It's like the holidays hit, and everything got warped into some type of stress induced vortex. They always do. Over time I've learned to be... not dismissive of other peoples stress, but appropriately assess other peoples stress. I'm actually kinda proud of myself this year, as there were many times that I didn't let other peoples "issues" affect me. Overall though, it was a better holiday season. A new house, a new computer coupled with family and friends resulted in a fairly eventful Christmas. I hope everyone else had a similar, if not equally enjoyable experience.
...So I haven't done a blog in a few weeks and I have no one to clean my images while I'm away. Someone pass the windex.
Hail to the king?
Duke Nukem Forever was announced on April 28th 1997.
I was ten years old.
And that's really all I have to say.
The level of shame that some of the long standing developers need to come into grip with, is so mind-boggling, my attempts to even begin to fathom what thoughts might have gone through some of their minds is difficult to even comprehend. Yahtzee pointed out probably summed up the most disgusting aspect of the whole situation yet: In this cut-throat industry, where small developers with great idea's are cast aside by monolithic publishers: How dare anyone could have supported this project, for this long. Take-Two apparently sued 3D Realms for their inability to deliver....anything...
If there was ever an argument against the terminology of "When it's Done", this is it.
I personally never understood why people were clamoring for this game. I understood why after Duke Nukem 3D for sure, I loved that game to death, but as the....decade....past the sheer concept of what Duke is died. He became a parody in the eye's of time, if the game had been released at this time it would have been blasted probably as too generic.
Congrats: Your now irrelevant. It's interesting to note though that development for this atrocity actually picked up steam a few years back. The whole situation was documented in this fantastic article from Wired, that not so surprisingly, puts the blame at long lasting development George Broussard.
The article is a bit difficult to follow at times, not because it's a poor article but the story is just heart-wrenching at least for me. I'm currently in taking 3D modeling and animation classes, and eventually want a career somewhere in Game development. The concept that so much art assets, work and energy would never see the light of day due to a egotistical scatterbrained development lead and an irrational amount of funding is beyond me.
I get into PC gaming
I have a couple blogs that I did concerning my triumphant(?) return to PC gaming.
I'm currently blasting through Dragon Age: Origins and loving it. Like a lot of people who have it on PC, I'm a bit confused on how the game actually works on a console. The combat reminds me quite a bit of Final Fantasy XII, even down to their Tactics/Gambits system. It's neat to see that the RPG genre is diversified enough to see such complimentary adaptations of gameplay mechanics.
It was neat going back into PC gaming, and it seems my experiences struck a cord with a lot of people. I left PC gaming for reasons that I found were very relatable: I own every console/ PC gaming is generally expensive.
What's kinda funny that my first experience with something..."console-esque" on the PC was so horrible. Halo 2 PC, and apparently Xbox Live for PC in general from everyone I've talked too is something to generally avoid. It's a future of PC Gaming I want no part in. Love Steam though. TORCHLIGHT FOR FIVE DOLLARS?! OMGZ!
Even with the minor issues, I haven't looked back though. I have named my PC, Colonel Philbright Westriverside Warehouserock XXVI, and we have tea together and you are not invited!
...
The Return of Monkey Island
I met David Grossman at PAX this year. He signed my Monkey Island poster.
Very cool. It was very awkward. I kinda ran into him at the TellTale booth, and I quickly recognized him and thanked him for contributing to warping my childhood :P
When I was a kid me, and half of the class, would sit in the computer labs all screaming at one poor kid trying to navigate Guybrush Threepwood through his adventures. The DOS game was even old back then, but we generally did not care. Latter in life I would return to the series and realize how genius it truly was. Things that went over my head as a kid were more apparent.
He was very kind, another Telltale guy watching our conversation joked that they never get over the fact that they work with Grossman (He said sarcastically.) He admitted that old Lucas Arts games in general were used as teaching tools for English as a second language, a concept that blew my mind open immediately. The literal use of verbs to interact with objects, sure there was the Humongous stuff, but I never thought the original Lucas Arts games would function in the same manner.
Speaking of TellTale, I think they won my favorite developer award, or something. It's one thing to revive Monkey Island, but like the fourth game taught us: There are pitfalls in succeeding. Tales of Monkey Island was absolute pleasant surprise this year, equal to Monkey Island 2 (Personal favorite) and quite possibly the funniest in the series. I implore anyone who simply want's to have a good laugh to check it out, the remake of the first Monkey Island was emotionally gripping for me.
Wait, I actually met a bunch of people this year.
I WILL EAT YOUR BRAINS That's Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi who showed up at a local GameStop. I got my collector edition signed, while I took pictures of him and Major Nelson meeting. It was actually pretty freaking cool.
Approves. I forgot who this creepy guy is. Name escapes me.
Oh, Sega
Yakuza 3 was finally announced to be released next year. I would like to see the first two games get some type of re-release in the future, but until then it's good to see Sega finally realizing that this series has interest outside of Japan. Just not in the manner that they initially foresaw, like Yakuza 2 the game will retain it's original Japanese voice track. I applaud them for accepting the obvious.
Resonance of Fate is a JRPG to be released next year made by Tri-Ace. The original name of the game in Japan is " End of Eternity", which of course makes no sense.
I mean, who in their right mind would name anything "End of Eternity"?! That's some typical Japanese to English, mismatched crap that I'm happy the localization department at Sega has corrected in some form or another. To shame anyone who has previously used that term before! Learn English dammit!
That includes you, cherished science fiction writer Issac Asimov! Someone from Sega should clean this up!
The PSPGo
With everyone clamoring for digital distribution, this year brought us a little strange device that for many has been classified as a failure: The PSPGo.
Many retailers simply refused to stock the device overseas due to it's all digital format. It's a step in the right direction, but the real problem came when the lack of any support regarding UMD came into play, resulting in rumors that a UMD like add-on is in the works: Which if released, would bring irony to a whole new level.
YOU WILL ENJOY FACEBOOK!
Watching my friends cringe after my PS3 decided to flood my status updates with trophy announcements was pretty funny. I don't understand why both Microsoft and Sony jumped for this feature, but both consoles support Facebook some way or another.
Again, I don't understand why it's better clicking on every letter individually versus sitting at a computer and typing a status comment.
You better "Like" this blog post.
GiantBomb happenings
Speaking of Sony and trophy information, it's nice to see where there screwed up priorities are regarding the sharing of information regarding their trophies. Apparently Facebook can get easy access, but when it comes to sharing trophy data with any other website, which is a basic function regarding achievement style data: consider yourself fucked.
Tony Hawk Ride gives birth to my favorite Penny Arcade comic ever.
After Tony defended his broken product, claiming that people were biased against it, the fine folks at Penny Arcade were there to point out the obvious.
Shinji Hashimoto shouldn't do interviews.
I can do an entire blog of all the stupid crap that Square has stated publicly this year, but nothing takes the cake quite like Square's vice president Shinji Hashimoto and his proclamation about the future of the Chrono Series.
Why does everyone ask about Chrono Trigger? [after being told that the games are a very much loved] That's not what the sales tell me!. If people want a sequel, they should buy more! (Chrono Trigger DS)
I'm sorry, Symphony you wanted to say something?
@vidiot: Seriously, is that VP retarded? According to Wikipedia which cites two sources for this claim -
"Chrono Trigger sold more than 2.36 million copies in Japan and 290,000 abroad, reaching two million in sales in only two months. It ended 1995 as the third best-selling game of the year" It also mentions, and cites sources - "Chrono Cross shipped 850,000 and 650,000 units in Japan and abroad respectively" Let's compare some others that did see subsequent sequels recently - Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - "[I]t had estimated U.S. sales of 630,000 copies, with revenues of $23 million. In Japan, the original sold 533,373 copies as of 2008." Pretty similar sales, a bit less than Chrono Cross, and it saw a recent (albeit pretty bad) sequel... Saga Frontier 2 - "SaGa Frontier 2 has sold over 675,000 copies in Japan as of December 2004" No mention of sales abroad, but that warranted the release of Unlimited Saga (which was panned and labeled as terrible in the West). Then there's their new games like Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery which are just godawful... so it's okay to basically throw away money on publishing crap games like these (okay, I'm sure they turned a profit, but still...) but not on working on a tried and true franchise that HAS the sales numbers to prove it's loved? *boggles* Shinji Hashimoto statement strikes me as that of someone who has either no concept of the franchise he's talking about or no concept of sales. Possibly both. I wouldn't be surprised if (hell, I'm willing to bet on it) his only knowledge of the game is the DS port and he's basing his sales figures off of that alone. Because a DS port of a game is definitely going to tell you how well a full-fledged console game would sell, right? That's like guessing FFXIII's sales off of the FFIV port to the DS or a better analogy would be basing the sales of an FFVII remake off of the sales of Crisis Core on the PSP (cause we know EVERY FFVII fan bought that game (and a PSP to play it on), right?!)
*facepalm*
Edit: I should note that if the issue were that the original creators of the Chrono franchise had no desire to work on it any more, that would be another matter entirely... and it does seem like, as Yasunori Mitsuda (who showed interest in working on the score) put it, "there are a lot of politics involved [with the franchise]". So even if the sales numbers prove the game would sell, the franchise might not have the backing of the creative team that made the games so endearing in the first place.
From left to right: Guy who swears and opens doors, Player character, Other guy that swears and opens door, Commander guy who swears and doesn't do anything right. Killzone 2 is a phenomenal game. It's pacing at times I would argue is better than Modern Warfare 2. It has a phenomenal set pieces, the multiplayer is phenomenal, the action is dense and it's orchestral score is brilliant. Tons of time and money went into this game.
Killzone 2 doesn't know what it wants to be. At one point a main character dies, the orchestral music rises, the direction of the cutscene is perfect: And I don't care.
In fact, my main concern was who was going to open up doors now for me. There was a loading screen that passed by claiming the character who died was known for his "joking personality". I have no idea what the hell this loading screen was talking about. I think he said a "Your mom" joke once while playing, so I guess he appeals to the 4th grader demographic. To me he was just another faceless, cursing futuristic solider.
Initially Killzone's 2 plot generally confused me. It was my first game in the series, and there was no attempt to bring newcomers into the context of the plot. Not even a blurb in the instruction manual.
From an earlier blog a few hours into the campaign:
The Hellghast are bad. I know this because they have British accents and have red eyes. I'm a good guy. People call me Sev. I'm with some other people. They tell me what to do. They also swear. I'm on the Hellghan planet. The Hellghast don't like that.
The back-story of the ISA and the HellGhast is very interesting. I read it on a few websites, I don't understand why we can't integrate all that interesting context into the actual game.
Best Story: Modern Warfare 2
Don't worry Japan. Regardless of the miss-translation, it's still not going to make a lick of sense.
Modern Warfare 2 wins my best story award.
Yes, I said in another thread that the person who wrote the plot to this game should be....*ahem*..."Fired", and that the plot was so ludicrous that it was "...a Michael Bay movie that not even Michael Bay would touch."
I've also been an adamant and staunch critic of the No Russian level, a subject matter that I have discussed to death, and I don't want to cover here. If your inclined to give your opinion, please, please, please PM me.
Overall, Modern Warfare 2 wins Best Story to how phenomenally stupid it is. Let me touch on just one small example:
Makarov, a highly publicized terrorist who goes by name and face in numerous news articles presented to you prior to the No Russian level, decides the best way to hide the identity of his ultra-nationalist Russian comrades and himself is speaking in English.
Little do people know that speaking in another language: changes your appearance.
So, the next time you want to shoplift at a grocery store, or if your in a situation where you want to commit a crime and are on camera....Like an international airport....Speak in a different language.
Crap, it doesn't have to be an actual language, speak in tongues...it's fun, I do it all the time.
Does it matter that during this same level, another terrorist not including yourself dies and is left on the runway? Nah, we don't have time think or talk about this.
Notice: Modern Warfare 2 was my favorite first person shooter this year, over ODST and Killzone 2. It's level design was great, and I am a huge fan of composer Hans Zimmer. The production values are equally amazing, and the roller-coaster like feeling it gives is great. It is perfectly acceptable to appreciate the game and the story separately.
Modern Warfare 2 is NOT my best story in the year award. I'm just pulling your leg and annoying you. :P
Game that surprised the crap out of me
One of the best game's this year is Batman?! If you would have told me that one of my favorite games this year was Batman I would have laughed at you. RockSteady, a company I have never heard of, delivered not just a great Batman game but the best superhero game of all time.
Sorry X-Men Arcade. :P
What's great is that you can clearly see the developers who were making this game, loved what they were doing and had great respect over what they were doing. When you can visually identify that, it's a beautiful thing. The game's mechanics are great in that you actually feel like the caped crusader. If you haven't had the time or effort to check this game out, I strongly recommend you just run out and purchase it.
Batman also grows a beard over the course of the game. That's awesome.
Game that should have been nominated for more awards.
Infamous came out at a strange time, going head to head with the likes of Prototype. In my opinion, Infamous is the superior game by far. Sucker and Punch proved themselves as phenomenal developers with the Sly Cooper series, but Infamous and it's dark brooding Seattle WTO atmosphere takes the cake. Zap. The character, even the powers of Cole are not exactly "new", but the game does enough from a presentation standpoint to take what is essentially a very basic comic book story and make it new. There's a ton of parkour being used in games today, throw in super powers and by the end of the game you feel invincible. It's not perfect, but it seems to have been kinda forgotten by end of this year. It's too bad.
I am a terrible, terrible person for not playing the following games.
I haven't checked out Demon Souls, which apparently won Gamespot's game of the year award. I don't know, I haven't really seen anything that has impressed me online about it. I've heard it's a game you have to play to appreciate, but I never had a hankering for old-school Kings Field like stuff, still I'm intrigued.
There's also something about a Street Fighter 4 that a ton of people are into. I guess those were pretty rad games this year.
I also have yet to play Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. That will be corrected soon :P
(Notice: I'm currently playing through Assassins Creed 2 and Dragon Age Origins, they are both not really on my list anywhere but they are both awesome.)
My Game of the year.
I played so many good games this year, but if I had to choose just one.... You know something is right when your favorite character doesn't speak a word of English. Uncharted 2 does so much right it almost frustrates me.
I've heard people complain about the platforming, which is still stiff like the first game. But the checkpoint system is so forgiving, I find it difficult to rally against the whole game because of it. From a presentation standpoint it blows everything out of the water. Uncharted 2 knows what it is, and we are all thankful for it.
It's one thing to say that games can rival movies, but Uncharted 2 is better than just about every goofy contemporary take on Indiana Jones that I've ever seen. Seldom do we take notice of the acting in a game, you can't avoid talking about Uncharted 2 without referencing the superb job that Nolan North does.
The gameplay is solid and the level design solid. Awkward mechanics that were noticeable in the previous game have been touched up on, making the combination between narrative/shooting/stealth/and punching dudes in the face so fluid it's quite the sight to behold.
With all the games concerning space marines, Uncharted 2's premise and style, no matter how simplistic is a breath of fresh air.
I went on about it previously in another blog, but if I want to single out my favorite game this year: This has to be it.
And Tenzin will fucking cut you.
Onward into the future
I'm worried about gaming in 2010.
I'm worried about the conflicting things I've heard regarding Final Fantasy XIII. I'm worried about BioShock 2. I'm worried that Mass Effect 2 won't be up to snuff. I think revisiting the Sands of Time trilogy for Prince of Persia is strange. I have yet to be sold on Halo: Reach. I'm afraid Tony Hawk will release Tony Hawk Ride 2.
Yet at the same time, I have a strange sense of optimism. Not completely optimistic, but aware that my concerns can easily be flipped. Regardless what 2010 brings, I look forward to it.
Edit: User Tiwi demanded my mention of him in this blog. So here, I am mentioning him.
12 Comments
Today Crysis simply decided to stop working. I don't know why.
After messing around with it for a few hours, trying every troubleshooting method in the book, I by chance found a solution buried deep in a web-forum. There seems to be a bunch of people having the same problem, the game simply goes to a black screen without bothering to load. There's no real indication to what causes this to happen at all, but the solution I found was deleting my profiles folder, specifically the folder named "Default". (Another is made in it's place when it starts working again.)
Again, really no idea why it simply decided no to load. Why a profile folder can make a game stop working is beyond my comprehension, let alone at random.
Funny thing: I finally got my free upgrade to Windows 7.
The problem actually started while using Vista, and continued to persist while I ran 7. Everyone online who seems to share this similar problem point at either it being a 64-bit issue (I don't think the Steam version runs at 64bit) or a Windows 7 issue. Both seem wrong.
I also got Crysis WarHead sitting around on my desktop, running that makes a dialog box wanting to download and install some Visual Studio 2005 redistributable program, which is all fine and dandy, but why it keeps trying to install it onto my fucking CD/DVD Drive instead of my C Drive (No option to change?) is about as confusing as it gets.
The hell have you been?!
My gaming has been quite....spastic as of late. I finished up Tales of Monkey Island the other day (RECOMMEND) and I've been contemplating writing a review. Crysis is almost done, I'm no where near anything resembling an ending in the Witcher. Stalker has sadly been put on hold, but I most certainly will revisit it in the future: Mark my words.
Christmas is coming, which means I'll finally have the opportunity of diving into Assassins Creed 2. I'm really interested in playing that, as I hated the original and it seems like every aspect of that sequel was made to address the first games numerous faults. Dragon Age will also be played.
While I've practically played most of Modern Warfare 2 at a friends house, I'll finally have my own copy of that as well.
ONWARD INTO THE FUTURE!
I hated just about every VGA trailer that was posted a few days ago.
Even Arkham Asylum 2 with it's interesting hints strewn about all over the place had reused art assets abound. The Halo trailer was quite possibly the weakest Halo trailer I've seen Bungie produce. Don't get me wrong: I am most certainly a Halo/Bungie fan-boy. I've read most of the books, and my legendary edition helmet of Halo 3 is signed by Bungie developers I cornered during the midnight-launch. (I can prove and show this off with pics if anyone cares) It's great to see that Halo: Reach will be running on a new engine, but that's a given. People now have natural faces and things look detailed, in other words:
Modern game looks like modern game.
Congrats? Underwhelming compared to past trailers. From a narrative perspective, they could have done/showed so much more in regards to the source material. I hope The Spartans are not portrayed as stereotypical character archetypes like ODST. Anyone who has read the books know that the Spartans don't have time cracking jokes. They are all business, which is what makes them interesting because at the same time the carry subtle idiosyncrasies.
The new Prince of Persia trailer is one of the worst trailer I have seen in years.
Usually when a game relies entirely on CG for it's trailer it can go both ways, but the new Prince of Persia has the audacity of not only not showing you anything but being completely interchangeable with every entry in The Sands Of Time Trilogy. Even the first.
Technically this should make sense, given the fact that it takes place during the Sands trilogy. But the lack of any, and I do mean ANY other viable visual of even spoken difference with the rest of the three fucking games. Seriously, take off that stupid subtitle and the end and add either Sands of Time/Warrior Within/Two Thrones, and voila: You have a trailer for said games.
Also: What the hell?! Why are we dropping what was critically acclaimed and commercially successful last year? Anyone? Why the hell does the story between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within need to be told? Why focus on the story that brought us to the least interesting entry in the Sands of Time trilogy? The Sands of Time trilogy ended just fine thank you very much.
Of course everyone is pointing to the new movie being the culprit and change of perspective. Awesome-sauce.
2010
I'm looking toward 2010. Final Fantasy XIII has me strangely pumped, as well as Mass Effect 2 and just about every big profile game pushed back for next year. I'm excited no less. Red Dead Revolver probably has the most effective trailer I've seen in years, my interest changed within a few minutes of watching it.
Anyway, that's it. Nothing else to see here.
Wonder what my next Brain Dump/Public Blog be? I've been think of doing something about the end of the year.
2 Comments
A strange, yet understandable combination of work and finals for my classes I think slowed my normal activity here. It's difficult to gauge, all I know is that I have this huge hankering to sit and write...and write....and write...
In terms of what game stuff I've been doing: Yup, still with the new computer. I need to get back to the 360 though, as I sorta left my progress in TBOGT to focus on all the crazy new stuff that I've been gaming.
I've been thinking deeply about the year in general. I'm surprised and happy about Sony's new-found momentum over the last year. There was a lot of surprises (and disappointments) this year software wise. Who would have thought that one of the best games this year would star Batman? Yes, yes, it is Batman, but well... I don't think it's controversial to state that the game could have gone either way.
I'm going on a tangent. Gotta refocus and... go on another tangent?...
Do you know that Final Fantasy XIII is being released in Japan in only a few days? And over here in only a couple months? I feel weird. It's like when Killzone 2 finally came out, and I'm all like: Wow, it actually exists and stuff.
Vidiot's Brain Dump: Side-effects include running at bright red objects.
Reflection
The good news is that no matter how overtaken I am from...Life...I'm entrenched enough online to usually keep up to date. One article in particular a few days ago caught my eye and I've been thinking about it ever since in the back of my mind. Specifically an interview with the head of EA John Riccitiello with Kotaku. There were a few things that caught my attention:
Apparently the design of this game is in a serious work in progress.
Interview highlights:
"We're still working through things like how to best deal with Mirror's Edge 2," he said during a Wednesday morning interview in New York. "There are some things we learned about that [first] game. It was, I think, a massively innovative product. To be honest with you, I think it's a game that deserves to come back."
"Innovation doesn't mean it all works the first time," he said. "If it did everyone would do it."
And that kind of talk brought him back to Mirror's Edge and its future. He got specific about design decisions relevant to the original team at Mirror's Edge DICE and whoever is on the case — he didn't specify DICE or otherwise — who are pondering a sequel:
"I think Mirror's Edge was a fascinatingly original world.Fascinatingly original art direction. Music and sound design was great. I think the gameplay mechanic was a blast, but was intermittent and the levels didn't work. You found yourself scratching at walls at times, looking for what to do. Sometimes you had a roll going, downhill, slide, jump, slide, jump and then you just got stopped. It sort of got in the way of the fun.
"It was like we couldn't quite decide if we were building Portal or a runner. And I don't think the consumer was ready to switch it up quite that way. You could say it was a sharp and great innovation. I believe that it was. You have to figure out what to do from here if you want it to be a five million seller vs. a one-million unit seller.
"I've had several very lively debates with the dev team. And they are working on it. But there's a couple of different directions you could go.
"You could say: This thing needs to be more traditional. It's first-person game. There's a lot of successful FPS products out there that do really well. We could move in that direction.
"Or [you could say]: This was never about guns. It was about its stark originality. Maybe we can back away from some of those [older] things… and emphasize the smooth play and puzzles and move it toward, if you will, a Portal.
"And they're both valid. Innovation is a lot of times about getting so far, stepping back, assessing and then moving forward. And that's what I'm proud is happening at EA every day."
See that part there where I dropped the bold? That is the part that got my attention.
Before I talk about that specifically, I find this interview actually more telling that I initially thought. There is nothing that I admittedly disagree with, but I do find one aspect very interesting. His quote on "innovation" that I'm going to re-post.
"Innovation doesn't mean it all works the first time," he said. "If it did everyone would do it."
In regards to Mirrors Edge, for me this makes my brain wander.
Yeah, this didn't work as well some individuals thought. For me innovation is not a singular concept, something that cant nailed down or replicated easily with videogames. It's something that should come natural to game design: a new idea. What part of Mirrors Edge was innovative? The mechanics? Running and jumping have been around since forever. The art style? I felt like it was kind of a sad reflection and reminder that games without color seem to flood the current gaming market. The story? Those 2D E-Surance commercial style cutscenes were the butt of jokes, taking literal form at the end of Ryan's video review. The plot was pretty standard shallow-game-popcorn-fare, nothing that was quite memorable.
Was Mirrors Edge innovative? Or was it trying to be innovative? Think about that quote from the scary head of EA guy for a second before you jump in.
Presenting platforming in a first person perspective, a concept that had previously been shunned due to the perspective's limitations. It seemed like a lot of what was Mirrors Edge was, at least from a game play mechanics perspective, counter to the traditional first person game. The game stressed trying to be different on to you. Certain aspects worked wonderfully. The neon color scheme of the city was just awesome, and there are some simply breathtaking moments of escape in the game.
And while mechanics have been done before, there was enough from a presentation perspective, specifically making running and jumping work (for the most part, I'll talk about it's failings in just a bit.) from a first person perspective was more than enough to be deemed "innovative" by me at least.
The problems.
But Mirrors Edge had a laundry list of problems, some of which the interview touched on. Simply: When you weren't running, you weren't having fun. And even when you were running, Mirrors Edge still had more of it's share of problems. Specific prescission platforming is difficult at first person.
Yes absolutely, even with bright red objects telling you where to go, there were moments of sheer frustration trying to decipher where you were supposed to go due to awkward level design trying to replicate a difficulty. Speaking of difficulty, the combat from a hand-to-hand perspective was either fun or brought you to tears and the moments that the game encouraged you to pick up a gun just bit. Who like's dieing a lot?
There were a lot of very specific problems in this game's core design initially. The heart may have been in the right place, but it's execution was faulty being hampered by problems and concepts that don't gel with the goal of this game's design. Speaking of which, what is Mirrors Edge underlying design?
Some people shoot guns. I run. . .Bitch.
Making you feel like a bad-ass parkour runner. Not the bad-ass that carries twelve guns, smokes twelve packs a day and like's to say "Fuck" every other line while kick-butting an alien. I'm talking about the bad-ass that is an entity almost similar to that of the fucking wind. A person that can run and dive over the sides of buildings with ease and decimate enemies, who are stupid enough to get in your way from point A to point B, in the same graceful fashion. Running, picking up momentum, hearing the gun shots whizzing behind you and taking out the solider with a single fast one move maneuver, without skipping a beat in regards to your speed. That's Mirrors Edge.
Does gun play belong in Mirrors Edge? Maybe. But not in the manner that one might think. Everything should be focused on speed, including the weapons regarding how you handle them mechanically. Stopping and gunning didn't work the last time, as well it wont the next time because it's counter to what the design is. Unless they change the design.
Fixing the Mirror.
Unless Mirror's Edge 2 has another game plan completely, which is what I think the big debate over where to go regarding this sequel is, for now at least we can start and acknowledge and face it's multiple problems. Through a process of gameplay mechanic adaptation, we can perhaps add some new ideas, we can also take a look at how a sequel can reinvent itself.
A quick run down:
You die too often. A combination of either poor level design, or not fine-tuning your mechanics enough, or both, regardless you saw death quite a bit in Mirrors Edge. The line between making something fun and challenging is a difficult one to navigate. It's understandable, your leaping off of bottomless pits, almost all the time. To replicate the danger of Parkour, Faith and risking life and limb go hand in hand. Fun story, Prince of Persia was released roughly the same time as Mirror's Edge. It was blasted a bit for being too easy, yet, it was quite fun and scored quite favorably. Like it or not, there are quite a bit of pro's of at least experimenting in making your game "easy". Look at BioShock. VitaChamber anyone? You need to find a balance.
Make the combat flow with the general mechanics. Mirror's Edge had a bunch of punches and kicks, but nothing was more satisfying than the one button disarm. It makes sense. The effectiveness of Faith's abilities from a mechanic perspective. The rest of the combat felt...well off. There was a trophy to do a wall run/kick to the back of the head that I got, and I only did that to get that trophy. That's not a good application.
Go guns or go home? Personally for me, a Mirrors Edge without using guns would make sense. If gunplay is route they wish to take, it needs to be well thought out and addressed. Simply making this game into something akin to a full blown shooter is a bit unsettling unless it was addressed in congress with it's mechanics and themes.
The Story: Fix it. What are in these packages I'm delivering? Why are they important? Why is the government evil? The only thing I see horrible that they have done is making a really clean city. Enough with this ontological metaphorical narrative loops that go nowhere. You can stop and tell me the context and purpose of what I do. It's not that hard. Somewhere between game design and storytelling, I get the feeling sometime designers get freaked over the concept of cut-scenes over interactivity. Whatever works work, just remember your context. Valve stuck Alyx Vance with you in the Halflife episodes to tell you what the hell was going on, Gears of War 2 had a lengthy speech that hit all the necessary points. A goofy animated riot that's put down without any real indication why, against an evil government that likes cameras...Or something... Is not as effective. It wouldn't be bad also to give Faith a personality.
Time Trials: Did anyone really get into this? All the achievements associated with Time Trials except for Chapter 1 are considered "Rare" on GiantBomb. There was a few DLC maps that were released latter, did anyone really bite?
Expanding.
Who likes openworld? From the look of a bunch games recently, I take it a bunch of you do. Would Mirrors Edge benefit from open-world design? I think it could help killing the down time that might eventually appear. I've seen this suggestion a bunch, and I personally like it a bit.
So for the guys at DICE. Keep your head leveled, because somewhere within this mess is something awesome. I'm curious to see how the current design division will eventually evolve, until then we can make wild suggestions and proclamations.
If Mirror's Edge 2 doesn't have flying pigs I will be deeply disappointed.
I fucking mean it: FLYING PIGS! They shoot acid out of their eyes after drinking energy drinks. You gotta hunt them! By throwing Slim Jims at em! They die out of irony!
17 Comments
I'm not as active as I usually am here, the end of the quarter has taken a large portion of my usual weekly-ish gaming updates and forum lurking/posting. The good news is that I vanquished my final paper for one of my online class, the only thing less is to simply clean up.
A few things:
Zeno Clash
It's weird.
The Witcher
This game desperately needs a quick warp option. I'm deeply enjoying this game. Although the choices are so complicated and gray, it can be quite overwhelming some times.
Stalker
YOU ARE DEAD
Monkeying around.
Tales of Monkey Island is still fucking unbelievable. If you don't play this, you are a terrible, terrible person.
I discover PS2 emulation
Yup. I can do it.
It's a little glitchy, I keep having trouble setting it up and keeping it set up. I own an original 60GB PS3, so backward compatibility is not an issue with me. However, you cannot play import PS2's on any PS3's from my knowledge due to bullshit region settings. Watching the beginning of FFX load flawlessly was great to watch, although there seems to be an unfix-able problem regarding Tidus's hair and necklace. Weird.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. I AM ANGRY NO ONE IS JUMPING UP AND DOWN ABOUT THIS GAME. I'm using SSF, which everyone told me was the Sega Saturn emulator. Someone gave me a copy of this game on a DVD years ago, proclaiming that I should try it with an emulator. My old machine couldn't run anything related to the Saturn for the life of it. Anyone good with Sega Saturn emulation? Because SSF is crazy weird. I was able to get it up and running: No problems until the next day when it decided to not run fullscreen with the correct aspect ratio anymore, no matter how much I tell it to in the options. It also looks like garbage, I've seen conflicting videos of this running with emulation all over the place. Some look all jagged like what I see, while others look quite pristine to say the least. Any help would be appreciated.
The computer store seemed like something more akin to someones garage than an actual "store". No real counters, the store had the width of something resembling a large closet, components and random pieces of hardware strewn about without much care or organization. My father bought a computer here, a Mac, back during a time that Apple let other people make hardware that could be considered a Mac. Before the iMac, before Apple took over the hardware side almost exclusively. Anyone remember Power Computing? :P
I sat quietly with a pair of headphones in this small store, which slowly seemed to disappear. I wasn't int the computer store anymore. I was on a crashed prison space ship, no one else seemed to have survived, and if they did...they were to put it bluntly: fucked.
When I got home with the new machine we, tossed in a copy of the game. The castle fly-thru on the menu, the haunting sounds of that space ship, it was great. I'm not going to rave about the classic moment when you first see the waterfall. Good lord I think I starred at that thing for an hour.
The rest of the game was for me a hit-or-miss affair. Regardless it was my first experience with computer gaming that heavily emphasized on computer hardware. While you can argue that Quake deserves this spot, this was the first time I personally had this experience in my possession.
I was a fairly entrenched PC gamer as time continued, but the cost always drained me and my parents growing up. I'm talking about dollars. There has always been the divide too. The difference between consoles and PC's, graphically. When Max Payne was ported to the PS2, I laughed when I saw the neutered version at my friends house. My friend almost blew a gasket when he saw it running on my machine.
This generation of console gaming, has blurred that line in a manner I have never really seen prior. It's almost like we hit some nebulous watershed a few years back. With companies focusing more on their console versions, leaving the PC versions relativity the same. Like a lot of people I know, I didn't think it was really practical to continue with PC gaming, or at least continue buying upgrades. This changed a days ago when I finally got fet up and ordered a new PC.
Vidiot's Brain dump will give you white hair. Make you infertile.
A journey to the dark side.
(Notice: My tenure with current PC games is rather new, thus the gist of these blogs. Most is probably common knowledge, I am aware of this.)
...It's upsetting that the most I talk about in this blog is this game in particular. Beware: Ahead lies opinions.
So far my experiences have all been relatively positive. The amount of feed back from my last blog reminded me why this is the greatest goddamn gaming community on the face of the earth. I ran out, awkwardly on black Friday no-less, to pick up a few PC games with a ton of suggestions from a bunch of users on my mind.
There was one particular purchase that no one suggested. Halo 2.
The game was ported a few years back for PC, but was soon forgotten for the most part. Curious I researched it a bit. I remember it was used as something to push...*ahem*...."Vista gaming", as it was incompatible with XP, something that was immediately corrected by fans. I didn't understand the gravity of what I was about to get into. I was simply curious about what Games for Windowswas. I picked it up without second thought, the idea of some quick dirty achievements was something I liked.
I hate this thing with a passion.
I put the disk in. It asked for my gamertag, which I gave. It proceeded to do...stuff... In fact it asked me my gamer tag a total of three to four times. I don't know why. Without any context or explanation, I first thought that the install was caught in some bizarre loop. When it finally did install, more confusion set in. There were options to Play Halo 2, install a map maker, and install dedicated server software.
Play Halo 2?! Had it already installed?! I scourged my machine for any content. None whatsoever. Alright. I do want to eventually play it.
I noticed on the bottom of Halo 2's in-game menu that it was "copying game files". What?! So it is installing?! Are you installing or not!?
The computer did not respond to my verbal threat. A family member looked at me with a worried expression.
It was installing. Halo 2 has an option, I assume for someone who has the strongest case of ADD ever recorded in history,to play the game prior to it's install. The installation takes as many minutes as there are fingers on your hand.
After it's silent install, I decided to change the resolution. No such luck, I have 16:9 HD monitor. Now normally in this case, I would simply look online for an option to force the game's resolution. This is not a big issue at all, specifically with Halo 2 considering that the wide-screen for the original Xbox version had to be 16:9. Last Remnant had similarly no problem running in 16:9 when I tried the demo.
Moder's and enthusiasts have aided in the past. Everything to unofficial patches to simple programs that can run in-tandem. Windows Live hates all of this. Windows Live hates the idea of customer self-help, something I think is a necessary component for PC gaming. It's terrified of anything running, or touching Halo 2 in any way. What if you were using something to cheat?! WHAT THEN?! (Not even remotely on my radar.)
Closed networks that use such draconian measures have a series of cons that they need to address. This is one of them. A PC is not a console, the amount of software/technical differences between users does not make such a streamlined decision possible. People are going to cheat. It's a PC. People are going to pirate. It's a PC. What you have to do is make a system that accommodates the user, and yourself in a manner that makes sense.
Halo 2 Vista is an unsupported mess. There's a reason it wasn't included with the list of games with Halo Waypoint. It wants to be forgotten. While it runs in a manner that is technically "stable" (it runs.), the lack of user support from both Microsoft and the end user is pretty sad.
To have your internet crap out, and then get a message saying that you can't keep playing singleplayer to get achievements is one of the dumbest things I have ever laid eye's on. Why not?! Because I might cheat? Using some magical program I don't have the interest or time to research, and get my achievements?! Who cares?! They're technically worthless anyway! That's not why I get achievements. Microsoft is so ban-happy regarding achievement boosters who get their points in a manner less-ethical, I fail to see the problem here.
People might cheat online? Is this truly something that difficult to monitor? You have Xbox Live support, why not just game with your friends? It's a bit maddening.
Maybe ill play Halo 2 latter. For now it can be uninstalled, and stay uninstalled.
Pre-Fallout 3...No, not Fallout 2!
This was a suggestion from a user.
Get used to this. Stalker intrigues me. It's clear that the game is ambitious. I remember that this thing was delayed like crazy, to finally play it is incredibly interesting. Right off the bat: This game will kick your ass.
There's a fine line between making your game "real", and still keeping it a game, keeping it fun. Realism and mechanics don't normally get along together. Stalker seems to like running on this line. You are not some rambo mass-murderer.
I don't know whether or not the clear lack of gun accuracy is a hindrance to the game, or a realistic attempt to convey the feeling of a scavenger. The visual mods for "The zone" is a very atmospheric place to explore. this game are great, taking a game that was made in 2007 and giving it a fantastic fresh coat of paint (Not shown here). There are things that keep it back/show it's age. The lack of voice is one of them. The radiated Chernobyl (The zone) is great to explore, but it's difficulty can be punishing even on lower difficulties. It's mechanics of quest giving is reminiscent of Fallout 3, something I like. I can't wait to play more of this.
I like sex.
I like sex. As a heterosexual male, I do not feel like this is a controversial statement to make. Stop giggling.
Geralt who is the character in Witcher, hypothetically probably has more sex in a week than I will have in my lifetime. He makes James Bond look like a goddamn pansy. As if the objectification of women isn't enough, each encounter nets you a collectible card of said female.
Regardless of your take on the whole "card" thing, I gotta say: This game so far has been pretty awesome.
It's nice and refreshing to see a western RPG that is both linear, yet has enough choice elements to give the player a sense of freedom. Usually western RPG's don't like letting you play as a pre-constructed character, who will say stuff and react in a manner that you yourself would not, for the sake of a focused story. I applaud the use of cut-scenes. I applaud that Geralt is his own person. Yet I also applaud the excellent customization for character growth and other western mechanic tendencies. This game for me has been the most pleasant surprise.
For those wondering: I'm running the Enhanced Edition with everything set to High, everything runs smoothly.
Damn straight! Witcher intrigues me because I don't understand why it's not on consoles. It seems fairly built for it, and I'm sure it would be incredibly successful. A console port has recently been stalled and put into limbo, which upsets me because if the first few hours are any indication: This is an amazing game that needs more fans. For those of us who have console sensibilities, who want to venture into PC gaming, I strongly suggest this title.
Wait while I take pictures of my ex-girlfriends and print their faces on cards. Anyone want to trade?
What did we learn today vidiot?
The obvious.
Mod's like the visual enhancements for Stalker make the game a treat. Shame I forgot to grab some screens of them. The Enhanced Edition for The Witcher was made via a combination of developers listening to their users. For those who owned the original game, the enhancements were released free of charge online. This is a balance, that I would argue is natural with the complexity of PC gaming. To wrap everything into a closed system, similar to Xbox Live, is counter-intuitive. PC games can grow, evolve after release by both users and developers. It's something that's also required for maintaining our games for the future. Lucas Arts made Scumm, but they didn't make ScummVM which allows you to play your old games on computers today. The out-look disturbs me. If there is a lack of openness with your software with your users, if you close every PC game in existence: What difference is this than a console game?
Who will maintain Halo 2 PC, ten years from now? If I'm an enthusiast gamer in the future, who's never played anything Halo and I hunt down a copy of this, who will be the people perserving it?
13 Comments
I kinda sat there, dumbfounded, watching my After Effects Composition slowly grind to a halt. The computers at school rendered the same animation without thought, but my machine sputtered, as if what I asked it was some terrible atrocity. I watched in horror as each frame rendered in a scream of agony. Literally. The fan sped and made the noise of a car engine.
It was time to get a new machine.
Now with 9GB of Ram. It's strange going back into PC gaming. When I announced it at class, and to my friends a few things happened: #1) I was offered immediately copies of games. I have turned everyone down. #2) I was asked "why". #3) Certain individuals were waaaaay to excited.
The ambivalence of certain people both humbled and annoyed me. I literally had a conversation that started like this: "You have every current console system available, (Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP) why do you need a gaming PC?"
Not the best way to start a conversation, especially when your about to spend almost $2,000 on a product. Of course, I want a kick-ass PC also for the sake of my work, and that it's probably a goddamn better investment in myself than any game console.
But, I reserved my anger for a latter time. Thanksgiving is tomorrow.
...
I haven't really played anything new, and technically thrilling on a PC in years. Suffice to say: It was very eerie and disturbing to hear that. Because no matter how much I don't want to admit it, there is a kernel of truth in his statement. Console gaming reigns supreme for multiple issues, I have friends that work at actual gaming companies that I met during my game testing days (Days I don't want to remember) who shared (still share) with me a litany of reasons. Will I really see/feel a difference playing a console game in HD, versus playing one on my computer? It's a complicated answer, with a ton of legitimate emotion attached.
The amount of help I've also received has been unreal. I paid very little to what I got. If it wasn't for a few friends who researched the fuck out of this for me, it probably wouldn't have happened. My best regards to all those who helped me.
It's really nice so far. I've had quite a bit of fun for the last few days. (Notice: The screenshots shared in this blog are terrible and ugly, made with the trial version of FRAPS. It is not an accurate representation at all with my set-up. I haven't moved all my software over, including Photoshop :/ )
That game I've played before.
I loved the first Mass Effect. I'm only missing the Pinnacle Station DLC for an #S Rank for god-sake. I've played it to death. After playing the Mass Effect 2 demo at PAX, I'm counting down it's release a bit...compulsively.
Nick Shepard is not amused. I like the elevator rides in the PC version. :P
I had a bunch of conversations regarding Mass Effect's load times at the time of it's release. Some people told me that the elevator rides were long on purpose, not because of technical strains. When I suggested that the game was actually loading, I was actually scoffed at by a certain nameless individual.
Of course we know the elevator rides were long for a reason. Heck, even Bioware has come out and stated that it was loading. I felt vindicated within the first elevator ride, yet at the same time I had the feeling of "well duh, of course." The game runs great, and the refinements to the mechanics themselves are equally impressive. I don't know if it's enough for me to warrant an entire new play-through.
For the sake of testing I booted up HalfLife 2. I think the terminology regarding advanced anti-aliasing needs some help because, "16xQ CSAA" doesn't exactly roll of the tongue in conversation. It's neat to be reminded how such an old game still holds up quite well visually.
Forbidden territory
Personally for me this is the big one. I can run Crysis. I can run Crysis, very, very, well.
As a longtime console gamer, Crysis always seemed like some unattainable threshold that I would never be able to reach. When I first booted the game up and checked the settings, I would be lying if I said I didn't get something akin to goosebumps. "Very High" sounded like an absurdity. Perhaps, if I hypothetically selected it I would be smote by some unforeseen creature? Disciplining me for choosing some forbidden form of existence.
I turned everything up. No hitches, no problems, no nothing. It runs like a dream.
This picture is caption ready for any forum debate or situation. I'm having problems with the game though. Visual fidelity aside, Crysis walks a tightrope of everything I love in shooters and everything I hate. To put it simple: Hire a writer.
At one point in the game early on, one of the characters is attacked by a blue alien/monster thing as well as an entire patrol of North Koreans. When you finally reach them they are literally torn apart, your ill-fated buddy you ran to rescue hangs dramatically still strung up in his parachute. He is very, very dead.
The dialog follows: "Jester, report in, what's Aztec's status?" "Dead boss." "Dammit, what the hell is going on out there?" "I don't know, but I don't think were alone out here."
Well done Captain Obvious! Holy shit Sherlock, you really earned your chops to be able to run around with in such expensive equipment. I was going to be pretty indifferent over the entire enemy patrol being ripped to shreds, including our buddy, thing. I had no idea that all the growls and animal roars we heard running over here were associated to something else palpable roaming around a dense dark forest! While it won't beat Killzone 2 in terms of being forced to listen to groan worthy manufactured "marine talk", Crysis so far has come pretty damn close.
In regards to it's visuals, yes it's pretty. Yet at the same time, I feel strange. Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 might not run, or have all the little visual tweaks that Crysis has at once, but there's a part of me that feels like they give this game quite the run for it's money. Perhaps it's unfair to compare a game from 2007 to today, but seeing the over-the-top nature of pointing to Crysis as the benchmark for your PC, I can't seem to shake off this feeling. Don't get me wrong. When you see a vista in Uncharted, you can't run to it. Technically they are built completely differently, and of course are incomparable mechanically. But I still can't shake off the feeling.
Perhaps this is a pro to Crysis. What other game can you think of made three years ago can hold it's own effortlessly with the likes of both Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2? Perhaps my perception is skewed.
I totally dig the continuation of FarCry's stalking and exploring gameplay, even though it feels a bit familiar. The real question STOP PICKING ON MEEEEE!!!! boils down to what other game let's you toss a North Korean?
None, that's what. That's the real reason why Crysis is amazing.
Okay, seriously, what the hell? What other games has flying North Koreans? I can't think of any. Again, point goes to Crysis.
In conclusion: I'm really happy to get into PC gaming. This blog is a bit of a brag, but there's also a part of me that feels like I should have done this sooner. It's my negative experiences with my friends that really inspired this write-up. The very natural turn-off. Expensive: Yes. Impractical: No. I want something socially to change.
31 Comments
My new computer arrives in a few days. I'm excited. I've probably refreshed the tracking order a billion times. I wish someone could strap a fucking rocket to the UPS truck, Monday couldn't come sooner.
In the mean time I've been struggling, just a bit, in terms of trying to find stuff to play.
There's only so much Brutal Legend achievement grinding I can take. :/
Anyway, I've decided to take this opportunity to do something a little more creative for this blog post. Something other than the traditional introspective academic ventures of whatever the fuck is on my mind.
A few years ago, I decided to venture into videogame soundtrack collecting. My collection, is modest at best. Primarily because of the steep import fee's. Regardless it's felt really awesome to finally have physical copies of game soundtracks versus obtaining them by other means. So I thought today, instead of doing the traditional Brain Dump I would attempt at writing a soundtrack review. I picked Valkyria Chronicles to be the subject of either my first...or last(?)...review after subjecting it to a series of tests. (Okay, I lied: I closed my eyes and grabbed the first soundtrack off my shelf.)
I didn't want to do a "traditional review", because I like to ramble. So I gave it some more thought, and sat alone trying to find a good name for whatever written experiment this was going to turn into. It was a really interesting, and dare I say, a spiritual process. Days of meditation juxtaposed on days of deep and intricate debate....with myself....outloud...
...
Yesterday, I finally stumbled upon the name of this written experiment. I am quite happy with it.
...Okay, I lied...again.
Intro
I think my history regarding listening to Hitoshi Sakimoto's work, like a lot of people, began with the release of Final Fantasy Tactics years ago. He did a phenomenal job back then, and his role of stepping into the series that Nobuo Uematsu is most known for, would be something he would do again. Final Fantasy XII was the first real entry in the series to be completely devoid of Uematsu in the soundtrack, and in this void Sakimoto walked in.
I never felt he got a fare shake regarding his work on Final Fantasy XII.
Like the game itself, the soundtrack was up to quite a bit of scrutiny from fans. I felt bad. I felt anyone walking into that job was subject to the range of over-the-top scrutiny. Everyone has an opinion how a Final Fantasy soundtrack should sound like, and to jump into a game like Final Fantasy XII that was simply all over the place in terms of fan acceptance...Ugh, I kinda feel bad just thinking about it.
Especially, when I personally think it was quite the competent soundtrack. Not excellent, nor his best, but quite listenable. A few themes really struck out to me, specifically the main theme. Certain themes were used quite liberally in the soundtrack. You either interperate that as being lazy, or interperate as simply being confidant with your composition. Just because you use it a bunch, doesn't translate into: you've run out of ideas. Which is something that the soundtrack of Valkyria Chronicles proves.
Packaging
Valkyria Chronicles (Senjou no Valkyria Original) comes in a traditional plastic CD jewel case. It's two disks, with the traditional CD paper flap on it's side.
Pay no attention to anything else on my desk. It's "Gallian Chronicles" DAMMIT!
It's nothing to write home about. I like the front picture with Welkin and Alicia. The back (not pictured for some stupid reason.) Has the track listing and another neat pose of Welkin and Alicia.
I should take the time to point out my pictures are taken from a cell-phone, and thus retain the "quality" you would imagine. My apologies.
It's when you open it up where the fun starts.
Awesome. Vidiot approves of the CD artwork. The back flap with the fictional map of "Europa", is pretty cool. Tracklisting
The booklet inside, (The picture of the silver haired Selvaria is the back of it.) contains some neat art from the game. The art is fantastic, although there doesn't seem to be any exclusive artwork in the booklet. But my main point of interest is the really neat art on the first disk, which is quite in congress with the actual game itself (Watercolor sketch). I don't know why, I really like looking at it.
Everyone knows the fictional land of Europa where Valkyria Chronicles takes place is based off of Europe. I wasn't aware of the geographical comparison you could make. You saw quick glimpses of a map in the game, but now we can sit back and get a really good look at it. Crap, look at that third picture. I don't know whether to laugh, or like it in a nerdy way. Perhaps both?
I wish there was more attention to it's packaging. It's good stuff, but I've seen better. Especially with a visually stunning game like Valkyria Chronicles, I would have liked to seem some sketches or something exclusive in there. That's probably why I like the CD artwork so much.
Notice for non-English speakers: You will have to download an English tracklisting online.
The Music
If you listen to some of his early work, you can tell Sakimoto has developed over time his own style of music. To put it simply: I think Valkyria Chronicles is some of his best, and most focused work to date.
The first piece of music I want to focus on is the main theme. It's in a word: Amazing.
The piece of music does a great job at embodying what Valkyria Chronicles at it's core is. A fictional anime take on World War 2. The first thing I thought when I heard the music was how bit's and pieces felt...western... When we think of war movies, specifically war movies that take place in World War 2, our mind usually thinks of liberal uses of drums and horns. The main theme not only has both, but uses them in ways you would expect them to be used, it sounds military. At the same time, there is most certainly a sense of fantasy to be had heard here, overtly epic like a traditional JRPG theme. It works on multiple levels, and does exactly what it sets out to do: Sell you a fantasy World War 2 game.
It's also used all over the soundtrack. I never felt though that the repeating tracks were repeating. Empty Loneliness is the main theme in piano form, but it does it's job as an emotional theme for certain characters in the story. It sounds like it's own thing.
Sakimoto cheats a bit with the final boss theme. Like Final Fantasy XII, the final boss theme is essentially yet again, a variation of the main them. Unlike Final Fantasy XII, the final boss them is done with a full blown orchestra.
It fucking rocks.
The interesting thing about Valkyria Chronicles as a game for a composer, is it's emphasis of focusing the entire weight of your mechanics into the game's battles. In other words: You better have some catchy tunes to listen too when your playing out a three minute turn. Each opposing faction has their own piece of music to accompany there turn in gameplay. It's here where your opinion of Valkyria Chronicles might override the soundtrack. Why is fighting to the death accompanied by such a soft and catchy tune? Because it accompanies the game's presentation, and dare I say mechanics. When I'm looking at a map, planning my moves, I don't want to listen to something depressing or too dramatic. That's what the enemies themes are for. :P
Desperate Fight is a great track, but my favorite battle theme will probably be Street Fighting. The theme really makes you feel like your making an epic advance upon the enemy.
Valkyria's Awakeningis another of the few orchestrated tracks, it really captures the sheer power of what the Valkyria can do.
The story based music, and the character themes are excellent. Thematic and strong, the bulk of the music is simply excellent. It has the quality of a great JRPG soundtrack: It's great to hear such a varied score, and yet have a great sense of unity among most of the tracks. Chronicles of the Gallian War is probably the most memorable to fans of the game, and quite possibly my favorite track of the entire soundtrack.
The vocal stuff is...eh. The soundtrack begins, and ends with your obligatory JPop theme, No Matter the Distance. I personally didn't care for it, and it seems...out of place with the rest of the music. You hear an instrumental version of Succeeded Wish when you start up the game, the actual song has lyrics. It's not bad, but I would have liked a track I was familiar with. Again personal taste.
Final Thoughts.
This was fun for me to write.
It's an excellent soundtrack. Aside from some few, very minor blemishes you might not even consider, Valkyria Chronicles was quite possibly my favorite soundtrack of last year. If you have the extra money and are a fan of the series, I wholeheartedly recommend a purchase. It's quite listenable outside of playing the game which is rather neat too.
*WARNING* THE FOLLOWING THREAD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MODERN WARFARE 2 *WARNING*
*WARNING* THE FOLLOWING THREAD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MODERN WARFARE 2 *WARNING*
There will be no mention of Modern Warfare 2 in this thread. None. Really. I'm serious. My middle name is serious. Okay, so that was a lie. Wouldn't it be cool if my middle name was serious? Vidiot Serious Westriverside Warehouserock XXVII
My last name is a bit long.
Vidiot's Brain Dump is brought to you by Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Limited Edition Console now only $399 When Windows 95 was launched, the ad campaign back then was absurd. So when I see stuff, like the hype concerning Modern Warfare...err..Halo 3, I'm reminded of the giant Windows 95 tent that was assembled outside the CompUSA over at Totem Lake. It was epic. Jesus came back for the release of Windows 95.
It's fun to think back, because as I get older I begin to see cycles in gaming history. This all came to head a few days ago, while I was doing my daily web surfing and daily surf boarding, when I ran across an article exclaiming "The Death of Single Player!" I've read this before. In fact, I think I've run across similar articles multiple times during over a decade, easily. Yet, single player has yet to die. Why is that? The first time I read that Single Player was on it's death bed was during the era of Counter Strike clones, and again a few years ago when WOW practically took over PC Gaming. The cycle is not exclusive to hypothetical concerns over single player dieing, but other stuff like videogame violence. Watching the events concerning the airport scene in Modern War....err... GTA, made me remember the fun flurry that we had during the early days of Mortal Kombat.
Recently I've come to a conclusion that was very dear to me. If there has been one great one great consistent reoccurring article, or subject that has been brought up time, and time again on internet forums and even gaming media, it's that adventure games are dead. DEAD I TELL YOU. Gaming took the adventure genre outside to your backyard, did terrible things to it, killed it, then proceeded to do even more terrible things to it after it was dead. Are you picturing what I am describing?! You know that scene in Final Destination 2, with that guy, and the part where he was ripped apart by barb wire? THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO ADVENTURE GAMING. Thanks to twitch games like Modern...Halo..
Or did it. Because I'm playing a lot of adventure games right now, and it's not one of my classic gaming runs. Was it that simple, that the genre simply croaked and died? To answer these questions thoughtfully, I think we need to go back to basics and try to explain what adventure gaming is. More particular, why we call it an adventure. These are terms we usually don't think about. What is an action adventure? Why is 'adventure' even added to that term?
Game Splicing, and Game Mechanic Evolution
We tend to think that the combination of genres is a relatively new concept, but in reality that's not necessarily true. Game Splicing has been around for quite some time now. One early, more dramatic example could be ActRaiser. These two screenshots... ...come from the same game. It's the concept of meshing genres together with the result of creating something new. Our first person shooters have RPG mechanics, our 3rd person action games have RTS elements, and back during the mid 90's our platform games started to get genuine puzzles. Yes, you moved blocks, it was basic and almost barbaric but the shift in 3D technology limited our gaze. As technology and design marched forward, what worked in a 2D environment began to get lost in the fray of 3D. It's gotten considerably better overtime.
Recently near the end of Uncharted 2, Nathan Drake has to utilize his journal to decipher an elaborate puzzle the concerns checking old scriptures and diagrams. The scene is expertly done, and if it was taken out of context, one could argue that Uncharted for that brief moment was an adventure game.
We take Game Splicing for granted now. We consider it as almost an evolution in game mechanics. These concepts, mechanics, can come from the same genre from different games. Game A has a cover mechanic that Game B then borrows, but it's the genre to genre combination that can be the most rewarding and the most unforgiving if incorrectly executed. Brutal Legend suffers from an identy crisis, a jack of all trades master of none trying to cram open world/Zelda/and an RTS in one game. While others like System Shock combine the finesse of RPG character creation, with horror and twitch shooting. (Thematic qualities "horror" can be apart of Game Splicing, but this is more relatable to Gameplay Mechanic Adaptation, versus mechanic functionality which we are talking about here.)
What's interesting that while we try haphazardly to combine the newest genre's with each other, we have totally lost sight, that we have continually succeeded in the greatest Genre Game Splicing of all time: Adventure games.
Defining Adventure
I don't think we have collectively classified adventure games correctly.
When someone brings up the term "adventure game", we immediately think of games like Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, and just about anything Lucas Arts was doing, before they learned that Star Wars was a profitable gaming business venture. I think another word needs to be added to the definition: Puzzle. Puzzle Adventure Game, doesn't roll off the tongue as just Adventure Game, but it's probably the most accurate description of the genre your going to get. Who decided that a puzzle gameplay was synonymous to adventure? The term adventure is bold, giant term encompassing the likes of story and exploration. Story and exploration, specifically the exploration of a foreign world or environment you are not accustomed too. These concepts are basic, but you can see them extensively if you go back to adventure gaming's roots.
There are two games to consider. One called Adventure...and another...called....Adventure. *ahem* Let me break it down.
Vidiot breaks it down. Hurts himself.
Adventure (aka Colossal Cave, 1975-1977)
Argued to be the first text adventure ever, "Adventure" wasn't keen on elaborate item oriented puzzles, but exploration. You explored a giant cave, like most text adventures that would later followed (I have to mention Zork here, or I will be attacked by angry nerds.) Adventure would be described today as "Interactive Fiction" versus what we might regard as a game. It established the concept of exploration, which would later be expanded on in what is argued to be the first action adventure game...
Probably the most common known, the 2600 game Adventure was also the first game to have an easter egg. Players explored a large environment (mazes) there was of course, no narrative or fiction to accompany the exploration. It was a form of splicing (and very basic mechanic adaptation.), combining twitch gameplay with exploration albeit very primitive exploration. The technology was not yet, on equal footing as the same intricate representation of text. This would change over time, as Text Adventures would eventually die...but their mechanics would be better represented thanks to the evolution of technology.
So, adventure games are dead?
No. The mechanics of adventure games have been spliced into almost all genres. We should try to refer to adventure games, of the point and click variety, to puzzle adventure games. This is due to their mechanics of solving puzzles in combination to environmental exploration and a strong focus on narrative. It's why we originally, and accurately, called Metroid: Prime a First Person Adventure game versus a First Person Shooter.
The puzzle adventure game went out of style and popularity, but it didn't die like it's text adventure ancestor. It wasn't swept up by the progress of technology, which usually results in the closest thing we can call a "true" death to a genre. There is still a viable market. TellTale knows this, as well as the intelligent minds behind Machinarium. A few years prior games like The Longest Journey and Syberia attracted critic's eyes for good reason. They can still tell a more cohesive plot than most twitch shooters like...er.................Halo... You can of course jump off from this ledge I've drawn you to into a myriad of debates and conversation, such as if there are adventure elements in roleplaying games, which would make sense as the very essence of a tabletop RPG is interactive fiction.
Regardless, the future for the Adventure game is a bright one. Seeing stuff like the revival of Monkey Island and Sam and Max were almost ludicrous concepts only a few years back, I predict the final chapter in this genre is not going to be written for a very long time.
I wore my friends Prestige Modern Warfare 2 night-vision goggles and scared everyone at a local Taco Bell. Old people are funny to scare. I think I'm evil. :D
A new blog post is coming, but until then let's have a moment of silence concerning the reviews for the film 2012.
...
...Alright, that's more than enough.
From the people who gave us Stargate, Independence Day, that American Godzilla movie, that other natural disaster movie with global warming killing us, and that other disaster movie with people dressed up as the Flinstones, comes 2012.
This movie, alongside another bad alien abduction movie has been bombarding me (and perhaps you?) ad-nauseum. The great thing about 2012 is how one could make a judgment of the film from the first teaser.
Some say Hollywood clearly has run out of ideas regarding their big budget productions. Some should win some type of "Captin Obvious" award.
There are problems with RottenTomaotes for sure, but I will always have fun simply reading the quotes for the reviews.
I don't think that, other than Zombieland and The Hangover, I've laughed this hard all year, although I'm sure the comedy in 2012 is 90% unintentional.
Actors say silly lines with deadly seriousness. Exposition is wielded like a sledgehammer. All you can do is grit your teeth and wait for the next wave of destruction.
Emmerich, Bay and their brethren need to learn how boring these CGI onslaughts have become. When we see 18 skyscrapers collapse and several dozen vehicles wreck at the same moment, what do we focus on?
The defining entrant in, and the nadir of, the disaster porn genre.
A state-of-the-art multiplex three-ring circus whose special effects stagger the senses and play like a video game, whose human drama aims for the cosmic and lands waist-deep in the Big Silly.
Too long by an hour and populated with nothing but stereotypes, we ultimately want the world to come to an end, if only so we can get up and go to the bathroom.
Emmerich wasn't content to merely make the biggest disaster movie ever: he had to make every disaster movie ever... [I]t's like something Ed Wood would have made if he had a budget...
Roger Ebert sums it up best in his positive review.
This is fun. 2012 delivers what it promises, and since no sentient being will buy a ticket expecting anything else, it will be, for its audiences, one of the most satisfactory films of the year.
With over 60 replies "To the management of Lincoln Square Cinemas" was a truly epic feat. At least 1/3rd of my friends/"followers" came from that thread, and just right now: I decided to delete the whole thing. I copied the entire thread onto my computer, if any of you are interested in seeing what all the drama was about, just ask and I'll be glad to send it to you.
I've been contemplating deleting the blog post for a while now, in fact I've been contemplating going back and deleting a few of my early blogs. Out of that controlled anarchy was the catalyst and inspiration to start typing the "Brain Dumps".
It all started when me and a friend decided to hit the movie theater. Another guy, who I will ironically for the sake of this post name Reggie (PM me if you want to know why that's ironic.) decided to tag along with us. He was new to the area having just moved from Florida, and is currently going to University of Washington. In typical Bellevue fashion we were stooped from seeing the movie, "District 9", because he did not have appropriate ID for this state he was not allowed into the theater. My friend drove Reggie back to his house, grabbed his ID, and drove back to the theater just to watch two attractive women be let into the theater without ID. (We are all clearly in our mid-twenties.)
My friend, a self described "comedian/crazy person", and "Super English major", decided to type what I believe was the most epic complaint letter I had ever seen. Greek mythology reference and all, it was clearly a no-holds barred attempt in satire, which purpose was to clearly get the attention of whoever read it. That was it. I was a realist concerning the context and I was entirely skeptical of it accomplishing anything, my purpose of sharing it was simply to share something funny. I was upset with what had happened, but I was more joking about the letter which was the crux of my entire post.
There were a couple things I was not prepared for when I typed it. The first one was that the blog for a while was the second, to the third thing that appeared on Google after a search for "Lincoln Square Cinemas". From my understanding, real people were actually fired initially at the theater. Was not expecting that to happen.
At this point I would like to say I have nothing but good things to now say from the cinema in question. Because of my post they contacted my friend directly. My friend was at first, understandably still frustrated with them, began looking at their responses at a skeptical nature. I reminded him that it was a great thing that the cinema responded, let alone responded with such understanding. From the emails that I read, the people in charge their seem to be pretty damn intelligent and awesome. Satire had won.
But, satire is difficult to translate over the internet. At least that's what I learned. One member in particular found umbrage over the post in general. I had absolutely no mind with people disagreeing, but when I used his comment to expand and give more context to the situation, he pounced with a correct theory that keeping courteous from a customer to worker relation was something to pursue. As someone who works retail, I agree. What I didn't agree with was his tone, a consistent stream of simply negative attitude. I didn't understand why someone with a good argument would continue to voice it in the manner of an internet troll. His reasoning, or excuse, as he continued to reply over and over again ad-nauseum, was that it was the same thing that my friend and I engaged with the cinemas. Of course, one could immediately counter that none of the context matched up at all. That the original post was clearly satirical, there was anger but nothing over-the-top aggressive that he in particular portrayed. That he was not providing me a service at all, and that the letter in question never devolved into making a statement like, and I quote: "Fuck all English Majors".
It got progressively worse when my friend chimed in. He absolutely enjoyed collapsing his arguments on him with great technicality. It got even worse when other members started to take umbrage with what the troll said. I got a lot of PM's at this time. All supportive, all ragging on the troll. But for me: Nothing fun, or interesting was being produced now.
I didn't like it.
Eventually it just became a shouting match, any form of argument dissipated. and the troll frustrated just began cursing. Any glimmer of interesting debate evaporated. I ended the discussion between both. I wanted to blog, but I didn't want people remembering me for inadvertently creating such an aggravating troll topic. Granted, I also didn't want a bunch of people "following" me because I was that guy who told off the movie theater, and told that one guy off who trolled on a blog for over a week.
At the time I had just finished going to a trip where I played FFVII on my PSP. I thought it would be interesting for me just to type what was directly on my mind on a given subject. I would do one, and see what would come from it. Several Brain Dumps latter, I can say I am glad with what has transpired. I'm thinking of expanding a bit. I'm curious to know if anyone would be interested in my giving my thoughts on certain videogames soundtracks I own. Yes, I collect and own actual physical game soundtracks.
I DO NOT shy away from debate. Recently I threw in my two cents regarding Infinity Ward's airport shootout. I think it's tasteless, and is there only to attract controversy and compete with other controversial games. That the game has an identity crisis if it's trying to appeal to raw real emotions of a terrible situation that gripes our world, and at the same time be something akin to a Michael Bay movie with America being invaded. I love Modern Warfare, and I appreciate what IW has done for gaming, and I'm probably going to eventually pick up MW2. But that doesn't mean I cant personally find fault with things they do. The debate was for the most part civil and interesting. Disagreements were abound, but aside from one post it never spiraled into name calling. The Giantbomb community is still the best of the best, and my moment of annoyance is not an accurate reflection of the community.
Log in to comment