tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641410836496652732024-02-08T05:07:20.295-08:00Fearful SymmetryKynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-79978560487331848602011-08-11T13:15:00.000-07:002011-08-11T13:15:49.893-07:00Sitting around a campfire telling...(alternate title, "Who ya gonna call?")<br />
I recently finished Jim Butcher's, <i>Ghost Story</i>, the latest in the Dresden files series of books. For those few of you who do not yet know, Harry Dresden is the only listed wizard in the Chicago phone book. Not your pull a rabbit out of the hat variety, either. He's capable of using real magic and in his line of work as a detective it comes in pretty handy. Now go get copies of <i>Storm Front</i>, <i>Fool Moon</i> and <i>Grave Peril</i> right now and stop reading this blog until you finish those three.<p>For the rest of us who have finished the book prior to this one, <i>Changes</i>, <i>Ghost Story</i> picks up months down the line with the aftermath of the events we had read and how they have, well, changed everyone involved. Avoiding as many spoilers as I can, this book focuses on the world of the departed for Harry and friends to face against an old nemesis thought dead. Through it all we get more depth into Harry's own life, his time spent as a pupil of Justin DuMorne, his relation with his honest to God fairy godmother, and the impact he has on the lives of those around him. The short story from the collection, <i>Side Jobs</i>, centralizing around Karrin Murphy bridges the gap between <i>Changes</i> and <i>Ghost Story</i> but is not required reading as you get a recap in <i>Ghost Story</i>.<p><i>Ghost Story</i> is well told and shows more of Butcher's skill as an author. I take issue with the way he decided to tell this tale because of what it does to our protagonist, Harry Dresden, but I guess it couldn't be avoided. He's altered many of the characters we've come to care about, many in directions I personally don't like. It's a good book and leaves me wanting to read the next, knowing that Harry has a lot of work left to do even after solving the primary problem from this book. I have a hard time trying to recommend this book without any prior reading beyond the first three novels and <i>Changes</i>(as listed above). I would say that if you wished to get "caught up" on this franchise with minimal reading, than beyond those one would also need to read <i>Dead Beat</i> and <i>Proven Guilty</i> at least. However this is a series that one truly needs to read every book in it to fully enjoy the experience (You can skip the short stories, if you must) and <i>Ghost Story</i> finds a nice, spooky, scary place to settle into.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-11157007457360277572011-07-22T04:52:00.000-07:002011-07-22T04:52:27.617-07:00A Real American HeroCaught the midnight screening of Captain America: the First Avenger flick today. After the credits is a nice trailer shot for the new Avengers film coming out next year. The rest of the film? Hard to comment on. It was an action-y tale of the initial rise of Cap during World War 2 and how he helped defeat the Nazis when he punched out Hitler. Oh wait, they don't do that. We get Hydra in place of Nazis and it's all about Red Skull instead of Der Fuhrer. Chris Evans did a fine job as all-American Steven Rogers. Now, did they CG the pre-operation body? Or did this guy bulk up like a steroid fiend for post-op Cap? Tommy Lee Jones is cast as the gruff and grouchy commander of the unit that Rogers eventually ends up in, Hugo Weaving portrays the German Johann Schmidt/Red Skull in a curious casting. Then again if Alan Rickman can be a German terrorist, I guess Mr. Weaving can too. Stanley Tucci plays the doctor who developed the super soldier process and comes off as grandfatherly and humorous with his little quips. We also get Howard Stark, Tony's father (or is it grandfather) played pretty well by Dominic Cooper working with the U.S. military as a technical genius. I haven't mentioned Hayley Atwell's role as Peggy Carter, the female main and to be frank, beyond a sort of "I believe in you, Steven, so you should to" role, she was pretty extraneous to the film as a whole.<br />
The plot is a movie about a war hero. His desire to serve, the method by which he can serve, his growth from a sort of a joke into the hero we know him to be and eventually kicking ass. There's a MacGuffin early acquired by the Red Skull and it powers their technology to zap people into dust. And boy howdy do people just get vaporized. Like, War of the Worlds remake level of violence here. They insert a montage in as Cap is doing missions and I felt it detracted because clips of action are not nearly as cool as full scenes set up of assaults and fallout. Then again the film probably would have run for three hours (as it stands it's just over two, clocking in at 125 min) if we saw each of Caps missions played out in full. I don't suppose it's much of a spoiler to know the Skull's ploy is ultimately beaten and we get our Avenger tie-in involving Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury at the end (pre-credits, actually), which led to a weak ending ultimately.<br />
It's a fine film, it falls in line with the other Avenger "prequels" we've had so far with Iron-Man and Thor. Definately not for an audience younger than 10 or so due to the level of violence.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-56868438091606925242011-07-07T14:38:00.000-07:002011-07-07T14:38:28.395-07:00It isn't easy, being green. Also super spy vehicles.The new Green Lantern movie has become one of the most criticized films of this summer blockbuster season (With Transformers 3: Dark Side of the Moon gaining more heat) and I do not entirely agree with critics here. It isn't a dramatic work with self reflection and deep character study of Hal Jordan, but instead a pretty standard action movie with giant special effects. Does it work in that regard? Certainly! The CG here is necessary due to the power that the ring of the Green Lantern Corps. provides, which is one's imagination made manifest. There are some effects that some would consider "hokey" (such as using computers to plaster the actor's face upon a CG rendered body, why couldn't they just film the actor in the suit in front of a screen?) and the plot suffers from being all over the place as it never manages to strike a balance between the galactic problem (Parallax) versus the super-hero on Earth. (Slowly mutating scientist man) There are scenes that didn't need to be part of the film, establishing nothing for any character and introducing us to people the film will never touch on again. That said, I found the CG ring effects to be cool and the film managed to keep me entertained for its length. Oh, and I saw it in 3D, and there were times I had to take my glasses off due to eye strain and many times where the 3D felt unneeded (Like between Hal Jordan and his would-be girlfriend. Really? Why is that in 3D movie? Save it for the flight scenes. Or the fight sequences.) Ryan Reynolds makes a good Hal and Peter Sarsgaard seems to be enjoying his role as Dr. Hammond. I also thought Mark Strong as Sinestro seemed to be having a good time as the character. I felt Blake Lively (the female love interest) and Tim Robbins, unfortunately, gave relatively flat performances. The movie is slapped with a PG-13 rating, keeping it away from the younger viewers who might be more easily wow-ed by the special effects, due to the degree of violence and on-screen death. I found the movie fun enough and worth at least a matinee showing price. Just not in 3D.<br />
<p>The other criticized film I had the pleasure of watching was Cars 2. I had sided with the reviews on this one without having given it an honest go, accepting the claim of it being, "Pixar's worst film yet." Well, is it? Yes and no. It's not particularly groundbreaking, it doesn't invoke strong elements of emotion and pathos, and the plot seems less involved and a bit more formulaic than previous movies put out by this studio. It still does the job of giving us a spy movie set in a world of anthropomorphic automobiles. It is, however, a movie primarily focused upon Tow Mater this time instead of Lightning McQueen. Do you want to watch an hour and forty minutes of Larry the Cable Guy attempt to be a secret agent with Bond-style gadgets? If not, skip this flick. The framing device of the international races is pretty much a way to shoe horn in McQueen's character, and ultimately is superfluous to the rest of the movie. It ends up being predictable and slow, with a few comedic spots, a cameo I wasn't expecting (Bruce Campbell voices an American spy) and ultimately mediocre. It even has a few instances of on-screen death. Y'know, for children! If you've got a child in the under 10 and over 3 range they'll be squirmy during slow moments and the younger set may not be able to follow the secret agent plot, but it should keep their interest for the duration due to the silliness of Mater's antics. If you are just a fan of Pixar films, there isn't much written for adults in this installment, unless you're an avid follower of Larry's style of humor.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-26322775657109307552011-06-12T12:31:00.000-07:002011-06-12T12:33:06.715-07:00Opening rifts, doing detective work and kung-fu.The end of May and the start of June saw some releases I took part in (L.A. Noire and Kung Fu Panda 2) while Trion Worlds allowed a week free of their MMO, RIFT this past week. I also attended several family gatherings with the in-laws.<br />
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To start, let us talk of gaming. L.A. Noire is a visually ground breaking title. The use of full facial recognition/capture along with decent models allows for a more immersive (and to some, a venture into uncanny valley) experience. Being a police officer on the streets of 1940's Los Angeles allows for one to act like they are in a stylish detective/crime movie of that era. The game is easy to play, especially for anyone who is familiar with Rockstar's other more free-roam games (Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption), though there is less freedom for behavior due to the in-game restriction on morality. Killing civilians with gunfire or your car earns you a bad score and gets you in trouble with your higher ups in the police department. This may rankle a few expecting a GTA experience. Where the gameplay takes a swerve is the investigation aspect, either from gathering evidence at a crime scene or in the questioning of suspects and witnesses. Crime scene investigation isn't quite pixel-huntingly bad as adventure games of old like Monkey Island, but not everything your character snatches off the ground is going to be relevant to the case, either. Where the difficulty (I feel) increases is in trying to discern truth from lies while talking to people. Make a false assumption and your investigation will suddenly go astray or even come to a halt. It doesn't help that your character acts like a total dick to someone he feels is lying or even when he doubts their description of events.<br />
Overall I am impressed with the game and pleased to have purchased it, but for me, due to the difficulty in getting investigations right (and the habit of starting over when I screw up) means I won't replay it much, even with the upcoming DLC planned for it.<br />
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The other bit of gaming experience has been with Rift and while easy to write off as a World of Warcraft clone, it does shine in a few areas. The standard MMO controls apply here, movement and gameplay are unchanged between this game, WoW, AION, or any other MMO really. Trion Worlds borrows a page from more recent MMOs by giving the player visual rewards when they achieve a new level, complete a quest and earn in-game achievements (which have sort of snuck into gaming these days as carrots on the end of sticks) That bright flash and upbeat musical cue gives the player additional sense of accomplishment over just knowing their experience bar filled up or they earned some coins. What does make Rift stand out is the amount of customization available for a character's abilities. While most games have you select a class and once you do there's abilities you train up that are the same for everyone of that class, and then specialties gained through subclasses or talent trees, Rift has each class earn all its abilities based on what talent trees the player chooses as they earn them. That's right, until you pick a specialty, your character doesn't know anything. Good thing the very first quest rewards you with, "Pick your first talent tree". As one puts more and more points into their chosen tree, they earn more basic abilities, from damaging spells to buff and debuffs to other utilities. There are eight trees per class to choose from, and some that go beyond the typical genre defined per role (tanking rogues and mages that heal? Amazing!) that allow one players character feel drastically different than someone else's of the same class. Until the"ultimate" build combinations are discovered and cookie-cutter copied off websites at any rate. The other aspect to the game that makes it stand out are the Rifts themselves. While some are predetermined and can be dealt with normally, in the manner those familiar with public quests like from Warhammer and Champions, some can open more spontaneously and suddenly everyone in the zone should muster together to fight the invaders, lest their questing experience be ruined by these infiltrators messing up the local wildlife and quest giving NPCs. Effectively being in a raid at a character level under 10 to kill a big bad was kind of astonishing. I am not certain if this novelty will enhance the game in the long run, or, if at higher level, become frustrating especially if there are few people on to help deal with it. Where Rift falls short is the graphics department. Character animations aren't superb, some look outright dumb (like most of the jumping ones), and others are recycled (both humans and elves do the same emotes with their rival-faction counterparts). There are only three races per side and very, very little diversity between them. You can be human, dark-skinned human, really tall human, elvish, dark skinned and alien eyed elvish or a dwarf. Whee. Another problem is with the textures of the ground and NPC detail. Until I put the graphic sliders on the "ultra" settings, scenery and animal textures were blurry and ugly. Ultimately Rift is solid and has some interesting innovations, but it won't be taking the current top held spot any time soon.<br />
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Lastly for this entry is the movie. I do not often rate movies beyond "This was a good film." or "That movie was a waste of my money." however I think some words need to be said on this piece. The first film established the setting. It gave us our main character and our supporting cast. This film delves into the story behind our main character. Yes, there's a guy being evil, and evil must be stopped by our heroes, but what this film, ultimately, was, is the story of Po. Who he is, where he came from, where he stands now. This movie had far less martial arts and instead focused on our hero primarily (almost to the exclusion of the Furious Five, to be honest) and instilled another life lesson for us to learn (Embrace and accept pain of loss, but do not let it overwhelm you). Apparently through this inner peace we can fling fireworks around. Kung-Fu Panda 2 is a fun movie with deeper storytelling than before. It blends traditional animated segments with CG in an interesting way (Po's repressed memory flashbacks are told in hand-drawn scenes) However, due to the elements that are character driven, there is less action and therefore it feels like a slower paced film. Perhaps fitting for a movie about a ponderous panda.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-77603513540334526562011-04-30T12:51:00.000-07:002011-04-30T12:51:42.085-07:00Patches and Science!I have recently played two of the more anticipated releases of this month. The first is the long-heralded 4.1 patch for World of Warcraft titled, "Rise of the Zandalari" and the other is Portal 2. The Warcraft patch brings back the old raid of Zul'Gurub as a heroic 5-man dungeon suited for people at maximum level (85) with considerable high-quality gear. (the stuff you get out of normal heroic dungeons or even raiding) The developers also decided to retrofit the old 10-man raid of Zul'Aman that came out late in the Burning Crusade era into a similarly tuned 5-man for end-game players. the story linking the two is one that has played out in Stranglethorn Vale for the post Cataclysm quests, where the Zandalari troll tribe, once fighting to prevent the Blood God Hakkar from being brought physically to Azeroth, now stand as the pivotal villains, bringing the trolls of the world together in a united stand to fight back against all the other factions in the world in the face of apparent extinction. Only the Darkspears, headed by Vol'jin, refuse this offer to instead stay united with the Horde. In addition to old/new dungeons, the patch brought some changes to the U.I., primarily in how the character sheet is organized and that when you target someone (NPC or player) you get a dot on your minimap to help show you where it is. Guilds got a new feature called, "Guild Challenges" that will go a long way to assisting smaller guilds rank up to have access to the better perks that larger guilds are already enjoying. These challenges grant the guild XP when they are completed (separate from the XP the guild accrues through its members questing or entering into dungeons) and are limited to defeating a level-appropriate raid boss, completing seven level-appropriate dungeons or completing 3 level-appropriate battlegrounds (by level appropriate I assume it means that the raid/dungeon/battleground is near the level of the guild members who accomplish this, allowing guilds comprised of folk who are yet to be level 85 to get the bonus guild XP on their characters performing guild dungeon runs while leveling up) the last feature I'm going to mention is the Call to Arms for their Dungeon Finder system. In an attempt to alleviate the lengthy wait period some players (those who play damage-dealing classes) have experienced using the method of being assigned a random group to enter into dungeons with, Blizzard is now offering extra rewards (bribes) for players to queue up as the class roles most underrepresented (tanking). This feature is presently only in effect for the high-end dungeons, however, leaving those who wish to gain experience by way of dungeon runs still stuck with potentially lengthy queue times.<br />
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Portal. What is there to say about this game that has not already been said? The first game defined the subgenre of action-puzzle-platformer and the sequel is no different. Coming packed with roughly four times the amount of puzzles as the original, a storyline that delves into the history of Aperture science and the man behind it, and the same acerbic wit the original boasted from the writers, this game is amazing on all accounts.<br />
Where could it possibly go wrong? Well, one part is the camera. As a first-person game that, at times, deals with dizzying physics, it certainly won't be for everyone. This is by no means a fault of the designers, but it does mean for those that get motion-sick or vertigo watching, let alone playing, any first-person game, they will be unable to enjoy Portal. The second possible down-side to the game is the main character, Chell. As the mute protagonist who acts as vehicle by which we, the player, enjoy this game, she provides nothing to the story, even as its about her and her trials in the Aperture laboratory. We learn nothing about her save the insults hurled at us by GLaDOS and even then that calls into doubt her rationale for trying to escape. We, the player, project ourselves into the role of Chell, and the fourth wall then extends behind us, it is not Chell trying to escape, it is then we, the players who now take leaps of faith and fall through portals over gaps and toxic waters. The co-op mode brings the sarcasm of GLaDOS onto two unfortunate robots with no personality save what we put into them by way of personal actions (taunts and emotes) in addition to creating puzzles that require communication in addition to timing, trust in addition to strategy, and frankly make for some wonderful moments of triumph and betrayal. As GLaDOS would say, "You are acting more like a human every minute."<br />
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Graphics: 8/10 (Nothing mind blowing here folks, but they don't suck either. The different chapters of the game each have their own feel, from Aperture overrun by plant life, to Aperture of yore to the newest and cleanest testing rooms to.. well, I don't want to give away any spoilers.)<br />
Sound/Music 10/10 (Ambient music chiming in at key points, musical cues when you're solving puzzles with various tools and of course the dialogue and voice-acting are all top-notch)<br />
Gameplay: 9/10 (You have to be able to use a first-person view, have quick reflexes in a few rooms, and understand the two-portal system to get anywhere. Sometimes challenging, but not impossible to overcome)<br />
Story: 10/10 (You expect anything else? Seriously this game makes me invested in inanimate, imaginary objects. It's a fantastic ride form start to finish and the payoff at the end was really satisfying save for one niggling detail)<br />
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Overall score: 9/10 (Probably my number 1 nomination for game of the year when we get around to that, though L.A. Noire may give it a running. A must-buy for fans of the first game, fans of puzzlers who can stand first-person acrobatics, first-person fans looking for some story and brain-busting challenges and anyone with a good sense of humor.)KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-29375594557120273642011-02-23T14:35:00.000-08:002011-02-23T14:38:05.622-08:00Rotate a quarter circle from down to forward.Recent gaming has included Magicka, Super Street Fighter 4, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and the Dragon Age 2 demo.<br />
Magicka - Cute 3/4 top-down action game in similar vein to Diablo. The spell cast system of different elemental combinations leads to some innovation, however once you learn the shield variations and elemental beams its novelty wears off some. The fake-Swedish voice acting from the NPCs is unintentionally funny, but the gore seems a bit over the top and out of place for a game with this design.<br />
Quick Review score: 7/10<br />
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SSF4 - I loved SF 4, and this one is no exception. I'd be playing it now if my X-Box hadn't of eaten the disc when my daughter was jumping around next to it >.> Definitely one for fans of brawler, beat-em-ups and the Street Fighter line. Keep it classy!<br />
Quick Review score: 8/10<br />
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MvC3 - Oh I wanna take you for a ride. Slick graphics keeping the "comic book" sort of feel while also retaining some of what we've seen in SF4 and SSF4. The character line up is certainly more diverse, however there's still many balance issues with some characters and the on-line is a step back from what they had going on in SSF4, much to the detriment of the game. Worth waiting for some patches and DLC to be released before a final purchase. Deadpool is a riot, however I can see people getting tired of his antics after too much exposure. I am also not a fan of the different control scheme and button layout.<br />
Quick Review score: 7/10<br />
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Dragon Age 2 - A review of a preview of an incomplete project. Looks the same as any "standard" adventure/RPG on the market currently. character creation was disabled in the demo so I couldn't fool with the sliders any. I like the revamp of the abilities trees visually. The snip of plot was interesting, however somewhat predictable given BioWare's track record with intro scenarios. (Hint, make a mage healer) Dialogue options are excellent, I like that instead of colored text you get an icon instead to hint at what sort of answer you give is going to be (olive branch, angel wings, comedy mask, fist, hammer) I do look forward to this sequel once it hits shelves. I might even pick it up on launch. then again, I should probably wait for a patch or two first. <.<<br />
Quick Review score: 9/10KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-44052550578128709942011-02-08T17:39:00.000-08:002011-02-08T17:39:49.059-08:00How do you like your fantasy?I have just finished Brent Weeks' <i>The Black Prism</i>, and as I gather my collective thoughts about what the experience has been I consider a question I had asked several of my friends in hope of edging out an idea on what I should eventually write a book about.<br />
"<i>What kinds of stories do you like to read?</i>"<br />
I have discovered I really like action. I like the tension of reading about a character's charge through enemy lines and not knowing if they will be struck down. I like the rise of heroes and the telling of the defeat and victory. the book was good and the fantasy staple of a world with magic in it is taken to a different direction in this novel. However I really wasn't getting into it until I was about 1/3 of the way through the book. Mr. Weeks' <i>Night Angel</i> trilogy had me nearly at the beginning as I read about these people in a terrible situation up against all sorts of odds. I wasn't quite as taken in this time early on, however the last half of the book had me wanting to read more, and the last few chapters swept by as I couldn't put the book down.<br />
There's more to liking just action, however. For one it can't be gratuitous body parts being shorn and blood and gore, I skim those sections. What really interests me is how the characters, if I've come to care about their success, will get out alive. Many novels I've written are brutal to characters I come to identify with or care about. As soon as one of those characters is done in, my interest in completing a work drops measurably. I don't care to see if they are avenged or not, the narrative hook that had me buy into the story was gone. Killing off named characters doesn't make for a bad story, in fact it's sort of unrealistic if the heroes never suffer any losses, however if there was significant time put into building up a character, the jarring loss halfway or later in a novel unseats me and diminishes my enthusiasm.<br />
If my friends have anything to teach me, its that when I get to writing my story(ies?) my characters better be flawed, human, strong in a few areas, but weak in others, and hopefully, engaging enough to have an interest that lasts. I probably shouldn't just off them either. Probably.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-28218045654498434052011-01-20T11:46:00.000-08:002011-01-20T11:46:37.992-08:00Role-Playing (video) Games, an analysis.As I sit here with my second cup of morning coffee I had an inspiration to put down my thoughts on a subject that had come up on a Live-Journal post discussion I was part of a few days back. Well, possibly flame-war might be closer to how the actual debate went. A comment that had been made was that video game RPGs had been emulating table top, pencil and paper RPGs for years. I actually have to disagree with this sentiment to a degree and here's why. Think about what comes to mind when a video game RPG gets mentioned? Final Fantasy is often the forefront of people's minds. Possibly Fable, Fallout or Oblivion for those of a western gamer mindset and view. Some people will mention the MMOs that are out there, and a frequent number of Japanese franchises will come to the fore (Xenosaga/gears, Shin Megami Tensen, Dragon Quest, among others) A few folk may even bring up computer games like Diablo or Baldur's Gate. Where am I going with this? Well, see, I feel that far too often the video game role-playing game isn't like the table-tops for several reasons.<br />
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A Table-top RPG will have the player choose their character's name, race and gender where applicable, determine their attributes with either a point allocation or random number generation (e.g. dice rolls), sometimes work on a skill set, aquire or purchase gear, and possibly have some sort of back story to why they are in the occupation/situation they are at the time of gaming. Or they work with their game-master to come to similar. Video game RPGs are more commonly having you play a named person, pregenerated and given a predelection towards a certain occupation and skill-set and it's very uncustomizable. Some games that allow for a degree of specialization or customization punish choices made, "for characters sake" because they aren't the maximized optimum to get through encounters. (Just about every game that has magic as a character option)<br />
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There are a few exceptions. Sometimes you get to name the character, but as they overcome adversity (read: Kill things in combat over and over) and gain experience, their growth is already mapped out and their skill set improves along a predetermined path. Sometimes you can alter their skill sets as they grow, but your level 45 warlock is going to look a lot like everyone else's level 45 warlock, let's face it. Some games don't allow for any real customization of the character at all, just obtain the best gear that gives the most plusses and continue forth, selling off everything else that they come across. Really, I think, that's where I think the term RPG stops fitting these games. It's not a role that you're playing, it's someone's life you're taking control over for a while. How does that differ from any action game with a pre-named protagonist? Because there's a menu and inventory system and you have to juggle an additional resource, like "Mana"?<br />
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Let's take a look at one of my favorite games of 2010, "Red Dead Redemption." At face value you're given a sandbox (That is to say free to roam the world and do whatcha want) action game set in a fictional wild west Americana stage. Your character is John Marston and some plot has happened to him and he's been set loose in this world with an ultimate goal, but needing to acquire friends, equipment and money before being able to see that goal through. Over the course of playing the game you can gain skills related to hunting and gathering. You can be a good guy and go after wanted criminals, act politely, and help out NPCs with their millions of side-quests. Or you can be a rotten bastard and tie women to train tracks. There's various things to do in this game, yet it's not labeled as a role-playing game because why? Because the majority of the combat is resolved real time and uses guns? There's even on-line multiplayer free roam. I argue Red Dead is more of an RPG than Final Fantasy XII and XIII could ever hope to be.<br />
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I think, perhaps, that the label of RPG is slapped onto any game that decides to use numerical value to represent a character's health and break combat down into stop-motion "turns" regardless of how much actual playing of a role or player freedom for customization of the in-game characters there are. Our characters are the vehicles by which we can experience the game world and those within it, let us at least have the options for some custom paint job and chrome rims! Well modeled character design is nice and all, but if I don't see an outward physical change when I equip a new suit of armor, there's going to be a level of disconnect. Now, I admit, the hybrid "Action-RPG" label exists and is bandied about on a few titles, however they often still have limited customization (Kingdom Hearts) or choice (Fable 3).<br />
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In conclusion, the market is saturated with games that make a claim of being "role-playing" when they're more like experiencing some form of cinema broken up between stages of fighting. (Looking at you Final Fantasy series) There's other games that have elements of character growth, customization and optimization that don't get labeled as RPGs and really, there's barely any game that actually emulates the experience of having "rolled up" a character like the table tops any more (Except possibly Fallout).KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-25278288888762758742011-01-08T01:10:00.000-08:002011-01-08T01:10:55.214-08:00The holiday rushOnce again the holiday season has come and gone, and in its wake I am both a year older and a bit run down. I shall endeavor to find meaningful or insightful things to continue to post to this little slice of the internet, for now I leave this. The holidays went well, my birthday was nearly perfect and I rather liked TRON: Legacy.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-38648556541572376862010-12-12T22:28:00.000-08:002010-12-12T22:28:59.696-08:00The Cataclysm Come - Review of the 3rd World of Warcraft ExpansionAfter years in the making, once more Blizzard updates the content of their persistent world MMO with new zones for people at the previously highest experience level to go out and quest in, and raised the level cap to add five more levels. (instead of the previously established ten) Not one to leave out those who have yet to reach the present "max level", Blizzard incorporated a new profession, that of Archaeology and radically redesigned the main world itself, shaking off the persistence that MMO's are more typically known for. One of the ways that this is accomplished is with honest redesign of the map, making hills and valleys where previously there were none. The other and more ingenious is smoke and mirrors in the form of "phasing", where NPCs, geographic features, terrain and even other players will be replaced by the changes planned. Say you begin in the ruins of a castle overrun by orcs. You do a quest to wipe out the orcs. Most MMO just don't send you back there, forcing the player to imagine that the orcs no longer exist, even if the models remain there in the game. With phasing, once you turn in the exterminate orc quest, the return trip no longer has orcs there. It may even have occupying forces of your faction now helping rebuild the castle.<br />
The meat and potatoes of the expansion are the new zones and I must say I am impressed with each and every one of them. Given that World of Warcraft is running off a six-year old graphics engine, they still manage to add tweaks and changes that make things striking, lovely, haunting or evocative with their tool sets.<br />
At level 80, a player is given the option of one of two starting zones (however they are by no means locked into those zones only, and can opt to go back and forth to fill their quest logs) one is the historic Mount Hyjal, scene of the final battle in the WarCraft 3 real-time strategy game. Players can visit the fallen world tree and perform quests on behalf of the ancient spirits of nature to help heal the land, especially against the present influx of angry elementals summoned by a nefarious cult from the Elemental plane of Fire that are attempting to raze the entire mountainside. The other "beginning" zone is that of Vashj'ir, a lesser known place (in terms of lore), that is a sunken city from thousands of years past, where the inhabitants, once elves were turned into the aquatic naga race. While full immersion in an underwater zone is exceptionally creative and the way they handle moving about beyond simple swimming is cute (You get a seahorse mount in the first ten quests or so), I am slightly phobic of deep water and the ocean, so when quests had me going into dark caves I would feel anxiety, even though it was just a game. It is not my favorite zone for that reason, despite the interesting quest chains and beautiful imagining of the vibrant undersea life. (I imagine various coral reefs and continental shelf were examined for artistic inspiration) Also, don't fuck with the whale shark.<br />
After one finishes Hyjal or Vashj'ir (or ends up level 82 by whatever means) the player is then prompted to visit Deepholme, the Elemental plane of Earth. Here is where the terrible dragon aspect Deathwing once took shelter to lick his wounds from his defeat back in events that occurred within the time scale of WarCraft 2 and detailed in several novels by Richard Knaak. The Cataclysm storyline brings him back as the new menace to the face of the world of Azeroth, and it is by his destructive presence that so many things have changed. Quests involve snubbing the efforts of the same cult that's busy ruining Hyjal and making amends with the native inhabitants of Deepholme who recall the tumultuous time spent while Deathwing was residing down there and how it upset their normal way of doing things.<br />
Once one completes Deepholme (Or is level 83) they are prompted to visit the land of Uldum. A large mass of the continent of Kalimdor had lain hidden by power Titan magic and machinery, yet Deathwing's sundering of the world ruined the previous fail-safes and now the splendorous Egyptian-themed desert location of Uldum lies open for exploration. The quests here focus around a race of cat-centuars known as the tol'vir, who were created by the Titans to safeguard Uldum and now that its been exposed to the world they need some help. Likewise one begins to aid a certain explorer/archaeologist and his rival through an amusing series of quest chains that pay homage to a series of action adventure films one may be familiar with if they know of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.<br />
The last zone available for exploration and questing takes the fight to the fortifications of the adversary. In the Twilight Highlands, players are encouraged to aid sub-factions of their own. The Alliance work to help the Wildhammer dwarves, one of the three Clans of dwarves who excel in the rearing and tending of griffons as well as having a shamanistic and down-to-earth nature. The Horde work alongside the Dragonmaw orcs, one of the longest established warbands to have invaded Azeroth in the first two wars, and who tame and ride dragons to use in their battles. Due to the heated conflict between the two groups, a unified front has not been formed to strike at the Twilight Hammer cult, and players are thrust into the middle of the inter-faction rivalries. While in other MMOs this may be one of those sorts of zones where even doing a quest might flag you for Player versus Player fighting, not so here. Except on servers where world PvP is normal, those on player versus environment servers can opt to not become flagged and continue doing their quests without hindrance from the other faction (At least, more than normal).<br />
Throughout the game players are not only treated to updated visuals on the zones, but also a fresh musical score and added in voice acting, sometimes for good effect and some times not. I am pleased to see greater use of in-game cutscenes as well, though I felt in a few places they got a bit overwhelming (Uldum primarily) I am pleased with the end result that Blizzard has put through on this game. It does seem to lack some elements of finer polish that Blizzard was known for in earlier days, but nothing is perfect and I'm willing to overlook some of the little glitches where this is concerned due to providing such quality to me in everything else.<br />
Ratings:<br />
Graphics: 7/10 (As lovely as all the new models and designs are, the stuff that hasn't been changed.. hasn't been changed. If you do not like the aesthetics of the character models, you still won't as Blizzard basically took a big magnifying lens to the RTS game and gave us models in that semi-cartoonish style to play with in 3D)<br />
Music/Sound: 9/10 (The musical score is lovely, it's great to hear more individually voiced models and listening to Budd is a riot)<br />
Gameplay: 8/10 (Unchanged really. There's more use of the "vehicle" UI for quests both at low and high levels, but they work. If one is familiar with MMO layout, there's nothing new here (In fact many MMOs are accused of face-lifting WoW's. If one isn't, a newly revamped system for early levels helps guide someone through playing the game)<br />
Story: 10/10 (For those who are familiar with the WarCraft storyline from as far back as the first game it's all brought about here and adds into that lore with new twists and changes to both the old lower level zones and the inclusion of the higher level stuff. Combining the serious with a healthy does of humor, the quests and their associated storylines that play out through them are charming to behold and I do not mind the thought of repeating them for other characters.)<br />
Overall score: 8/10 (or 9/10 if you round up) the expansion adds a fair amount of new stuff to dig into and explore, despite it being geared for those at the upper level of experience, the Sundering changed how one progresses through the earlier levels as well, making things new for those who felt the game was old and stale. I eagerly look forward to getting more involved in the new dungeons, raids and finally testing out that archaeology skill.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-1587989839253028822010-11-28T21:16:00.000-08:002010-11-28T21:16:17.741-08:00Recent gaming - World of WarcraftI have been spending a good deal of time exploring all the changes brought about by the Sundering, the physical game-changing layout of the old world to herald the updated content to be released with the Cataclysm expansion this December. What I find remarkable is that a MMO is built on the concept of a persistent world, and here's Blizzard deciding to change everything. Well, most of everything. A lot of the world has remained the same, but there are many areas that have become highlighted with giant chasms and crevasses, or where there was once wilderness there are now signs of habitation and civilization. Implementing the technology and code that allows for "phasing" where after you complete a quest, there's a change to the game world, cities can fall under siege, forests can be felled and new roads laid down where there was once nothing, and all this is wrapped around a more streamlined questing experience, leading players to the next area where they can find new quests, easing them into the staples of what the WoW experience will be like.<br />
What I happen to like is the precedent this establishes for the future. The game state can be advanced and changed, a story can be told that unfolds, moving factions and loyalties around with but a patch. I am excited at the potential for stories to unfold. One example of drastic change is the loss of Alliance held points within the northern part of the Eastern Kingdoms continent. Granting the Forsaken Horde characters a more streamlined leveling experience included the utter destruction of Southshore, an Alliance bastion for years in the Hillsbrad zone. I would like to see in the months down the line some kind of reprisal for this humiliation and slaughter, where the Alliance decides that turning the town and its folk into green goo would not be tolerated. There is so much potential and I hope Blizzard sees fit to utilize it to the utmost.<br />
As a player who has been with the game for 4 years, I may not have known it since the time of launch, but I did endeavor to exploring as much as I could, taking whatever quests available and witnessing all the sights for both factions. This Sundering gives me all that I once knew with a fresh light. There are many familiar quest chains, but more there are new ones in old areas, and best yet, old chains with different outcomes, giving me a smile that Blizzard gives nods to folk who may have done a quest a hundred times to see its most recent form has a twist to let the players know, "Sure, you've done this so much it's stale. So here's something new for you to have." I think that sort of sums up the idea behind the Cataclysm and Sundering before it. A game that's six years old is going to feel stale unless it gives the players something new, and here it doesn't just tack on a new area and give a series of quests, it reinvents its own wheel, adapting and changing the old with what they've developed for the new, and applying it in a manner that lets us know what was old is new again.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-46217952082687995142010-11-25T11:33:00.000-08:002010-11-25T11:33:22.453-08:00I have not blogged much latelyWhich may be taken as a sign of low activity in the realm of video games, board games, role-playing games and anything else. Which is partially true. I have been working on an art project, however on top of my usual duties. At any rate, enjoy your holidays! :)KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-13984862824337115462010-11-19T17:02:00.001-08:002010-11-19T17:02:23.205-08:00Something briefThe holidays are fast approaching, and why not combine doing something good plus get a gift for a little one (or a tiger lover) in your life?<br />
http://www.worldwildlife.org/ogc/species_SKU.cfm?cqs=CTTGKynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-41385051776910102552010-11-16T13:26:00.000-08:002010-11-16T13:26:10.851-08:00Staying relevantAs the number of page views and comments seems to indicate, rambling about my past favorite games and reasons why I think they are so great isn't working so I should perhaps move along into something more topical.<br />
I play World of Warcraft and presently it is undergoing a lot of changes. A new expansion is due out next month and in preparation for that the persistent world is being sundered. While each of the previous expansions have created world events themed towards the expansion's arrival, it is this one where the actual in-game textures and surfaces are being changed from what they were about six years ago. This isn't just a minor update towards higher end video cards either, this is a revamp of hills and valleys, creating new ones in many places with crevasses and volcanoes and flooding and all sorts of natural disasters! I've played the game for a long time, I've been present for world events before, but this one takes the cake in the level of overhaul of all the old content that many people have been asking for over the years. With the changes to the environment comes a change of the old quests. Previous bad guys just don't cut it in the grander scheme of things, a greater threat physically looms overhead, flying around and blasting down fire upon the populace. While I was critical of the trailer from a story stand point, it does display the sort of beast players will get to experience first-hand in their leveling experience, or so I am led to believe.<br />
There is also a set of events going on right now, before the final sundering that interrupts the daily flow of city-based traffic. In a manner similar to last expansion's, "zombie outbreak", the home cities aren't even safe from attack, as great elemental threats burst out in the middle of city streets to be combated by characters of high level. (Lower level invasions are also occurring in every zone as well so lower level players aren't left out entirely) There's even associated rewards with a successful city defense, a chance to strike back at leaders of these elemental invasions. (Again, designed for 5-man groups of the level cap of 80, these four individual bosses have a ton of health, hit hard, have some neat aspects to their fights and will test most players even those accustomed to good group dynamics)<br />
These invasions are very interesting to me to experience, and I'd rate this world event a good 8 out of 10. I am saddened that it is primarily aimed at the end-game player base despite being there with multiple characters, as I like world events that everyone can enjoy and rage over as it shakes up their previous way of playing. Some past events, like the opening of the gates of Ahn'Qiraj or the previously mentioned zombie outbreak, got everyone involved, high or low level. I highly anticipate the actual Sundering and gleefully await the chance to fly around the old world and survey all the dama-er, changes to each zone. I've sided with the Argent Dawn to drive off the Scourge invasion (twice!), to hold back the Burning Legion at the Dark Portal, chewed some brains with the zombie outbreak and now kick the primal forces of the elements out of my cities. Bring it on, Deathwing.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-54786004544873537622010-11-12T19:43:00.000-08:002010-11-12T19:43:10.155-08:00The next batch of favoritesAll this to establish a sort of base of "where I come from"<br />
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1. Super Mario World<br />
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If there was ever a doubt about this platformer, let me put that to rest. Not only does it carry the wonderful tradition of the Mario games before it, but it adds in elements of item storage, world exploration secret path discovery and a rideable mount. Everything the Super Mario games did prior this one does as well if not better.<br />
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2. Final Fantasy 3<br />
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This was probably my foundation in the idea of "epic" story telling in a game. A plethora of characters which under went periods of change, loss and growth alike, genre staples, series staples and a fantastic experience of my younger teen years I'll always treasure.<br />
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3. Super Street Fighter 2<br />
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While the Genesis was the system of choice for MK, the SNES was my go to for the Street Fighter line. Better graphics and sounds, faster framerate and more complete arcade port experience. I actually liked all of them, but Super brought out an element that would become dominant in all Street Fighter games following, the super meter.<br />
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4. F-Zero<br />
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I was never a fan of racing games. I may have played a fair share of RC Pro-Am on the NES and that Off-Road truck one in arcades, but really I wasn't very good at racers and I didn't put much stock into them. Until F-Zero. High-speed racing combined with a unique (to me) plot and setting made this an attractive title for me to try and after hearing the beautiful music I was hooked on trying to complete every track just to get to the next.<br />
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5. Super Mario Kart<br />
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F-Zero but with Mario! Well, not quite, but it had enough similarities. The position of camera behind your character, some great tracks, some frustrating as hell tracks, a good musical score and an additional head to head competition mode with several tracks to play on. Also one of the earliest games to allow Bowser as a playable character.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-56257523800587566382010-11-10T11:31:00.001-08:002010-11-10T11:31:50.584-08:00And now for something completely the same1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2<br />
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So I got the Genesis bundle that came with this one and the first Sonic instead of the Joe Montana football game and haven't been happier for it. Both Sonic games were a welcome change of platformer excitement from Super Mario, however the greater depth added in the sequel (as well as probably the first example of drop-in, drop-out co-op play) puts it a little bit ahead of its precursor. Good music, good game play and a cohesive story, not much to say on this one beyond it was fun and awesome.<br />
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2. Earthworm Jim<br />
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This game came out on both 16-bit systems, however the Genesis version packed a bonus level. That reason alone makes this a favorite over the SNES version to me. A platformer shooter from the warped mind of Douglas TenNaple about a space suit mutating a common earthworm to fight against the evils of the galaxy to rescue Princess What's-Her-Name (A nice little stab at the genre staple there) that included great music and sounds, quirky and unique character design and very awkward humor. (Cow launching as part of level progression, wtf?) This game made me a fan of Mr. TenNaple's work and I try to follow everything he has developed since.<br />
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3. Mutant League Football<br />
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Speaking of sports games. While I was not a big time sports enthusiast, this one right here got my attention. I did end up with the Joe Montana game that had the digitized voice (Mon-tan-ah back ta pass), but this one will be my favorite title based on the idea of chucking a pigskin down the field to sweaty guys slamming into one another. Taking the idea of football to an over the top violent extreme, not only were there injuries, but also fatalities. the players themselves were skeletons, mutants or other types of alien monsters and the respective coaches themselves were just as off-the-wall. I hear the hockey game carries a similar amount of the humor and absurd violence, but the cartoon television series was a bit of a downer (Yet kept some of the violence).<br />
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4. Mortal Kombat<br />
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Another game that launched for both systems simultaneously, and the Genesis one ended up being superior. Not due to the sound or graphics, oh, but that infamous hidden cheat. See, when MK moved from arcades to home systems, there was a big legal stink about the level of violence in the game. Blood flying with crazy uppercuts, dismemberment, impaling, all the stuff MK was made famous for certainly should not be allowed in our own homes. So, when Akklaim got the rights to port to the home systems, they made the blood turn gray (for sweat? I dunno) and toned down all the Fatalities (Johnny Kage's Foot-in-chest of dewm!) Except for the Genesis. While on the surface it played the same, but after entering "ABACABB", you could now send the blood flying, rip out hearts and tear off heads with impunity. Take that, censorship!<br />
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5. Disney's Aladdin<br />
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I seem to have based my picks upon which system I got the game for on a lot of these, huh? See, Aladdin also came out on the SNES as well as the Genesis and again, while the SNES boasts better graphics and sound quality, it is the Genesis version that had animators incorporate their drawings directly into the game. This lends a greater feeling of fluidity and similarity to the movie. Also, Aladdin had a sword in the Genesis version. Nintendo sure did its best to try to distance itself from more mature themes, didn't it?KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-33827419298594137462010-11-07T12:09:00.000-08:002010-11-07T12:09:48.404-08:00Top Five continued, NES edition1. Legend of Zelda<br />
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C'mon. Open world exploration. A story of a boy hero against a powerful evil. Sub-item inventory, an expansive overworld filled with dungeons, secrets hidden all over and a second play through that changes the layout of everything. The Legend of Zelda is not just one of the best NES games, but one of the best games of all time.<br />
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2. Final Fantasy<br />
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So, if LoZ is one of the best, here comes another fantastic game to also wedge in a spot. Now, here we have an argument about the quality of early RPGs, and Dragon Warrior being earlier, but that doesn't quite make it better to me. Form a party with different class skills, massive open world to explore (especially once you obtain the ship and airship) and a sprawling story that spans thousands of years. Here is established some of the franchise staples, excalibur sword, the aforementioned airship, an engineer named Cid, white and black schools of magic, four elemental fiend/bosses and a beautiful musical score. However, the complex and convoluted story can put some folk off, and the small clues on where to go next at times can be frustrating. Still a fantastic game for its time.<br />
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3. Mega Man 3<br />
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While for most the second game in the series is the one that turns it around from a platform shooter that might have faded into obscurity and instead makes it even more lovable with a more in-depth plot and even greater character design and I would not argue it. However as per my criteria, I never owned MM2. I did own MM3 and I love it just as much, if not more. There's hints here of the decline of robot masters, however (Top Man, really? Hard Man? *siiiiigh*) it still holds up as a great platformer and the addition of Rush adds charm to the sub-items that have appeared in prior games. (I can do without Flip-Top and Beat, however)<br />
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4. Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers<br />
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Another fantastic Capcom game to come along, this one taking the Disney license of, what I admit, to be one of my favorite TV shows growing up. (In fact I loved most of the "Disney Afternoon" line up. Gummi Bears, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, Talespin and Darkwing Duck) I think it might have been due to the success of the Ducktales game that led to this gem. Platforming at its finest but more importantly, 2-player simultaneous play. In a platformer! Unheard of and remarkably well done.<br />
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5. Gyruss<br />
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What? Not Gradius for best space shooter? While the Vic Viper clone is one of the earliest and best shooters around for the NES (followed by 1942 and 1943) again, by my criteria, this is the one I owned and the one I played the living heck out of. It's a fantastic game anyway, with a perspective that was reminiscent of Tempest (a favorite of mine from the arcades), a rocking sound track and some intense boss battles (I'm looking at you Jupiter) lead this one to be my choice for a favorite.<br />
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Honorable Mentions:<br />
Super Mario Land. Yeah, I know, not in my initial list and to be honest while it ate up a lot of my hours as a kid, there was only so many times I could play it. Once you learned about warp zones, did you ever visit world 2 or 7 any more?<br />
Dragon Warrior. The first console RPG to give us the genre standards of magic, fighting, SLEEP spells and of course, money and experience grinding. I just think FF does it all better.<br />
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Must Avoids: Yeah, I had Deadly Towers. I was snowed by the cover art. Shush. I also had Rush 'n' Attack. That one is pretty terrible. I'd like to see an Until We Win on it due to the 1-hit kill your character suffers against an onslaught of rocket pack wearing bad guys shooting at you while your only weapon is a fricking knife. You're gonna die, a lot.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-31358996729920151222010-11-06T18:14:00.000-07:002010-11-06T18:14:08.047-07:00Additional information requiredTo better explain my choices from the prior top five listings, I present them in sections.<br />
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Atari 2600 -<br />
1. Pitfall<br />
Who doesn't like Pitfall? One of the earliest running and jumping games with different obstacles over the course of various screens. Sure the underground was static, but the background of the fores had the number of trees change. However the highlights include lakes, pits, crocodiles, campfires and swinging vines. It also had open world exploration, you could go left or right from the get go.<br />
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2. Yar's Revenge<br />
A shooter at the core. Blow away the enemy shield and hit their weak point. Except your ship could collide with the shield and "eat" bits out of it, and in fact had to do that to create the shot necessary to blow up the enemy weak point. And there was a worm-like enemy thing trying to hit you to kill you. You could hide out in a "neutral zone" to prevent its touch from hurting you. The enemy also had a super cannon that would shoot at you from out of their weak point, tracking you to a degree, forcing you to stay mobile. The super cannon shot can kill you even in the neutral zone. Oh, and the instruction manual even had a 6 page comic book in it to explain what was going on. This game was pretty epic in its day.<br />
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3. Asteroids<br />
Speaking of shooters, this one holds a special place in my heart simply because I "flipped the disk" on New Year's day back in 1985. What does that mean? I scored so many points that the game couldn't keep track of the value and reset to zero. Also one of the great-grandfather of space shooters in our day.<br />
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4. River Raid<br />
I sure do like shooting games for the old Atari. This one I praise the laurels of being a top-down style shooter with an evolving background track to fly in, with all manner of enemies and even including resource management (a refillable fuel gauge) as your timer for how far you could go and high you could score. It even had a sequel.<br />
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5. Combat!<br />
Last is my favorite competitive title, what other game has two tanks shooting at one another in a small maze-like arena where their shots can potentially bounce off the walls, the tanks could turn invisible, or you could exploit shooting through corners to hit the other side of the screen?<br />
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A few honorable mentions for me are also games like Congo Bongo (another platformer with some complex jumping parts), Pac-Man (Yes, its a lousy port, but the general gameplay was the same and that's all that mattered to me at my age), Defender (Flying, shooting and picking up those always imperiled citizens)<br />
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Games to avoid? Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. (The opening screen seems to have an invisible pit that drops you into a room with an unkillable foe who will eat you if you can't escape, except you can't seem to escape otherwise), E.T. (though I have beaten it, on many occasions, and didn't see what the big deal was about how bad it was) and just about any game that is one screen of static placements versus an onslaught of foes (not Missile Command or Space Invaders, but something like Atlantis)KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-4024007596342704982010-11-04T23:29:00.000-07:002010-11-04T23:31:48.562-07:00From a suggestionListing off my top fives of each game system. Very well.<br />
While I may own more systems than what I present below, these are the ones I played enough of to have an opinion on being some of my certain favorites. The list is in no particular order. Part of the criteria was actual ownership and/or completion of the game. (So some titles like Fable aren't on the list despite them being great games for the system in question)<br />
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Atari 2600 -<br />
1. Pitfall<br />
2. Yar's Revenge<br />
3. Asteroids<br />
4. River Raid<br />
5. Combat!<br />
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Nintendo Entertainment System -<br />
1. Legend of Zelda<br />
2. Final Fantasy<br />
3. Mega Man 3<br />
4. Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers<br />
5. Gyruss<br />
<br />
Sega Genesis - <br />
1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2<br />
2. Earthworm Jim<br />
3. Mutant League Football<br />
4. Mortal Kombat<br />
5. Disney's Aladdin<br />
<br />
Super Nintendo Entertainment System -<br />
1. Super Mario World<br />
2. Final Fantasy 3<br />
3. Super Street Fighter 2<br />
4. F-Zero<br />
5. Super Mario Kart<br />
<br />
Playstation 2 - <br />
1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City<br />
2. Kingdom Hearts<br />
3. Marvel vs. Capcom 2<br />
4. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time<br />
5. Silent Hill 2/Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3<br />
<br />
Microsoft XBox -<br />
1. Halo<br />
2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic<br />
3. Doom 3<br />
4. Star Wars: Republic Commando<br />
5. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth<br />
<br />
Game Cube -<br />
1. Soul Calibur 2<br />
2. Mario Kart Double Dash<br />
3. Super Smash Bros. Melee<br />
4. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker<br />
5. Resident Evil<br />
<br />
Microsoft XBox 360 -<br />
1. Red Dead Redemption<br />
2. Borderlands<br />
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum<br />
4. Super Street Fighter 4<br />
5. Mass Effect 2KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-47921596706787656682010-11-03T07:08:00.000-07:002010-11-03T07:08:20.575-07:00The time has comeTo speak of video things. Of games and rules and master chiefs, power-ups and (golden) rings.<br />
Thus I offer my opinion upon the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow<br />
<br />
<div class="no_overflow"> I refuse to call this a Castlevania game. Do you like the climbing and rappelling of Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed and Dante's Inferno? How about God of War's combat? Shadow of the Colossus' fights with Titans? The light/dark magic combo system of Dante's Inferno? The massive amount of item upgrades to add new powers to cross earlier puzzles and gaps found in games like Darksiders and Legend of Zelda? If you said yes to<strong class="bbcode bbcode_b"> <u>all</u></strong> of that, then you might enjoy Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.<br />
Let me begin with where I come from, in the NES era. What are Castlevania staples to me? Stupid whip tricks, fighting all manner of horrible monsters, giant sprawling castle levels (without much else), fighting vampires and especially having the end boss be Dracula (Or at least a powerful vampire of some kind)</div><div class="no_overflow">Now for this iteration. Are there whip tricks? Sure. Focused attacks and AoE style attacks with a bajillion upgrades to the basic X,X,X (Or Square, Square, Square) stuff we've seen before and barely any of it really matters, save getting you locked in a combo string animation, setting up to be counter-attacked with ease. you don't need to learn the flashy upgrade attack move, "whip it 'til it stops moving", is perfectly acceptable. </div><div class="no_overflow">However what drags this down even more is the reliance upon Light energy, a hit-without-taking-retalitory-damage semi-combo system to build up potential for magic power, and Dark energy. What the shit?! Pick a special style of fighting mechanic and stick with it, don't fill my screen with a life meter, a combo gauge, and two different magic meters!</div><div class="no_overflow">Tapping the Right trigger when there's a context sensitive whip grapple point within range makes you swing like Tarzan or move up or down like a mountain climber. That factor isn't so bad and I like seeing it. It brings me back to the Super Castlevania days on the SNES and that one room that rotated around.<br />
Are there horrible monsters? Uh.. werewolves. More werewolves. Giant wolves. Goblins who throw bombs. Trolls. Some titanic statues. Where the fuck are my vampires (and an appearance of Death)? Oh, chapter 4? They're not the end boss? A necromancer and (spoiler hidden in white text) <strong style="background-color: white; color: white;"><u>SATAN</u></strong><u class="bbcode bbcode_u"><strong class="bbcode bbcode_b"></strong></u> is?! Really? No, seriously? Really? When have they -ever- been the last guys in a Castlevania?!<br />
The visuals are beautiful and the character design (except for the derp human faces) are well done. The music is exceptional (though sometimes plays at odd times. Heart-racing musical score while I'm trying to find the right way to go through a monster-less series of walkways?) The voice acting, however, outside from Sir Patrick Stewart is atrocious, especially Gabriel's.<br />
I could strangle who ever thought a fixed camera was a good idea. In a game that involves platformer style jumps in spots, and especially trying to hint at there being times to wander off the otherwise linear path to look for secrets, having the camera set in a certain way and unable to look around to plan how I'm to make it to the next checkpoint is frustrating. I do so enjoy having a camera pan up to gaze at a giant statue boss' junk and not the surrounding scenery to see what I'm caught on.<br />
The game is pretty hard too. I often let the game go on "Normal" difficulty, as that is, to me, how the game is anticipated to be played the first time by most average gamers. Well, "Normal" means you die in three to five hits from regular enemies and 2 to 3 (if you're lucky) from bosses. Oh, but don't mess up the quick-time event for killing the boss else it's instant fatality in a lot of places.<br />
So, to rate this game:<br />
Graphics: 8/10 (Beautiful, but also seeming to be standard of the genre)<br />
Sound/Music: 6/10 (Music gets a high score, but the dialogue drags it down)<br />
Gameplay: 5/10 (Whip tricks are neat and flow well, but everything else bogs it down)<br />
Story: 2/10 (Castles. Vampires. Belmont. Don't deviate from that.)<br />
Overall score: 5/10 (If you're a fan of this current genre of action-adventure games and want to play one that includes just about every unique element from them, then you'll like this game. Otherwise stay away)<br />
<br />
</div>KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-764141083649665273.post-52842845076219580892010-11-03T01:25:00.000-07:002010-11-03T01:25:53.535-07:00I love chocolate!And who doesn't? Seriously, chocolate after going through several processes is one of the most delicious foundations of our modern world's sweet-tooth fueling industry. So, as my first post here instead of the over used first program many an aspiring code-monkey may be told by a teahcer to use, I will not say, "Hello world!" but rather a link to this: <a href="http://www.chocolatebar.com/products.php?product=3oz.-All%252dNatural-Dark-Chocolate-with-Espresso-Beans">Tiger Chocolate</a> bar.<br />
These delicious little buggers have been a delectable treasure and guilty pleasure of mine for years, and now I share them unto the world at large. Well, whatever small section of that happens upon my web log anyway.KynElwynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04943811957404069646noreply@blogger.com0