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

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Games: First things first, here’s a link to the latest GameCritics podcast. It’s our year-end extravaganza, and it’s a doozy… Check it out and let me know what you think.
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Also, heads-up to Dragon Age fans... The next bit of DLC, 'Return to Ostagar' will be released January 5th, so keep your eyes peeled for that. My end-game save mysteriously vanished (damned buggy 360 version!!) so I'll have to replay the Archdemon bit to get myself in the proper place to enjoy it, but I'm looking forward to another trip to Ferelden regardless.
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So, I've been putting a bit of time into Trials HD’s ‘Big Pack’ DLC between yesterday and today, and as if it wasn't already clear, one thing has been hammered home: forget any talk of Demon’s Souls, and put the crappy modern Ninja Gaiden games out of your mind – Trials HD is without a doubt the most hardcore, soul-crushingly difficult game available today. There's just no contest.
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Although I cleared all of the Medium and Hard tracks without much of a problem, the new additions to the Extreme category instantly brought back the hours of suffering I put into finishing the originals. Tonight's torture was getting to the tail end of the first new Extreme track and then coming to a complete stop as one bunny-hop up a ledge defeated me time and time again. Just today, I logged forty-five minutes and over four hundred attempts at the jump, and although I almost made it three or four times, I walked away without tasting victory.
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If this was any other game, I’d instantly write it off and delete it from my hard drive… but there's no denying the quality that Trials HD brings. It's one of those once-in-a-blue-moon types of experiences that spits in your eye and calls you a weakling while evil laughter emanates from the console, yet you just can’t stop playing it.
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Also, I’m continuing on with FFXII. Getting pretty close to the twenty-hour mark, and still enjoying it quite a bit. Interestingly, I've been hearing from a number of people (and also saw the same on several message boards) that the game is too grind-heavy and that the dungeons are too long. I find both of these issues interesting, and I wonder if they're just a matter of perspective, or possibly even misunderstanding.
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For example, although I do agree that the areas to explore are generally huge, I have yet to get stuck in one that forced me to comb every inch of it. The game is good about directing players where to go, and if those directions are followed then it's a simple matter of going from point A to point B as quickly (or as leisurely) as is desired.
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Personally, my habit is to make a beeline for whatever my next destination is, and once I'm located near an easily-reachable crystal (for saving and free MP-recharging purposes) then I'll hang around a bit and level-up if I feel the need. There's no real push to explore every inch of every map, unless you want to. This leads into the next point regarding grinding...
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The other day, I joked with a friend that I was doing a ’60-hour speed run’ of FFXII by following the story and ignoring all of the side quests. I'm not a fan of grinding at all, and RPGs which keep themselves playable when the person doing the playing is simply following the critical path are my favorite sorts. In total, I haven't done more than an hour or so of ‘grinding’ enemies (and that done from my own free will) and I'm having no issues so far, so I'm kind of wondering where the complaints are coming from. Maybe it becomes more of an issue further into the game, but at the point I’m at, it just hasn't been a concern.
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I will admit that I was running a little short of cash and wasn't able to buy my characters all of the weapons and armor I wanted until someone tipped me off to assigning an automatic ‘Steal’ gambit to my party. I was actually surprised at how effective it was in generating extra cash, and since getting wise to this trick, my money troubles have been over.
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If not for money, the talk of grinding could possibly be due to other reasons as well. FFXII deviates from previous Final Fantasy titles in a lot of ways, and leveling up is one of them. Survival in the game isn't just a matter of gaining experience, it's more about exploiting the License Board to make sure that each character has the right skills and bonuses to survive. Having the right equipment is also of utmost importance. Unlocking a '+500HP' perk and getting a strong piece of armor have a more immediate, noticeable effect than gaining three levels does, so maybe complaints about grinding are related to equating levels with survival?
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Talking about levels specifically, I do want to call the game out for not giving any experience points to inactive party members. That's a pretty old-school design that no longer has a place in modern RPGs, so if someone was trying to keep all six members at comparable levels (only three can be active at a time) then I could certainly see where grinding to bring lagging members up to speed could be a problem. Outside of that one particular instance, I just don't see much need to grind, though. So far it's still a great play-- here's hoping it stays that way.
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Although some people (most people, probably) love the holidays, I can't say that I'm really a big fan. It's nice to have a little down time, but the counter is that most other folks have the same time off, so everywhere you want to go is crowded. Besides that, the places that aren’t crowded are closed, and traffic is usually worse if you need to get anywhere. Just a few more days until New Year's, and then back to the normal routine... is it weird that I'm looking forward to that?
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Games: After the madness of fourth quarter, I have a lull in the review schedule right now. It's nice to not be reviewing something for a change, so I'm plowing ahead with Final Fantasy XII. I'm about fifteen-ish hours into the adventure and still loving it. Loving it a heck of a lot more than I expected, actually.
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The thing I like most about it is that it feels very far-removed from the ‘traditional’ Final Fantasy experience-- the biggest example is that the battles happen in the same area that characters travel through, without a screen-wipe transitioning to the traditional enemies-over-here, party-over-here setup. That kind of structure worked just fine back in the day (and still does on handhelds) but it just doesn't cut it for me when talking about a big-budget console title these days.
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I'm also really digging the art style quite a bit. Although it definitely still has strong Japanese influence, there's a lot of Western happening too… especially when looking at mannerisms of the characters. From the start of the game to the point I'm at now, I haven't seen a single character have an over-the-top anime-style ‘waaaah!’ moment, or anything of that sort. Don't get me wrong, that stuff has its place and I do enjoy it when I'm in the mood, but the very serious, mature orientation of XII is pretty refreshing, especially in light of some of the stuff Square has done in the past.
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Although I'm still early, there are a few things I'd improve. For example, I've hit a few places where it felt extremely far between save points. Fortunately, I've been mostly playing at night when I have the ability to sit for a few hours at a time and just play, but I doubt I'd be able to get away with that during the day.
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I'm also quite disappointed that players can only have three characters in the party at a time. It's certainly not a technical issue since ‘guest’ characters join frequently (equaling four onscreen simultaneously) so I have to say that was a bit of a bad call. In addition, requiring players to buy Gambit options (the rules that govern party AI) was another mistake. If the system is here to be manipulated by the player, I don't see that there's any benefit to withholding options. As was pointed out by a friend on Twitter today, Dragon Age had the right idea in giving players full reign over its system (nearly identical) from the start. At the very least, the options should have been released over time as the player became used to using the choices.
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One other thing that irritates me is the way that the squares on the License Board (which allow characters to equip items or learn new techniques) are unknown until a player buys them. The only reasoning behind it I can see is that it forces players to purchase squares that may not be desired, resulting in the need to level grind in order to earn more points, thus delaying the player from actually getting the technique they wanted, and also increasing the amount of time/battles necessary for players to accumulate sufficient number of points. It's not terrible the way it is, but it feels very inefficient and a little cheap… there have been more than a few times when I spent my points on something that didn't turn out to be what I wanted, and that sort of thing happening doesn't seem very respectful of the player's time and effort, if you ask me.
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Don't get me wrong-- I'm not trying to take the game down a peg, I'm just a critic. Criticizing is what I do. Those issues are pretty minor in relation to everything that the game gets right, and like I said above, I've been loving what the game has been giving me so far. Honestly, if I'd known it was going to be this good, I would've played it a lot sooner.
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In fact, it's fairly ironic that I'm just now getting around to XII since the early word I'm hearing on the impending XIII sounds like Squeenix did a total 180 and went straight back into cliché-land. We'll see...

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It's that time of year again.
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A heartfelt Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to anyone and everyone who takes the time to click on over to this blog and read my ramblings. I'm looking forward to a new year that will be better than the last, and I hope the same is true for you as well-- and again, thanks for coming by.
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(…And by the way, is it just me or does it feel completely bizarre to even imagine writing ‘2010’ in any context other than a futuristic science fiction story?)
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Games: I've been spending the last few days hopping back and forth between tons of different games, not settling on any one for long. Brace for impact.
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In the PSP I have Fate / Unlimited Codes, a download-only fighting game that I know very little about.
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Apparently, it's based on an anime or something along those lines, but I've never heard of it before and the game itself makes practically no effort whatsoever to give the player any context.
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From what I gather, there's some kind of ‘war’ over a ‘holy grail’ and some people are ‘masters’, while others are ‘servants’. I heard people saying that the story mode was great, but I have to call bullshit on that… it might be great if you already knew everything about the source material, but as someone who came to the game with a clean slate, it's incomprehensible.
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Luckily, the actual fighting itself is pretty good. So far I've seen an above-average variety of moves and although some of the characters are a little too generic-looking for my taste, the controls and engine are satisfactory for the PSP. It would never fly on an actual console, but it feels like a good fit here.
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Spent a little time with Kahoots, one of the Minis available on PSN. It's fairly simple, but well put-together and has a nice style.
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It's vaguely Lemmings-ish, sort of, but saying that is lazy shorthand on my part and doesn't really capture the essence of what it's about. (It's late and it's Christmas Eve, so just take my word that it's one of the best Minis available at the moment.)
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Besides those, I thought I'd give ODST a whirl since GameFly had sent it and it was just sitting here. I am definitely not the world's biggest Halo fan, but I'm always up for trying something new. That said, I spun the disc for a little over an hour before ejecting it and dropping it back in the mail.
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I'm not going to review it and I'm not going to spend a lot of time going into detail on it, but I will say that the graphics were terrible, level design left a lot to be desired, and the weapons felt extremely underpowered (even after ratcheting it down to the easiest difficulty.) No thanks.
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Moving on from there, I downloaded the new ‘Big Pack’ add-on for Trials HD on the 360. If you've played Trials, then you know what an intense love/hate relationship that is. But, like so many matches made in places other than heaven, there's just something about it that you can't quit even though you know it's not good for you. It's worse than a drug, really. Completing the first release nearly sent me spiraling off into madness, so seeing that there are new ‘Extreme’ difficulty tracks is an irresistible challenge-- and also something so frightening that I am compelled to run screaming from the room.
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(We're almost to the end here...)
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I put Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time through its paces and walked away extremely dissatisfied. Contemplating doing a review so I won't shoot my load here, but I will say that this is probably my least favorite game in the series, except perhaps for Deadlocked or that absolutely craptastic Secret Agent Clank offshoot. If I wasn’t pre-playing it before letting my son have a go, I would've seriously considered just walking away.
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Last but not least, since there is a little over a month until Mass Effect 2 (WOOOOO!!!!) I figured I had enough time to slip in one more ‘big’ game. I had a few different things to choose from, but ended up settling on Final Fantasy XII for PS2.
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I‘ve heard several different takes on the game from people who have played it, but after three hours my impressions are very positive. It certainly doesn't feel like the usual Final Fantasy, and I like the art style. The graphics are still quite impressive, and look better than some 360/PS3 titles I've seen.
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My only concerns at this point are that I have a feeling that I may end up completely screwing myself over by biffing the License Boards (the system that grants abilities and equipment for each character) and that the voice actor for street urchin Vaan is one of the most irritating and unlikable that I've heard in quite some time. Seriously, did no one at Squeenix realize that he comes off as a whiny, petulant punk? Whoever chose this particular voice actor for the game needs to be beat.
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Writing: Although the holidays aren’t quite over yet, things have settled down a bit and I've been taking advantage of the downtime to kick work on the book into high gear. I've been able to crank out about four thousand words over the last week, and that made me pretty happy. Of course, my original plan was to have the entire project wrapped up by the end of the year and there are still at least five or six more chapters to go, not to mention editing, rewrites, polish, etc., but the bottom line is that it's coming along.
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Also, it will henceforth be known as ‘RT’. Can't share the title just yet, but those are the initials my co-author and I have settled on.
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Food: As a present, the wife got me a small bottle of pink peppercorns… I've seen them used on the Food Network plenty of times, but I've never had any in the house before, nor have I ever eaten them-- to my knowledge, anyway.
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It was a great gift to receive, and I put them to use while cooking tonight's dinner. They taste like black pepper, but with a lighter, more aromatic body and none of the bite. It was a great complement to the prawns I made, but I think next time I'll scale back on how many I throw in. There were a couple bites that were pretty overpowering, so it definitely seems as though moderation is the key here.
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If you ask me, 2009 was a rather exceptional year for videogames. Although there was no one, single game that dominated the entire industry, there were so many titles of such stellar quality that players of every persuasion had plenty of things to choose from.
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As a critic, I found that the end of the year was especially thick with games that required my attention; I usually have things well in hand by the time December starts, but this year I constantly had three, four, or five top-tier titles (besides all of the B-listers) that I needed to get to, and it was a race against time to make sure that everything that deserved a look got one.
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That said, I'm only human.
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There is no way any one critic could have covered every single game that came out this year, so I'm sure that in a month’s time I'll come across a title or two that will make me rethink the list I’ve presented here today. Despite that, we've all got to draw a line somewhere and make the call… The ten games I've selected here represent the ten best experiences I had in 2009, and I'm glad for the opportunity to share them with you.
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Take a look, and see what I've got to say. If you agree, let me know. If you disagree, I'd like to hear that, too. If I've called out that some titles that you haven't had a chance to spend time with, I hope that this list encourages you to track them down.
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And now, the best of 2009…
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10> Flower – PSN - ThatGameCompany
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There is little left to be said about Flower that hasn't been said already, but I would feel extremely remiss in leaving it off this list after so many years of discussing games as art. This small, emotive title is a fantastic example of the kind of unique synergy that can emerge from a space where audience interactivity and creative suggestion meet.
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Starting with controlling a single petal and traveling on the wind to gather more of its kind, selling this abstract project about color, life, and revitalization to the suits must have been a suicide mission. However, I'm extremely glad that someone, somewhere must have recognized the feeling and energy that's bursting through in every regard. I don't feel it's overstating the case to say that thanks to Flower being greenlit, not only were players treated to an unconventional, inspiring experience, but were also spurred to discuss the potential of videogames themselves.
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9> Ghostbusters: the Video Game – Multi – Terminal Reality
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Basing its third-person, action-oriented play on the foundation laid by the original film, Ghostbusters places the player in the role of a new rookie who's just joined up with the spook-hunting veterans so well-known to fans. Peter (Bill Murray), Winston (Ernie Hudson), Ray (Aykroyd) and Egon (Ramis) all reprise their screen roles and deliver huge amounts of voice work.
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Progressing through the game's haunted locations, it's extremely rare that the player will find themselves alone for more than a moment or two. Thanks to the chatty companions, the plentiful dialogue effectively re-creates the camaraderie and team dynamic from the movies. Rather than the player going solo or spearheading progress with mute NPCs trailing behind, Terminal Reality did an exceptionally brilliant thing in honoring the ensemble nature of the source material, and it's a huge reason why this experience stood out for me.
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With extremely solid production values, loads of personality, smartly straightforward design and tons of connections to existing canon, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is well-equipped to please longtime ‘buster fans and newcomers alike. This in itself is no small feat, but when held up against the hundreds of failed license-based games that came before it, its achievements are all the more impressive.
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8> Cursed Mountain – Wii – Deep Silver
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Although the Horror genre has maintained a solid presence over the last few years, there is no doubt that the types of games falling into this category lately have favored action and gore over a more contemplative, quietly terrifying approach. Bucking this trend was Cursed Mountain.
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Though the mountainous, alien terrain of the Tibetan landscape -- where the game is set-- is a character itself, the quality that drives the adventure away from gunfire and into the dark is a constant sense of self-doubt and insanity that dances around the edges of every scene. Thanks to some clever choices in visual presentation and the developers' decisions to often strip away control of the player's perception, this long, slow trek up an unforgiving mountain often feels more like a descent into madness.
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Is the player’s character sane? Can he believe his eyes? His ears? Is he imagining the events before him, or is reality truly falling apart at the seams? Certain moments capture the very Lovecraftian theme of man struggling against a hostile, malevolent universe, and it was a quality I savored. Although some may claim that it's too linear and narrow in scope, in Cursed Mountain's case, the game is the journey itself.
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7> ‘Splosion Man – XBLA – Twisted Pixel
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Tuned to run like finely-oiled, precision machine, every stage in 'Splosion Man is a series of gaps, enemies, and huge jumps where a player's most potent weapon will be a great sense of timing. Crafted as a 2D side-scroller using 3D characters, 'Splosion Man employs the classic platforming formula: move your character from left to right while navigating danger along the way. It's one of the core building blocks of early video game design, and it's been done a million times. However, the beauty and brilliance of what Twisted Pixel has done will only be appreciated after spending some time with controller in hand.
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Using the act of self-explosion to both attack and jump, the geniuses in that studio have polished and refined this element to a near-perfect sheen, demonstrating absolute understanding of quality platforming and a superb sense of balance. Whether it's 'sploding off a wall to reach a higher ledge or bursting at just the right second to get a boost after flying hundreds of virtual feet through the air, the game will demand that players master the deconstructed mechanics and practice their use until flying over toxic waste and bursting between rotating platforms is second nature.
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Deceptively cute and colorful, ‘Splosion Man is a fantastic example of old-school design updated and refreshed for modern players who aren't afraid of a little challenge.
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6> Dragon Age: Origins – Multi - BioWare
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To be honest, I would've been very surprised if BioWare’s latest hadn't made this list. I'm certainly an unabashed fan, but this game would've earned a spot whether I was a fan of their work or not.
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More than anything else, Dragon Age: Origins' strength is its unparalleled characterization, deep conversations and degree of role-playing that makes it so successful. Handled by any other studio, the attempt to save the fantasy world of Ferelden could have been a completely forgettable, by-the-numbers adventure lost in the overstuffed fourth-quarter release shuffle. Instead, players will (much like BioWare's other games) be treated to a twisting, turning plot and an incredibly engaging cast, each with fully-formed personalities, backstories, and endearing (or not so endearing) quirks that showcase the talents of the game's superb writing staff.
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Enhancing the appeal of this already-rich content are the ways in which so many of the player's decisions have far-reaching and significant ramifications. Although some are not immediately apparent, the way the player charts their course through the adventure will influence nearly every aspect of their own personalized experience. Avoiding the simplistic good/evil dichotomy that seems to be popping up everywhere these days, the choices in Dragon Age: Origins are sure to have many gamers agonizing over their options. Frankly, there just aren't very many clear-cut decisions here; each crossroads in the truly epic-length quest has its own rewards and pitfalls, and such morally gray quandaries aren’t something players get the chance to experience very often.
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5> Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure – DS – EA Tiburon
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With all of the clones and minor iterations in gaming today, it's becoming harder and harder to find something that feels especially inspired-- especially in the Puzzle genre. You can't take a step in a game store without stumbling over something that wants you to match three objects of the same color, so something that as boldly original as Henry Hatsworth is definitely worth one of the top spots.
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Although it doesn't create a new style per se, it becomes far more than the sum of its parts by taking advantage of the unique DS hardware. By combining Tetris-style block-dropping on the bottom screen with 2D Platforming on the top, Hatsworth asks the player to constantly shift not only between the screens, but also between two completely different skill-sets. With a demanding level of challenge and clever implementation of mechanics that supplement both halves of the game, this adventurous English gentleman game kicks players into mental overdrive with fast-paced, tightly-tuned play that feels entirely unlike anything else out there.
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4> Half-Minute Hero – PSP - Opus
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A brilliant idea executed brilliantly, Opus's Half-Minute Hero is unquestionably a traditional Japanese Role-Playing Game. All of the expected elements are here: a lone hero that gathers a ragtag group of friends to save the world, random battles and leveling up, buying items and equipment, talking to townsfolk, taking on side quests. There is essentially nothing different between this game and every other JRPG that's come before it, except for one thing: Rather than taking forty, sixty, eighty hours or more to go from the first quiet village to the evil overlord's imposing castle, you do it all here in 30 seconds. Yes, thirty seconds. Half-Minute Hero eliminates every ounce of fat from the playtime and boils the JRPG formula down to its absolute core. The strangest part? It absolutely succeeds.
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Intellectually, the developers are quite cognizant of all the bad habits and tropes that these games are made up of, and while they still partake of them in greatly miniaturized fashion, it's from a squarely tongue-in-cheek perspective. Characters often reference the absurdity of the hoops JRPGs make their fans jump through, and the writers have absolutely no qualms about staying away from historically sacred cows. Half-Minute Hero would still be a great game without the sarcasm and humor, but with it, it's superb. Factor in the unprecedented approach towards running time, and you've got something that tosses one of the most tired, stale genres squarely on its ear and plays great while doing it.
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3> Bionic Commando – Multi - GRIN
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Although many reviewers maligned this update to the seminal Bionic Commando, when all was said and done, I have nothing but praise for it. The attention and effort put into this game is evident in all respects, and the central ‘grapple-arm’ concept introduced so many years ago still holds up to this day; in fact, I'd say GRIN's work is actually superior to that which inspired it.
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There is nothing quite like leaping from the top of a crumbling office building, freefalling for what seems like forever, and then grappling onto a nearby streetlight for a last-second reprieve from unyielding pavement. Far from being a crowning set piece, Bionic Commando is absolutely full of heart-stopping moments like this. Aside from the vertically-charged play, the developers took a very unique approach to storytelling, adding nonstandard characterization on top of elements and twists that no one saw coming. Although the plot didn't quite pop everywhere it should have, there's no question that bold risks were taken. In my view, they paid off.
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Putting aside expectations of what some uninformed critics may think it should have been, I suggest players take Bionic Commando for what it is—an absolutely faithful reimagining of an undisputed classic, smartly crafted and brought elegantly into the current generation.
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2> Batman: Arkham Asylum – Multi – Rocksteady Studios
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Before playing the game, I must admit that I was hesitant to put any stock in the copious amounts of praise Batman: Arkham Aslyum was receiving. It's all too common for the review sphere to greet the latest ‘big game’ with countless accolades, only to recant a month later. However, even with my jaded, pessimistic barriers raised at full strength, I couldn’t deny that this was one of the rare times when every bit of praise was rightfully deserved.
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Although the graphics are exceptional and the voice work is top-notch, the thing that I admired the most was that everything in the game’s design was created in service to the overall experience. There are no choices or mechanics that do not support the greater function of carrying the player along on a fast-paced adventure portraying Batman as no other game has. From start to finish, I never detected anything that felt ill-fitting or out of place-- no element was left in just because. For a developer to show such restraint and careful judgment is practically unheard of.
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My admiration for its ultra-sleek streamlining aside, it's an undeniable fact that Arkham Asylum is without a doubt the best Batman game ever made-- and if you ask me, it's better than all of the films. After so many years of seeing the Dark Knight reduced to a clumsy platformer or some other such simplified abomination, it was immensely rewarding to enjoy the work of developers who genuinely understood not only what the character is about, but how it can best be translated into actual gameplay.
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1> Demon’s Souls – PS3 – From Software
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Forget everything you may have heard about Demon’s Souls being incredibly difficult or unforgiving. Categorizing it with such a narrow view and leaving it at that does the title an incredible injustice. What it actually does is submerge players in its world and asks them to understand the reality of its dark, unforgiving world. Every aspect of its identity is tied to its intent to make the realm of Boletaria totally seamless. From Software hasn't just crafted an absolutely logical, holistic world, but has also gone to great lengths to make it cohere with itself in every way. The result is an experience unlike any other.
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Thanks to masterful attention to detail, truly astounding world design, and a revolutionary interpretation of online multiplayer, succumbing to the atmosphere and oppressive aura put out by each of the game's areas is a foregone conclusion. Setting foot at the start of a level feels as though an entire fantasy world is laid out at the player's feet, ripe for exploration and rife with danger. However, in order to truly appreciate the scope of what Demon’s Souls offers, the player must have patience and be willing to take the game on its own terms-- the expression has been redefined, so how the player receives it must be redefined as well.
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For those prepared to leave expectations of traditional Action-RPG design behind, Demon's Souls provides an astonishing, paradigm-shifting experience that’s unrivaled by any other.
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So there you have it.
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As an added bonus, I felt compelled to give some recognition to a game I would have greatly celebrated on last year's Top 10 if I had actually managed to play it during the year in which it was released. (Like I said at the top, I'm only human... ) Unfortunately, I was unable to give it any time until now, so this honorable mention is my way of apologizing to Sega for failing to rally behind this exceptional title at a more appropriate time.
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2008 Honorable Mention -Valkyria Chronicles – PS3 - Sega
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The Strategy RPG is a genre that hasn't exactly been brimming with entries lately, and of those that did appear, most were staid and unimaginative; content to hew closely to established guidelines and tropes. Breaking away from the pack, Valkyria Chronicles took several risks in an attempt to carve out its own identity. From the tweaks to squad management, to the unconventional art style, to adding real-time elements into the combat system, there were many places where the game could've easily fallen flat on its face. However, there were few titles released recently that were more successful, in my opinion.
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Over the length of its campaign, each battle managed to deliver an interesting twist or element that kept the war for Gallian independence tense and engaging. I also had great appreciation for the diverse cast of eccentric characters, many of them unforgettable. Striking a perfect balance between production, design, storytelling, and strategy, Valkyria Chronicles easily ranks near the top of the SRPG genre overall, and certainly deserves a place on every PS3 owner’s shelf.
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Just a placeholder post tonight. Got a few irons in the fire that need tending, but I'm 99% done with my top ten of the year. My plan is to post that before the weekend's over, so keep your eyes peeled.
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In the meantime, I'm really digging Armor Valley, which was a 400-point DL from Xbox Live's Indie service. Players pilot an agile dropship while ground forces advance towards an enemy base. It's a great mix of real-time action and quasi-RTS-ish ground assault. It sports surprising complexity for being an Indie game-- I was honestly a bit shocked. Let's get this guy a bigger budget ASAP. I'd love to see a shinier, bells-and-whistles version of this project.
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Lastly, I finally got around to doing some of that fabled PSP/PS3 connectivity and loaded up Fate/Unlimited Codes as well as Kahoots from the Minis menu. Haven't tried Fate yet, but Kahoots is a cute, fun little Lemmings-ish puzzler that I'd recommend.
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More to come.
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Games: Finished Brutal Legend yesterday. I've already talked about it at length here on the blog, so I will wrap it up with two final comments:
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1> At no point past the opening tutorial demo did the game ever deliver in a well-rounded and satisfying way. The story was a raggedy mess, the group RTS combat needed work, the solo character combat needed work, and the majority of the experience existed in a perpetual limbo state of “I’m almost really, really. really cool… but I’m not.”
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2> After completing the game, there were several pictures of the development team on screen as the credits rolled. The people on view all looked like nice, upstanding, hard-working citizens of the game dev community. They looked happy. Friendly. Like good people.
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As these snapshots appeared, I felt an intense wave of something approximating some kind of bizarre guilt because actually having faces attached to the game made Brutal Legend’s failure somehow more tangible. More terrible. Nothing would've made me happier than to be able to say “thank you, Double Fine, for your hard work and effort in crafting this superb piece of software.” But instead, all I can do is shake my head and wonder how such a promising project went so wrong.
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I don't wish ill on anyone, but the possibility of seeing those happy, smiling faces in an unemployment line, or hunched over a PC sending out massive numbers of resumes thanks to Double Fine’s failure to thrive is incredibly depressing.
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Moving on…
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A couple of the people I follow on Twitter reminded me that PixelJunk Shooter is now available on PSN, and having my calendar clear, it seemed a perfect opportunity to download it and give it a spin.
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Essentially, the game puts the player in control of a small spacecraft that navigates through an underground cave system. There are diamonds to be found and people in need of rescue, but the real hook to the game is the way the developers have included a fluid physics engine. While flying through the caves, most of the challenges encountered revolve around things like channeling hot lava away from an area that you need to visit, or maneuvering water to a certain place in order to be frozen, and so on.
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It's a short game and not particularly difficult, quite unlike the last few PixelJunk efforts. After only two brief sessions, I'm almost at the end, although I don't see that as a bad thing. Short, sweet, and to the point -- just like I like ‘em. Each level is a puzzle unto itself, and the game really does capitalize on its fluid elements. The controls are tight, the art design is solid, and it's one of those instantly-intuitive games where you only need to play it for a minute before your brain completely clicks with what it's trying to do. A lot of dev teams really struggle to capture that element and fail, but Q-Games nails it dead-on.
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Out of PixelJunk Monsters, Eden and Shooter (never tried Racer) I can certainly say that Shooter is my favorite. I'm not a very big fan of Tower Defense so Monsters didn’t do much for me, and although Eden was inspired at times, there were certain decisions made in the design that soured me from it pretty quickly. Shooter doesn't have any downsides that I can see, so I'm going to call this elegant little beauty a winner. Recommended!
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One last note: Atlus wants fans to know that every copy of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey will come packed with a soundtrack CD of music composed by Shoji Meguro.
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The game is released March 23, 2010, so you've got plenty of time to go and get a pre-order in… just don't forget. You know how those Atlus games vanish.
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Games: Wrapping up my must-plays of 2009, I currently have Brutal Legend in the 360.
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At this point, I'm fairly sure that everyone who would take the time to read this blog already knows everything they need to about the title, so I'm going to skip any unnecessary introduction.
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Getting right to it, I must say that this is a most perplexing game. I would have loved to have been in the development meetings for it, because I really can't conceive of how it came about.
Tim Schaefer is a brilliant guy and I have tons of respect for him, but he's just been off lately. I don't care what anybody says, Psychonauts was a big bag of fail to me, and although Brutal Legend is better, it's still not anywhere near what it could've been. In fact, I'm not even really sure what it is.
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What I do know is this: the game's use of heavy metal imagery is pretty boss, and the art design team was on point when they were putting the visuals together. Having grown up when people were still wearing Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Metallica shirts in an entirely un-ironic sense, a lot of the elements work for me in a big way and I think it's pretty cool.
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The soundtrack (naturally) is also equally cool. Tons of great tracks from legends of the genre play as you drive across the landscape or attack enemies, setting the perfect tone. I'm not exactly sure how Def Leppard got into the game, but I'm willing to overlook it.
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Everything else is basically one giant WTF.
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Granted, I haven't completed the game yet. Taking a quick look online, it seems I only have two missions before I catch the credits, but nothing could happen in the remaining span of time to bring all of the disparate elements together.
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For starters, it seems to be a common theme that people praise the game's story and characters, yet I have to wonder if I’m even playing the same game. Jack Black’s character Eddie Riggs is fine, but every other member of the cast is a quick sketch in a plot which has basically no impact whatsoever. For example, the main love interest is feeling put-upon and derided for reasons that are never quite explained clearly enough, and then she vanishes, only to return as a nemesis. It's a classic move, but it only works if the player is invested enough in the character to actually care about what's going on. The motivations on either side are never explained satisfactorily, and I had a hard time figuring out where the drama was. In general, events happen so quickly and with so little scripting to support them, I'm kind of wondering why they even bothered with a story arc at all.
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I also take real issue with the way the game's true RTS identity was concealed for so long. I think it's fair to say that everyone who had been following the game was expecting the type of hack-‘n’-slash adventure that’s portrayed in the brief tutorial segment, and not the chaotic, poorly-controlling and messy troop-management contraption that we got. I'm not the biggest fan of RTS games to begin with, and what's on display here is pretty poor. The fact that the player's character has to be physically near troops in order to give orders is a sizable mistake, and the fact that there is no on-screen mini map is another.
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Finally, I have to say that I don't think that the open-world platform adds anything to the Brutal Legend experience. There is nothing to do in the world except to find random collectibles or partake in repetitive side quests, and it seems the game overall would have been better off without it-- although without the structure and quests, the game would take about four or five hours to complete. I'm not saying that I think the game should be longer just for the sake of being longer, but adding all of this peripheral stuff just to be able to claim a longer playtime seems misguided. I’d trade it all for a more tuned, reshaped critical path.
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I have to admit, I find it somewhat ironic that this game found itself in the middle of a contentious legal battle over publishing rights and had such a troubled path to retail only to finally see release and effectively bomb. It was somewhat optimistic to think that a Schaefer game would achieve mass popularity even under the best circumstances, so the unsatisfactory gameplay and the concealment of its true nature were just final nails in the coffin. I really want to like Brutal Legend a lot more than I do, but in all honesty, it's a giant whiff at bat.
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Food: Went to the Farmer's market with the fam this morning and decided to step outside the comfort zone a little bit. With winter here and seasonal selections limited to hardier choices, we ended up with some parsnips, turnips and leeks. I'm no stranger to leeks, but I have to admit that I've never had a parsnip or a turnip in my life. Nobody in my family ever made them growing up, and my wife said that was also true for her. In fact, I don't think I even know anybody who eats them now, and I know a heck of a lot of vegetarians and vegans.
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Anyway, we ended up cubing everything, throwing it all into a crockpot with some pork tenderloin, and making a giant stew out of it. I have to say, it was pretty good. The parsnip tasted like a carrot for the most part, although there was some kind of odd back-of-the-tongue quality to it. That said, if I had tasted it blindfolded, I would've sworn it was a carrot. The turnip had kind of a cabbagey-oniony quality to it, though it's a little hard to describe in words. After cooking, it also had a kind of slightly gelatinous texture which took a few minutes to get used to. Not gag-inducing, just… weird.
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All in all, I'd have to say that our little experiment with unfamiliar foods turned out to be a positive one. Maybe next time we'll have to bring home a shank of the goat that was on sale…
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Games: Getting close to wrapping up my second time through Mass Effect, and since I almost never replay games, it's been an interesting experience. A friend asked me today how it was going through again, and to be perfectly honest, it wasn't nearly as fun as it was the first time.
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Don't get me wrong-- I'm not saying that there's anything the matter with the game itself, it's more about the kind of player that I am.
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For me, the thing that drives me forward in videogames is the feeling of discovery, and a personal curiosity to see what lies ahead. As long as I'm interested in seeing how a particular game’s story turns out, or if a talented developer keeps surprising me with new mechanics and formula twists, I'm there. However, if I already know what's coming, then most of the appeal is gone for me, no matter how good the quality of the game itself.
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Crusading through the universe with Commander Shepard again, there was a certain quality missing from the experience… A little bit of the mystery stripped away; a little bit of the magic gone. Although the very fact that I bothered to play the game again (going for all available quests with the exception of the ultra-tedious collection missions) speaks volumes about the quality of the game, I have to be frank in saying that it just wasn't the same. I wasn't in the kind of feverish, get-back-to-the-360-ASAP grip of must-play madness that I felt the first time.
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Why not? It's because I knew what was coming.
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With the knowledge that there were no more surprises; no more left-field revelations or new challenges to overcome, the game ceased to be an interstellar escapist adventure of the highest order, and instead became a very good game that I played. But still, just a game. As I was checking off quests on the way to achieving level 60, my brain was often distracted from what was going on in front of me, thinking about the new titles I have waiting in my to-play stack.
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It just wasn't the same.
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Some people may think I'm a little odd for only playing games once, but there are players of every stripe. It takes all kinds to create an industry and an audience as large and as pervasive as videogames are today.
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Although I'm sure some people reading this blog can't relate at all to the idea that there would be little-to-no appeal in revisiting a superb disc, that's no stranger than being the kind of player who combs every inch of a title to collect 100 hidden gold icons stashed away in the furthest corners of geometry, or the sort of player that gets every character in their party up to level 99 before beating the last boss.
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It's no stranger than the kind of drive that makes people perfect second-shaving speed runs, or practice and memorize their performance so many times that they can clear levels with their eyes closed.
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It's no stranger than the kind of player who buys a brand-new game and jumps straight into the multiplayer to shoot their friends in the face for for two weeks before even touching the campaign mode, and it's certainly no stranger than the compulsion of someone who regularly buys the newest, hottest title only to quit after the first three levels and trade it back in the next week for the next big thing.
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Are any of these kinds of players more ‘true’ or more legitimate than the others? Not really. Although the thought of spending more than fifteen minutes playing capture-the-flag would be enough to drive me towards any other kind of activity rather than sit around and repeat the same actions over and over without a finite endpoint, there's nothing wrong with that for people who enjoy it. Conversely, some would call me crazy for buying a game that I knew in advance I would likely only go through once, but that's just fine with me. It's how I prefer it.
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It really does take all kinds. Though an entire legion of us may unite under the ‘gamer’ banner, we're just as diverse and varied a group as any other. The thing that I'm thankful for, I suppose, is that I actually know which kind of gamer I am and I'm all right with it-- and by being all right with myself, I'm just fine with every other gamer, too.
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What about you?
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Games: Still working my way through Mass Effect again in preparation for the January release of Mass Effect 2. I have to admit, I'm very pleased to see that the game holds up in all the areas that made it such a favorite of mine. Even better, this time around I consulted an FAQ (I didn't previously) and thanks to the diligent work of some dedicated fans, I've seen some sidequests and alternate paths that I didn't know existed. Even two years after release, it still impresses.
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Speaking of Mass Effect, the family and I were at the mall today picking up a few things so I thought I might stop in at GameStop and use up some credit on a pre-order for ME2.
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Last I checked, the release date was January 26-- basically two months away. When I told the counter person that I wanted to put my cash down on the collector's edition (something I only do for BioWare games, really) he said that they were no longer offering it.
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Say what?
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Although I'm sure EA is making a smaller number of CE copies than standard, I have a really hard time imagining that they are going to be *that* scarce, especially this early.
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Amazon still lists the CE as being readily available, and after today's retail failure, I really can't think of a single reason why I should ever set foot in a GameStop again. There are endless sources of discount used games available online and Amazon (or others) don't seem to have any difficulty giving customers access to pre-orders. If I have a game I want to get rid of, I can go to Switchgames.com or at least three or four other reputable trading sites I can think of off the top of my head. What's their advantage? From where I'm standing, they seem to be functionally obsolete to any gamer who’s got access to the internet.
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In other news, here are some links to my Assassin’s Creed II and Uncharted 2 reviews. If you've been following the blog, then my breakdowns of each game won't come as any surprise. Another non-surprise: neither one secured a spot on my year-end top ten. Shocker!!!
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My good friend Nathan Fouts over at Mommy’s Best Games has just formally announced another project he's working on besides the eagerly-awaited Grapple Buggy.
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Titled Shoot 1UP, it's a shooter where instead of collecting 1ups, they appear right next to you and add to your firepower (hence, the graphic.) Sounds pretty neat-o to me. You can read about it HERE, and I'll be talking to Nathan a little later this week, so check back later for a more in-depth piece.
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Finally, I've been keeping an eye on the latest Shin Megami Tensei title coming down the pike from the fine folks over at Atlus.
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SMT: Strange Journey is certainly that-- taking a hard turn into Sci-Fi, the early portions of the game-- what I've seen so far, basically-- are unlike anything the series has attempted before. (And I'm really liking it!)
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In a nutshell, the game’s premise is that the Earth has reached a critical mass. To many people, not enough resources, and a strange interdimensional anomaly appears at the South Pole that seems to be intent on restoring balance. A scientific strike team is sent in to investigate, and… well, I won't get into it any further atthe moment but anyone who's ever played an SMT game can probably guess that demons and demon summoning factor into things.
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I'll be running some screenshots and talking about this game a little more once have had a chance to spend some time with it, but for now, here's a link to the official site.
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Games: So, I’m replaying Mass Effect. Why? Well, I had no plans to. I had a blast playing it the first time through, felt totally satisfied, and was greatly looking forward to the next installment. Over, done with, finished.
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Now that Mass Effect 2 is almost here, the chatter around it is starting to grow. With the knowledge that events in the sequel change depending on the choices that were made in the first game, my inner complete-freak began doing its thing and I found myself helpless to resist the compulsion to play through the game again just to be completely sure that all of the quests that might be significant later were completed the way that I wanted them done.
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I haven't touched the game since the craptastic Pinnacle Station DLC came out, so going back into the adventure proper has reminded me all over again of why I put it as my second favorite game of all time. It still looks great, it still plays great, and I can't get enough of the Sci-Fi themes. One of the best 360 games? Absolutely.
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Even though Dragon Age: Origins is BioWare’s latest and greatest (and a fine game despite having issues) ME pretty much blows it out of the water in every respect, as far as I'm concerned. It was also sort of jaw-dropping To see how much better Mass Effect looks despite coming out years before Dragon Age. Playing the two back to back, the difference in the amount of resources put into the games becomes instantly apparent. No offense to DA:O devotees (and really, I enjoyed quite a bit) but it feels totally ghetto compared to the sheen and polish Commander Shepard is sporting.
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Things are progressing at a rapid clip since I basically already know what I'm doing and I started a new game with my old data, meaning that my character has top-notch armor and weapons, along with all of the skills she accumulated during the first playthrough. Slaughtering those Geth has never been easier. All's well and good, except for a little bit of info that my good friend @ParkerXL laid on me…
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Apparently, ME2’s wild, new character named Subject Zero is based off of a person that you can encounter in the first ME, but only if you chose the Colony origin. My Commander Shepard was Earthborn, so I never saw that particular sidequest, or that person.
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My gut is telling me that BioWare wouldn't completely lock away a character in the sequel based solely on a very minor decision made at the start of the first game so long ago, but then again, my complete-freak is a little horrified that it might be the case. On the other hand, it was possible to collect every party member in Dragon Age regardless of what the origin chosen was, so I'm hoping that holds true again here.
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Really, really hoping.
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Games: Still on my quest to play all the ‘big’ games of 2009, I've almost got Uncharted 2 wrapped up… only two or three more sections to go. Having already put together a rough list of the year’s top ten, I was wondering which title I might have to bump to make room for it. That concern is now moot, since it's not going to make the list.
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If nothing else, the production values put pretty much everything else on the market to shame. The graphics are stunning in nearly every scene, and the voice work is excellent. I certainly can't fault it there-- it's the other aspects that fail to impress.
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Despite the impressive number of showy setpieces that kick the energy level into high gear, there are just as many things that drag it back down. For example, with all the time and energy put into designing the levels, I'm actually surprised that there are as many "where do I go now?" moments as there are. Naughty Dog gets around this by often having an AI partner lead the way, but that's a bit like cheating, if you ask me. They get caught out in areas when main character Drake is alone, and the way to progress is not obvious.
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At the opposite end of the spectrum, despite the desire to incorporate a bit of tomb raiding, the devs sacrifice complexity (and hence, satisfaction of completion) of jumping/climbing puzzles for the sake of making them pass by quickly. Ostensibly, they don't want players to become bored by being unable to find their way (which didn’t seem to bother them in the land-based areas), but the result was that there was no pleasure in climbing ledges and jumping gaps when there’s precious little fear of falling, and the only correct path is usually quite obvious.
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The gunfights, by far the worst aspect of the first game, are certainly improved but are still a sore spot. They just drag on for far too long, often throwing wave upon wave of enemy at the player. While something like that might work in a game akin to Gears of War or somesuch, it just feels like filler to me here, and rarely do the fights excite. Nearly every combat situation felt like it lasted about twice as long as it should. Conversely, the stealth aspect of the combat is much improved, and when granted the opportunity, taking enemies out quietly is a much more enjoyable experience than the ‘stop and pop’ that chokes everything up.
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Uncharted 2 certainly isn't a terrible game, but I think most of the 9’s and 10’s tossed its way are result of reviewers experiencing premature ejaculation due to the graphics and presentation. Although I haven't seen the end quite yet, I can't see much replay value here, and when the shine and polish are stripped away, the core gameplay mechanics aren't strong enough to keep you coming back for more.
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From what I understand, multiplayer is a very worthwhile experience, but generally preferring the single-player as I do, I'll leave that for others to decide.
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TV: The wife and I watched the season finale of White Collar on the USA Network. I've got to say, this is definitely one of my favorite new shows... like I said earlier, there are few points in each episode when you have to turn the brain off for a moment or two for the sake of letting events progress as smoothly and as quickly as they do, but the writers do an excellent job of illustrating the characters while maintaining a perfect balance between levity and seriousness.
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In addition, I think I have to say that the characters feel very human to me. While one is an FBI agent and one is a convicted criminal, neither is pigeonholed in the stereotypical expectations of their role-- given the circumstances, the agent isn't above bending the rules, and the criminal certainly has his own code of ethics. Despite coming from opposite sides of the law, they each maintain a very convincing level of pragmatism that's not hard at all to relate to. It's nice to see a set of actors that ground their characters in what feels like reality, despite the fantastic situations they find themselves in.
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The season is over for now, and finished on one hell of a cliffhanger. Thankfully, the show will resume in January, so there's not too long to wait. If you haven't given it a chance yet, I've got nothing but good things to say about it. USA is definitely firing on all cylinders.
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