Video Games as Therapy?

This weekend, Jaconian and I were lucky enough to have the one and only DRPOTTS come visit us in Portland! Lots of fun was had. In fact, lookit this shot from Ground Kontrol, a sweet "barcade" here in town!:

Drinking and Driving is Bad!

This weekend was also the Western Region American Music Therapy Association conference (phew! more easily referred to from here on out as WRAMTA). I, being a brand new music therapist, went to check it out. One of the presentations I went to was by a software developer named Kim Swisher, who makes some really sweet programs for music therapists using motion capture technology. Her website, playsoundtechnology.org can explain what she does much better than I can, but she uses technology in a really thoughtful and innovative way. She writes programs for the Nintendo Wiimote and the Xbox Kinect, as well as for computers.  One program, called MIST uses the Kinect to transform your room into an auditory forest. In the right hand corner there might be a pond you can splash in, or a little froggy that gets louder as you approach. I promise she didn't pay me to write this! I just can't get over how cool this stuff is and I really recommend looking into it.

Kim's presentation got me thinking about how we can use technology, and more specifically, video games in the therapy world. When people talk about technology leading our society downwards, it kinda riles me up! I use my iPad frequently, and not just with young clients who are familiar with technology. I've seen a 93 year old rock out using the touch screen keyboard in Garage Band. A person with limited mobility played Echo String with his nose (of course I wiped my iPad down afterwards!). I have tons of anecdotal evidence of technology being used therapeutically. I know there are studies out there too. If you guys are interested enough/I feel extra motivated I will go look some up, but to start, here's a list of iPad apps used in music therapy with children compiled by Dr. Petra Kern, past president of the World Federation of Music Therapy.


Another thing I know-- the right kind of video game can absolutely be used as a therapeutic tool. You can work on hand-eye coordination (duh), fine motor control (tell me something I don't know), and even social interaction.

What's this? Video games to increase social interaction? Think about this--how many friends did you make as a kid just because you played video games together? One example I can think of off the top of my head is using games as a way to encourage interaction between children with autism and their neurotypical peers. There are studies that link playground music making to increased social interaction. I do have a source for that one, if you're interested. (Kern 2006). In a similar vein, co-op games require teamwork and group problem solving, and I think that could easily be used to foster meaningful social interactions. Like I said, I don't have any research to link you to, but I sincerely think the potential is there.
Hey, I think I just found my future thesis...

-Conklederp

Zelda Classic Quest Roundup

Since I don't have anything to say right now that doesn't involve Zelda Classic, I thought I'd give a brief rundown on each quest I've played so far.  All of these quests can be found at Purezc.net


Tale of St. Christoph by Moosh

A fun little quest with good design, and a tough difficulty spike.  This was the first quest I played and it was a good introduction into Zelda Classic and what sorts of things you can do with it.  Not too flashy, though each boss was custom made (and very silly).  Five dungeons, nice length.  


Somewhere In Between by Russ

This was a creative quest, story driven and different.  The game focuses on a duality, leading the player back and forth between two worlds, collecting items and abilities.  Kudos to this game for including both the Zelda III style 'slash' sword strike, and the ability to shoot your sword a la Zelda I.  Another short quest, the final boss is really cool.  The game has a nice visual design, using Zelda III tileset.


The Darknut Within by Moosh

This is a ridiculous and fun quest wherein every single tile is a Darknut.  All enemies and items, even landscape pieces.  And it works.  It'll make you cross eyed at times, but I loved it.  There's something really fun about working to determine what a given item or enemy is without having the visual cue.


I Hate Mayonnaise by Rambly

This is a fun little quest with bright colors, quality screen design, mild difficulty and a good sense of humor.  This might be an even better introduction into Zelda Classic.  I immediately downloaded the sequel because I had such a good time with this one.  The title is meaningless.


Engage to Zeldawock by Moosh

Just finished, it was awesome.  My new favorite quest.  You play as Zelda.  Contains so many modifications that it isn't really a Legend of Zelda game anymore.  At least not formally.  It is short, just how I like them, four dungeons, no overworld.  There are multiple endings.  I've only gotten one and it was a pretty sweet ending!


Depressive Donuts:  I hate Mayonnaise 2  by Rambly

In Progress.  Looks like more of the same, in a good way.



-D

Full Review: Deadlight (PC)

In-game time was 3h22m.
Play time was 7 hours, but I played about an hour of the first chapter again to show Emilie what the game was like.

I actually finished Deadlight about a month ago, shortly after posting my First Impressions, but have now finally gotten around to writing up everything that I want to say about the game.

STORY

Deadlight follows the character of Randall Wayne, a Canadian forest worker who is attempting to survive a zombie-like apocalyptic world set in 1986's Seattle, WA.  Raul Rubio, the CEO of Tequila Works, the company behind Deadlight, was quoted as saying that 1986 was specifically chosen because "if you think about it, 1986 was the year that had a lot of lunar events.  And if you put that with movies like First Blood and Day of the Dead, it's a strange mix and you can get a unique visual."  Other notable events that saw the light of day from 1986 was the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in January (which was mentioned in the game), Stephen King's IT was published, Halley's Comet is visible, the USSR launches the Mir space station, one of the reactors at Chernobyl "explodes," Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) is released in Japan, Pan Am flight 73 is hijacked by terrorists, a 7.5 earthquake strikes El Salvador and kills 1500.  You get the idea, a lot of shit was happening which probably helped to "set the tone" for the game.

All of that aside, I didn't find the story overly original.  Randall is with a group of survivors and is searching for his missing/lost wife and daughter.  Don't get me wrong though, I was throughly engaged throughout the game, albeit a little confused at times as to how Randall knew where to go, but that is all explained by the end of the game.

The story is broken up into four chapters, the first is where most of the game mechanics and story elements are introduced.  It plays like a great traditional platformer.  The second chapter feels very different as it introduces a lot of puzzle elements that play a bit like Portal, but less fun.  This second chapter was where my fun level/interest took a bit of a dip as I was afraid that I was going to be playing this type of game the rest of the time, which I didn't want as I so much enjoyed the first chapter.  The third and forth chapters play more like the first chapter with some additional "actiony" elements as well as a lot of story elements that filled in blanks from earlier in the game.

One story element that I felt could have been done differently was Randall's journal.  When you start the game, you have Randall's journal which is a somewhat daunting 60 page book with some missing/torn out pages.  Throughout the game, you can find missing pages which don't seem to add too much in the way of critical character building information.  And the journal as a whole is, as previously stated, a bit daunting.  Each time I played, I would read a couple of pages then play the game.  I would have liked this element better if pages became readable throughout the course of the game either by letting Randall actually look at them (maybe because they were too emotionally difficult for him to read in the earlier stages) or by finding them as he finds the already missing/torn out pages.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed the story that was being told here.  While not entirely original as far as concepts go, the execution is what kept me engaged.

GAMEPLAY

As previously stated, Deadlight plays like a traditional platformer with an Xbox360 controller.  The left joystick moves you, the A button jumps, the X button attacks, and so on and so forth.  All of the actions are fairly intuitive, but the game does go through brief context sensitive moments when you first learn to use those specific buttons, such as sprinting or diving through walls while sprinting.

As is the case with most games, the one difficulty I had was the jumping from wall-to-wall maneuver, which is something that I've had problems with since the days of Super Metroid.  Something about jumping from one wall to another and pressing the control pad in the opposite direction then jumping again at the right moment has never been one of my strong suits.

Another difficulty I had at two areas in the game was timing my jumps from the ground to a fence, flipping over and jumping off, all while being shot at or avoiding falling debris.  This happened at the end of Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 3.  Failing at said tasks would always lead to dying, which is something that you will have to become very comfortable with as it will happen often; not quite as often as in Altaïr's Chronicles, but it will be fairly often.

GRAPHICS
The graphics for Deadlight are what sealed my interest with the game.  A zombie apocalypse platformer set in 1986 Seattle about a man searching for his wife and daughter aren't the things that initially grab my interest senses, but these kinds of visuals:

Running through a building with Shadows approaching from the background.

Leaping from a platform over a barbed wire fence to land on an adjacent roof.

Walking through a park in downtown Seattle, WA.

The graphics are gorgeous.  Randall is backlit for the majority of the game although there are some details that peek through when he is closer to the camera/foreground.

There were a couple of instances, two come to mind, where I was unsure as to what I was supposed to be doing because I could not recognize certain elements in the environment.  In both instances, I was supposed to grab on to a piece of ceiling in order to climb to the platform above my character.  While I did realize that jumping was the key, I did not know that I, for example, had to knock something loose in order to make the platform accessible, or something similar.  In one of these events I resorted to looking on youtube to find out how to access the next platform/area.  I could probably just blame myself as needing to take a break and over thinking either the game mechanics or the puzzle itself.

SOUND & MUSIC
The music for Deadlight was composed by David García Díaz and is  very somewhat minimalistic, in that I cannot recall any memorable thematic elements.  There weren't any John Williams or Nobuo Uematsu type themes running through the game, so you're probably not going to be humming the music and you walk down the street.  Those themes are not for this kind of a game, even one set in 1986.  In another game, you might have bits of music from that era playing in the background or out of stereos or cassette decks.  The music in Deadlight is there to help set and maintain the mood of the world.  I didn't find the music obtrusive, even when the music became more dynamic when Randall was being attacked by Shadows.

The themes that are present in the game though are haunting and beautiful, but not heavy handed.  You can get a sense of both the hope that Randall will be successful in his quest and yet there is also the despair that he will find what it is that he fears most.  It's just well composed music that you might expect to find from a big budget movie studio that knows how to do a zombie apocalypse film.

FINAL THOUGHTS
In the end, I spent a total of six hours with the game although it only took me a total of three hours and twenty minutes, if you do not take into account all the dying and the three times I had to restart Chapter 3 because the game crashed (fell through the world), I turned the game off before reaching a mid-level checkpoint and my final run though.  After a single playthrough, achievement-wise, I completed 74% of the game, which I find is a testament to how much of the game I was able to complete/experience without (much) assistance.

There were only a couple of spots that I found to be difficult, but every game is going to have moments like that.  I did like that there were no bosses because that's not the kind of game this is trying to be.  I know some people will scoff at the short play time, but that's just the kind of game this is and if you also take into account that it's the first game from this studio, it's a damn fine game.

One last little tough, was that as you make your way through the game, you unlock artwork from both pre and post production.  Basically just a bunch of little tid-bits that I love about DVDs and something that I wish more video games would do for their audience.  There are even a couple documentaries that I have yet to watch, but there are a handful.  These are the little things that I really appreciate.


~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Instrumental

P.S.  Sorry I do not have any really actiony shots as I was too busy playing the game and Conklederp wasn't around to act as camerawoman while I was playing.  Just go and watch the trailer that sold the game to me and you'll get the idea.  I can also promise that everything in the trailer is actual game footage (except the blurbs from various gaming sites), even the occasional bits where the action slows down while you're jumping/falling.

Is Anxiety Over Video Games A Real Thing?

DISCLAIMER: With this post, I am in no way attempting to make light of anxiety disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder, as I know that these are very real for the people who suffer from their effects.  I only bring up PTSD as a question, a way of springboarding into what it is that I want to talk about.

I am currently at a crossroads in a couple of games that I am playing.  These crossroads have occurred in the form of anxiety when I think about the situation that I will have to put myself in if I want to continue on with the game, a video game form of PTSD if you will (see above disclaimer).

The first game is Slender: The Arrival, which I covered in a previous post.  I have reached a point in the game that is an homage to the free to play Slender: The Eight Pages, where you wander around an enclosed area trying to collect eight pages that are randomly placed on any one of 10 landmarks all before you are chased down by The Slender Man.  I have played The Eight Pages quite a few times and have never been able to collect all eight pages.  TEP is odd in that it is pretty terrifying in a minimalistic way, but I still end up jittery with a racing heart-rate each time I play/fail.  This is where The Arrival comes in, the level that is an homage to TEP.  When I first reached the area I recognized what was going on and I felt my heart-rate begin to quicken.  All of the times that I had failed in the past came back and began to nag at the back of my mind.  I told myself that this stage in TA would not be as difficult as in TEP because it wasn't the entire game, just a stage.  However, as was the case with TEP, I was caught by The Slender Man after only finding a couple of pages (my record in TEP was five).  I have not played the game since because of the nagging feeling/fear of all the times I had failed in the past and the tension I went through just to fail.

The second game is Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together.  I have reached a story battle that is very reminiscent of a battle from Final Fantasy Tactics that I found to be very difficult.  Anyone reading this who has played the FFT will most likely remember the final battle against Wiegraf when he turns himself into the Lucavi Belias.  It has been stated (by the linked website as well) that this battle is one of the more difficult battles in the game and that is very much not a lie.  Currently I have changed the main character's profession from a Warrior to a Ninja and I am grinding to build up the Ninja level and skills in an attempt to better equip myself for the battle.  All the while I have previous experiences of going up against a very strong (and annoying) enemy in the back of my mind, reminding me of all the self imposed mental anguish I put myself through at the proverbial hands of this religious demon.  However, if I want to continue with the Let Us Cling Together and the story, I have no other option but to defeat this boss after an initial battle with only the main character.  I have not resorted to gamefaqs, but that might just be a very real option to save my sanity, if only a little.

It might seem/sound odd to a lot of people, but I genuinely get anxious when I think about going back to either of these games to play them, knowing that I have these challenges ahead of me.  One might say that there is no reason to worry so much because "it's just a game."  I do not have a response to someone with this point of view as it is their own and have already made up their minds and that the way I feel is not legitimate according to the way they live their own lives.  I guess it could be like telling someone who cries (for any reason) during a movie that "it's just a movie."  To me though, that anxiety associated with these two walls I have come up to is very real, in both a mental and physical sense.  In Slender: The Arrival, I know that if I fail the first time, I will most likely try again at least one or two more times, depending on how many pages I am able to achieve, all the while knowing that after being caught twice, I will become more annoyed than afraid.  Ogre Battle: Let Us Cling Together is a bit different in that I can always just forego the battle and just raise levels with my current party, although that could be dangerous in and of itself as the random enemies level along with the average level of your party as they do with Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light, and I do not want a repeat of that debacle.

So in answer to my question: Yes, for me, I believe that fear is a real thing to be afraid of.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian (In Canada)

See Him Surface In Every Shadow

Image credits for Slender Man

Image credits for Wiegraf

Misc Mid Month March Update

I don't have much to say today, so I thought I'd include some silly and neat fan art that I lifted from J.Bruneau's Tumblr.  He is very prolific and it's always easy to find something really interesting or beautiful at that Tumblr.  In fact, the image I chose wasn't the most eye-catching I saw today, but it has a certain sweetness that I really enjoy.  

I'm not playing anything but Zelda Classic right now.  Sorting through some of my older posts, I don't have anything that's ready, but in reviewing some of my older ideas, I did get a glimpse at the limitations of Zelda Classic.  Primarily, the Zelda engine doesn't allow for a few things, namely:  multi-player, heavy dialogue, extended screens and more.

However, there is a scripting language that allows people to bend and break the rules of Zelda Classic.  Quest Designers have built 2d sidescrollers, Megaman themes, Metroid, a bullet hell shooting level?  So, there's definitely room for growth with Zelda Classic.  On the other hand, I am fine with the limitations of the Zelda engine, and I'd like to plan for those limitations and recognize that every one of the game ideas I've had for the last twenty years doesn't necessarily have to work in ZC (Zelda Classic).  

Oh, did I ever mention that Zelda Classic is free?  That's pretty important.  I suppose it has to be free, for copyright infringement reasons.  I think it would go pretty deep too, because even if you replaced every image with a non-Zelda image, you would still be using the Zelda engine. 

Still... how about a Zelda MMO, maybe?   Nah.

Steam just pitched to me a new MMO called Pixel Piracy.  It actually looks pretty neat!  I'm really surprised I hadn't heard of a Pirate themed MMO up to this point, but watching the video, the themes of cannon battles, plundering and island hopping are compelling.  It doesn't hurt that it's in a retro-style.  I'm afraid this game falls into the category of 'a neat looking game that I might never play,'  (so many games end up there) but I hope to hear good things about it soon.  

I'll leave you with a picture.

-D

Special Headline About That Game That Everyone Cares About

Film at 11.

So apparently there's this game that either is coming out, is already out, or maybe it's in beta; or maybe it just finished beta as is released, in which case see the second point above.

Titanfall.

It's a game that's getting a lot of talk on some of the gaming sites that I visit.  My opinion about it is one that may end up driving away some of our demographic, but I have no interest in the game for one main reason: mechs.

I've never been a fan of mechs of any kind and I can't readily explain why.  First off, let me clarify.  I've never been a fan of humanoid mechs.  Transformers, and GoBots are their own entities and not directly controlled humans when in their humanoid/battle phase.  I never was into Robotech despite being five years old when it came out and already loving Transformers and Voltron. . . although I guess Voltron are considered mechs, but only humanoid when in their assembled phase.  But, they're not *humanoid* mechs, I think is where the distinction is for me.  Pacific Rim though is I feel a bit of an anomaly, party because I liked it, partly because Guillermo del Toro directed it and lastly because I don't feel that it took itself too seriously.

Basically, the point I'm trying to make, is that Titanfall holds no interest for me.  I agree that the game looks very pretty, and that the premise can be appealing, but that's about as much thought as I am willing to give the game.  Even the free-to-play pseudo-looking clone Hawken, no interest.

Don't get me wrong though.  I don't think the game looks "like a piece of shit" or that it will be/is a terrible game.  That it has bad mechanics or no storyline or that the character development is a step below that of My Little Pony.  It could have the greatest science fiction story of the last 50 years, but because a lot/most of the gameplay/story? revolves around mechs, for whatever reason, I just am not interested.

I guess I didn't need to dedicate an entire post/day to say that I have no interest in a single game, as that would be like also saying that I have no interest in any of the Madden or NCAA football games.  I'm also not interested in the Call of Duty or Modern Warfare series of games.  I guess I'm just not a conventional FPS war buff.  Didn't Starcraft have mechs?  Maybe that's why I didn't get into that game?  Actually, the real reason why I didn't get into Starcraft  was because I thought a lot of the buildings looked very similar and I didn't want to go through the mental anguish that Warcraft I & II (IIx) put me through, albeit a sort of fun and entertaining mental anguish (more on mental anguish on Friday).

That's really all I've got to say.  So, if you're a fan of Titanfall, which is a high possibility that you are, please don't hate me too much for not being at all interested in a game that you yourself might love.  While we do not agree on everything, let's just maintain our mutual love of video games.

Happy Saint Paddy's Day.


~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I Know Always That I Am An Outsider.

Zelda Classic Follow-up: Darknut Edition

Zelda classic has eaten my brain.  It's all I do.  Sometimes I forget to feed myself.  When I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking of screen design, and when I ride my bike, I'm thinking of screen design.  It's actually a whole lot of work, though, and it's not all screen design.  That's just the easy and immediately rewarding part.  Working out the bugs, and installing secrets is a ton of work, but completely necessary for an interesting Zelda quest.  

In addition to designing quests, I'm trying to play other custom quests, to get design ideas and general ideas about what's out there.  So far, I've played through the Tale of Christoph, by Moosh, Somewhere Between, by Russ and I'm halfway through Hear to Darknut by Moosh.  

'Tale of St. Christoph' was a great introduction into Zelda Classic.  Using a variation on the original Zelda tileset, it has an interesting overworld, five dungeons, lots of goofy humor and some pretty cool modified enemies.  It also has an insane difficulty spike, and some pretty obnoxiously tough rooms.  Darknuts and Blue Wizzrobes and more Darknuts and more Blue Wizzrobes.  Still, it was a pretty cool quest.  Took me three days and forty lives, and I didn't beat the final boss.  I wrote a review and posted it on the purezc database, but I think I may reverse that trend, and post reviews here, with little blurbs at PureZC.

'Somewhere in Between' was a cool little plot-based quest, using a Zelda III tileset.  Only two dungeons on this one, it played with a different sort of design, with some cool results.  I got stuck on a couple puzzles, and I ran into another Darknut problem, but other than that, I thought it was a great quest.  Two days and twenty five lives.  

Yes, this is what it looks like

Now I'm playing 'The Darknut Within' by Moosh.  Yes, this appears to be a theme for some of the designers over at purezc, and this game is the ultimate tribute to Darknut.  Every enemy, every piece of landscape, every item and every character is a Darknut.  It's awesome, it's hilarious.  It's awful.  I'm halfway through, but I'm having a great time.  The mere fact that this game, while a bit headache inducing, is even possible - this is an achievement.    

In other news, Got through the tutorial up to Chapter 3.  Shout out to Alpha Dawg for being the originator of the tutorial.  Also to Armageddon Games for building Zelda Classic in the first place!

-D

First Impressions: Zelda Classic

Picture lifted from 'It's Dangerous to Go Alone' kickstarter - look it up!

Zelda Classic is a game editor for the Legend of Zelda.  Yes, just like I always wanted.  I had heard of it, and unsuccessfully tried to make it work, wrote it off as bunk.  I just revisited it, this time with success, and I am thrilled to report that this is for real.  Just like I always wanted.

I had occasion to return to this game when a stumbled onto a posting at The Indie Game Source extolling the virtues of Zelda Classic.  This post pretty well expresses much of the enthusiasm I feel at the prospect of fan-made Zelda games in the NES and SNES style.  The links in the above article are all broken, but you can find them again by searching the Zelda Classic archives.  

But actually, I didn't particularly care for the two games I tried from the above article.  One thing I've noticed about some of these quest designs is that they tend to come big and kind of overblown.  In making my own quests, I want to start small, concentrate on making a fun game, and not an epic journey.  

There is a thriving community of Zelda Classic fans, players and designers over at purezc.net.  I've just signed up for the forums, and so far have been well received in the community.  I was looking for a Classic style game (I'm not really interested in the 16-bit style right now) and I was pointed to a forum contributer who goes by Moosh.  I tried out his game "Tale of St. Christoph" and so far I really like it! 

There's so much potential in Zelda Classic, I'm very excited.  The way I see it is that The Legend Of Zelda was such a great game, that it can be remixed time and again, and still be fun.  I'm so glad there is a tool available for the common person to do this.  

So far, I've made a small map, which was fun and simple to do and easy to get carried away with.  Now I'm working on dungeons, and getting the caves to go to the dungeons- and I got stuck there.  I'm following a guide, but it's still tough.  But when I've learned a few basic tricks, I'll turn out a couple quests.  

Essential Links:  (hehe, links)  

Zelda Classic

The official website.  Download the programs here - The editor is called ZQuest and the player is called Zelda-w  (this is important, because if you make the same mistake I did, you'll try to play the games with the editor.  No.  It's for editing)

Zelda Classic User Guide

Zelda Classic isn't particularly intuitive; a guide is definitely necessary.

PureZC.net

Search the Quest Database at PureZC.net to find a quest to play.  I recommend choosing 'mini quests' using the genre menu on the right side.  
This... could...be... awesome!

-D

The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot: Chapter I: The Before

First, this is an awesome title for a game.  It'd even work well for a board game.  I feel like The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is advertising that knows what kind of game it is and knows what their target audience is looking for.  The title conjures up the image of a game of Diablo mixed with Gauntlet, but with an even greater sense of humor.

And the game is free.  That can either be a boon or a giant warning sign to stay away.  At least that's what I hear about free to play MMOs.  Sort of anyway, I don't know what I'm talking about as I've only played The Elder Scrolls Online (Beta) and a little bit of Neverwinter (which I will talk about at a future date).

Okay, back on topic.  TMQfEL (which seems more work than typing out the full title).  After watching the trailer for the open beta, I developed a slightly different view of the game.  Now, based off of the information from the trailer, the game still looks somewhat fun with a healthy portion of "Oh what the hell god damnit it you asshat."  TMQfEL, again based off of the trailer, looks to be a game where you create your own castle, wonderfully portrayed as floating castles, that you fill with x amount of loot wherein you build traps to protect that loot.

Logic would dictate that when you begin the game, you start out with a set amount of money, presumably "gold," to build and furnish your castle with traps, hazards and other golf-titled pitfalls to protect the aforementioned loot from the rest of the online community.  In order to get more gold to build more castle and better traps, you have to raid other castles.  I do not know if your character is able to level up, which would make sense on one level in that you would need additional HP in order to make it through elaborate castles filled with elaborate traps; that is unless all traps are considered one hit kills.  I also do not know if you would be able to keep any gold you found along the way if you are unable to make it out alive; again assuming that you find loot throughout the castle and not just in the final treasure vault room.  The downside though is that someone who has a character built up would be able to ransack and destroy other community castles that are just starting off.  The way around this is to only allow the players attack/raid/ransack/pillage/lay waste other castles within a certain range of levels that are close to their own.

Again, this is what I presume the game to be.

What I would be afraid of is people not creating castles to be clever, but to be total assholes.  I feel like a game that is created by a person to be as difficult as possible is no longer creating a game/stage/level to be fun, but to be a dick to the rest of the gaming community.  But sure, I recognize that there is a percentage of the population that enjoys a rigorous challenge (meaning the people who have beaten Super Meat Boy), I just happen to not be a part of that particular group.

Not my idea of fun.

So, with all that, I will now give The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot  a try and report back next week with how my hypothesis compares to the actual game in "Chapter II: The After."


~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I Want to Reconcile the Violence in Your Heart

First Impressions: Slender: The Arrival (PC)

Slender: The Arrival is a full fledged version of the free game, Sleder: The Eight Pages that scared the shit out of the internet back in 2012.  For those of you all who are not familiar with the Slender Man mythos, you can read about it either on Wikipedia or any other numerous websites, but in short, Slender Man is a variant on a bogeyman who takes children.

Original pictures by Victor Surge, 2009.

So, what started out as a couple of short sentences in a "create your own paranormal image" thread has turned into a pseudo-legitimate urban legend with it's own cultish-type following, as well as two video games, Slender: The Eight Pages, in which you wandered around an enclosed forested area and picked up eight pages placed randomly on landmarks all the while avoiding the Slender Man.  And now, it's current full fledged iteration from Blue Isle Studios, Slender: The Arrival, which was released back in March, 2013.

I gave this game a go a few weeks back at the request of Conklederp wanting me to play a scary/horror game that had a story.  Both of us really enjoyed playing/watching each other having a go at Slender: The Eight Pages, so I began this new iteration only knowing that the full game had been expanded but not much else..

Slender: The Arrival, like it's predecessor is an FPS/POV horror game where you have to collect items/pages/documents as you progress through the level/stage.  You can walk briskly and sprint, look around with or without a flashlight (once you find one which is a nice touch) and pick up papers.  The game itself is pretty basic and the mechanics have pretty much stayed the same from the first game to this one, which is nice since they are trying to keep, maintain and grow the original fan base.

It turns out that my first playthough (I did not make it through Chapter 1) I accidentally accessed a secret hidden level, which Conklederp and I thought was a really elaborate glitch, but equally creepy and unnerving in it's own way.  The second time playing, I completed Chapter 1 and made it through part of Chapter 2 before I was "caught".  I feel like I am now stuck at Chapter 2, but just mentally stuck.

Chapter 2 is a modified version of Slender: The Eight Pages.  The chapter title is even called "The Eight Pages."  But what's that you say?  Isn't the whole game a modified version?  Well yes, but The Arrival is like an expansion as a whole, where as Chapter 2 in The Arrival, you are in an enclosed wooded area where you have to collect, I assume, eight pages before you can proceed while being "chased" by the Slender Man.

This is where I become mentally stuck.  I played The Eight Pages quite a few times and each time I failed to collect all eight pages as I would either be caught after locating X:8 pages or my flashlight would go out and inevitably be caught as I stumbled around in the darkness.  I would like to assume that this area in the game is easier than the whole of The Eight Pages, otherwise I just ran into a brick wall that I am not willing to spend a whole lot of time on figuring out how to climb over or dig under.

Jesus I hope I can't see it!

So that is where I am currently at with Slender: The Arrival.  I like that there is an attempt to create a story where there was very little to begin with and what I have played I really enjoyed.  The graphics are well done and the controls are your standard FPS PC WASD set up so as long as you're comfortable with the Left Shift being used for sprinting, then you are all set to go.  As long as you don't mind being scared by static, as if kids these days even know what static is.


~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
You Better Get Up While You Can

Games Hovering in the Background

Before Starseed Pilgrim infiltrated my brain, I was playing around with a few different games, never really committing to any of them.  My roommate likes to play video games and she's got a Playstation 3.  When I got here, we played a bunch of Hitman: Absolution.  After that, I picked up a copy of Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD collection, and now my roommate has started up Mass Effect Trilogy.  This is interesting to me, because I haven't really played a lot of AAA titles in the last five years or so.

Mass Effect:
This RPG/Shooter seems like a pretty cool game.  So far, it is a fantastic game for watching someone else play, or even just listening to the dialogue.  The story is interesting, the world seems fleshed out.  There are different alien species with different detailed cultures and challenges within the world of Mass Effect.  You can choose to learn about these details through conversation.

The game seems to be composed primarily of dialogue trees, making it kind of like an interactive storybook.  In addition, each game in the trilogy picks up from the previous game, and the character that you play in the previous game continues on, with all major plot choices and character status intact. I have to say: this is pretty dang cool.  I had asked the video game gods for something like this years ago, after becoming aware of the prevalence of sequels in the video game industry.  It's a little late in coming, but then again, perhaps it's never too late.

This is pretty much what Shadow of the Colossus looks like

Shadow of the Colossus/Ico:
These PS2 games were re-released as a single package for the PS3. The games were produced by team Ico and Directer/Auter Fumito Ueda.  Both games make dramatic use of long camera shots and huge spaces.  The effect is very beautiful, even if the graphics are a little dated.  The gameplay for Ico is a bit rough, and requires a lot of patience.  This could be due to it being released in 2001, early in the development of the PS2.  Shadow of the Colossus was released in 2006, and still plays very well- it appears to be timeless.  I recommend Shadow of the Colossus to anyone who loves video games or epic fantasy.  

Hitman:
The third PS3 game I've played lately is Hitman: Absolution.  It's a third-person stealth/action shooter game.  It is mostly generic, and not a game I would normally check out.  However, it has one interesting feature that I really enjoy.  It's called 'contract mode' wherein you can enter a given level, and design your own set of goals.  These goals are limited, but specific.  You choose up to three targets, and the game records what weapon you use, what costume you are wearing and the time it takes.  Each of these things are assigned a point value, and it can get pretty competitive.  The game is online, so you can trade challenges with other players.

La Mulana:
Moving over to the world of Steam:  La Mulana is a pretty tough Metroidvania game of roughly a 16-bit graphic design.  I've just touched on it, and it seems pretty deep. Lots of equipment to pick up and secrets to unlock.  In my first playthrough I was able to venture far outside my skill level, and got stuck and then killed.  I hadn't saved it in a while, so I lost a couple hours of play.  That was enough to make me quit, but I'll be back. 

-D


P.S. In further Steam news, Portal 2 c-op mode is tons of fun.  When I reviewed Portal 2 back when, I hadn't played the co-op mode.  I may have been harsh with that game, I think this feature pushes it back up to a perfect 10.

And this is pretty much what Portal 2 is like :)

Monthly Update: March 2014

Happy March everyone!  Happy Soon To Be Spring Equinox!  It'll be my birthday in just under three weeks!

An interesting little tid-bit that I found out last week was about the process to determine the day to celebrate Easter.  I know a lot about Easter as far as the Catholic holiday is concerned seeing as how I'm a "little heathen" as my mother likes to call me; it's a term of adoration as opposed to one of repulsion.  So apparently Easter is determined to be the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the Spring Equinox.  I don't know about you, but that process sounds very pagan to me.  I honestly don't know what the wording in the Bible says to make this determination as a floating day as opposed to a permanent day such as Christmas.  Anyone?

That aside, how was your February?  How is your March looking to be?

Beginning in the end of February and finishing up near the end of yesterday, I participated in another of Bethesda/Zenimax Online's beta tests for The Elder Scrolls Online.

I don't know about you, but I enjoy falling through a flight of stairs only to have my feet embedded in the underlying rock, then typing /stuck in order to kill myself, but only after I have submitted a bug report to the proper authorities.  Actually, I am quite enjoying this whole process.  Sadly, as has been the case with other ESO betas, but I had work all weekend so I wasn't able to participate as much as I would have liked.  I was able to invite Conklederp to join in on this beta test as well, but she was having a harder time with the download to play part.  I'm trying to figure out what is going on on her side before the early access launches later this month.

A few weeks back, I purchased an A/V Cable to HDMI converter with the hope that I would be able to play both my SNES and N64 on our super HD LED 1080p TV.  Without the converter, the TV cannot completely translate the signal that is coming from a 24 and 19 year old video gaming console.  This inability to correctly translate the console signal comes out as flashing colors on the screen as well as colored bars that move from top to bottom while the game is being played.  The converter was an attempt to fix this issue.  Sadly though, the converter I purchased, possibly through no fault of its own, did not fix this issue.  I am still on the lookout for a fix to this that does not include buying an older non HD TV, although that may end up being the final solution.

And now for some reason, the second half of this article decided that it didn't want to exist anymore.  After saving then closing down and coming back here to publish, everything that followed after the HDMI article is no longer here.  I guess it must not have been very good and knew it for it to want to off itself and I can respect that, even though I don't particularly like it.  So with that done then, I will go play a bit of FEZ as that was how I concluded the article after I talked a bit about free to play games that I had recently downloaded as well as noticing that Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is now available through Nintendo's eShop.


~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
The Underlying Theme

First Impressions: Starseed Pilgrim

Starseed Pilgrim just ate two hours of my day.  I knew I had been at it a while, but I was surprised to read the total.  I'd been saying 'just one more game' to myself for the last ten games or so.  The first half of the time was spent figuring out what is going on.  And then when I started to figure it out, I've tried to determine how to build skill.   I'm definitely getting better at it, but I feel like there's still more to learn.

This game taps into a sense of creativity, of mystery, of exploration and of expertise.  And Harmony, don't forget harmony.  The visual and audio design is already invading my dreams.  Starseed Pilgrim is another in a very exciting trend in gaming which uses sound effects in a musical and atmospheric way.  Every action produces a tone, and they combine in a musical soundscape of the game.  Similar uses of music include Everyday Shooter, Bit.Trip.Runner and Proteus.

Starseed Pilgrim is one of those games that I want to take care not to share too much.  Part of the fun and excitement has been just figuring out how to play.  I recommend mapping a gamepad using JoyToKey, and then having a good time.

That's all I'll say for now.  I'll write a full review after this game lets go of my brain.  It will be full of spoilers.

-D

P.S.  I suppose I should mention one more thing:  this game is TOUGH.