titles where traversal is a boring chore. How many games give us this large field to run around in and then make us resort to using the dodge roll to get through the screen quickest? (NIER)<br />
<br />
When we had pre-rendered backgrounds and little space for data, game directors had to be picky and convey the most atmosphere with the smallest space.<br />
<br />
For example, all the love it gets, I always found that MGS3 failed to bring the sense of precise, deliberate design that MGS1 and 2 had by taking place in a nondescript and open jungle area.<br />
Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-20307292012093546512013-05-24T20:32:00.000-04:002013-05-24T20:32:01.552-04:00Re: Used games killing the industry[by a man named Burai]<br />
<br />
No, here's the problem. Tomb Raider sold 3.4m units in the space of a month and it's a "failure" because it will fail to recoup its budget.<br />
<br />
THREE POINT FOUR MILLION FUCKING UNITS FOR WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A B-TIER FRANCHISE AND THAT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY MONEY.<br />
<br />
And killing used games would have solved this how? Would it have made the execs at Squenix who thought throwing $100m budget at a franchise that's been irrelevant since the turn of the century suddenly get a clue?<br />
<br />
Oh, but no, they argue "GAMERS PUSH FOR HIGHER AND HIGHER BUDGETS AND WE HAVE TO GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT! THEIR ENTITLEMENT COMPLEX CAN'T BE SATIATED! WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LET BUDGETS SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL!" and that's lovely, but since when did they ever give a fuck about what we actually thought?<br />
<br />
Are Microsoft going to turn around and backtrack on this DRM fiasco because "WE HAVE TO GIVE GAMERS WHAT THEY WANT!"? Are they fuck.<br />
<br />
Are EA going to throw all their games up on Steam and patch Sim City to not need the stupid Origin authentication because "THAT'S WHAT THOSE ENTITLED GAMERS ARE SCREAMING FOR!"? Fuck no.<br />
<br />
If you couldn't afford to give people what they wanted, then why didn't you just turn around and say no like you do with every other thing we complain about? Here's why; Every publisher big and small decided to get into a dick waving contest and it turns out that not everyone has a big dick. Squenix got its tiny little acorn cock out and went up against Mandingo Activision screaming "LOOK AT MY MASSIVE JUNK! YOU'LL WANT TO CARE FOR IT!" and everyone just turned around and shrugged and bought something else.<br />
<br />
Not everyone has a big dick. Acting like you have a big dick when you don't have a big dick is going to make the reveal of your tiny little penis all the more humiliating. And that's what happened here. Squenix acted like Tomb Raider, a franchise that habitually sells less than 3m lifetime per entry was going to suddenly sell COD numbers just because they spent $100m on it and guess what happened? THE FUCKING INEVITABLE.<br />
<br />
In terms of the franchise post-Core, the game is going to do really well, probably double what you'd expect from a Tomb Raider game post-PSone but it cost far, far too much.<br />
<br />
But no, it's all used games that did this. Used games made Capcom make some horrible design decisions on DmC and piss off the entire fanbase. Used games made Activision and EA flood the market with guitar games and accessories long after people stopped caring. Used games made Microsoft make a fourth Gears of War game that nobody asked for from a developer nobody cares about. Used games made Sony pump out another God of War game after they spent the past few years flooding the market with HD remasters. Used games made Sony make a Smash Bros clone with no appealing characters to help sell it. Used games made Bizarre Creations make James Bond and racing games no-one wanted. Used games make publishers shutter studios the moment the game they were working on goes gold, before they've even had a chance to sell a single new copy, let alone a used one.<br />
<br />
I could go on. And on. And on. You could write a book about every single executive level screw-up this gen and yet these same people with their million dollar salaries and their shill puppets still try to insult our intelligence and blame used games and awful, entitled consumers for companies shutting and talented people losing their jobs.<br />
<br />
So please forgive our cynicism when we don't want to buy into the bullshit you're spouting.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=58841589&postcount=566"><i>[original post]</i></a>Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-43620723856115984102013-04-11T00:20:00.000-04:002014-02-18T18:58:22.834-05:00So I finished Bioshock Infinite.I didn't like it.<br />
<br />
First off, check this out.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/069DOBDAfms" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
This is the E3 trailer for Bioshock. I was pumped by this. I fell in love with the unusual locale and the gritty, visceral combat. The effectiveness of the trailer is that it's so open-ended. What happened here? What am I doing with this little girl? What is THAT thing doing with this little girl? What other horrible powers can I use? Even the fact that it ends with the player's death suggests that the player will have to be re-equipped with a whole bevvy of new combat options upon the game's release.<br />
<br />
Infinite pushed this kind of presentation to the limit with this 10 minute "gameplay" video.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HANw9DJu6h8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Hype is a powerful thing, and Ken Levine certainly knows how to wield it.<br />
<br />
The thing is, these videos are all just ideas. Sequential ideas. Lists in the form of a videos.<br />
<br />
Truthfully, others have already gone through the broad issues I have with Infinite, <a href="http://nowso.com/bioshock-infinite-is-boorish-boring-and-bloated/">like this guy</a>, and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/arts/stories/s3733057.htm">this guy</a>. All I have left is my own list of ideas.<br />
<br />
<b>The voice direction.</b> Booker and Elizabeth have two very different problems. Troy Baker plays Booker as a very distinctly dull dude. He sounds like a good actor who received very little direction. But since Troy is a pro, he manages.<br />
<br />
To me, it sounds like Courtnee Draper did not deal as well with the lack of direction. On the surface I understand what Elizabeth feels, but I often don't get why.<br />
<br />
Also, Elizabeth just sounds like some lady I could meet on the street today - her throaty casualness doesn't click in 1912. I kept waiting for a plot reason why that should be. There isn't one.<br />
<br />
<b>Elizabeth's character</b> frequently doesn't make sense. The sequences up till meeting her in captivity is pretty intriguing - she seems to be pretty okay with her station in life. But then the moment the shit hits the fan, she's like, "Let's get out of here! The exit is this way!" and basically completely stops acting like someone who's spent a huge portion of her life under lock and key.<br />
<br />
<b>The writing.</b> "The only difference between Fitzroy and Comstock is how you spell the name."<br />
<br />
Aside from some real clunkers, Booker and Elizabeth constantly waver back and forth between period speak and modern colloquialisms. It's especially infuriating since basically every other character actually pretty effectively acts like someone from 1912.<br />
<br />
I mean, listen to the guy selling the Voxophones at the start of the game, and then listen to Elizabeth. (Or, shit, look at Elizabeth standing next to Mrs. Lin) Are they even from the same world?<br />
<br />
<b>Oh, yeah, the fucking Voxophone recordings.</b> Some things never change, huh? This method of information diffusion was tolerable in the kooky world of Rapture. This shit makes zero sense in Columbia. Are you telling me an old black janitor would 1) be able afford a Voxophone, 2) buy a Voxophone, even though he clearly needs that money for other stuff, and 3) carry it around and use it while he is working?<br />
<br />
Who is dropping all this recording equipment everywhere?! (Answer: The same people who are throwing money in the garbage) I will say that I was initially impressed at the way that the other sound levels would drop out so that you could hear the recordings, until some inconsequential dialogue started up, cutting off what turned out to be a pretty crucial recording.<br />
<br />
Tape recordings are joined this time by nickelodeon-style moving picture viewers that take up even more of your time because you have to STAND STILL to use them, and yet are even less illuminating. They actually find a more insufferable way to convey information than background blithering.<br />
<br />
<b>All the goddamn noise.</b> As bored as Booker and Elizabeth sound most of time, all the bit characters fucking <i>commit</i>. Like, the way bad guys scream. All the time. When they spot you, when they're shooting at you, when they're dying, when they're being burnt alive, when they're falling. Everything screams when I do anything to it. With the Big Bad's saying threatening things over the microphone, cronies of every size running at you and shouting, robot cannons chiming and rat-a-tatting, Elizabeth telling you she can't find anything even though you never asked, and a recording of a horrible old white man shouting about Lambs and Shepherds - fucking kill me. I'm only glad I could turn off the reminders telling me, "Your shield is broken! Find cover!"<br />
<br />
<b>None of the encounters are special.</b> My favorite part of the game was fighting this horrible, ghostly boss that can constantly summon cronies to fight for it. Not only did I have to fend off mobs of dudes using all of my wiles, I also had to isolate and kill the boss before it summoned even MORE dudes.<br />
<br />
Apparently, they thought this fight was so fun, they made me fight it two more times afterward.<br />
<br />
This happens throughout the game. A new enemy is introduced in a semi-effective way, it's defeated, it feels like a triumph, and then you... fight it again. No battle is unique.<br />
<br />
<b>There are never really any milestones.</b> Powers and guns are distributed without much attention paid to the pacing or the mounting action of the story. One obstacle requires attaining a particular power to overcome it. This power is never used for such a purpose again.<br />
<br />
<b>The whole thing is extremely linear and yet extremely disjointed.</b> I feel like every set piece could have been put into any order. There isn't any escalation from one event to another.<br />
<br />
<b>Elizabeth's powers are wasted.</b><br />
<br />
The only time Elizabeth's power does something interesting while playing the game is when she can make baskets of food materialize in the most impoverished part of the city. It highlights the sheer range of her powers, and clearly represents how someone like Comstock believes in the good it can do. (I'm not suggesting Comstock has any of the limited complexity of Andrew Ryan - he's doesn't)<br />
<br />
The rest of the time, she can make hip-high walls and freight hooks and sniper rifles appear... in locations that are conveniently empty. There are maybe one or two fights where this can be pretty exciting - it feels like you're actively taking control of the battlefield, summoning a mechanized patriot to take on another patriot, making a freight hook to get over and behind bad guys, etc.<br />
<br />
But it's, like... why can't all that stuff already be there?<br />
<br />
She also gives you health, salts, ammo, money. Stuff you can all get yourself. It invalidates the purpose of scrounging through the garbage for loot, because Elizabeth always finds items in such greater quantities.<br />
<br />
You know what Elizabeth's powers should have been used for? Getting Infusions - the things that increase your health, salts, and shield. That way your growth is intrinsically tied to Elizabeth - your advantage over everyone else in the game is your relationship to Elizabeth.<br />
<br />
<b>The twist isn't really a twist because I didn't know what was going on.</b> A mystery only works if you can guess what the answer could be. If I have no expectation for how or why someone did something, why should I be surprised when I find out the answer?<br />
<br />
The reason it takes forever for any important clues or tangible story details to be revealed, despite the shortness of the story, is that any single clue would unravel the mystery immediately. Especially if you played <i>Bioshock</i> - you're already looking for the true identity of certain characters.<br />
<br />
The big thing for me, though, is, <b>the tone.</b><br />
<br />
At one point Elizabeth very tearfully sums up her very complicated relationship with someone she once knew, and then--<br />
<br />
<b>"Hey, Booker, need some ammo?"</b><br />
<br />
For all the importance being placed on the story and my relationship to Elizabeth, I sure feel like I'm walking around with an ammunition dispenser in a video game.<br />
<br />
The most exciting parts of the game have really nothing to do with any of the gameplay mechanics. It's mostly something neat happening while you watch. Even the sky-lines, one of the more exhilarating parts of the game, are just roller-coasters. The ending, while infuriating, is quite beautiful (Yes, Ken Levine has seen Inception, sure, whatever).<br />
<br />
The only advantage Infinite's ending has over <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyqnzhIaZu0">The Third Birthday's ending</a> is shortness and prettiness.<br />
<br />
The most interesting way you can look at Infinite is as a musing on the success of Bioshock. In Bioshock, your choices are stupidly distinct, leading to ending A or ending B. In Infinite, your choices all lead you to the same place.<br />
<br />
But here's the thing. <i><a href="http://terryplays.blogspot.com/2012/11/so-i-played-dishonored.html">Dishonored</a> was more fun and <a href="http://terryplays.blogspot.com/2013/01/so-i-played-virtues-last-reward.html">Virtue's Last Reward</a> was more compelling.</i><br />
<br />
If Infinite came out even half a year sooner, it would have seemed more clever. But literally every part of this game was done better in another game.<br />
<br />
But Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a 10 out of 10.<br />
<br />
For years, the only perfect score EGM ever gave out was to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.<br />
<br />
The Ocarina of Time featured one-touch targeting, a giant interconnected world, a system distinguishing between day and night, and a world that changes over the course of time - all revolutionary ideas that are still visible in games being made today. A perfect score should indicate nothing short of <i>revolutionary</i>.<br />
<br />
I don't see anything revolutionary in Infinite. If anything, Infinite is regressive. No quick-time events, no cover system - things that were all true in Bioshock. Color-coded magic powers like in Bioshock, vending machines in silly voices like Bioshock, flavor text littered about the ground like Bioshock.<br />
<br />
I DO see the appeal in Infinite. Really pretty, lots of things to listen to and look at, interesting ideas that almost flourish.<br />
<br />
But 10 of out 10?<br />
<br />
Come on, now.<br />
<br />
<br />
You know the best part of the game? It's whenever Elizabeth flips a coin at you. The animation and the sound effect are just... awesome.Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-65750180801056891032013-04-03T18:09:00.002-04:002013-06-19T16:17:18.305-04:00So I played Bayonetta again.The role of an avatar - the protagonist as controlled by the player - is to complete two tasks.<br />
<br />
1. Act as a <b>distinct character</b> who relates to other characters as the story dictates.<br />
<br />
2. Act as a <b>conduit</b> for the <i>player</i> to affect change in the world.<br />
<br />
Avatars might lean more heavily one way or the other. <a href="http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/15479/la-noires-cole-phelps-slightly-psycho-when-using-doubt-mcnamaras-fault">Cole Phelps</a> is slightly more effective as character in a story than as a vehicle for the player because the player usually has no goddamn clue what's going through his head (Thanks, McNamara). On the other end, we have someone like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomguy">Doomguy</a>, who is just supposed to be a digitized version of the player, with a gun.<br />
<br />
The most effective and memorable protagonists tend to either blend these two tasks into one or veer suddenly from one end of the spectrum to the other at a pivotal point.<br />
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<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/MGS2_Raiden_zpsc817de26.png"><br />
<br />
Raiden, in Metal Gear Solid 2, replaces the storied and liked Solid Snake as the protagonist. This position makes him an embodiment for the message of the game - the growing ease of information control and manipulation in the 21st century. And by suddenly and mysteriously replacing him, he also elevates Solid Snake to the status of a legend, something to struggle toward.<br />
<br />
Raiden is also an interesting exercise in the development of an avatar. At the game's start, he's more like Doomguy than Snake. His personality is pretty vacuous. He has no backstory. According to Rose, even the walls of his bedroom are bare. His girlfriend frets about him, he doesn't know how to act cool, his only experience with infiltration is in Virtual Reality simulations - video games, basically. If he's like ANYONE, he's like the player.<br />
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His standing changes toward the end of the game, once the shit hits the fan. Only after he's discovered Snake's identity, after he's been tortured and interrogated as Snake has, and after Snake LITERALLY passes the sword onto him do we discover more about Raiden, his past, and his connection to the antagonist - a child soldier raised by the bad guy who repressed his violent memories, becoming the plain and hollow shell you meet at the start of the game. Only at this point is Raiden trusted to take part in the melodrama and carry the story through to the end. He transitions from empty vehicle to living legend.<br />
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<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/travistouchdownbottom_zpsfa5bc278.jpg"><br />
<br />
Travis Touchdown, of No More Heroes, comes from a similar situation as Raiden's, but to the <i>n</i>th degree. Whereas Raiden is modeled like a blank slate for the player to project onto, Travis is actually designed as a caricature of the game's key demographic - a childish, stylized hipster with violent fantasies who likes Quentin Tarentino as much as he likes gay moe anime bullshit. (He also embodies creator Suda51's own sensibilities as a Japanese developer marketing largely toward Western males - Suda NEEDS guys like Travis to exist.)<br />
<br />
He considers himself worldly, but actually has a very narrow set of interests. Despite the size of his hometown of Santa Destroy, the player can only enter places Travis would ever deign to visit: a niche resale boutique, a video store that sells foreign bootlegs, the workshop of the hot doctor where he soups up his lightsaber, and the pro-wrestler's office where Travis may or may not realize he is not being taught special techniques so much as being molested.<br />
<br />
Outside of his fantasy career as an assassin, the rest of the game is framed by his mostly boring life. He makes walking-around money through terrible part-time jobs, eats pizza to heal, and takes a dump to save his data.<br />
<br />
But, again, as with Raiden, things change toward the end of the game. Travis discovers that he has complicated, messy relationships with several of the people involved in his line of work, and he's not very happy about it. Killing people is cool, but matters of family and intimacy is lame and frustrating. While Raiden is liberated by his connection to the story, Travis is trapped by his. His story suggests that, like the player, he wants the fun of the assassin's lifestyle without any of the drawbacks.<br />
<br />
Before I get to Bayonetta, let me talk about one more avatar. This time, from a movie. No, not Avatar!<br />
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<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/25V_ZgIM5nQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Tony Jaa in Tom Yung Goong (aka The Protector).<br />
<br />
Like all the greatest works of art, The Protector revels in the conventions of its medium while musing on their necessity. At least, I think so.<br />
<br />
In the movie, Tony Jaa lives happily in a village outside of Chiang Mai with his elephants, having been descended from a long line of guys who take care of elephants in villages. During a festival, his two elephants - his BEST FRIENDS - are stolen. Apparently, the theft of the elephants are a demonstration of force by transgendered gangster Madame Rose, who is simultaneously picking off her competitors so she can run the gang. The elephant rustling is simply the smaller part of a larger plan.<br />
<br />
Now, there are scenes of gangsters talking about gangster politics, there's a detective trying to figure out what they're up to, politicians who are trying to cover it up - all this PLOT stuff.<br />
<br />
Half of these scenes end with Tony Jaa crashing through a window into some dude's sternum and shouting, <b>"Where are my elephants?!</b><br />
<br />
Tony is in the same corner as the audience. They didn't come here to watch convoluted and nonsensical political machinations play out. <i>They came here to see Tony Jaa get <b>really super mad</b> at these guys about his elephants. </i><br />
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<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/bayonetta-1_zpsba8ce16a.jpg"><br />
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There's an argument to the made for the amnesiac protagonist. From the get-go, it puts the character and the player on the same page.<br />
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Bayonetta is casually interested in finding out more about herself, but she lives mostly in the now. She knows she's a witch with supernatural powers, so she's contractually obligated by demons in Inferno to rebel against the equally monstrous angels of Paradiso.<br />
<br />
This works out nicely for her, because she loves beating up angels. And as the star of the single deepest and responsive spectacle fighter of the decade, so does the player.<br />
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Boss characters are trotted out periodically who pontificate aloud about their purpose, their plans for the resurrection of their god, and how Bayonetta might be at least tangentially involved. But Bayonetta is too impatient. She routinely tells other characters to shut up unless they are 1) willing to fight, or 2) going to give her something with which to have a more exciting fight with something else.<br />
<br />
Before I move on, I think it's important to point out that Bayonetta's distinctiveness is most apparent in the playing of the game. Both she and Kratos wreak terrible havoc upon their victims, but while Kratos's gouging violence is accompanied by blaring horns and Ben Hurr-ish booming percussion, Bayonetta is usually supported by frolicking electro-bubblegum pop as she blows kisses at enemies to lock on to them. It's like dancing at a club - the catharsis comes less in the violent pay-off and more in the doing, the improvising.<br />
<br />
I find that both because of her programming and her attitude, Bayonetta is an effective conduit for the player - you always want what she wants.<br />
<br />
That's why I find it weird that we're having these issues.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://kotaku.com/5917400/youll-want-to-protect-the-new-less-curvy-lara-croft">You'll 'want to protect' the new, less curvy Lara Croft</a></b><br />
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This is an older one, but it was considered pretty problematic when it came to light. Basically, the executive producer of the new Tomb Raider believed that getting players to identify with a female protagonist was a lost cause, so he assumed that players would feel more comfortable considering themselves as Lara Croft's "helper" or guardian.<br />
<br />
I still haven't played Tomb Raider, so this might just be an executive thinking the worst of his demographic and saying what he assumes they want to hear. But it's strange in light of this more recent piece of news.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/20/publishers-rejected-remember-me-because-of-female-lead/">Publishers rejected Remember Me because of female lead</a></b><br />
<blockquote>"We had people tell us, 'You can't make a dude like the player kiss another dude in the game, that's going to feel awkward.'" For Morris, that response is puzzling. "I'm like, 'If you think like that, there's no way the medium's going to mature,'" he said. "There's a level of immersion that you need to be at, but it's not like your sexual orientation is being questioned by playing a game. I don't know, that's extremely weird to me."</blockquote>Part of me thought that maybe the story was a PR stunt, or maybe a bit of sour grapes from being rejected by other publishers. But I dunno. Do executives think that female protagonists aren't worth backing, or is the common player REALLY that uncomfortable stepping into a lady's shoes?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/76456970.html">Only 18% of players were FemShep in Mass effect 3</a>, so, I dunno, I guess so.<br />
<br />
It seems like developers believe there are two courses when it comes to making a female protagonist for a video game.<br />
<br />
1) Design a decent character, alienate your male audience, and lose money.<br />
<br />
2) Design a sexualized character in order to appeal to males, limit publicity out of embarrassment, lose money.<br />
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What's interesting about #2 is that <i>it doesn't seem to be an issue in the Japanese market.</i> For <i>various</i> reasons.<br />
<br />
That's how we end up with characters like Bayonetta.Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-61031660654820362162013-03-03T15:18:00.000-05:002013-08-05T11:07:21.510-04:00So I played Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Silent Hill: DownpourEDIT 3/7/13: Check this out! <a href="http://operationrainfall.com/etsu-tamari-on-mgr-revengeance-story-changes/">http://operationrainfall.com/etsu-tamari-on-mgr-revengeance-story-changes/</a><br />
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<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Wd0RJkE-ujs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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I think the reason there are so many Metal Gear Solid games set in the past is because Kojima has a genuine interest in history.<br />
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Games like Snake Eater and Peace Walker are pieces of historical fiction. The Cold War makes for a good setting because of all of the opportunities for espionage.<br />
<br />
But also because it was an era in human history when films started to reflect the fears of society instead of repressing them. From <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i> to <i>Godzilla</i> to <i>On the Beach</i>, people everywhere started to understand that the future was as terrifying as it was promising.<br />
<br />
Kojima has demonstrated his love for film from the beginning of his career, with his Michael Biehn-ish Solid Snake and his Sean Connery-esque Big Boss. That love is made more obvious in Snake Eater and Peace Walker, where characters actually start bringing up specific movies. One character even mentions actually being inspired by moves like <i>Dr. Stranglove</i> and <i>2001</i>.<br />
<br />
Kojima is basically wearing his greatest desire on his sleeve. He wants all video games to start capturing the zeitgeist of the era, as movies did during the Cold War.<br />
<br />
As the Metal Gear series has been doing all this time. From the Genome Project to the Patriot Act to the War on Terror, Metal Gear has been unique amongst most games for <i>actually kind of wanting to say something about the world.</i><br />
<br />
So it's not surprising that Kojima wanted <b>Revengeance</b> to star, not Raiden, but the cybernetic ninja Gray Fox. Seeing as he doesn't make it through Metal Gear Solid, a game starring Gray Fox would certainly have to be set earlier in his life - another prequel.<br />
<br />
Considering this initial idea, and the presence of Kojima's upcoming <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5IVOs5Pxh8">Ground Zeroes</a>, I think he knows that the Cold War has the richest veins for him to tap into.<br />
<br />
The only other option is to keep going into the future. And well, considering how Metal Gear Solid 4 ended, there are only so many ways to take the story without it becoming more crazy and less relatable to anything he's interested in addressing.<br />
<br />
<b>Revengeance</b> is definitely a Metal Gear game. But it's <i>not</i> a Kojima game. It, too, addresses real world concerns, but it also removes what little subtlety remained in the series' storytelling.<br />
<br />
September 11, 2001 is mentioned. What's "wrong with America" is specifically addressed. It's pretty silly but, at the same time, at least it's something.<br />
<br />
Another weird thing about Revengeance is that it's a little contradictory to the rest of the series. Metal Gear Solid on the whole is anti-war - there's always a non-lethal solution to a problem in most of the games. That's patently untrue in Revengeance, a game based on cutting people into multiple pieces. Raiden's violent nature is addressed eventually, <i>almost</i> to a satisfactory degree, but most of the cast is still pretty gleeful about his killing prowess.<br />
<br />
But, hey, it's an action game!<br />
<br />
The funny thing is, even though there's a huge emphasis based on cutting things in half, the most fun parts of the game are the boss fights during which you use bullet-time Free Blade mode to find the enemy's weakpoint and cut through their defense. Most of the boss fights are based on surviving while you figure out what the trick is. In that way, it's a lot like a Metal Gear game.<br />
<br />
The rest of the game is fun, to be sure, fast and frictive, but it's a lot more mindless in comparison. In fighting regular enemies, I was rarely ever careful with my selection of attacks. I was never super concerned with juggling or crowd control. My whole thing was just, "I gotta hurt these guys enough until I can cut them in half."<br />
<br />
According to the game, all cyborgs have a glowing spine in them, and if you can cut it out of them and grab it before it hits the floor and goes splat, you can absorb its Glowing Spine Juice. It doesn't make any sense, but it makes for a super interesting mechanic. Not only does absorbing these electrolytes give you sweet points, it also <i>restores your health and Super Slow Down Energy completely.</i><br />
<br />
It's a super neat idea, linking your ability to heal to your killing prowess. But it's basically undermined by the fact that, well, you can also heal by just picking up healing stuff that's lying around. They work like Rations do in the other Metal Gear games - if you have at least one, you'll be healed when your life is reduced to zero.<br />
<br />
Of all the mechanics that made the transition to Revengeance, this didn't need to be one of them. If my life depended on my accuracy, I would take super great care in killing my enemies with efficacy and seek to improve my skills. Instead, there was always a safety net there.<br />
<br />
Consumable items on the whole are not necessary, but they're present anyway. It seems silly to build a game on lightning-quick slice-and-dice action, and then have sub-weapons that you have to stand still and point to use. Exploding things just doesn't feel as fun as cutting them. The only time they're fun to use is in VR Training Missions, which makes you use them in a context that is never repeated in the main game.<br />
<br />
The sub-weapons in Revengeance stand in great contrast to the arsenal at your disposal in Kojima's other great action production, <b>Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner</b>. Honestly, ZoE's combat on the whole is more thoughtful while being every bit as quick.<br />
<br />
I was most thoughtful during some of the stealth sequences where some big bruisers were involved. Most of the time, though, being discovered is merely a nuisance - and in some cases, a blessing, because it means more butts to cut!!<br />
<br />
I sound super down on it, but it's definitely worth playing. Most of the set pieces are pretty engaging, some of the new characters are actually interesting, all the boss fights are great, and it's super fast paced. My final time was about 5 hours, not counting deaths!<br />
<br />
That said - though they're KIIIINDA like apples are oranges - if you want to play an action game and don't care one way or the other about Metal Gear, go for <a href="http://terryplays.blogspot.com/2013/02/so-i-played-dmc.html">DmC</a>. I find it more cohesive and, frankly, prettier.<br />
<br />
For more Konami action goodness similar to Revengeance, consider: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoZeMgSBXJA">Zone of the Enders</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RCmbIwizjY">Neo Contra</a>.<br />
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<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ApxI-jeRCxE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
SPEAKING OF TORCH-PASSING<br />
<br />
I think Team Silent knew when it was time to stop making Silent Hill games and why.<br />
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Games in a series, by nature, have a lot of shared aspects. If you are able to expect what's about to happen, because it happened before, and then it happens, it's not scary or special.<br />
<br />
Some of the shabbier Silent Hills have simply taken the same formula and slipped in a slightly different story. What I thought was brilliant about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvQNVksqDlg">Shattered Memories</a> is that it took a story that's been told before and completely changed the formula, ultimately changing the nature of the story as well.<br />
<br />
The important thing in the best Silent Hill games is a simple story [beneath all the dense symbolism]. Go to Silent Hill, find your daughter. Go to Silent Hill, find your wife. The scary thing is that you know you can't leave until you've done what you came to do.<br />
<br />
In <b>Downpour</b>, your presence in Silent Hill is basically an accident. Your goal is to get out. I mean... alright. The problem with that is you KNOW you're not going to get out until the game wants you to, so there isn't, like... an important thing to do. It's basically like the Haunted Mansion.<br />
<br />
It's got a lousy aesthetic. The dumbass monsters, the Haunted Mansion menu designs (complete with woman screaming for no reason??), the not-that-shitty but super-repetitive soundtrack.<br />
<br />
The stuff I liked best were the moments where the game's environment would warp to deceive your understanding of its layout - a clever idea and an <i>actually impressive</i> technical trick.<br />
<br />
I also like the few scares that manifest in places while you're not looking, even if you JUST searched there. It's a great way to prove that, even with full control of the camera, you're not in control of your reality.<br />
<br />
But most of those stop happening towards the end. In fact, the end is pretty predictable. Whereas every other Silent Hill kind of goes crazy at the climax, Downpour basically sticks with the Real World/Other World formula to the end.<br />
<br />
I… yeah, I dunno. I fucking hate Silent Hill fans. They complained about a lack of combat in Shattered Memores, so, OH JOY!! They added it back in for Downpour!!!<br />
<br />
BECAUSE FIGHTING IS MY FAVORITE PART OF SILENT HILL GAMES<br />
<br />
I LOVE IT SO MUCH<br />
<br />
Because, like, running from your fears and transgressions isn't what Silent Hill is about at all.<br />
<br />
It's about shooting something six times with a handgun or twice with a shotgun.<br />
<br />
THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT<br />
<br />
REMEMBER??????<br />
<br />
<b>YOU DOPES</b><br />
<br />
Hey, you know what should be in the next Silent Hill?<br />
<br />
<b>Nothing.</b><br />
<br />
There should never be another Silent Hill.<br />
<br />
You know why?<br />
<br />
Because <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtxW53dFhA8">Silent Hill: Book of Memories</a> exists.<br />
<br />
You can tell Book of Memories is a Silent Hill game because there's rusty metal and shambling monsters everywhere.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://conquerorwurm.tumblr.com/post/19928428022/shit-gets-rusty-all-doors-are-locked">If it looks like a duck, amirite???</a><br />
<br />
Whatever. If we couldn't appreciate Shattered Memories, this is what we deserve.<br />
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<img src="http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/kefkajr/silenthilldefenseforceb_zps2ea1f70d.png">Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7840712850083061333.post-28147197657910860882013-02-06T22:25:00.003-05:002013-03-04T00:09:48.721-05:00So I played DmC<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/icOM7EIhlys" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
I'm <i>pretty</i> familiar with Devil May Cry.<br />
<br />
I played the first right when it came out. From what I understand, it hasn't aged so well.<br />
<br />
When it came out, it was revolutionary. God of War and 2004's Ninja Gaiden wouldn't have been things without it.<br />
<br />
It was kind of a big deal for three reasons.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Style Points</b><br />
<br />
There are some games, like Kingdom Hearts or Street Fighter II on easy mode, where all you have to do is use one trick over and over to win, neglecting all other options.<br />
<br />
Devil May Cry doesn't work that way. If you use Stinger over and over, you won't get many style points. If you don't get enough style points by the end of a mission you won't get a good ranking. If you don't have a good ranking, you won't get enough Red Orbs to buy upgrades and useful items.<br />
<br />
What's brilliant about this is that the player is forced to use all of Dante's skills to dispatch enemies and gain points so that you can dispatch tougher enemies with an even <i>greater</i> variety of moves.<br />
<br />
Not only does this system teach the player the utility of each move, the system of tracking the player's methods is referred to as Style, which tells us so much about Dante and the world of Devil May Cry - a world where the quality of kills is more important than the quantity of kills.<br />
<br />
Style Points are brilliant because its serves to strengthen both the game's substance, and its... uh, style.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Dante Has Unlimited Ammo</b><br />
<br />
This is especially interesting considering Devil May Cry was originally supposed to be an entry in the Resident Evil series, which emphasized <i>conserving</i> ammo.<br />
<br />
In ditching a running counter of Dante's ammunition, the game emphasizes that, at its core, it's not about survival, but about <i>fucking dominating.</i><br />
<br />
But the underlying message is even more important. Devil May Cry shows that, even with graphics getting more realistic all the time (at least in 2001), gameplay mechanics shouldn't be founded in realism if it doesn't make them fun.<br />
<br />
That philosophy still carries through even the most mature of Capcom games. Why else is everything in Resident Evil surrounded by a glowing pillar of light?<br />
<br />
<b>3. It's dumb as hell</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/79ddOyvnh6o" width="640"></iframe><br />
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All sorts of people, casuals and journalists alike, consider gameplay and story to be like two different things. But they both make up <i>the one thing</i>, like a layer cake. They may have been mixed in separate separate bowls, but right now they're both on the disc in my Playstation.<br />
<br />
That may or may not have anything to do with Devil May Cry's story. Most people understand it. Some people don't. They call it stupid. As though the whole game isn't stupid. As though they haven't spent twelve hours suspending bodies in the air with speeding bullets.<br />
<br />
Devil May Cry - the story of a guy descended from a demon and a human/angel who gets paid (maybe???) to hunt demons - is something of an anachronism. In 2001, there were games that were trying to reach the next step in storytelling. Final Fantasy X. Metal Gear Solid 2. Silent Hill 2. <br />
<br />
Devil May Cry heads straight in the opposite direction. There's no big twist. There's no social commentary. Its demon-slaying story is so basic, reminiscent of a NES game. When anything involves emotion, they're obvious and melodramatic. It's all plain to see. Its style IS its substance.<br />
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<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v2aE_IY7dwM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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What's funny about the new <b>DmC</b> is that it gets to have its cake, and then have a whole other cake. It's incredibly faithful to the series while feeling fresh in a couple of ways, too.<br />
<br />
Dante still has fucking stupid one-liners and acts like a douche bag, like he always did, but in a way that a <i>real</i> person with demon powers would be a cocky douche bag. He also gets to talk about himself and, amazingly, empathize with Kat, another wayward misfit with an affinity for the occult. It also helps that the voice acting is excellent.<br />
<br />
What DmC uses really effectively is the series' setting - basically in that it <i>has</i> none. They always take place in some vaguely European city that seems to also have a castle or some shit.<br />
<br />
Throw in Limbo - the alternate dimension that perverts reality and bends, explodes, and collapses around Dante - and you have a lot of really fucking neat visual ideas. Some games would be satisfied to make Limbo look like the real world, throw on a filter, and call it a day. Ninja Theory packs big ideas and a lot of detail into even the briefest sequences.<br />
<br />
Having played a lot of Hideki Kamiya's oeuvre - Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Bayonetta - if you pretended Kamiya directed DmC as well, it would make perfect sense. It feels like a logical progression of all the ideas that he's interested in. It's fast, it's fluid, and it's often QUITE beautiful.<br />
<br />
And yet, it's made in the UK, and it features songs by an Atlanta band called Combichrist. Faithful and fresh.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Dante can eat any kind of pizza, as long as it doesn't have any olives on it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9"><a href="http://devilmaycry.wikia.com/wiki/Dante#cite_note-9">[10]</a></sup> <br />
<ul><li>Dante can eat a large pizza in five minutes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://devilmaycry.wikia.com/wiki/Dante#cite_note-10">[11]</a></sup> </li>
</ul></blockquote>Terryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03277228664605492520noreply@blogger.com2