Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Games: Just a couple of quick bits here… I'm still trying to get all of my must-reviews wrapped up before Dragon Age hits. I have a feeling that unless it's some kind of catastrophic misfire, the next few weeks are going to be pretty involved with that title.
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Modern Warfare 2: So the word is basically out, and the level that has been causing all the commotion has been revealed to be used as a scene-setting device-- basically establishing some context for the player's actions in the rest of the game. That was pretty much what I expected, BUT… it was also relayed that wherever this scene appears in the final retail version, it will be preceded by a warning about ‘graphic content’ and the option to simply skip it and jump right into the part where the player goes back to being a ‘good guy’.
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I don't want to shoot my mouth off since the game isn't out and no one really has the full story nor proper context where this controversial segment appears. However, if the content is preceded by a warning and can simply be bypassed with the press of a button, I wonder what value is in including it at all? Although I don't object to the content if it's used in an intelligent way that might spur discussion or cause a player to ask questions on a meta-level, it seems as though any potential benefit is immediately negated by the developer (Infinity Ward) being willing to have players ignore it.
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Is it really worth making some kind of bold political or artistic statement if the person making the statement gives the intended audience a warning that it's coming, and the choice to simply not partake of it? At this particular point and in this particular situation, I don't profess to know the answer, though I do admit that it makes me wonder…
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… and while that particular question is being pondered, Infinity Ward has put out a brand-new advertisement for Modern Warfare 2 which completely obliterates any confidence I may have had in them to raise the bar. You can see it here, and the juvenile, immature slant of the piece pretty much speaks for itself. (… and what it says isn't good.)
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Demon’s Souls: Uber-publisher Atlus has just announced that there will be a special Halloween event for players who have their PS3s connected to the Internet. Based on the premise that the ‘Old One grows stronger’ on this particular day, it's been suggested that the game will take on a Pure Black Tendency, weakening players’ strength and increasing the attack power of enemies. Also, certain hidden events can only be seen during Pure Black.
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Although there has been no specific information other than informing players that they should be online during Halloween, be on the lookout for these things if your world turns Black:
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Primeval Demons dropping valuable Colorless Souls appear, Black Phantoms Miralda, Scirvir, Rydell, Satsuki, and Selen appear (all holding rare items to be won) and the gate to the Execution Grounds in the Boletarian palace opens (World 1-1). The likelihood of certain items being dropped by enemies increases as well.
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If nothing else, it might be worth it to jump on and pick up some of those Colorless Souls… they’re necessary to upgrade the enchanted weapons, and who doesn't need an upgraded enchanted weapon?
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Half-Minute Hero: I should be putting the finishing touches up on the review for this little-known PSP title tomorrow. Look for it soon, but at the risk of repeating myself, I will say that I totally love it and anyone who calls themselves a fan of JRPGs or satirically irreverent, intelligent design needs to pick up.
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(Incidentally, the latest copy of GamePro arrived as I was writing this, and I was thrilled to see that the staff picked Half-Minute Hero as game of the month over such heavy hitters as ODST, Forza and M&L: Inside Story. Fantastic pick, fellows. Kudos.)
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Comics: Although I don’t write about them as often as I should, I still call myself a comics fan. I can't say that I've been as deep in them lately as I used to be, but I still enjoy going down to my local comic shop and picking up a stack of stuff to curl up with. I'm going to try to make a habit of posting comic-related items more often, and if any readers have suggestions or favorite books you'd like to recommend, I definitely welcome them.
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At the moment, I don't have a lot to say except that I was very sorry to hear find that Richard Moore’s Boneyard has now officially ended. To be perfectly honest, I never followed it as regularly as I should have, but I enjoyed it when I did pick it up.
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More than anything, I liked the attention Moore gave to the writing. It was cute, sassy, and a nice break from some of the more serious books I usually frequent. I will definitely be sad to see it go, but I wish Mr. Moore the best of luck in his future endeavors and I will be keeping an eye on his next project, titled The Pound.
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Games: MEGA SPOILER ALERT FOR MODERN WARFARE 2!!! DO NOT READ THIS POST UNLESS YOU DON’T MIND BEING… okay, I'm going to stop shouting now.
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So, I'm not really a Modern Warfare fan. Military shooters don't do much for me, and despite all the accolades it racked up, I really wasn't impressed with the first installment. This may seem like heresy of the basest sort to some, but the method of storytelling didn't work for me, and the action didn't, either. Going further, the "big event” regarding the detonation of a nuclear weapon didn't have a fraction of the impact on me that it seemed to generate with basically everyone I talked to. The entire thing left me untouched. Couldn't have cared less.
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This morning on Twitter, I saw a link come in mentioning Modern Warfare 2. I don't really give a rip about it and I've been skipping over most of the masturbatory OMG-look-at-this-new-feature news on it, but this particular tweet was from one of my recent follows who I perceive as being a pretty sharp dude, and his basic reaction to this piece of news was essentially “holy shit.” That in itself isn't usually enough to get me to click a link, but like I said, this guy has had some interesting things to say, so I checked it out.
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My impression? Holy shit.
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Before saying anything else, here's the link. Go ahead and watch it now.
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It's about eight minutes long, but once you get past the first opening segment, I doubt you'll have a problem staying with it. (Hopefully it will still be working by the time you click on it. Allegedly, Activision has been going around the Internet trying to remove the video where possible.)
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So, what's this all about? As this post is being written, details are still extremely sketchy. Some people say that it's an extra mode in the game, whereas some (like myself) are betting that it's a game-opening scenario designed to set the stage for the rest of the campaign, thus providing an extremely graphic form of justification for the military action about to follow. Either way, it's provocative to say the least, and that's putting it extremely mildly. Doubly so, since the player is placed in the role of the perpetrator-- that choice in itself being worthy of an entirely separate blog post.
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To be perfectly honest, I have to admit that I was quite taken aback. I think it's fair to say that I was actually shocked, even. That's some trick considering how jaded I freely admit to being, and how desensitized I think I am, being raised in the American culture of constant violence-and-sex-enriched media. There may even have been initial traces of disgust... possibly outrage. Over the course of my video game career, I think it's safe to say that I've ended millions upon millions of virtual life spans, but there was something different about this video. The realistic nature of the depiction certainly had something to do with it, but more than that, I think it absolutely taps into what has now become a very common underlying fear for many people- and, unlike certain phobias, fear of terrorism and large-scale violence certainly does have a basis in reality.
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However, I'm not here to rail against the game or to make any sorts of accusations against the ethics or intent of the developers. Far from it.
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Once past my initial response, my only thought was that I sincerely hope the game uses such powerful imagery for something other than fuel driving another testosterone-fueled, flag-waving us-against-the-inhumans FPS. What kind of message could be relayed or posed to a player after making such a powerful first impression? What kind of thoughts could be introduced, or what kinds of issues could be examined from such an unorthodox, uncomfortable viewpoint? As shocking as this segment may be (and I shudder to imagine the media's reaction once they get wind of it) as a critic who is absolutely in support of the medium’s maturation, I definitely see this as a huge opportunity.
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Will Infinity Ward take a difficult high road and make the most of it, or will this sure-to-become-infamous segment of gameplay be seen as some sort of misguided sensationalism? No one really knows what its true function is, and the people already in the loop certainly aren't talking…
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Games: On Twitter, a friend mentioned a new website called Switchgames.com. After clicking over and checking it out, it's basically a place where you list what games you have available for trade in addition to what you're looking for. Other people do the same, and the site does automatic matching between people to find the perfect trade.
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Really, I think this idea is pretty genius. I'd much rather do a 1-for-1 trade than take a game into GameStop and get a fraction of what it’s worth in trade credit. I signed up to give it a shot and the process was pretty painless. After entering the pertinent information, the site proposed three different people who had what I wanted and wanted what I had.
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At that point, my options were to contact these people directly for free, or pay a small fee to the site for “guaranteeing” the trade in case my game got lost in the mail or stolen by a dishonest person. Always wanting to be on the safe side, I decided to go ahead and pay the fee. This is where the problems started.
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After entering my credit card data (a card I've used for online purchases a million times with no issues) the site kept giving me an error message saying that it could not reconcile my address with the card. I called my bank to doublecheck my information and there was no problem. Then, I doublechecked the information I entered to make sure there were no typos-- everything checked out. Afterwards, still trying to figure out what the issue was, I checked my online bank account and noticed that Switchgames had charged me fifteen times for a transaction that hadn't even happened yet.
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To their credit, they e-mailed back after I had alerted them to the issue and refunded the money, but they immediately closed the trouble ticket and never resolved the issue of why I was unable to complete my desired trade. I sent another e-mail to follow-up on this question, but I have to say that my confidence level in this website is not good at the moment.
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Definitely a great idea, but my experience so far is making me seriously question the execution here.
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Games: Wrapped up a couple of reviews this weekend, one for Critter Crunch and the other for Borderlands, both on PS3.
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Critter Crunch is a disgustingly cute puzzle game, and happens to be one of those unfortunate instances where initial impressions are excellent, but the game kind of falls apart towards the end.
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I won't go into too much detail at the moment, but it seems pretty clear that the developers lost focus towards the final stages of the game and started throwing in everything but the kitchen sink in an effort to create challenge. It's definitely a good example of where less is more, although I will say that the game is still quite enjoyable up until the end phase.
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Borderlands is the game everyone's talking about at the moment, although I have to admit that I'm a little bit (well, okay, a lot) puzzled at all of the positive buzz is getting. It's currently rocking an 84 at MetaCritic and no one has a bad word to say about it on Twitter. However, my experience was basically the opposite… it started poorly and failed to come together for me, leaving me bored and disaffected.
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A FPS with minimal RPG elements, it's empty and unconvincing, and basically one huge grind the entire time. Everyone says that multiplayer makes the experience, but I have to disagree.. a dull game is dull, multiplayer or no.
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Food: I caught a few episodes of a new show on the Food Network called ‘Alex’s Day Off’.
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Starring Alex Guarnaschelli, a frequent guest judge on Iron Chef America and Chopped, she takes center stage here… although I'm not quite sure why anyone would give her a show of her own.
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Every time I've seen her, she seems slightly bitter and cold, and certainly not someone who exudes a lot of pleasant energy or inviting openness. The makeup artists do a lot of work to soften her edges and she seems to be trying really hard to defrost herself, but I don't think it's working very well. Her commentary feels forced and kind of alien coming out of her mouth, and it's hard to take her as genuine.
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Personality aside, I have to say that I'm not at all impressed with her recipes. Everything I saw her cook was ludicrously high in fat and not anything I would ever serve to my family. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love pork but I would never want an undercooked roast with an inch of fat on one side drenched in more fat. I also don't think it's a very tasty or healthy idea to fry up some potatoes and melt an entire wheel of cheese over them.
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I don't think I will be going out of my way to catch her next episode, and I'd be surprised if anybody else did, either.
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Games: On this weekend's podcast (to be recorded) we're tackling the role of reviews and the reviewer. I won't say much more at the moment, but below are the eight items we'll be addressing. Take a look, and if you've got some thoughts, opinions, feedback or comments, email me or leave a message here and we'll use them on the show. (And thank you for the effort!)
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1) Critics should be required to finish games before writing a review.
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2) The goal of a "proper" game review should be to inform the reader as to whether they should or should not buy a game.
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3) Those who write about games are not journalists, rather, should be considered "enthusiast press" or simply "games writer."
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4) There is no difference between a "review" and a "critique".
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5) The explosion of blogs, podcasts, and Twitter has rendered formal game reviews obsolete.
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6) Individual game critics and review sites are under constant, unrelenting pressure from aggregate sites to change scores.
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7) Game scores are often purposefully tweaked to either generate controversy or avoid it.
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8) A reader should not need to be familiar with the author of a review in order to derive value from it.
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Writing: Although my process was disrupted for a while as we moved into our new place, I'm happy to report that I've got a fairly workable office set up and work on the new book has resumed. My co-author turned in a few chapters that were pretty kick-ass, and the final third (or so) of the book has fallen nicely into place. The original goal (in my own mind, at least) was to have the whole project wrapped up by December. I think that's definitely do-able for a first draft if we squash our collective noses to the grindstone, but considering that there's going to have to be clean-up, revisions, and all the other lovely things associated with calling something ‘done’, probably a couple months after that will be necessary. Still, not too shabby and it's coming along a hell of a lot faster than my first book. Still need a title, though.
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Games: The UPS man arrived at my place today bearing my now-repaired 360. Of course, no one was home as he was knocking on the door, so all that was here was one of those brown and yellow notices taunting me. With any luck, someone will be here to receive it tomorrow.
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I have to admit that the Microsoft service Center has definitely sped up their turnaround time and I'm grateful for that, but I’d still rather that the console hadn’t broken in the first place.
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My friend Chris Vandergaag over at Sidemission has posted a video review of NFS: Shift, and although I generally don't give a rip about racing games, I found it to be well-produced and entertaining. It's sort of NSFW but give it a look-see if you're in the mood for a chuckle or two at the expense of racing game fans.
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Play-wise, I spent a good hour or two with Critter Crunch on the PS3. An animal-themed puzzler, it's got beautiful graphics and really solid design. Having a great time with it so far, and I'm also working on a review for GameCritics as we speak.
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My piece won't go live for a while, but I feel very confident in saying that it's one of the better games available on PSN. You really can't go wrong with this one, unless you're some kind of insane puzzle hater.
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Had plans to get an hour or two in with Half-Minute Hero today, but was totally defeated by some expected circumstances. Ended up carrying the PSP around with me all day, and didn't turn it on for even a minute.
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That said, I did play it for a brief snatch last night in bed and I was absolutely loving what I saw. (Beat it twice!) I'll definitely have more impressions and a formal review of this title later on, but I was quite pleased with the few minutes I got in.
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One last note: I'm almost done with my start-over-from-scratch replay of Demon’s Souls, and after taking a very close look at the Tendency system, I’m basically convinced that it's pretty much the only false step that From made.
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The first time I played the game, I went through it without consulting any FAQs and just immersed myself in the overall experience. It was extremely rewarding and I'm glad I did it that way, but I was a little put off after credits rolled to find that I had missed several things because my gameplay style kept me “in the middle”.
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Without getting into too much detail, certain characters and events only become available after a world goes either “Pure White” or “Pure Black”. The only problem is that the system as it stands basically keeps all of these extra elements hidden unless a player knows exactly what they're doing and kind of ‘works’ the system to gain access.
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In my opinion, this mechanic totally destroys the level of immersion that is so attractive about the game and reduces the atmospheric adventure to a series of jump-through-hoops exercises for players who want to see the extra content. Of course, it has to be said that this content is just that-- extra, but it still feels like a missed opportunity to me.
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Writing my review, I was really debating whether or not to give the game a perfect score, and I ended up holding back a half-point based on what I knew of Tendency at the time as well as a few other niggling little things. Now that all secrets have been revealed, I'm glad that I did. Don't get me wrong, Demon’s Souls is still my front-runner for Game of Year… it's just a little disappointing that some pretty cool things that would have enhanced the adventure were hidden away behind what I see as a fairly unintuitive and unnatural system.
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Misc: It was a hard week with some odd situations and odd hours, with the entire thing ending in a pretty painful assignment on Saturday. Since the baby’s come, I’ve been trying to work more “regular” hours as opposed to the usual anytime/anywhere, and having to put time in on the weekend after doing an M-to-F’er really axed my whole groove.
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Instead of being on top of things, I was so exhausted that all I did was hang out with the wife and son (which was awesome and appropriate, actually) and zoned out in front of Demon’s Souls the rest of the day pursuing some OCD White Tendency stuff I didn’t see on my first time through.
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At the time I’m posting this, I’m looking at my to-do list and not having any idea where to start.
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Bleagh.
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Games: The 360’s still in the shop.
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Meanwhile, (as I mentioned above) I’m almost done with my second playthrough of Demon’s Souls. The last time I immediately started a second play after finishing something was probably Super Mario Bros, or maybe Mega Man. Can’t believe I’m doing it, but here I am… and enjoying it.
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(BTW, the first time through was something like 38 hours. This one’s about 12 so far. When you know what you’re doing, it makes a HUGE difference.)
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Also started Docomodake Boing! on the DS. Pretty early into it, but it’s been surprisingly enjoyable. Basically a coin-collecting platformer, the hook is that the main character’s a mushroom that can split himself off into smaller versions of himself to use as building blocks, stepping stones, weapons, and so on.
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Simple and straightforward, but the twist is a nice one and it’s well-done. Very clean. Liking it.
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More to come.
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Writing: Please forgive the lack of a regular update. I got home from work a bit early, was miraculously still awake, and tonight has become a catch-up-with-writing-the-book night.
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Update tomorrow.
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TV: I don't watch a whole heck of a lot of TV, but I do have a few favorite shows that I like to catch with the wife. A new favorite this season has been Warehouse 13 on the ridiculously-renamed SyFy channel. (Seriously, guys…)
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I'm not going to sit here and say that it's high drama, but the show is like Cheetos-- you know it's not really good for you, but it’s kind of tasty if you don't eat too many. Plus, both things turn your fingers orange.
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If you haven't caught it, the show is about a pair of government agents and their handler who go all over the country searching for magically-endowed artifacts that are harmful to the populace at large. Things like Edgar Allan Poe's pen, or a samurai sword that renders its wielder invisible.
Every episode is definitely a little goofy, but I really like how the writers have done a good job of keeping a central plot line moving forward despite having different events every week. It's not too heavy and confusing, but there’s more than just ‘haunted gadget of the week’ every time I tune in.
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Besides the nice tone to the writing, the actors turn in some good performances. Main characters Pete and Myka started off a little stiff but developed nice chemistry as the season went on, and their handler Artie is a strong anchor with a strangely pleasant blend of obstreperous eccentricity.
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The finale of season one ran recently, so if you tune into SyFy or program your DVR, you'll be able to catch up on the entire series. It's not going to win any emmys, but the wife and I will be tuning in again next season.
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In the meantime, I'm excited that Sanctuary’s back on the air now… it’s another supernatural-themed SyFy series swimming in the B-lanes, but I actually missed it. More on that one later.
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Games: I've talked about Weapon of Choice (XBLA) several times here at the blog and also at GameCritics, and it's definitely a title that I greatly enjoyed.
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If for some bizarre reason you still haven't played this nifty little title yet, the good people over at Mommy’s Best Games drop me a line to announce that it's been recently reduced to a dirt-cheap 240 MS points ($3). The developers are practically giving it away here, folks. Snag yourself a copy and get to shootin’ already.
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Games: Speaking of downloads, I finally got around to DL’ing my first title direct-to-PSP. Considering how smoothly it went, I'd have to say that Sony was completely smoking drugs when they decided to come up with the Go. Although I performed the process on one of the original UMD-compatible models, if it's even remotely analogous, then their new DL-only handheld is sunk before it's even started.
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I hadn't been online with my PSP in quite some time, so the initial step in the process was to update my firmware. The first part was to simply download the update, but then I had to actually launch it and install. Drag.
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Following that, I located the game that I wanted to get and began the download. To my utter surprise, the estimated time of download was something on the order of 115 minutes! To be fair, after a little while the estimate was reduced to 82 minutes, but still.
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I left the PSP running while I went to go play something else, and when I came back to check, the connection had timed out and all of the progress had been lost. Time wasted. Totally frustrated by this point, I had to restart the download process and let it keep running. It was taking so long, actually had to stay up later than I wanted to make sure that it completed. Tired and bleary-eyed, my game was downloaded to my PSP's memory card nearly 3 hours after I began.
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Wasn't this whole “get rid of hard-copy” thing supposed to have some benefits to it? It certainly wasn't any cheaper, and I could have driven to a store, picked up the game off the shelf, had a hot dog, driven home, and actually have been playing the game in less time and less hassle than it took to get through the download.
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Brilliant system there, Sony. For the time being (and until all this crap gets a hell of a lot smoother and faster) I'm fine to stick with hard copies for anything bigger than an Arcade title.
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I haven't updated in a few days, and it seems like I’ve got a lot to catch up on...
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Family: My son’s fall visit is over. We only had a week (summer is the long stay) and unfortunately, the entire family was laid up with the flu, but it was still great to see him.
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It's amazing (yet still sad) to see him every few months. Since his mother lives so far away, I miss out on huge gaps of time, so it's like I see him developing much the same way a documentarian will use stop-motion photography to accelerate the growth of a cactus, or the movement of starfish. You know it takes a long time, but because you only get glimpses, it seems like the whole thing is going a lot faster than it really does.
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The day I dropped him back off was a long one. I had arranged my plane tickets to be able to get him to where he needed to go and then return the same day. It was a good plan and one that I think worked out well considering that I needed to work the next day, but the unforeseen glitch was that I still had a very congested head since the flu was still in its final stages. When the plane got up to cruising altitude I had an intense sensation of pain, and my ears never ‘popped’ back to normal regardless of how much I chewed, or how many times I yawned. I could hardly hear things on the flight, and when we landed, I couldn't even make out what my son was saying unless I was looking straight at him. The flight home was similarly painful, and I was little concerned since my ears still weren't normal.
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I went to the ENT today since it's basically impossible for me to do my job if I can’t hear, and he told me that I had burst capillaries behind both eardrums, and that the space behind them was full of blood on both sides of my head.
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Evidently if you fly with a very stuffy nose, there is no place for air trapped inside your ears to escape and the pressure can cause damage. He did a hearing test on me and found that I had a significant decibel loss on both sides, rendering me “legally” hard-of-hearing. The upside is that this condition is fairly common and only temporary.
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The doc prescribed me some steroids to unclog my head so that the blood could drain, and only a few hours after taking the pills I already felt better. My hearing isn't actually 100% yet, but it's much better than it was, and I'm extremely grateful for that.
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The moral of the story: take a ton of decongestants before you fly!!
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Games: I finished Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box a few days ago. If you played the first one (Curious Village) then you know exactly what to expect since it's more of the same, but in this particular case that's a very good thing.
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In fact, it's actually better since the slightly absurd difficulty of the puzzles has been brought down to non-MENSA levels and this series does a great job of actually integrating the puzzles with the storyline. So many casual games fail to do this elementary step, so it's quite pleasant to see that someone out there actually gets it.
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The music is fantastic, the gameplay is satisfying, and it's basically a class act, all-around. Definitely looking forward to the next game in the series.
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Games: In other DS news, I finally got my hands on Scribblenauts and I have to say, I'm quite divided on it.
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On the one hand, it's an absolutely fantastic idea. Write any word and the game will produce that object to be placed at the player’s discretion anywhere in the level. I mean, how brilliant is that? Need a flyswatter? Write FLYSWATTER and you've got one. Want to summon the dread god Cthulhu? You can do that too, and he actually shows up. Major brownie points there. The downside to the game is that I think the developers kind of bit off more than they can chew, especially in regard to the level of production that’s possible on the DS.
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Basically, I think the level of freedom and interaction that most people expected based on the promises of the game before its release were far above what was actually delivered. Many times objects don't function the way they think they would (or should) -- summoning Cthulhu is fantastic… until he gets pwned by a wolf? It also becomes obvious in a hurry that there are a few words that can be used to get around the vast majority of puzzles the developers came up with. For example, BLACK HOLE gets rid of a lot of problems, and I'm sure most players will be calling on PEGASUS or JETPACK nearly every level.
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Those things are fairly forgivable in relation to how many contingencies the developers would have had to take into account, but the thing that really killed the experience for me was that the physics and interaction of the objects with each other is totally janky, and not at all as solid or predictable as it should be.
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In one level, all I had to do was push a simple button, yet no matter what object I produced, I couldn't get the button to stay pushed. It was incredibly frustrating to say the least, and the fact that I passed it thanks to a random happenstance of physics was not at all the way a game like this should be implemented.
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In general, the game feels like it barely holds itself together, and too many of the situations feel like hit-or-miss affairs based on whether the physics feel like cooperating or not. Like I said-- fantastic concept, but it's definitely not dialed-in.
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Games: Last but not least, my 360’s still in the shop. Kinda frustrating since we’re entering the busiest time of the year for critics, but there's not a lot I can do. In the meantime, I decided to start a brand-new character in Demon’s Souls.
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For those of you that know me, you know that I replay games so infrequently that you might as well say I never do it, yet I haven't been able to get the game out of my mind. The very fact that I even entertained the notion of going through a 40-hour game again (let alone actually started it) is a testament to the quality of FromSoft’s work. Forgive me for sounding like a broken record (scratched CD?) but it gets my Highest Possible Recommendation!
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Family: We’re nearing the end of my son's visit and I’ve got to say that it's been the worst one that we've had in a while. Not that it's necessarily been bad in and of itself and certainly nothing to do with my son-- he's awesome. No, it's been bad because the entire family has been sick every single day of the visit and we're only just now starting to feel even a bit better.
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Instead of going out to museums, restaurants, parks, or whatever, we've all been holed up at our place, wearing pajamas and covered in blankets. We've eaten soup for the majority of our meals, and have gone through half a forest’s worth of Kleenex. Personally, I haven't been this sick in years. I never take a day off of work, and I actually had to cancel everything I had for the week.
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I just wasn't up to it.
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The one positive thing to being sequestered is that the son got to play more video games than he usually does, and as a father, it's been extremely gratifying to see that his skills and abilities as a game player have totally improved. Where he used to struggle and get frustrated, he now handles things with confidence and competence. His tendency to get mad at poorly-designed areas is now nearly gone, and his problem-solving skills are clear to see. He got through more than half of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) with just a few pointers from the wife and he's in the final segment of Deadly Creatures (Wii) with only a tiny bit of prompting from me.
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I can clearly remember when he was too small to even hold a controller, and to see him following in our footsteps now is a pretty incredible feeling. Even better, gaming is something that we will be able to share for the rest of our lives, and having something to connect on is something that not every father and son can say they have.
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I may be feeling completely rotten at the moment, but underneath the scratchy throat and runny nose, I'm certainly blessed.
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Games: Another quick post for tonight since the son is still here, but I am quite proud to say that I just finished Demon's Souls tonight.
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For people who haven't played it yet or might not really care: It's a fantastic, superbly-designed game that has officially knocked my socks off. One of the best PS3 titles available, and at this point, my Game of the Year.
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For those who have played it or who do care: My character was a level 80 Temple Knight focusing on Attack and Defense for melee combat. My endgame weapons were a +7 Halberd, a +4 Dragon Sword, and a Lava Bow. All told, it took me about 35 hours, give or take. Too bad there wasn't a death counter, I would've been curious to see how many times I was revived.
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Anyway, I have to say it was a stiff challenge to not use magic at all (not recommended, really) but I was too attached to my character to begin a new one and by the time I realized that magic might be a good thing, I was too close to the end to really start grinding levels in order to get some.
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Besides those issues, the devs included plenty of options to let players tackle the the game any way they wanted, so why shouldn't I do it without spells? After all, the GameFAQs boards are full of players who beat the monstrous bosses by using the same few magic spells and I have to say that I got a small measure of pride by not relying on overused cheese tactics to get past the rough spots.
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Now that the game has been put to bed (no, not going for a New Game Plus, I actually have to spend time with some other games now. I am a reviewer, after all...) I can definitely say that Demon's Souls was an incredibly epic experience from start to finish, and certainly one of the most unforgettable games I've come across in quite some time.
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FromSoft... My most heartfelt congratulations on an outstanding, peerless, master-class title. You rocked my world.
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Family: My oldest son arrived this morning for one of his thrice-yearly visits. He'll be here for a week and I'm elated to get to spend some time with him, but he's actually not feeling so well, so instead of my usual post I'm just going to do a quickie for the night.
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Games: My 360 RROD'd yesterday, bringing my grand total to three MS console deaths. Even the PS1 (known for its failures in the early models) never died as often as the 360, making it the most fail-prone console in history. I mean, going through *four* units in one generation? Come on. The result? No 360 titles for my son while he's here and my review schedule just went out the window.
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In Demon's Souls news, I'm in the homestretch before the last boss, but I borked myself by trading in my best weapon (an upgraded Halberd) for a demon-enhanced Dozer Axe. Big mistake... the Axe has much heftier damage, but it's incredibly slow and has a shorter range. In other words, it's useless on the last boss fights. Gonna have to farm some souls in order to get my old weapon back. A stupid self-setback on my part, but easily overcome with a bit of gruntwork. The quest continues!
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Oh, and I love Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. Totally recommended.
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Despite my best efforts to the contrary, the blog schedule slipped a day again. Had all my notes ready and everything last night, and then the phone rings with a late-night situation that needed attending to.
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Plans? Dropped.
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Even worse, I got home so late that I was only able to squeeze in about three hours of sleep before I had to get going the next morning. If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen a message this morning about it being one of those days where an extra-tall cup of coffee is called for, and blue looking a lot like black when you're dressing (and only half awake) in the dark… suffice it to say, I am most definitely looking forward to the weekend.
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Games: The impending October 6 launch date of Demon’s Souls is nearly upon us, but the good people at Atlus sent along a message that they wanted me to share -- As a heads-up to everyone who intends to purchase the game, if you somehow manage to secure a copy before the official release, be aware that the US servers WILL NOT BE ACTIVE until October 6.
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It seems fairly common for certain brick-and-mortar stores to get a jump on their competitors by breaking street dates, but in the case of Demon’s Souls, there's really no purpose to getting a copy before everyone else. In addition to having other real-life players join your game (as blue or black phantoms) the servers are required to take advantage of the ‘blood stain’ replays that show you where other real players have died, as well as the message system which allows players to etch helpful hints and bits of information for others in the same level.
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All of these features are dynamic and innovative, and actually add a great deal of substance to the play experience. Single player without them is possible, but trust me, the game is substantially enriched by connecting to the server even if you're not a fan of multi. Bottom line: if you're interested in this game, just be patient and wait until the launch date so you can connect to the servers. It's worth it.
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Games: The good folks over at Atom sent along a link to a short interactive film called ‘The Deepening’.
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It's live action featuring a hardened force veteran teaming up with a brand-new rookie. The two of them take on some terrorists who have captured hostages, but the hook here is that the viewer gets to make several choices throughout the film. Basically a visual version of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books, it's got a few pretty good laughs. Two words of warning: first, it’s definitely NSFW. Second, don't choose the teddy bear.
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Music: I’ve got a brief review coming up of some songs from Kirby Krackle. It's not quite ready to roll, but in the meantime you can check out the website and listen to the complete album if you click on the links along the right side of the page.
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For those that don't know, the band is composed of Jim Demonakos (Seattle comics kingpin) and Kyle Stevens (music dude), and they classify themselves as ‘nerd rock’. Like I said, I've got a review in the works, but until then, going give it a listen… this stuff is pretty good.
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Food: Forgive the crappy Blackberry photo resolution, but the pizza the wife cooked up tonight absolutely kicked ass. We haven't been doing a lot of cooking since we've been so caught up in the move, but now that things are settling down, we've started easing back into our old foodie habits.
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The delicious dish featured here is the pizza made from my wife's homemade flatbread and topped with olive oil, pepper, a very thin layer of red sauce, green olives, pepperoni, sliced medjool dates, avocado, and a dusting of cheese. It might sound like a mad scientist's creation, but the flatbread was a master-class replication of crispy thin crust, the avocado provided a very smooth base of flavor, the pepperoni (and red pepper flakes) gave a nice, spicy bite, and the dates lent a mouth-watering finishing sweetness to each mouthful. The damn thing disappeared long before I was done with it… gonna have to make another one tomorrow.
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