Skyrim managed to create a relatively deep political environment within itself, one of the most interesting faction vs. faction battles I've seen in a game (which hasn't been a lot, to be fair). However, most people I have talked to have joined the Imperials, stating that the Stormcloaks were all jerks. While I admit that some are, there is no reason to make that large of a generalization.
For one, there's Ralof. Ralof is the first person you see in the game, not including the back of the caravan drivers head. He is a proud Stormcloak soldier, and one of the nicest guys in Skyrim. During the tutorial you can escape with either him, or Hadvar. Later on, if you join the Stormcloaks, he will participate in some of the missions, and is very friendly, even to Hadvar (who is an imperial soldier). Many generic Stormcloaks fall under this, although their are a few xenophobic individuals.
Secondly, the Imperials are no better. You start the game about to be killed by them, even though you are not on their list of war criminals. You were just there. Upon first entering their capital of Solitude you are greeted by an execution. The man simply assisted Jarl Ulfric, and people around generally agreed he was a good guy.
The Stormcloaks may have their problems, particularly the profound xenophobia and racism among some of it's members, but most believe that it's the right thing to do. Whether or not they are on the correct side of the war is debatable, but they are definitely not the bad guys.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
The XCOM Experience
Recently I have played a lot of XCOM: Enemy Within. I mean A LOT. A VERY LOT. So much, that if there was another emphasis option provided in the toolbar, that I would have used it.
I may be twenty hours into this game, which I started playing last Saturday. Beyond this, and the unnecessary emphasis, it is truly a great game, and one any hardcore gamer with an interest in strategy should try. This version of XCOM is an expanded re-release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, with a significant amount of new content.
The game itself combines elements of real time base building and turn based strategy. As the commander of XCOM, your job is to defeat the alien menace invading, and stop the spread of panic among the populace. To do this, you are given support from a group of nations, all of which expect you to help them. However, you have to make hard decisions on which abduction to stop, as the aliens usually do three at a time. Panic will decrease where you help, and you get a reward, but it will increase in the places you didn't go. The base building element allows you to send up satellites, which reduce panic, or to create new facilities that allow new upgrades or options, or to make copies of existing buildings, which provide a bonus to that type of building, usually in making it take less time. The building too, gain bonuses if you place them next to other buildings of the same type, making a planned building strategy necessary for maximum efficiency. Researching new technology is also a big part of the game, and you must wait for your research team to research something before you can use it. These take several in game days (While scanning, an in game day is about eight seconds. Research typically takes 3 to 15 days, with a few taking more or less, and the average being 5-10).
Another interesting thing is the squad system. You take 4-6 soldiers out with you into a mission, which all start out as rookies. They eventually gain experience to become a specific class, which gives unique abilities. You do not choose this class, and this can create some interesting squads. The more kills you get with a unit, the stronger the unit becomes, and the higher it rises in rank. There is a catch though; when a unit dies, the death is permanent. Additionally, any damage done to them requires them to spend time in the infirmary to heal. Thus as your soldiers become stronger, they also become more valuable, and in a way, more vulnerable. You may see them as stronger and take more risks with them, which can get them killed, or, inversely, you may keep them back and safe, not fully utilizing their abilities to prevent them from being injured and temporarily unusable.
This iteration of the game adds a genetic modification system, which allows you to give bonuses to some of your people in exchange for a valuable alien resource known as "Meld." These abilities vary from enemy detection, to the ability to (barely) survive normally killing attacks. You can also use this meld to combine a character with power armor making them into a special class known as a Mech. They gain access to special abilities, losing their old ones, and gain a large health bonus at the cost of being able to use cover.
This game is truly amazing, and if you favor a challenge, especially a strategic one, than it is for you. Funnily, their are not that many types of enemies (about 20, I think) but it never gets old because the situations are always different, they have fairly good A.I. and you are constantly worrying about how best to use your units. In Ironman mode you run on only one save, making every decision permanent, and mostly irrevocable. However, as this game features a number of glitches (on the console versions, PC is fine), I recommend you play as if it was ironman, but do not actually use the setting so in case there is a game breaking glitch you can reset to before this happens. And you will encounter game breaking glitches in the console versions, which are probably it's biggest drawback. Despite this, It is still a fun and engaging game.
I heartily recommend this to everyone.
I may be twenty hours into this game, which I started playing last Saturday. Beyond this, and the unnecessary emphasis, it is truly a great game, and one any hardcore gamer with an interest in strategy should try. This version of XCOM is an expanded re-release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, with a significant amount of new content.
The game itself combines elements of real time base building and turn based strategy. As the commander of XCOM, your job is to defeat the alien menace invading, and stop the spread of panic among the populace. To do this, you are given support from a group of nations, all of which expect you to help them. However, you have to make hard decisions on which abduction to stop, as the aliens usually do three at a time. Panic will decrease where you help, and you get a reward, but it will increase in the places you didn't go. The base building element allows you to send up satellites, which reduce panic, or to create new facilities that allow new upgrades or options, or to make copies of existing buildings, which provide a bonus to that type of building, usually in making it take less time. The building too, gain bonuses if you place them next to other buildings of the same type, making a planned building strategy necessary for maximum efficiency. Researching new technology is also a big part of the game, and you must wait for your research team to research something before you can use it. These take several in game days (While scanning, an in game day is about eight seconds. Research typically takes 3 to 15 days, with a few taking more or less, and the average being 5-10).
Another interesting thing is the squad system. You take 4-6 soldiers out with you into a mission, which all start out as rookies. They eventually gain experience to become a specific class, which gives unique abilities. You do not choose this class, and this can create some interesting squads. The more kills you get with a unit, the stronger the unit becomes, and the higher it rises in rank. There is a catch though; when a unit dies, the death is permanent. Additionally, any damage done to them requires them to spend time in the infirmary to heal. Thus as your soldiers become stronger, they also become more valuable, and in a way, more vulnerable. You may see them as stronger and take more risks with them, which can get them killed, or, inversely, you may keep them back and safe, not fully utilizing their abilities to prevent them from being injured and temporarily unusable.
This iteration of the game adds a genetic modification system, which allows you to give bonuses to some of your people in exchange for a valuable alien resource known as "Meld." These abilities vary from enemy detection, to the ability to (barely) survive normally killing attacks. You can also use this meld to combine a character with power armor making them into a special class known as a Mech. They gain access to special abilities, losing their old ones, and gain a large health bonus at the cost of being able to use cover.
This game is truly amazing, and if you favor a challenge, especially a strategic one, than it is for you. Funnily, their are not that many types of enemies (about 20, I think) but it never gets old because the situations are always different, they have fairly good A.I. and you are constantly worrying about how best to use your units. In Ironman mode you run on only one save, making every decision permanent, and mostly irrevocable. However, as this game features a number of glitches (on the console versions, PC is fine), I recommend you play as if it was ironman, but do not actually use the setting so in case there is a game breaking glitch you can reset to before this happens. And you will encounter game breaking glitches in the console versions, which are probably it's biggest drawback. Despite this, It is still a fun and engaging game.
I heartily recommend this to everyone.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Why you need Persona 4 Arena
Spoilers about Labrys and Persona 4 Arena for this article will be between the red lines of text. You have been warned.
If you think a video game can't tell a touching story you are dead wrong, and you need to play this game. If you love it when a video game tells a touching story, you need to play this game. If you belong to neither of the above camps, you still need to play this game.
Two posts ago I wrote about Persona 4 Arena's Rashomon Style story. I mentioned there that this game is not for everyone. Completing most of these storylines, I found later that I was dead wrong. Everyone needs to play this game. The large amount of heavy story is a part of this. Many people have to confront dark parts of themselves, and everything starts to make sense towards the end. It was truly masterfully done. The nine main players stories on their own are enough reason to play this game.
Then their is Labrys' story. It's different. For one, it's ninety-nine percent text, with a single battle. It provides all the backstory for the game in a large, touching story. I'll tell you here, I cried through 3/4 of it. Part of it was because it became even sadder, knowing how it would end (I was exposed to spoilers. A terrible fate, spoilers), other parts were so touching they were tears of amazement. Mostly sadness, though. In fact, the one battle that happened I had serious troubles with, because I could barely see the enemy through my tears. I may sound sappy, but stories like this touch me. It is as if it was a movie. It truly makes you think, and it too, on its own, justifies the purpose.
Spoilers begin here. Look for next red marking to avoid. I strongly advise you do not read this until you have played Labrys' story on Persona 4 : Arena
When you play through the ten originally shown stories, you get the sense that Labrys has a dark and troubled past, and her story shows it to you. It is depressing, and beautiful at the same time. Every time I think of it I will think of one of my saddest gaming experiences, and the most masterfully made and carefully crafted. Everything serves a purpose, and the promises made by Labrys to #24 stayed with me through the rest of the game. Snowy too, though a minor character, had the added effect of making me cry far more. I truly hope that Snowy is also Koromaru, as the idea of him being left alone breaks my heart.
Spoilers end. Continue reading at you're leisure.
This game causes you to ask difficult questions of yourself. Would you accept a non-human, but with the heart and mind of a human, as a person? Many people try to assume the best of themselves, but the only way to know for sure is for it to happen. This disturbs me, for I ask myself "Could I do it? Could I see a robot as a person?"
Thank you for reading, and I compel you to try this game. Think not of it as a game even, as more of a book combined with a movie as you must, but there are still some fights that distract from the story, unfortunately.
If you think a video game can't tell a touching story you are dead wrong, and you need to play this game. If you love it when a video game tells a touching story, you need to play this game. If you belong to neither of the above camps, you still need to play this game.
Two posts ago I wrote about Persona 4 Arena's Rashomon Style story. I mentioned there that this game is not for everyone. Completing most of these storylines, I found later that I was dead wrong. Everyone needs to play this game. The large amount of heavy story is a part of this. Many people have to confront dark parts of themselves, and everything starts to make sense towards the end. It was truly masterfully done. The nine main players stories on their own are enough reason to play this game.
Then their is Labrys' story. It's different. For one, it's ninety-nine percent text, with a single battle. It provides all the backstory for the game in a large, touching story. I'll tell you here, I cried through 3/4 of it. Part of it was because it became even sadder, knowing how it would end (I was exposed to spoilers. A terrible fate, spoilers), other parts were so touching they were tears of amazement. Mostly sadness, though. In fact, the one battle that happened I had serious troubles with, because I could barely see the enemy through my tears. I may sound sappy, but stories like this touch me. It is as if it was a movie. It truly makes you think, and it too, on its own, justifies the purpose.
Spoilers begin here. Look for next red marking to avoid. I strongly advise you do not read this until you have played Labrys' story on Persona 4 : Arena
When you play through the ten originally shown stories, you get the sense that Labrys has a dark and troubled past, and her story shows it to you. It is depressing, and beautiful at the same time. Every time I think of it I will think of one of my saddest gaming experiences, and the most masterfully made and carefully crafted. Everything serves a purpose, and the promises made by Labrys to #24 stayed with me through the rest of the game. Snowy too, though a minor character, had the added effect of making me cry far more. I truly hope that Snowy is also Koromaru, as the idea of him being left alone breaks my heart.
Spoilers end. Continue reading at you're leisure.
This game causes you to ask difficult questions of yourself. Would you accept a non-human, but with the heart and mind of a human, as a person? Many people try to assume the best of themselves, but the only way to know for sure is for it to happen. This disturbs me, for I ask myself "Could I do it? Could I see a robot as a person?"
Thank you for reading, and I compel you to try this game. Think not of it as a game even, as more of a book combined with a movie as you must, but there are still some fights that distract from the story, unfortunately.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Video Game Violence vs. Real Violence in Children
Many, many people know of games such as GTA and Manhunt, where you have the capability to kill people in violent ways. Some people claim that these games lead to violence in youth that play them. I believe these people to be wrong. Here is why -
For one, the number of sales of violent games greatly outnumbers the number of crimes committed. Grand Theft Auto alone has over thirty million sales in America (http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=Grand+Theft+Auto) Granted, not all of these games were children, but let's say about a third of them (ten million) are. In 2011, there were 154000 violent crimes involving juveniles (http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/beh5.asp (first bulletin)). This is far less than the juvenile crime rates in 1993, which, according to the above source, was the peak year of crime rates. Child crime rates are actually going down. Now, taking the number of crimes, dividing it by the ten million or so children may have played and you get .0154. That is less than a tenth of a percent of this group, using only a single popular game. Some may have had exposure to other violent games as well, and some of the perpetrators may have played none.
Granted, there is every once and a while there is someone who does kill people using something they saw in a video game. This is not necessarily the video games fault. Usually these people are mentally unstable and possibly violent already. An excerpt from this article reads -
For one, the number of sales of violent games greatly outnumbers the number of crimes committed. Grand Theft Auto alone has over thirty million sales in America (http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=Grand+Theft+Auto) Granted, not all of these games were children, but let's say about a third of them (ten million) are. In 2011, there were 154000 violent crimes involving juveniles (http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/beh5.asp (first bulletin)). This is far less than the juvenile crime rates in 1993, which, according to the above source, was the peak year of crime rates. Child crime rates are actually going down. Now, taking the number of crimes, dividing it by the ten million or so children may have played and you get .0154. That is less than a tenth of a percent of this group, using only a single popular game. Some may have had exposure to other violent games as well, and some of the perpetrators may have played none.
Granted, there is every once and a while there is someone who does kill people using something they saw in a video game. This is not necessarily the video games fault. Usually these people are mentally unstable and possibly violent already. An excerpt from this article reads -
" No doubt, most players
don't become violent. That's because they come from good homes, aren't
victims of bullying, don't have mental health issues, and don't have
many of the other risk factors for violence.
But what about players
who already are predisposed to violence? Killers like Aaron Alexis
aren't typical. They have a lot going against them, such as mental
illness. Violent video games are just one more factor that may be
pushing them toward violence."
Media often chooses to blame the games instead of other potential factors. As much as anything else the high publicity that these events get adds to the violence factors as well.
In my mind, these factors combined show that video game violence does not contribute much to real life violence. However, one should be careful distributing these among mentally ill children. I hope that you at least consider my part of this argument.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Persona: Rashomon Style
When someone refers to something as being "Rashomon Style," or to the "Rashomon Effect"
they are referring to the 1950's movie Rashomon. Rashomon tells the story of a crime shown from four distinctly different views. Rashomon Style is showing the same story from multiple viewpoints, while the Rashomon Effect is when two (or more) people remember things in different ways. The animated movie Hoodwinked was done in Rashomon Style, for example.
The 2010 game Persona 4: Arena was done in this Rashomon Style, with eleven storylines telling the same story from different viewpoints. I have played through three of these story modes (Yu Narukami, Chie Satonaka, and Yosuke Hanamura), and each has irreconcilable differences. Part of this is due to the dynamics of beating characters that would have beaten you in their stories. The story is given through inner monologues and conversation. Yu's and Yosuke's had several profound inner monologues that I greatly enjoyed. Each storyline takes about an hour to complete, and ends in a cliffhanger you can access after completing all base stories. There are also "bad" endings to certain stories, made by making specific decisions.
The graphics here are all shown in a two-dimensional anime-esque style, that is visually beautiful. The graphics are consistent, and is keeps the chat heads and visuals the same. However, the chat heads mouth movements do not correspond well to the English being spoken, and have likely not changed since the Japanese version.
The battle modes are also interesting. There is an arena mode, where you fight 3 round matches, winning two moves you on. This has a minor background story, with emphasis on fighting. I started this with Yu, and did not advance past the second match, and so am unaware how There is also a simple versus mode where you fight against someone else, either CPU, or a second player. I have not yet attempted second player, primarily because my brother refuses to be beaten as badly as I would beat him. There is also a very long (45 part) tutorial which shows you how to use the various combos and abilities, but not well or quickly enough to be effective in an actual fight. The tutorial is also only going through Yu's combinations, which makes it hard to transition to other characters at the beginning.
The biggest problem I have with this game is the controls. There are lots of combos that are very difficult to perform, and many of the special moves require you to use very specific analog movements that must be performed quickly. For the most part, these I have difficulty using. However, the fights are short and intense, and you can usually find a character you are at least okay with (I'm not bad with Chie, provided I spam her kick combos. Yu also came to me in a forced way, through the tutorials. Elizabeth seems to be a good beginner character and has lots of very strong combos.) Otherwise you will get your ass handed to you. Most likely repeatedly. While this can still be fun in a different way (enjoying the overwhelming challenge), it will eventually get quite annoying.
All in all, this game is great for die-hard Persona fans, and fans of 2d fighting games like BlazBlue, but those expecting the traditional turn-based summoner RPG best look elsewhere. There are no turns, and combat requires a degree of reflex and coordination above strategy. The tradition is hard for me, but I hope to make it through all of the storylines and other content.
they are referring to the 1950's movie Rashomon. Rashomon tells the story of a crime shown from four distinctly different views. Rashomon Style is showing the same story from multiple viewpoints, while the Rashomon Effect is when two (or more) people remember things in different ways. The animated movie Hoodwinked was done in Rashomon Style, for example.
The 2010 game Persona 4: Arena was done in this Rashomon Style, with eleven storylines telling the same story from different viewpoints. I have played through three of these story modes (Yu Narukami, Chie Satonaka, and Yosuke Hanamura), and each has irreconcilable differences. Part of this is due to the dynamics of beating characters that would have beaten you in their stories. The story is given through inner monologues and conversation. Yu's and Yosuke's had several profound inner monologues that I greatly enjoyed. Each storyline takes about an hour to complete, and ends in a cliffhanger you can access after completing all base stories. There are also "bad" endings to certain stories, made by making specific decisions.
The graphics here are all shown in a two-dimensional anime-esque style, that is visually beautiful. The graphics are consistent, and is keeps the chat heads and visuals the same. However, the chat heads mouth movements do not correspond well to the English being spoken, and have likely not changed since the Japanese version.
The battle modes are also interesting. There is an arena mode, where you fight 3 round matches, winning two moves you on. This has a minor background story, with emphasis on fighting. I started this with Yu, and did not advance past the second match, and so am unaware how There is also a simple versus mode where you fight against someone else, either CPU, or a second player. I have not yet attempted second player, primarily because my brother refuses to be beaten as badly as I would beat him. There is also a very long (45 part) tutorial which shows you how to use the various combos and abilities, but not well or quickly enough to be effective in an actual fight. The tutorial is also only going through Yu's combinations, which makes it hard to transition to other characters at the beginning.
The biggest problem I have with this game is the controls. There are lots of combos that are very difficult to perform, and many of the special moves require you to use very specific analog movements that must be performed quickly. For the most part, these I have difficulty using. However, the fights are short and intense, and you can usually find a character you are at least okay with (I'm not bad with Chie, provided I spam her kick combos. Yu also came to me in a forced way, through the tutorials. Elizabeth seems to be a good beginner character and has lots of very strong combos.) Otherwise you will get your ass handed to you. Most likely repeatedly. While this can still be fun in a different way (enjoying the overwhelming challenge), it will eventually get quite annoying.
All in all, this game is great for die-hard Persona fans, and fans of 2d fighting games like BlazBlue, but those expecting the traditional turn-based summoner RPG best look elsewhere. There are no turns, and combat requires a degree of reflex and coordination above strategy. The tradition is hard for me, but I hope to make it through all of the storylines and other content.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Game Informer
My school library keeps a good stock of fairly popular magazines, especially ones popular among it's students. One lunch I stopped in, and read a couple of these for a while. I found particular interest in is Game Informer.
In addition to pertaining to subject matter I am interested in, it boasts a number of high quality articles that I spent a couple hours reading. Their is a certain informative nature, along with occasional bouts of wit. For example one person wrote in asking why Sony and Microsoft didn't combine and create a super console. While the true answer is complicated (They are both large corporations, that have many other competing divisions, and would probably make less money if they combined [because of the people that buy both] than they do combined right now.) this is what they had to say -
"That's certainly a bold plan... There's only one problem: What would you call such a system? The Microsony XStation? The Sonysoft Playbox?"
- Excerpt From the November 2013 Issue. Page 9. No author given.
This humor makes it very enjoyable to read, and with 100 page issues, there is a lot there. The November issue I mentioned above contained four pages of response to the previous issue, three lengthy articles (four or more pages), 11 articles of trivia or small twenty page or two editorial style news articles about upcoming games, and 16 reviews of similar length. There were very few ads as well, which made for a nice read. All in all, I spent a good three hours reading this one magazine.
All of the articles were well written, and I found it a very nice way to get my gaming news, as opposed to stumbling around online. Additionally, it was nice to read other peoples opinions about things that I have thought about, like Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness. While I personally think I will love the game, the critic I read said it was significantly worse than Disgaea 4, and the story was not as good as Disgaea 1. Now that I now this, I can hope that when they make a portable version (as they inevitably will, as it's a Disgaea game) they may have fixed some of the errors, and made it a smoother experience.
Interested? I was. If you were interested, I found a pleasant surprise when I checked out the website. 12 issues - one year - is only twenty dollars, and two years is only five dollars more. Checking this out, and expecting at least a forty dollar price tag (I sold magazines in middle school, and they are not cheap at this frequency and size), this satisfies me. I plan on getting a print subscription soon, as personally, the act of reading a paper magazine is more satisfying than surfing online pages. Additionally, I can then archive my old copies, and refer to them later on. I'll probably even get a binder and keep them in it in mint condition, because I'm a nerd about that type of stuff. If that's not your way, the online issue provides tie in videos and some exclusive content.
The witty articles, as well as the rich content and news has convinced me I need to get this. The price tag will allow me to with my (very) meager resources. Readers of both this, and Game Informer can expect responses or tie-in posts later on, or at the very least posts inspired by the magazine.
In addition to pertaining to subject matter I am interested in, it boasts a number of high quality articles that I spent a couple hours reading. Their is a certain informative nature, along with occasional bouts of wit. For example one person wrote in asking why Sony and Microsoft didn't combine and create a super console. While the true answer is complicated (They are both large corporations, that have many other competing divisions, and would probably make less money if they combined [because of the people that buy both] than they do combined right now.) this is what they had to say -
"That's certainly a bold plan... There's only one problem: What would you call such a system? The Microsony XStation? The Sonysoft Playbox?"
- Excerpt From the November 2013 Issue. Page 9. No author given.
This humor makes it very enjoyable to read, and with 100 page issues, there is a lot there. The November issue I mentioned above contained four pages of response to the previous issue, three lengthy articles (four or more pages), 11 articles of trivia or small twenty page or two editorial style news articles about upcoming games, and 16 reviews of similar length. There were very few ads as well, which made for a nice read. All in all, I spent a good three hours reading this one magazine.
All of the articles were well written, and I found it a very nice way to get my gaming news, as opposed to stumbling around online. Additionally, it was nice to read other peoples opinions about things that I have thought about, like Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness. While I personally think I will love the game, the critic I read said it was significantly worse than Disgaea 4, and the story was not as good as Disgaea 1. Now that I now this, I can hope that when they make a portable version (as they inevitably will, as it's a Disgaea game) they may have fixed some of the errors, and made it a smoother experience.
Interested? I was. If you were interested, I found a pleasant surprise when I checked out the website. 12 issues - one year - is only twenty dollars, and two years is only five dollars more. Checking this out, and expecting at least a forty dollar price tag (I sold magazines in middle school, and they are not cheap at this frequency and size), this satisfies me. I plan on getting a print subscription soon, as personally, the act of reading a paper magazine is more satisfying than surfing online pages. Additionally, I can then archive my old copies, and refer to them later on. I'll probably even get a binder and keep them in it in mint condition, because I'm a nerd about that type of stuff. If that's not your way, the online issue provides tie in videos and some exclusive content.
The witty articles, as well as the rich content and news has convinced me I need to get this. The price tag will allow me to with my (very) meager resources. Readers of both this, and Game Informer can expect responses or tie-in posts later on, or at the very least posts inspired by the magazine.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Toukiden: The Age of Demons
There is an upcoming game that has piqued my curiosity, namely Toukiden: The Age of Demons. This is an action based RPG that will be released February 11 on the Playstation Vita. It will have a release day price of forty dollars.
 |
| A Cthonian Fiend, the Flaghsip Oni |
This game immediately caught my eye as I was scrolling through a list of Vita games to be released soon. It has a gameplay system I am relatively familiar with, as going on quests with a group is something you do quite frequently in Monster Hunter. Additionally, it contains a large amount of Japanese lore and history in it's Mitama feature.
Basically, the game is about a group of people who are tasked with trying to stop the Oni (Japanese Demon-Ogres) from causing their world to become another "Otherworld," which is the place the demons came from. You play as their newest recruit, and are able to design your character. There are several weapon types you can use, but it appears you are not restricted to one. You are able to cut off parts of an Oni, and they will regrow them, possibly becoming enraged, and stronger. There also seem to be other components to combat as well, but I am not certain how they will be implemented.
 |
| Fighting an Oni |
 |
| One of the Blade type weapons given as an example on the website. |
This game has a website, which can be found here.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Delving into Game Creation
Today marked my first foray into the world of game design. In my class, we will be using the Game Maker 7 Lite software, and will create several games.
The first one was a tutorial entitle "Catch the Clown." I, and the other students in the class, created a simple but challenging game where the object is to click on a clown sprite bouncing around the room. Clicking on it increases your score and speeds up the clown.
I, personally, added a couple things. First, I set it to spawn a new stage after you reached my original high score. The new staged had a background with "A Winner Is You" shown clearly, as well as several more walls for the clown to bounce off of. Additionally several green monsters that look similar to the ones from Pac-man bounce around as well, deducting points if you click on them.
So what did I learn, aside from how to make a basic game? Basically, how hard it is. Even using a very simple point and click interface, it took a good hour, and very frequent reference to the tutorial guidelines to create this. Creating something larger, and more complex requires a tremendous amount of hours put in by many people.
Although I suppose I knew this inside, I never realized it while playing games before. I never thought about the process, I just played. However, I compel you to think about the many hours of work that went into making everything. This may make things seem a little more precious, for how can I kill a deer in Skyrim knowing it was the result of days of work? How can I not savor every quest knowing that the game took years to complete?
The first one was a tutorial entitle "Catch the Clown." I, and the other students in the class, created a simple but challenging game where the object is to click on a clown sprite bouncing around the room. Clicking on it increases your score and speeds up the clown.
I, personally, added a couple things. First, I set it to spawn a new stage after you reached my original high score. The new staged had a background with "A Winner Is You" shown clearly, as well as several more walls for the clown to bounce off of. Additionally several green monsters that look similar to the ones from Pac-man bounce around as well, deducting points if you click on them.
So what did I learn, aside from how to make a basic game? Basically, how hard it is. Even using a very simple point and click interface, it took a good hour, and very frequent reference to the tutorial guidelines to create this. Creating something larger, and more complex requires a tremendous amount of hours put in by many people.
Although I suppose I knew this inside, I never realized it while playing games before. I never thought about the process, I just played. However, I compel you to think about the many hours of work that went into making everything. This may make things seem a little more precious, for how can I kill a deer in Skyrim knowing it was the result of days of work? How can I not savor every quest knowing that the game took years to complete?
Sunday, January 12, 2014
The Pros and Cons of Cut-Scenes
Cut-scenes, cinematic events that progress the storyline (or other events) without (or with very little) player interaction, are commonplace, and exist in many, many games. Many people view cut-scenes differently. Some see them as an artistic way to address the storyline, while others find them an unnecessary break from actual gameplay. There are, of course, benefits and detriments to using cut-scenes.
Some games or series, like Metal Gear Solid, use hours of cut-scenes to paint a vivid story with multiple elements. Others use less, but still as important, unchangeable moments. These games tend to be one directional, with player actions effecting the storyline little, as possible actions could lead to dozens of necessary cut-scenes for every default one. Additionally, the cut-scenes may ruin player immersion, with the act of the computer taking over their actions removing their mind from the situation. However, they allow the story teller to be easier understood, as if you are doing multiple things at the time of a conversation (say fighting a robot while your (a.i.) teammates are discussing what to do next) it can be very difficult to listen to them while still playing effectively.(I'm looking at you Mass Effect. And you have cutscenes, so shame on you) You can also usually skip past them on your second time through, or if you are too impatient to watch them. These are also great tools for the developer and storyteller, as if you are telling a story, you want people to pay attention.
On the other hand, you encounter the occasional game like Skyrim, where there are no cutscenes whatsoever. You can shape each individual moment to a reasonable degree, and can continue to act while characters are conversing (provided you are not directly taking part in the conversation). However, there are still problems with this. The entire first five minutes of the game
(a scripted event that is the same each time) runs like a cut-scene, with the direction you are looking the only thing you can control. You can also not skip past it, as it is part of the game itself, not a short movie. If you create new accounts often, this can get very frustrating. This does allow for a larger range of choices though, as certain events you can break off by just running away, or attacking an enemy who is trying to give you a speech. It also makes the game feel very connected, with all things part of the others. Some find this more immersive, and easier to connect with.
Personally, I don't mind cut-scenes, as long as they are well done and add to the story. That said, the interactivity you get without them can be nice as well, provided it gives you things to do or ways to interact with the world in scripted events.
Some games or series, like Metal Gear Solid, use hours of cut-scenes to paint a vivid story with multiple elements. Others use less, but still as important, unchangeable moments. These games tend to be one directional, with player actions effecting the storyline little, as possible actions could lead to dozens of necessary cut-scenes for every default one. Additionally, the cut-scenes may ruin player immersion, with the act of the computer taking over their actions removing their mind from the situation. However, they allow the story teller to be easier understood, as if you are doing multiple things at the time of a conversation (say fighting a robot while your (a.i.) teammates are discussing what to do next) it can be very difficult to listen to them while still playing effectively.(I'm looking at you Mass Effect. And you have cutscenes, so shame on you) You can also usually skip past them on your second time through, or if you are too impatient to watch them. These are also great tools for the developer and storyteller, as if you are telling a story, you want people to pay attention.
On the other hand, you encounter the occasional game like Skyrim, where there are no cutscenes whatsoever. You can shape each individual moment to a reasonable degree, and can continue to act while characters are conversing (provided you are not directly taking part in the conversation). However, there are still problems with this. The entire first five minutes of the game
(a scripted event that is the same each time) runs like a cut-scene, with the direction you are looking the only thing you can control. You can also not skip past it, as it is part of the game itself, not a short movie. If you create new accounts often, this can get very frustrating. This does allow for a larger range of choices though, as certain events you can break off by just running away, or attacking an enemy who is trying to give you a speech. It also makes the game feel very connected, with all things part of the others. Some find this more immersive, and easier to connect with.
Personally, I don't mind cut-scenes, as long as they are well done and add to the story. That said, the interactivity you get without them can be nice as well, provided it gives you things to do or ways to interact with the world in scripted events.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Why Subtitles in Games are Necessary
It's usually not a problem. A good ninety percent of video games have subtitles, possibly more, but when they don't, in this day and age, it's not right.
For one, in games with no (or bad) subtitles that also have loud background noises, like Halo: Reach (For the non gaming types, it's a futuristic war game about genetically modified super soldiers. Sort-of. I have never actually played it.), you can miss large parts of the dialog even with a louder volume or while wearing headphones. If you are hard of hearing this may totally ruin your experience.
The worst situation is, of course, when no subtitles are provided. This occurs rather infrequently now, but when it does, it is bad. It's really unacceptable. All televised material must be captioned, with few exceptions under federal law (http://www.fcc.gov/guides/closed-captioning). If the budget is an issue, you can petition to bypass this rule. A similar law should be placed involving commercial video games released by large companies. Small independent games circumvent this due to budgeting (Most dialogue would be subtitled instead of voiced anyway), but the majority of games need to be subtitled. Refusing to subtitle a game alienates parts of your audience. There is a large community of deaf gamers, and they will lose all dialog, ruining the experience. As such, subtitling has to also be done well, and should be a direct translation of the spoken word.
Its very common to find a game without subtitles in certain parts, such as cut-scenes, which can be annoying for those relying on them. One, lesser issue, is that people playing with a low (or no) volume may have to turn it up, which could be annoying, or even rude if done at night.There may be some people who can read a language, but not easily understand it's spoken parts, and become quickly confused. Remember; Not all gamers are American, and not all games have multiple languages, which are significantly harder to provide than subtitles. The deaf, of course, will lose the dialog each time this happens. However, short stints without subtitles are usually not going to stop someone playing a game. Often, you can get the meaning of the conversation later, or, if you look, could probably find a transcript or such online with the words provided. However, the mild effort required to subtitle the rest of the game would have been relatively easy for the developers, and provided support for gamers outside the normal range.
For one, in games with no (or bad) subtitles that also have loud background noises, like Halo: Reach (For the non gaming types, it's a futuristic war game about genetically modified super soldiers. Sort-of. I have never actually played it.), you can miss large parts of the dialog even with a louder volume or while wearing headphones. If you are hard of hearing this may totally ruin your experience.
The worst situation is, of course, when no subtitles are provided. This occurs rather infrequently now, but when it does, it is bad. It's really unacceptable. All televised material must be captioned, with few exceptions under federal law (http://www.fcc.gov/guides/closed-captioning). If the budget is an issue, you can petition to bypass this rule. A similar law should be placed involving commercial video games released by large companies. Small independent games circumvent this due to budgeting (Most dialogue would be subtitled instead of voiced anyway), but the majority of games need to be subtitled. Refusing to subtitle a game alienates parts of your audience. There is a large community of deaf gamers, and they will lose all dialog, ruining the experience. As such, subtitling has to also be done well, and should be a direct translation of the spoken word.
Its very common to find a game without subtitles in certain parts, such as cut-scenes, which can be annoying for those relying on them. One, lesser issue, is that people playing with a low (or no) volume may have to turn it up, which could be annoying, or even rude if done at night.There may be some people who can read a language, but not easily understand it's spoken parts, and become quickly confused. Remember; Not all gamers are American, and not all games have multiple languages, which are significantly harder to provide than subtitles. The deaf, of course, will lose the dialog each time this happens. However, short stints without subtitles are usually not going to stop someone playing a game. Often, you can get the meaning of the conversation later, or, if you look, could probably find a transcript or such online with the words provided. However, the mild effort required to subtitle the rest of the game would have been relatively easy for the developers, and provided support for gamers outside the normal range.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
The Pros and Cons of Last Generation Buying
As a teenager with a very small (Read: nonexistent) income, I rarely have the newest console, or even the newest games. As such, every console I have (Except the Vita, which I obtained through a happy accident) was purchased late in it's career. If you, like me, have little money and substantial patience, I suggest you wait a while.
This past Christmas I was gifted with an Xbox 360, which has recently been usurped by the Xbox One. There are quite a few bonuses to getting consoles later on, provided you can wait out for a while. One is the price. Immediately after a newer, better version is released, the old ones price goes down quite a bit, variable on the system and where you are purchasing it. It also takes a while to become obsolete. For now, many games for the Xbox One are also available for the 360, so as to maximize sales. The upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5, for example, will be available for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, and Playstation 4. Additionally, the newest systems, the Xbox One and Playstation 4, are not backwards compatible as-is (I believe they require add-ons to do so), so they cannot play your old games unless you cough up a little extra cash.
There are some cons as well. For one, it will be a couple years from a systems release for it to get replaced. That can be an awful long time to wait. Additionally, you will eventually be unable to play the newest games, as they will become exclusive to the newer systems relatively quickly. Some are already exclusive to the newest consoles. You can then have to wait until the price of that system goes down, if you wish.
Bottom line, last generation buying is excellent for those with little money and little investment in the newest games. However, if the cost is not an issue, and you really want to play the newest games, the new generation consoles are for you.
This past Christmas I was gifted with an Xbox 360, which has recently been usurped by the Xbox One. There are quite a few bonuses to getting consoles later on, provided you can wait out for a while. One is the price. Immediately after a newer, better version is released, the old ones price goes down quite a bit, variable on the system and where you are purchasing it. It also takes a while to become obsolete. For now, many games for the Xbox One are also available for the 360, so as to maximize sales. The upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5, for example, will be available for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, and Playstation 4. Additionally, the newest systems, the Xbox One and Playstation 4, are not backwards compatible as-is (I believe they require add-ons to do so), so they cannot play your old games unless you cough up a little extra cash.
There are some cons as well. For one, it will be a couple years from a systems release for it to get replaced. That can be an awful long time to wait. Additionally, you will eventually be unable to play the newest games, as they will become exclusive to the newer systems relatively quickly. Some are already exclusive to the newest consoles. You can then have to wait until the price of that system goes down, if you wish.
Bottom line, last generation buying is excellent for those with little money and little investment in the newest games. However, if the cost is not an issue, and you really want to play the newest games, the new generation consoles are for you.
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