Meanwhile: Portal

I love Portal so much.  I started playing again on my janky mac laptop, and so far things are going pretty well.  I've really been meaning to play through Portal since I played through Portal 2 just over a year ago.    The trouble is that the thing seems to like to overheat while playing portal.  So the going is slow.  maybe 30 mins at a time, if that.  But I managed to make it through the game, and it still holds up.

I notice that the level design is interesting.  The first ten or so levels are pure tutorial.  The next five aren't really much more than that.  But at about level 15, tutorial is left completely behind and the levels start to get longer.  Each level is broken up into several sub-stages which are as long as any of the tutorials from the first half of the game.  Really, they are very tough, but the rewards are much harder to come by.  After every room is another difficult room. Being that this is my second time through Portal, and I've been through Portal II - I was ready for the challenge.  Still, it can be pretty tough.

Simultaneously, as the game transitions from tutorial to actual challenging levels, hints of a more insidious story begin to become more pronounced.  GlaDOS' deadpan voice starts to say increasingly morbid things.  Another thing I've noticed is  that the ambient music, coupled with the isolation of the player and the starkness of the graphic design, lends an eerie sense to the game.  This eerie tone combines with a growing sense of danger, as GlaDOS' sterile voice begins to say stranger and more threatening things.  The overall theme of misanthropic scientific testing is strengthened by the sounds and images and the isolation of the player.

GlaDOS is a pretty awesome villain.  I love the storytelling as her character develops over the course of the game, leading to the excellent climax.  And in the final battle, there is an excellent example of showing, not telling, in the personalities of the three eyeball-things that fall from her machinery.  The first being innocent and curious, the second calculating and cold, and the third savage and aggressive.  GlaDOS' character is perfectly summed up by those three elements. It is implied but never directly stated in-game that these objects represent her personality.  All the while, she is talking to the player, still trying to convince you of her position, and not really acknowledging herself, even as you discover her.  Fantastic, really. Amazing.  I think it is worth pointing out, also, that, despite her attempts to kill you, she is the players constant, and only companion through the course of the game.  This adds a layer, thin, though it may be, of sympathy that you must overcome in order to defeat her and with the game.

I beat the game in 4.8 hours.  I think it went pretty quickly, because I'm an experienced Portal player.  I think it may have taken closer to 10 hours the first time through.  I still really really love that last level.  The twist is so cool.  It really comes across like a final test.  The whole game could just have been sterile lab settings, and I think it would still have been a fun game.  But that last level really made me feel great.  I feel like Valve really took care of me as a player, and I get to show off all my portaling skills Ive been building.

I'm going to try the extra levels just for shits and giggles.  And then I'm going to install Portal 2 and try to get some multiplayer happening.  I have no idea how that works.

-D

The Place Where A Crossbow Can Turn Into A Smartphone

I thought about talking. . . about how out of touch I am in some markets.  Specifically how much I am lacking in the crossbow department.  Why crossbows when I have a perfectly good compound bow sitting not 10 feet behind me?  Because I happen to have left eye dominance and right everything else.  And, I've come to the realization that even with a lot of practice, my aim when pulling back with my right hand wasn't great.  I could still hit the groinal region of Bob (6 1/2 foot bipedal target) from maybe 30 feet, I never measured the actual distance.  I would then proceed to miss the head shot and hit the fence the point being, this is not what I was originally going to talk about.

The market that I was initially going to "briefly" mention was that I am now entering the world of smartphones.  As is the case with some aspects of the technological realm, I'm late to the party.  I acquired my first cellphone in 2005 and that was a flip phone because I liked the idea of my phone not accidentally making calls on my ass'/thigh's behalf.  Two years later I got another flip phone for the same reason.  I wasn't looking into smart phones because I didn't want to have the obligatory +$20 for message/data plan tacked onto my already $45/month phone bill.  Two years later, another phone, this one a slider, which I found out are not washing machine proof.  I was then given an old Razor/er/ar? by Conklederps Dad which I used until I thought I lost in San Francisco.  Roughly a year and-a-half later, it was then replaced by the same slider phone that is 15 feet away charging.  

I only decided to look into smart phones because my current phone's ear piece speaker is starting to get all warbly.  After a bit of research, I discovered that I would be paying about the same amount that I'm currently paying, even with the data plan.  So now, or at least by tomorrow, I'll be the newest member of the smart phone universe.

All that context has brought me to wonder if I'm going to start reviewing cellphone games.  I might, but I don't see myself turning into a cellphone gamer.  I of course say that now, but then I also gave the Game Boy Players Guide to my neighbor (we'll call him PvW) because I didn't own a Game Boy and never saw myself owning one.  Look how well that one's turned out.

That's pretty much all I've got at the moment.  If I don't post anything on Monday (9/30), then send a search party for Conklederp and myself as we'll be around Crater Lake this weekend.  And someone should also tell my work that I won't be coming in.  Now to make sure our tent is still functional and my 3DS is charged.

And Steam's got new stuff too.

Have a good weekend.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

That Thing Hadn't Come Out Yet

First Impressions: Me vs Mirror's Edge

I got this game in some Humble Bundle or another

I tried playing Mirror's Edge last night.  It's not good.  Sorry.  I want to like this game.  I really like the concept:  first person running, leaping, climbing!  It looks really cool when the computer is controlling the action.  But it's tough, and I don't think it's tough for the right reasons.  It's tough to do much of anything.

The first level is a training level.  Well, thats' good, because this game is tough, and the controls aren't terribly intuitive. They even acknowledge in-game that is a training course. But the training level, itself, is really tough.  Also, for some reason the training course is at the top of a series of tall buildings, rather than in a sand-pit obstacle course somewhere. Every time I fuck up, I get to watch myself fall thirty flights of stairs.  Doesn't do much for my immersion into whatever world they're trying to create for me.  Or sometimes, if I stray off course, I am forcibly teleported back to my starting position, where I get to watch the computer example again.  This is annoying and happens a lot, because as I mentioned, the controls aren't really very intuitive.

I tried using a joypad and I tried using the keyboard an mouse.  The keyboard and mouse was slightly easier.  Mostly, I think, because the ability to customize the controls on the joypad is severely limited.  I just want to use the control pad and not the control stick.  Can I?  please?  And, maybe, just maybe I want to use the shoulder buttons for doing quick turns.  No?  Boy this game is tough, and not in a good way.

I got sick of the training level, and moved right on to the first actual stage.  I managed to muddle my way through it, though not without annoying my in-game companion, who started berating me sarcastically for not moving fast enough.  I guess this delightfully one-sided banter is supposed to increase immersion, but instead it just makes the experience suck more.  And I can tell I'm muddling by the sheer number of times I fall thirty feet to my doom, and then bounce right back.  A big part of why this isn't fun is that it seems clear that the point of the game is to perform sequences of moves, not just to spam the high jump over and over until it stops working, and then spam the duck button, or whatever.

And here is where I want to draw a comparison to a great game.  Also a first person game that is not a shooter, not exactly:  Portal.  Portal is a fantastic game.  And, wouldn't you know it, it does a great job teaching the player how to play.  The first ten stages or so are baby steps to how to use the portals and switches and general solve small puzzles.  Then, after getting your sea legs, as it were, the game throws some very complicated puzzles using every technique you've learned up to that point.  It works marvelously.

All I've gotten from Mirrors Edge is that I can go back to the training stage again, and practice each move, one by one, in sequence.  I can't just jump to that one move that's giving me trouble, I've got to work my way to it.  And when I pass that sequence (by sheer luck) I'm on to the next move, even though I really don't have the previous method down.  I going to keep muddling through the levels for a bit longer to see if I can get the hang of it.  

Bottom line:  The makers of Mirrors Edge should have played through Portal and taken notes.  Then maybe I would enjoy playing the game, which has an interesting concept at its core.  

-D

First Impressions: Donkey Kong Country Returns (3DS)

I was kind of on the ropes about this game when I heard about it coming out (first on the Wii then ported to the 3DS).  I was honestly a little worried as I hadn't played a new Donkey Kong Country game since Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest back in 1995.  I didn't play DKC3 as I didn't like the constant introduction of new characters and elimination of the new character from the previous game.  I understood the desire to expand the Kong family, but they lost me.  I did play Diddy Kong Racing, but that was like a Mario Kart clone; a clone that refuses to be beaten and laughs in my face as if it's the Duck Hunt dog, we'll call him Clyde.  Fuck you Clyde.  Fuck you.

Right, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D.  On the Nintendo 3DS.  This is the version of the game that I will be talking about, not the game that came out on the Wii.  I still don't have one.

So now the things that everyone will be asking, because I too was asking the same questions before and after I bought the game.

1)  No, Rare had no part in making DKCR3D.  That is a potential selling point, or not because Rare didn't have anything to do with this game despite the fact that they designed what popular culture now thinks of when they think of Donkey Kong.  I am personally okay with it, I've moved on.  This game was developed by Monster Games, a US company out of Minnesota. I will just say that from what I've played so far, they've done a good job with an existing franchise that they have never had a hand in making/developing.  (They also did the 3DS Pilotwings: Resort game, so kudos to them for making two 3DS games of existing Nintendo franchises and doing a great job with both).

2)  No, David Wise had no hand in composing the music for DKCR3D.  This made me sad when I found out about 10 minutes before I started writing.  However, 90% of the perceived music seems to be from the original DKC so there's a good amount of musical nostalgia which in one way is funny/amusing because unless you were born as late as the late 1980s (The Kid, Conklederp), you probably won't have the same kind of reaction towards the music.  There was a level where Donkey Kong III is running/jumping over/across docks as cannons from a ship are destroying sections of the dock while a whale is carrying you between large gaps, and the underwater music cue (Aquatic Ambiance) played for about 3-4 seconds and I immediately thought that the level was going to go underwater so I didn't make a long jump for the next dock. . . and I died.  Yes, I was distracted by a music cue and didn't "believe" what the gameplay was telling me.

I've strayed a bit.  The music in DKCR3D was "composed/arranged" by multiple people and since I haven't finished the game yet, I can't say which of the aforementioned composers worked on the 3DS port and which were exclusively on the Wii, I won't list them all here.

3) Diddy Kong.  It's not that I have an issue with Diddy Kong being included in this game, I love that Diddy Kong is included and (so far) is the only side kick.  I do not, however, like how Diddy Kong is used. *Spoiler*  When you acquire Diddy Kong, in traditional Kong style (he's enclosed in a DK barrel), he hops on your back and acts as a jet pack for hovering.  So basically, you become Dixie Kong but with Donkey's girth.  I feel it's a cheap way to use Diddy.  I loved Diddy in both DKC and DKC2 and am sad to see him used in this way.

4)  Who the fuck is that god damn pig!?  Wizpig's good natured little brother?  Not that I have a genuine problem with the checkpoint pig, but at least in BIT.TRIP RUNNER2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien you meet up and team up with the checkpoint characters.  This pig?  What the hell!?  Actually, it doesn't bother me that much/at all, it was just a question that I thought of while perusing the official site.

5) Donkey Kong.  As in the one that stared in the original 1981 arcade game.  He is as funny as I remember him from the first DKC.  I felt that his humor in the first DKC game was very sarcastic and demeaning towards Donkey Kong III, about how gaming has been made more user friendly since the early 80s.  I've actually found myself leaving Cranky Kong's store and re-entering just to see what he says.

Alright.  Presently, I've put in nearly five hours on/in the game and I am enjoying what I've been playing.  It reminds me enough of the original DKC, but still different enough to feel somewhat original.  As is the case with any game that has a sequel, I'm not 100% sure that I like everything in the game, but that's not the way games should be because there is no way to please absolutely everyone.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I Love My Mom.  And So Can You For $12 an Hour.

Emulator Hour preview: Resident Evil 2

Okay, so, I decided I had to play Resident Evil 2 again.  I guess it was when I was midway through watching 'night of the creeps' that I came to this conclusion.  Well, my playstation is only a memory now, drifting somewhere out in the world, so I decided to turn to the world of emulation.  With a bit of work, I've gotten it working, and I'm going to play Resident Evil 2.

But I haven't actually started yet.  I think I'm going to play as Claire, since the other time I played RE 2 I played as Leon.  I got to the end of the game, too, but I had six handgun bullets and a knife.  Suffice it to say, I didn't win.

The game is super-sweet though.  RE 2 was the first game in the series I played.  I missed RE 1, but I did play the game cube revision.  Because it was the first, I'll always have special affection for RE 2.  Something about a zombie infested police station that is a nice spin on the zombie infested theme.  Sort of like how Dawn of the Dead takes place in a shopping mall.  Actually, come to think of it, Dawn of the Dead might be my favorite Zombie movie.  Either one, take your pick.

In terms of it being a sequel, I'm not sure that RE2 really upgrades the game play in any significant way.  But in this case I don't really mind, again, because it was the first one I played.  Also, the gameplay of Resident Evil was so unprecedented, I was thrilled to have more than one.  It wasn't until RE3 that i started to think things were waning a bit.  Really those first three games are like clones of one another.  Awesome, terrifying clones.

I'll spare everyone and not talk about RE4 and beyond.  Even if it was the triumphant return of Leon.  Alright, well, this is sort of a non-post, but I'm excited to play Resident Evil 2!  Woot!

-D

This is just some examples of the dramatic camera angles from this game.  10 to 1 some fucking crows appeared on the way out of this room, and scared the bejeezus out of me even though I knew they were coming

Left 4 Dead 2 Mod: Journey to Splash Mountain

This is exactly what it looks and sounds like.  Journey to Splash Mountain is a five level campaign mod lovingly created by Steam users Dives and SM Sith Lord created for Left 4 Dead 2 using Valve's Source Engine.  The campaign was posted to Steam's L4D2 Workshop on September 5th of this year.

For those of you not familiar with Splash Mountain, it's a water log ride in Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, CA.  You can tell from the amount and attention to detail that Dives really likes Disneyland.  There's a level of respect for the  park that you would only be able to find from someone who actually enjoys going.  It's not a campaign where you get to destroy Disneyland or defile it any more than the zombies have.  You can't shoot up standees of Mickey and friends and aside from the floral Mickey at the front gates, I don't recall seeing Mickey's head/face/silhouette anywhere else.  This must have been what the survivors in L4D2 felt when they arrived at Whispering Oaks.  

So let's get to the stats and details first.

Journey to Splash Mountain consists of five levels with the final level being similar to the last level of a lot of the main campaigns (Dead Center & The Passing).  On my first playthrough, I went through on Normal difficulty and it took me 1 hour 33 minutes with only dying once when I tried to see if I could swim across the river to Tom Sawyer's Island (you can't).  I was incapacitated twice and in the end we lost Francis as he was pulled up an inaccessible hill by a Smoker and we couldn't get to him to help him up.  And, it took a long time to figure out where the helicopter had landed.  

The levels themselves were very well paced and in classic L4D2 fashion, being pretty linear while never telling you where you had to go until you saw markings for the safe room.  When creating the campaign, Dives and SM Sith Lord don't come across as people who are trying to kill the players and inundate them with Tank after Tank after Witch.  There was one area that contained two witches who were pretty close together, but as that only happened once, it didn't bother me.  At least they weren't at Hard Rain frequency.  

Again, the entire campaign was a lot of fun.  I recognized most of the park that was accessible even though I haven't been to Disneyland since sometime around 2005 (I think).  There was enough detail that I didn't really question whether something should have been there or not.  Dives even uses music from the theme park in specific areas which helps create the perfect level of immersion.

Finally, for the person who has never been to Disneyland, the level should be just as fun as Dark Carnival, but without the clowns.

In closing, I just wanted to share some pictures I was able to take while avoiding horde after horde of infected.  I tried to not give away (too much) where the various levels go and what rides/attractions are featured although I had to include just one just because.  So be aware, pseudo-spoilers ahead.

Smart context for why you're even going to Disneyland.

Looking down Main Street.

Looking into the Penny Arcade.

The Congo Queen is the name of a real boat in the Jungle River Cruise.

The Bengal Barbecue is a mental staple for me when I think of Disneyland, although I've never eaten there.

The Cafe Orleans is my favorite place to eat in Disneyland.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Winter is Coming

First Impressions: Super Hexagon

Super Hexagon is quite possibly the hardest game I have ever played in my life.  Designed by Terry Cavenaugh of VVVVVV fame,  It's harder than VVVVVV.  It's harder than the hoverbikes level on Battletoads.  It's harder than TMNT.

But I think I figured out what to do.    A little background;  The game has three initial difficulty settings:  Hexagon, Hexagoner, and Hexagonest.  Also called 'hard, harder and hardest' difficulty settings.  So, the programmer knew that this game was hard.  So hard, he didn't bother to make an 'easy' or 'normal' setting.  And it is hard.

As far as I can tell, the goal is to last for 60 seconds on a given level.  Achievements are granted at 5 seconds, 10, 20 and so on.  Until recently, my record was 15 seconds on the easy level.  On a very rare occasion, I'd get about that far, but never any further.  But then I figured out a trick.

Oh, it's not a trick.  Not really.  That is to say, the trick is that I decided to play the game on harder difficulty.  I figured if it's nigh impossible on easy setting, what could the harder settings be like?  Well,  they're harder.  But not... so much harder.  Almost equal difficulty, really.  Hexagoner has more complex moves and Hexagonest has a faster pace.  And that is where the secret is. After playing for a few minutes on Hexagonest,  the easier setting seemed pretty slow in comparison.  My reaction time had adapted to the more difficult setting and I was able to get up to 25 seconds within a few rounds of play.

And then I turned the game off.  It was pretty satisfying to break through that wall.  But I just knew what would be behind it: Another goddamn wall.  So I turned the game off.  Live to fight another day.

-D

The Nintendo 3DS: A Review, 461 Days Later

I've now had my 3DS for over a year (specifically since June 11, 2012) but before buying the system, I was a little concerned as to how it would hold up over the years.  I say "years" because I spent because a system costing over $100, it damn well better last more than a year.  The point is, my DS Lite officially died (sort of) when the plastic casing covering the right hinge finally broke off and could not take any more super glue, which is what my solution was the first two times that the hinge broke.  I had other obvious concerns such as scratches and wear marks on the touch screen, dead pixels (although I never had the problem with my DS Lite, I do have 3-5 on my PSP) and long term battery life.

THE HINGES

Next to the screen, and I guess the buttons, the hinge is the most important part of the construction for the 3DS.  If the hinge is compromised, the top screen  will wobble from the screen cable like an arm hanging from a tendon or a bit of nerve. Considering that I saw myself opening the system, playing for a bit, closing it, opening to play a little bit longer then closing it again for the night before putting it back on the charger, the hinge is a key element.  Clearly what the system is designed to do.  In reality, I probably open/close the thing close to 5-10 times any time I have it off of the charger.  Those hinges are going are going to be seeing some serious action.

Presently, the hinges feel a little loose, almost as if I've been opening and closing the system close to every day.  Which is what I've been doing.  There is a little bit of a wobble, but that only happens if I consciously and gently shake the system back and forth while playing a game, which is something that I do not do.  Most of the time I just have the screen open to the first "click" and not all the way back.  I like a bit of an angle and having the screen all the way back makes it feel like I'm creating an obtuse angle.  So yes, after a year, I have noticed that there has been some wear on the hinges, but not enough so that I am overly concerned that the hinges will break within the next year.

THE SCREEN

If the screen dies in any way, there's no point in having the system around.  Unless you're the kind of person that has a use for parts, which some people do, just not me.  I have noticed a little bit of wear on the bottom touch screen.  Nothing out of the ordinary for a screen that regularly has a stylus scrying across it's surface nearly every day.

I should also mention that I do not have any scribble heavy games such as titles from the Wario Ware series.  The World Ends With You has given the touch screen the most ware and even after 56 hours, the screen still looks pretty good.  Theres still some give on the screen when using the stylus, which I will take as a good thing.  As for dead pixels, I have not noticed any.  Both screens work just as well as when I first bought the system and I haven't found that they get any smudgier than any other screen in our apartment.

In other news, I have not noticed any dead pixels on either screen.

BATTERY LIFE

This section will be entirely speculative.  I have no data to back up anything I'm going to say here, but this is the Internet, so it's all okay.  I haven't noticed any significant decrease in battery life.  I know that "common knowledge" dictates that you shouldn't recharge a battery until it's either very low or dead because doing so will shorten the overall life of the battery.  Everyone knows that right?  Anyway, I will frequently play the 3DS until I get the red flashing YOUR BATTERY IS ABOUT TO DIE light and then I'll put the system back on the charger.  That is what would happen in an ideal world.  Most of the time I'll put the system back on the charger overnight after having only played for 30-60 minutes.  Sure, there have been times where I thought the battery barely lasted an hour, even with the 3D slider either off or barely on.

With absolutely no data to back this up, I will say that I am happy with how the battery has been holding up.

FINAL ANALYSIS

After 461 days and 291.733 hours of use (combined total of game and application use), the 3DS has held up as well as I would have expected it to.  The touch screen works fine without and dead pixels or dead areas.  The hinges are a little loose, but that's to be expected after the aforementioned usage.  I am happy.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I'll Be In My Bunk

First Impressions: FEZ- interrupted

So, after a long time waiting, FEZ was released for Steam.  And then, shortly after, it went on sale at 50% off, and I bought it.  Even though I don't have a job and should be saving my money.  I've been wanting to play FEZ since I first heard of it!  But for a long time it was only available on X Box, so I had to hold out for 'some day.'

Well, that day is today.  Or, actually it was a few days ago.  Anyhow, I installed FEZ, and it runs.  It doesn't run great, however.  It's a little choppy, really.  Not terrible, but not smooth.  Playable though.  At least through the first two stages.  The third stage ratcheted up the image complexity, resulting in a huge cut to the framerate.  If I had to guess, I'd say it's down to about 5 frames per second.  I believe film runs at 24 frames, and fancy high def film runs at 60.  I've also heard that the human eye can't perceive more than 60.  That's neither here, nor, there-- I guess the point is that I can't really play FEZ.  damn.

Having seen Indie Game the Movie, I am tempted to judge FEZ harshly.  Mostly because the creator, featured heavily in the movie, comes across as too hyperbolic.  But also, I know that he went back and remade all the tiles in the game, to a greater graphical complexity.  I think his efforts show, FEZ is very pretty, but it doesn't do me any good, because that same complexity is very likely contributing to my difficulty in playing the game.  I'm a strong advocate for gameplay first, graphics second.  Otherwise the graphics are a bit more of a window dressing for a game that doesn't play all that well.  

I'm concerned that FEZ has a bit high of a window dressing component.  On the other hand, the central gameplay mechanic - rotating a 2D world - is fantastic.  It really is brilliant, and it appears to be executed pretty effectively.  My biggest argument for this is that I had FEZ dreams the first night after playing it for about an hour.  There's just something so satisfying about the rotating Platforms.  The platforming isn't that great, however.  The jumping is unwieldy, and I find I miss jumps I think I should make. On the other hand, there are lots of fun references to classic games, such as Ocarina of Time and the Super Mario Series.  These are done well without seeming overdone.  More window dressing, perhaps, but it's really good window dressing.  

So, bottom line, based on my impression of the first couple of levels:  The creator may have some issues he needs to work out, but FEZ is, thus far, delightful.  I hope I can get a hold of a better graphics card and finish playing before too long.

-D



P.S.  Oh look, and now it's available for the Humble Indie Bundle 9 - wouldn't you know it?  If I had just held out, I could have gotten FEZ and a bunch of other games for the same price I paid for FEZ + soundtrack.  Oh well, that's how it is with the Humble Bundles:  you win some, you lose some.  Really, you mostly win.  Pretty much always.   

P.P.S. And look again!  It turns out my janky ol mac laptop can actually play FEZ better than my desk top!  whodathunk?  This machine is full of surprises.  Except the overheating after a half hour of play.  That is like clockwork.  In the meantime, I will at least get a chance to take a few more bites out of FEZ.  For this, I am grateful.

First Impressions: Penumbra - Requiem

Penumbra: Requiem, is the final installment of the Penumbra series from Frictional Games.  

P:R is an odd hybrid, considering the series and genre that the game is coming from.  The first two games in the series were straight up survival horror although the second game lacked the hell-bent wolves of the first game, although it was no less terrifying. The game starts right after the previous game ended.  There might be some time that passed, but it's minimal.  However long it takes for you to wake up after being knocked unconscious. So, kind of like the transition between the first two games.

So yes, hybrid-esque.  And I really want to like this game.  Is that not a great way to start a review?  Coming from a survival horror genre, Requiem takes a hard left turn and drives through the guard rail.  I don't know what that means.  Requiem really reminds me of Portal except there aren't any turrets.  Correction, I don't know if there are any turrets, but there are explosive bottles of rejected ketchup from the Heinz Corp.

  

Requiem removes all enemies and turns the game into a straight puzzle-platformer.  You have to go from point A to point C while avoiding pit B.  It's very much out of place and feeling with the rest of the series. I'm currently in conflict with how I feel about the game.  

Okay, the world is the same.  You find yourself, I think, in The Tomb that was heavily mentioned in Penumbera: Black Plague and I'm assuming that your mission is to find your way through/out.  A lot of the puzzles are based around moving one object over to another area where you have to manipulate another object, then go back over there to press that button and run across the floor to make it through that door on the other side of the room, which is full of moving platforms on conveyor tracks.  Get it?

It would be like playing Resident Evil one moment, then playing Portal in a haunted mansion the next.  Okay, that game sounds pretty cool and I would want to play that.  That essentially is what Penumbra: Requiem is though, so I'm at a bit of a lost.  And I don't know why I'm having such a hard time coming to terms with how I ultimately feel about this game.  I love the series, I love the company, I'm just having a hard time putting as much time in a single sitting as I did with the previous two games in the series.

That's where I'm at and I'm really hoping that I like it there.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I Can't Even Wrap My Brain Around How You Do That!



P.S.  I should also mention that Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is now available to pre-order from anywhere that sells online/downloadable games.  The Gog, Steam, Frictional Games' all have the game available.  So go do that if you've like anything that either Frictional Games or co-developer The Chinese Room has ever made.

Life, Torchlight and Multiple Endings: Special Wednesday Edition

Today's broadcast is brought to you because of aforementioned apartment/condo/housing issues which are still in the process of being completed.

I just "finished" Torchlight about 30 minutes (as of this typing) ago and it got me thinking.  The game took me 25 hours to complete the main story line and now I'm just running random side missions in order to increase my character's level.  This seems to be a lot like the way I have lived my life.  

Bare with me.  

Take my Tank Grontog

Everyone, meet Grontog and his pet cat, Mjolnir.

who took 25 hours to "save" the town of Torchlight and is now embarking on level enrichment, I took 23 years to "complete" my primary educational career before I embarked on, whatever it is that I'm doing.

I could just leave him be and continue onto Torchlight II, or I could level Grontog up to level 100 (he's currently at 41), or I could go through the game with either of my other two characters:

Valkaria and her wolf Fenris:

Not her starting outfit and weapons.

Irwin Blaze and his wolf Ferrous:

I plan on having him focus on fire magic for obvious reasons.

I am somewhat tempted to go through the game again, but I think I have just decided (as in while typing this sentence) that I will go through Torchlight II first before revisiting this game again with a different character, although I have already played Valkaria for about an hour.  Either way, there are a lot of other games that I want/need/have to play so a second run through and/or level enrichment may just have to wait.

That being said, I like when games have either a New Game + option or in the case of open worlds, continue playing after the main storyline is completed, but doing practically the same thing as before.  Now, even though I like this in games, I often don't take advantage of this.  I just don't have the time, especially with RPGs, to spend another 40 hours reliving the experiences that I just finished.  Now, there are some exceptions such as when games offer divergent storylines and you want to see other aspects of the story that were not experienced the first time through.

I think I'll go and play some of Reus, because that was a fun 50 minutes that seemed a lot less intimidating than the 15 minutes I spent looking at Civ. V.

Also, I don't think I can finish Doom II: Hell on Earth.  FPS/motion-sickness is just getting too much for me and I get annoyed at only being able to play for 15 minutes before needing to turn the game off.  

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

And I Looked Back on My Busy Day

To Zelda too.

1980s Link is frustrated that his Franchise has become stale

I started this post on a day I called in sick-- paid sick days were a perk to my previous place of employment.  And, wouldn't you know it, after a crashing into a nap, post sick-call, I woke up with the earnest desire to play Zelda II:  The Adventure of Link.  Then it occurred to me: there is a very good chance that I stayed home sick from school at some point in my childhood and played Zelda II.  That's neither here, nor there, but I have been thinking about the game since getting up.  

Zelda II is often seen as an aberration in the series, the experimentation with side scrolling and RPG elements being too much for some people.  But I loved this game.  It was a family game and I've played it a bunch of times throughout the years, but I've only beaten it a couple of times.  I made similar claims of favoritism regarding Zelda I and those claims are true; but Zelda II occupies a different and very special place in my memory.

I think it's important to note that the clay had not hardened on this game series when Zelda II came out. Hell, it was only the second game in a series that by now spans over a dozen.  There was no reason to think that each sequel would be the same as the last.  As a matter of fact, it occurs to me that Mario 2 (Mario USA) was also radically different from Mario 1.  However, unlike Mario, we had to wait until a new console system came out to get a third installment of the Zelda theme.  

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in Zelda III choosing to be another top-down game.  Even though that game is probably my favorite game ever. And in retrospect, it was certainly an impactful decision for the whole franchise, as the next in the series, Link's Awakening, was also top down, and every subsequent Zelda game for a portable system has been a top-down design.  

But back when Zelda II was still relatively new, it was a great game.  I loved the side scrolling, I loved that you got to use Magic and I loved the RPG elements.  Raising levels and an overworld map, two important RPG innovations.  Basically, Zelda II is a completely different game than Zelda I was, and there is no need to compare them.  I think this variation between sequels is great, I wish more game series were like this.  Zelda II was also a true sequel  - the story picks up chronologically after the events of the first game, and Ganon is dead.  

The side-scrolling, overworld map and RPG elements were abandoned after Zelda II, and frankly, I think to the detriment of the series as a whole.  I wish Nintendo had been more willing to branch out and experiment with this series.  I don't mean to sound bitter, but in my humble opinion, the Zelda franchise has grown stale and over-marketed.  I think this can be shown by the release schedule of Zelda games.  In the 1980s, two games were released.  The decade of the 90s saw four games. The 2000s saw seven Zelda games released.  I believe it was during the decade of 2000-2010 when Nintendo missed its opportunity to branch the series in a new direction. But, you know, maybe it's never too late.   

----------------------

Zelda RPG anyone?

Esuna and Kamil - How about Zelda and Link?

And since I'm in love with my own ideas, I want to talk about my old idea for a Zelda RPG.  This was inspired by playing 'The 7th Saga' by Enix on SNES,  something I did a lot of as a teenager.  This was sometime after Zelda III came out, but long before Ocarina of Time.  While playing as Esuna, whom I always played as, I had a moment when I imagined Princess Zelda casting the ice spell.  When playing as Kamil,It wasn't too hard to imagine Link there, sword and shield in hand,  and suddenly I want a Zelda RPG with battle style identical to 7th Saga.  

Now take these two characters above and re-imagine them as Zelda and Link.  Not hard to do eh? Just put a green hat on Kamil and pretty much leave Esuna the same.  At least it wasn't hard for me to imagine in 1996. I thought it would be so cool to play as Zelda and Link fighting side by side.  Mario RPG came out at around this time, and I thought it was a fantastic and innovative game.  In that game, I enjoyed being able to play as Princess Toadstool or Bowser, and I longed for a chance for the Zelda Universe to expand in a similarly clever way. 

It's too bad that we've made it this far without a proper Zelda RPG.  I really think Nintendo dropped the ball on that one.  By Zelda III, the world was lush and full, ripe for development in an RPG style.  The series featured two top-down games and a side scroller with RPG elements.  Further expansion of the series into a multi-genre franchise seemed possible then.  By now, I worry that it may be too late.  Or, is it never too late?  How about it, Nintendo?  

-D

Zelda-- I mean Esuna casting an ice spell.  

Many thanks to:

http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=38230

for exactly the image I was looking for.

Today's Talking Points Brought To You By Fox News Corp., the Letters Ѭ, þ and the number 四

Sorry for the lack of post this last Friday.  

Around 12:30am Friday morning, I thought I had heard the sound of water droplets.  About an hour later, this was happening:

Conklederp and I have had something like this happen before just under a year ago.  In that case we talked to our upstairs neighbors, found out that the problem was on their side thereby affecting our ceilings.  The issue was taken care of and our ceiling was repaired and repainted.  The problem was solved relatively easily.

Jump now to early last Friday morning.  Conklederp and I were considering going to sleep after I had finished putzing around on the interwebs.  That's when the first drops were heard.  Soon after I noticed the counters were wet and that droplets were forming on the ceiling in various places, including around the lighting installations.

We went upstairs to talk to the neighbors, thinking that a similar situation could be easily cleared up, despite the fact that it was now 2:30am and the dripping had not stopped.  To make a long story immediately shorter, 15 gallons of water later, the above photo progressed to this:

Disclaimer: That woman on the left is one of our upstairs neighbors, not Conklederp.

And presently, nearly four days later, we are still at this:

Needless to say my mind has not been in a very video game reviewing-type mood, but I have been getting some game time in, mainly with Infinite Space (still, I know) and a PC game called Symphony (which I've already put four hours into) that will be getting it's own First Impressions later in the week.  Who knows, I might just put something up on Wednesday to make up for the lack of a post on Friday and the overall lack of video games in todays post.

I also just powered through vol. 6 of The Walking Dead and we just started in on Season 3 of the TV series (we don't have cable).  I also picked up the Dead Space comic compilation which I'll get to after I finish Dead Space: Catalyst, which I'll get to once I finish Feet of Clay.

That's where we're at.  Sorry to bog y'all with our problems, but hey, what else is the internet for, besides porn I mean?

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

The Sounds of Wind

IRL vs gaming vs challenge vs fun

Typing about my imaginary Gardening game got me thinking about other In Real Life (IRL) activities that may be simulated in games.  There are some obvious ones:  Racing, for example.  I hear that Grand Tourismo series, and its competitors, are all about the ultra-realism in terms of physics.  I hear that Mario Kart is all about ultra realism in terms of fun.  I think they both succeed in their own ways.

But In Real Life, things are always way different from games.  For example:  In games, the risk-reward system is... well, skewed.  When you wreck your car, even in the most realistic of all racers - you don't die.  You don't break your pinky finger.  You're not even scarred for life!  Hell, for that matter, you probably get a continue or something.  This is an extreme example.

It's not just video games. In baseball, for another hyperbolic example, you aren't ritually executed when you are thrown out at first.  This is good, because being thrown out at first happens a LOT.  Hundreds of times every day during the regular season.  But playing baseball is WAY harder than playing video games.  Then again, it pays better, I think.  

But I guess I mostly want to talk about challenge.  There's a pretty fun article about challenging games over at Gamasutra.  I've been enjoying it.  It's got a lot of tasty retro stuff that I love.  It's a long article- thankfully presented in ten tasty bites- I've been reading it over a series of days.  It emphasizes skill building, and expertise at different games. I think I'm more interested in the quality of challenge in games, than the amount of challenge.

Sometimes the challenge is in achieving a perfect balance.  And that balance can be elusive. Following the garden example, proper watering is a real problem when nurturing a plant.  You can fuss with a plant so much that you kill it.  Smothering can be as bad as neglect.  It is this way in other IRL activities, like cooking.  There is also a fine balance struck with cooking.  You can definitely worry a dish into mediocrity, when leaving it alone may have produced something fantastic.  I do this all the time.  Are there any games that demonstrate this sort of delicate balance?

I guess I'm looking for something like this in gaming.  And as I'm typing, I thought of an interesting idea: Achievements .  That is to say, what if a game was released with no achievements whatsoever, and the achievements were submitted by players after they had made them.  Just submit a screencap, and the game moderators will decide if it is a worthy achievement.  Then keep a directory of them.  That could be fun.  Has a game done this yet?  I bet team fortress 2 has.  It seems like the kind of game that would do that.  Anyhow, I'm stumbling into seriously out of touch zone, so I should shut up.

But yeah, it's fairly obvious why many IRL features aren't included in games.  They don't sound fun at all.  Like, for example, the RPG trope of 'life points' and 'potions.'   Got a gaping wound in your belly?  Down a couple potions, you'll be fine.  Life doesn't even closely resemble that.  Most of us don't deal with gaping wounds, just scratches and tiredness.  Food helps, and caffeine, but there are no potions.   There is Nothing that works like that.  

And, like I said, it doesn't sound fun to have to rest your RPG characters because they're tired from walking around all day.  A game where your characters need Exercise, a balanced diet and plenty of rest. BO-ring.  And yet, somehow it sounds interesting to me, to balance the in-game system with more realistic needs.  I often find myself contemplating Player Stat and Item systems for imaginary RPGs that are more realistic, somehow.  I think this means I am a giant nerd. 

-D