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felassan · 4 years ago

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Zero To Play podcast episode: John Epler, Narrative Director at BioWare

In the most recent episode of Zero To Play podcast the guest was John Epler, Narrative Director on DA4. He talked about narrative games, how they fit inside an industry leaning towards games as a service, his experience being at BioWare for almost 14 years, and advice that he has for aspiring devs who want to create memorable, impactful and transformative moments in games.

The episode summary read as follows:

In this episode John brings his 13+ year experience being at BioWare and working on titles like Mass Effect & Dragon Age: Inquisition to explain how he believes storytelling will evolve and develop through the medium of games.

He shares some of his favorite moments and why he thinks games are the most powerful and interesting medium to be exploring in this generation.

It’s a good and interesting interview, so worth checking out if you can! You can listen to it here or on Spotify.

This post contains some notes on what was talked about in the episode, in case a text format is better for anyone (for example folks that can’t listen to it due to accessibility reasons). It’s under a cut due to length.

A bit of paraphrasing.

The average dev stays with a game company/studio for about 5 years. John joined BioWare right after the EA acquisition happened.

[on going into Trespasser] “Myself and the Lead Writer Patrick Weekes both knew that we needed to wrap up at least this part of the Inquisitor’s story, and set up where we want to go next with the franchise, with the IP. We learned a lot of lessons from DAI itself. DAI was a game with a lot of exploration and open-world content, and while we stand by that (I still think it was the right call for the game), one of the pieces of feedback we got from the fans was that they really wanted some more directed storytelling. Jaws of Hakkon was more of a continuation of open-world, more free-from exploration and free-form design. Trespasser was our opportunity to tell a story in a much more linear and focused way. [this way of telling stories] really does help to be able to create that sense of pacing and emotional escalation. It’s a lot harder to do that when you’re mixing up storybeats with big, wide open-worlds. Trespasser was a project where everyone was kind of in sync, we were all building [towards] the same thing.”

“There were [story]beats [in Trespasser] that I don't think we would have been able to get away with in basegame DAI, one of those being the - quite frankly - incredibly lengthy conversation you have with Solas at the end. Because by this point we knew that if someone is playing this DLC then they are in it - they’ve been in it for the last two DLCs, they’ve played through the entire game, they want something incredibly story-focused. And we were able to really dive deep into that, some of the deep lore, some of the narrative. This was one of the only conversations that I’d worked on which, due to limitations of the engine, we actually had to break into two different conversation styles because it was so massive. We also got opportunities to do some fun callbacks. One of my favorite ones was one Patrick suggested which was, ‘What if I [didn’t like Solas much and] spent the entire basegame telling Solas I didn't want to hear anything he had to say?’ So we had the option that if you never chose ‘Investigate’ or a dialogue option that implied that you wanted to hear him blather on, there was one dialogue option that you could pick which was basically ‘Solas, when have I ever wanted to hear any of the shit you have to say?’ And it just kind of wrapped up the conversation super quickly, and Solas looked exasperated. It was fun because it’s not the kind of thing you can necessarily do in the main game, but in a DLC which is entirely for those core fans, you have a lot more options as to what you can do.”

John has an understanding of games as an interactive medium.

“Choice of combat, choice of mechanics, all of that does have an impact on the storytelling and on the narrative that you’re trying to put through. A lot of storytelling in games is trying to make sure that the - there’s a phrase, ludonarrative dissonance - [for example, say] I’m making a game where I’m trying to make the player feel powerful. How do you [do that?] [...] In games, this is kind of the challenge. Interactivity is so key to it. [...] It’s a lot harder [compared to characters in film] to put the player in a situation that they are going to lose, because as soon as you take away that autonomy, you’re taking away some of that interactivity. [...] If as a player I'm making you feel strong and powerful, and then I pull you into a cutscene and suddenly you’re losing the fight, you’re losing what’s going. That is a much different sensation, that is something movies can get away with that games can’t.”

“What are [players/our audience] actually meaning when they say that they ‘want choice’? I think that in a lot of cases we conflate that with ‘Oh, they want to make a big decision that changes the world’. But in a lot of cases what players want is the game to react to what they’re doing and the choices that they’re making in a way that feels organic and natural. I think this is something CD Projekt Red and the Telltale games did really well - of making it clear when the game is actually going to pay attention to what you said or did, so that when you see it later you’re like ‘Oh right yeah, I made that choice, the game said it was going to remember it, and it remembered, this is cool’.

And it doesn't always mean completely changing the course of events. The Telltale writers, as they got on through the games, they realized that the better way to address choice - and something we’ve done too - is, if we make the game have three endings, four or five - like DAO had an absolute massive amount of ways that it could turn out. How do you pay that off if you want to do a sequel? There's basically two choices. One is that you make an incredibly short game because you have to account for these very different branches, OR you collapse them and say ‘Sorry, this is what we’re going with’. And I don't think either of those are necessarily satisfying. For me it’s about making the players feel like their time and the choices they made have been respected. More than anything else that's the key, it comes down to understanding your fanbase, what it is they’re looking for, what it is they’re asking for, because there is that desire for choice, reactivity, consequences. And it’s something that BioWare, that we’re especially sensitive to because it’s always been a big pillar of the games we make. It’s just about understanding what this actually means from a practical standpoint and how you execute on that in a way that makes your fans feel satisfied, while still not writing yourself an impossible check to cash, because, you know, you can react to anything, but if you have a game that ends in three separate ways, you have to go with one of those two options and neither of them is going to be intensely satisfying to the player.”

“A phrase I’ve been using is, what I'm describing as - the half life of quantum. ‘Quantum’ is what we say when it could be like, one of six different things. The half life of this is how long before you actually resolve that down to a single point. Like, provide the player with that reactivity, but collapse those into a way that you can proceed forward. This is 100% a lesson learned from Dragon Age, for all the games. ‘Ok, what do we do with this? Holy shit, that is huge, how are we actually going to pay that off?’ Reactivity, but without putting yourself in an impossible-to-win situation [from a story/writing standpoint].”

“More than anything else, the advice I would give [to aspiring devs] is, come up with some fundamental pillars of your story and of your design. There's a misunderstanding that we plan out the exact story for years in advance. We know what we want to get to, we kinda know how we’re going to get there, and a lot of it is just making sure that you have those pillars and those razors. So as you go through development and find, ‘Oh this piece is not working, this piece is clunking’, you’ll always have principles that you can go back to. What is important about this story? Does the piece that isn't working satisfy any of those things? If no, then we have to change it or get rid of it.”

[more advice] “Don’t be afraid to fail (I say fail here as a good thing). Don't be afraid to put something out there and have it absolutely torn to shreds. Feedback is your best friend, having people that you trust to provide that feedback. If I were building a big epic narrative, a big epic franchise, [I’d advise that you] start with your principles and the core of what you want to do, and then just start putting out ideas. ‘Here’s my idea for this story’. It’s easier for me, I'm inheriting a lot of work that's already been done, a lot of ground that's already laid - I have a Lead Writer that has been doing this longer than I have, PW is fantastic. But for myself, it’s just been a lot of like, okay, taking this stuff that's already been built, and making sure that I know what we want to do with whatever the next project is. It sounds overly reductive and overly simplistic, but it really is about just having a really strong sense of what is important to your franchise, what’s important to your brand. If you’re coming up with a new IP, it’s a little trickier. You need to spend some time thinking: what’s the tone, what’s the setting, what kind of story do we want to tell.”

[more advice] Don’t be afraid to heavily reference existing media [as actual razors, internally]. But that's not something you ever want to have go out to the public, because people go like ‘Oh, you’re just being derivative’. It’s like no, we’re just leaning on cultural touchstones that people know, so that when you’re communicating with people outside your discipline, or with people above you like executives, they can at least get a sense like, ‘Oh I kinda get what you’re doing, okay that makes sense’, versus ‘Let me first of all explain the entire history of the world’. My experience with executives is that they don't have time for that and justifiably so. But if I tell them we’re doing X but with Y and Z it’s like, ‘Ok cool, we get that’. [...] It’s a tiered approach. You have levels of detail that you provide to different people based on what they need to know. You yourself may need to know the history of these characters and how they relate to each other and the thousands of years of history for that, but the person building combat probably doesn't need all that detail and just needs to know ‘What am I working with, how do these characters fight.”

“A razor is a statement that you use to slice away what doesn't fit. The narrative razor for Trespasser was, I can’t remember exactly, we were basically trying to go for the Avengers meets Indiana Jones, Winter Soldier. Avengers meets Winter Soldier. [a razor is] a statement that you take all the content [by], ‘Okay, does this actually fit this statement? No? Okay, get rid of it’. It’s about focusing your game. Cutting away the ideas that don't really fit is how you avoid scope-loading and people crunching, and how you keep your project focused.

Trespasser was an intensely-focused DLC, in that it focused on basically two main core things, Solas and the fate of the Inquisition. Everything kind of wrapped into those two razors. As we were going through content, we had stuff like - I said this at a GDC presentation in 2016 - the Qunari are farming lyrium to make Qunari templars. And then we looked at it like, how does that apply to either razor? It doesn't, it doesn't fit either one of them. So we simplified it to, ‘Okay, what actually makes this work in the context of what we’re building?’. [a razor is] a statement that you use to slice off what doesn't fit into the game that you’re building. It can be painful, but having strong razors means that it never comes across as a personal thing.”

Narrative does not mean story.

Two of his least favorite mechanics in games [not including Stalker and DayZ] are weight limits and weapon degradation.

On games as a service:

Interviewer/host: “Talking about games as a service, it’s definitely something that is talked about a lot in gaming in terms of the most successful games. With Dragon Age, putting DLCs out is kind of maybe that same influence, but games that are launched and then iterated on and updated and pushed with content every month, like Fortnite, Riot Games, League of Legends, Valorant etc, that's kind of I feel where the trend of games are trying to go and make the most of those interactions between other people, to make replayability possible and easier. How do you see narrative, do you see it being forgotten with this increase of games as a service? [...] Do you see that as a positive part of narrative in games or do you think there’s still work to be done in that space?”

John: “[...] The place we start to see some confusion, a lot of people think it’s one or the other, but to me, it’s another way, another option for telling stories that by their nature have to be different. I think that's where you need to be, again, very cognizant of what you’re building and of the genre you’re working in, because a story that works for a more traditional box product is not necessarily the kind of story that would work for a games as a service product. [...] Games as a service, understanding what the cadence is that you’re planning to deliver to and what kinds of stories best fit that cadence - some games are better at it than others.

One game that did a pretty decent job of it is Destiny 2, through patches. Final Fantasy 14 is another example, they do a lot of their storytelling between the big expansion releases as part of their free patches. They always know that they have - I think, five big patches? - between each expansion, and they’ve structured their stories to fit into that very specific five-act structure. If they tried to do it weekly or bi-weekly it would be a very different experience. I think there’s always room for narrative. It’s about knowing that there are different lessons to learn and not being afraid to learn those lessons, as opposed to trying to fit the traditional box product square-peg narrative into a live service round hole. And that’s why you need to have a strong vision and why you need to have somebody at the Director level who understands and plays the kinds of games that you’re building, so they kind of understand what works and what doesn't - ‘This type of story worked really well for this game, and I'm not saying you should copy it, but you should at least be willing to learn those lessons and not reinvent the wheel every time.’

We’ve been making games for a long time now, there’s lots of lessons to learn, we should be trying to learn from them and not trying to like, change everything every single time.”

[on length of narrative] “In a lot of cases you know how long your game should be and the hardest part is sticking to that. [...] There is always a worry that fans are going to see a number and be like ‘That’s not big enough or that’s not long enough.’ I do think that there is sometimes a lack of confidence in what you're building, and a desire to make it shorter or longer, but I think at the core, the people building [a] game know how long it’s going to take to tell this story that they want to tell. I say this specifically for narrative, but even stuff like progression, you know how long you want it to take. For myself, I will always take a short but well-executed game over a long game that feels that it has a lot of [useless/boring] padding. It’s about identifying the kind of game you’re building. Open-world games are always going to be bigger and longer than more linear games. Being confident in that number and recognizing when you’re adding time and space for no other purpose than just to make that number on the back of the box longer [is important]. Fans don’t love that, they can see right through that.”

“It was nice to see the amount of hard work that went into DAI rewarded by the press [with the Game of the Year award]. There are definitely parts of it that didn't land that we wish we could have done differently, but it was a project that felt like we were all pulling in the same direction and when we started getting that positive feedback, it was definitely a sense of relief. Especially because a lot of us had been on DA2, and while we were proud of that project, it obviously didn't get the reception that we wanted at that time.

[when they were watching DAI’s release and tracking its reception] We’re keeping a running tally, like ‘Okay, this is really looking like we did something special here’. I’m proud of every project that I’ve worked on but DAI is definitely one that I’m especially proud of.”

“Part of the advantage to being at a company for as long as I have, I've worked with a lot of the other people [responsible for things in other departments like art, writing, audio etc], so while there is that anxiety like ‘I reeeally hope that this works out’, I know it’s going to, because I know that everyone who is doing these roles, like our Animation Director, our Audio Director, Levels, all those other people on the project know what they’re doing and they know their shit better than I could ever hope to. So I’m just kind of standing here like ‘Hey y’all this is what we need’, and it’s coming in. And when it does come in, when you see the pieces together - I think for myself, on DAI, the moment that I first finally started feeling like it was really all coming together was, one of our music designers, going into one of the moments at the end of Redcliffe, doing the music/audio pass, and me finally seeing this scene that I’d been staring at and banging my head against for months - turn into something that actually conveyed emotion, that actually was something that I was excited for our fans to get to see and get to experience. That’s always a special feeling.”

Cinematics is one of the last things to come in, which means that audio is always waiting for them to come in: “They always did an amazing job with very little time, I will never not praise our audio and music designers.”

“Patrick Weekes is the Lead Writer, which means ultimately PW is responsible for the writing side of the game. As Narrative Director, I’m there to offer, to basically take the vision of the project and interpret the part that focuses on narrative and then provide that to my team - because I work with writing, cinematics, level designers and everyone - I’m there to be like ‘Hey this is the narrative we want to achieve’, which sometimes involves getting involved in the story side of things. But a lot of that is PW’s job as Lead Writer, they’ve been doing it for a long time, they’ve been in the industry longer than I have. It’s a really good working relationship. We worked together when I was in cinematics and they were in writing, we worked together on the Iron Bull, then we were both leads on Trespasser, so we have a trust.

I think what’s been really helpful is that they know that if I tell them something’s not working, it’s not coming from ‘I wanna do it my way, you better just do it my way because I’m the boss’, it’s coming from ‘This is something I think we need to do for the project’. And vice versa, if they push back on me about something, I know it’s not coming from ‘Screw you I'm the Lead Writer, I make the decisions’, they’re saying it because this is an actual concern. I do writing, I’m a writer on the project too but I will fully admit PW is a way better writer than I am, so I'm comfortable leaning on them for that stuff, and then I’m the person who can provide that ‘Okay, we know that gameplay is providing this, we know levels is providing this, let’s shift the priorities'.

It’s also about knowing, being able to take that back from any one discipline and say ‘Okay, what is the right decision for the project as a whole’, and sometimes that means telling PW something that they may not think is their favorite thing to do, but they will listen because they trust me and I trust them. I don't know how it works at other studios, there are places where Narrative Director is also the Lead Writer, or where there is Narrative Director and Lead Writer is the highest authority on narrative that exists, but it’s worked for us again because we have that lengthy experience. It would be interesting to see how it would work if we didn’t know each other for a while before this. It’s largely a relationship of trusting each other to know our areas of expertise and also just understanding what’s important to the narrative vision of the project.”

When they did Tevinter Nights it was ‘extracurricular’ work: “It was fun, I got to do some writing, I got published, which was really fun”.

[source]

[☕ found this post or blog interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]

#dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #solas #long post #longpost

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alltingfinns · 4 years ago

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The Reichenbach Fall

Back again.

18 months since the last appointment. So he has kept seeing her. (Sherlock was probably proud that John ignored Mycroft’s advice to fire her.)

John’s face during that scene. :’(

Bit forced way to get the Reichenbach fall in there without leaving London.

“He means thank you”

Married!

John smiled at the camera but frowns in the photo. Just a continuity error? Or John got bad luck with the photo.

No faith in Sherlock picking up on sarcasm when it comes to remarks about his diplomatic tact.

The Deerstalker. About to be embraced by Sherlock as the costume for “being Sherlock”. The Coat is for feeling himself, The Deerstalker is for putting up the persona.

And of course Sherlock made sure to note the mention/s of John in the article.

“Confirmed Bachelor”. And even when it’s just “bachelor” John picks up on the implications.

I love the comedy effect of one dialogue = two conversations scenes.

The Netflix Swedish subtitle substitutes “confirmed” for ”inbitne” which is more like “stubborn” or “persistent”. 😏

“Why would it upset you?”

It’s not just the hindsight of Sholto, it’s the terribly wrong conclusion that Sherlock is going to arrive at.

“It keeps doing that”. It’s fun to contrast this scene with TST where he starts out barely looking up from the phone.

Talking people into suicide, bit of a theme really for this show. The idea of murdering through suicide goading, homophobia is a serial killer.

He did as John asked of him and found himself a low profile case. And John just snarks about it. The underappreciation goes both ways sometimes.

The fancy animations on the phone. Just because.

Everyone’s spilling tea but Lestrade. But then again his paper cup says coffee and balance of probability says that’s what he’s drinking. So the coffee doesn’t spill.

I miss the “not our division” meme.

I like the physics idea of using a diamond to concentrate the force to a point. Diamonds are hard enough to fully transfer the force that Jim is applying.

Why is John’s robe so short?

The purity of how John looks at Sherlock just after he was threatened by a terrorist, with Sherlock’s face lit up like a Disney princess.

The male guard nodding like there’s nothing untoward about asking the female guard “would you mind slipping your hand into my pocket?”

“Right, nothing creepy or suggestive about that.”

What is the point of that scene anyway? Is it about adding sexual undertones in general to Jim? Adding menace? Is chewing gum another code? I mean it’s short, but it still feels like it should mean something.

Maybe to compare to the next one.

Maybe to highlight the bias where Jim coming on strong to a woman looks threatening but Kitty coming on strong to Sherlock doesn’t (from a heterosexist viewpoint).

Want to shut up Sherlock? Bring up his and John’s relationship and suddenly he has no quick reply. And so many know this weakness of his.

“Set the record straight”

How have I missed this play on words? How? HOW?!?

Do not press Sherlock’s buttons if you can’t stand up to scrutiny.

Backseat driving a court case. Then again he’s probably well aware of court proceedings in order to determine what evidence would or would not convince a jury.

Every big villain Sherlock gets an animal. But also Jim isn’t a man, but an idea.

The guy who ate the wafer looking down at the crumbs on his jacket. Underrated comedy

That cut is one of the best jokes in the show. The best touch is showing Sherlock taking a breath to talk rather than just cutting immediately after the judge’s question.

This is the most married episode. John’s “what did I say” here, the earlier domesticity, etc.

The “look”. Sherlock assuming John knows what he’s thinking, but at least John knows him well enough to know that’s what he’s assuming.

Most married episode

I am going to be a mess in the end, aren’t I?

John’s hand is nervous with the verdict.

Sherlock offering John’s chair. Maybe he’s fine with Jim sitting there like he is with Mycroft, or he’s using reverse psychology, or he just really doesn’t want Jim in his chair.

I’m definitely overthinking this, but the chairs are given importance in the show.

“Did you listen” in a singsong voice. His phone signal being “Staying Alive”? Does that count? Or is he referring to John “showing his hand”?

“Tiny line of computer code”. This is a fun nod to the fact that computer hacking is often more social than technical. Why brute force a password if you can get to the one who made it? Like the court case. He didn’t need a defense, he just needed to get to the right people.

Jim knows what people want and fear.

“I should get myself a live-in one.” Que a million Moran fics. (Or maybe Morstan?)

Where does this debt come from? Why does Jim owe him a fall?

Did he already know they had a basket of apples in their living room? Would he have carried one in his pocket if they didn’t?

What if he got it set up together with the surveillance? Banking on John and Sherlock being so oblivious as to assume it was the other (or mrs Hudson) who put it in?

Two months later, which was six weeks after a montage that was three months earlier. Assuming rounding errors and we’re now within the very week or so that John went to therapy. Things are going to be happening very fast now, but at least he didn’t wait that long to get help.

“Why must my in-law be such a drama queen?”

“And a wanker as well?!?”

No seriously, not even getting the driver to warn John about the club rules?

This is so much funnier when you’ve been watching clips of “Yes Minister” on YouTube. I can definitely picture Humphrey being a member of the Diogenes. Where’s the crossover fic?

Every scene with John and Mycroft from now on are going to be snark-to-snark combat. Probably because this is the point where John is so comfortable with him that he can go full out.

Ooohhh that music cue! Mycroft’s “I stood for an hour leaning on an umbrella to ensure I got the perfect pose for dramatic effect” music.

Not sure if it’s wise to fill up a ptsd ridden ex soldier with paranoia fuel.

But John’s lack of self preservation strikes again and he just opens a mysterious envelope with his fingers.

And then plays with the crumbs inside.

The one brain cell containing John’s self preservation instinct is screaming, but unheard as it has long since been disconnected.

Still don’t get why the recovery of that one painting got him a hero title.

This is getting long. I’ll post this and start on the next post.

#rebecka’s sherlock rewatch #sherlock #johnlock #tjlc #sherlock meta #homophobia is a serial killer #john watson is a disaster #save john watson

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morshtalon · 5 years ago

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Dragon Quest II

Well, it's been a while since I wrote a review on something. I've played a number of games in the meantime, but none of them really gave me anything I felt was worth talking about or that hasn't been talked about before, so I just keep them in the backburner of my mind for possible future reference.

However, I feel like current circumstances make for a good time to dig up one of the games I wanted to share my thoughts on for a long time, and that I had beaten before even writing the first review I've ever "published". That game is Dragon Quest II.

Part of the reason why I held off on it for so long is that I don't think my review of the first game is all that great, and another part is that, again, I don't feel like I've bunched up enough good stuff to say, even though I really wanted to talk about it ever since I played it.

But hey, by far and wide my post popular post is technically related to Dragon Quest II, so why not cut to the chase and do it, right?

Anyway, to say that the first game took off in popularity is an understatement, it being the seminal harbinger of an entire genre of gaming that would soon take the world by storm. You would think that means this would be the time-old tale of "runaway success game making company executives pressure developers into slaving away at a sequel with suffocating deadlines". However, planning for DQII apparently began before DQI was released. 1986 was a different time, I guess. A time when the industry was fledgling enough that it wasn't that much more than a group of dudes banding together to bring an idea to life, and then - not a moment of hesitation after that idea comes to fruition - immediately start brainstorming ways in which they can build on it to give birth to new, more complex explorations of the concepts they had just tackled.

I believe this is why it's good to go back and play these games in their original versions, in chronological release order. Nowadays, it's virtually impossible to innovate. Back then, almost every big-time franchise was always finding ways to breathe fresh air into the structure of their games. Though Dragon Quest isn't the most innovative when compared to the likes of Final Fantasy, they were still making great strides into the codification of the type of game they had pioneered. With that knowledge in mind, one can really appreciate the evolution by going back and exploring these things as they grew with the times. And hey, Final Fantasy still wasn't around by the time DQII came out, so once again, they had to rely on ideas from western RPGs they liked.

In my opinion, II is the first jRPG that actually feels good to play, if you can put yourself into the mindset of an 80's gamer. The designers felt the 1v1 battles of the first title were boring - a sentiment which I share - and put in different groups of enemies as well as extra party members for you to find. One thing that some of these old RPGs that only let you target a group of enemies does is drawing only one enemy sprite on-screen to represent the entire group. Surprisingly, this game does not do that, even though it predates all the ones that do. It draws every enemy on-screen, which doesn't seem like much nowadays, but it's very appreciated nonetheless. Sure, it came at the cost of battle backgrounds (all fights in this game are set against pure blackness), but they did the right thing. The party itself follows what would become a typical archetype of 3-person groups: One character who is a jack-of-all-stats, balanced between physical prowess and magic, one who is focused on physical combat (in this game, this character actually has no magic capabilities whatsoever), and one who is a pure mage. Perhaps surprisingly, because these structures hadn't become tropes yet, the main character is the physical one, and he's also pretty much the most reliable party member by a reasonable margin, even though all he can do is attack normally. Balance issues aside (we'll talk about that later), I honestly sort of dig this arrangement. It's a little bit of a breath of fresh air to see the main character in an RPG rely completely on his weapons, and in the future, in any DQ title that has a reasonable degree of character customization, I always try to make the protagonist a physical powerhouse, to match the one from this game. It hardly ever works, but hey, it just goes for show that I enjoyed it while playing. Given that the other party members join you as you progress through the game at specific points, that also means the complexity of magic spells is added to your arsenal slowly, getting you used to it without feeling overwhelming. Sure, the game is simple enough that it wouldn't be overwhelming regardless of how they had set up the pacing, but I never felt like any of the times I struggled were because of insufficient knowledge of the game mechanics. So, the battles are fun enough, and they feel just right in terms of complexity vs. focus. The strategies to win are simple - really, the whole game is very simple - but it does its job well, and it allowed the developers to have near-perfect control of the game's difficulty curve. As a result, it is also - almost up to the end of the game - pretty nice, even if the whole thing is on the challenging end of things. At the end, it gets... A little special. We'll get to that later.

Let's take a step back and look at the gameplay outside battles. First of all, the story is... sparse, to say the least. Not as much as the one in the first game, and supplemented in the international version by a frankly kick-ass introduction that gives the experience a certain tone and atmosphere I appreciate a lot, but still, it's 1987. jRPGs were... not so much about the story back then, if you can believe that. In fact, they were more like an extension of a point-and-click adventure game. DQII is, essentially, a big fetch quest. In a different story, one that has enough plot points that you can sense a type of underlying narrative progression, I would not enjoy having the game interrupted by a blatant collectathon. However, the fetch quest aspect is basically the soul of this entire game. The extremely loose story paves the way for an experience that boils down to pure exploration and combat, with light elements of puzzle-solving woven in, using the fetch quest premise simply as a background to leave the developers with fertile soil to plant their little tricks and enigmas without worrying too much about how it would all connect rationally. And here, we witness an aspect of old games that could only spring about as a byproduct of limited graphics, ill-defined representations of the setting's reality, and a healthy disregard for common sense, things that were the style at the time. The puzzles, and sometimes just the exploration, violate logic quite heavily. Traversing through a monster-infested castle to get to a point that is technically outside the castle, but you can't just walk around it because most of the outside grass tiles are exit tiles that warp you back to the world map? Sure, why not? Having dedicated "teleport-room" maps that only serve the explicit purpose of housing a teleporter to another part of the world, except for one which also houses a chest with an essential item if you walk along the right border of the map, but not the identical-looking left one? Mario 2 hid a goal post inside a secret too, so yeah! Throw that in! Stairs down in a brick islet surrounded by water which brings you to a room that's... Also at water level? We hardly have enough tiles to go around, let alone a set to represent underwater or underground rooms, so whatever! Nobody cares! And, honestly, I truly don't care, either. If a game is up to, let's say, willfully forgo a bit of logic in order to formulate a creative puzzle to play around with your expectations, then all the more power to it. I honestly feel like puzzles nowadays are too sectioned-off, contained within a single room in a single dungeon, ready for the player to walk in, solve it, move on to the next point in the flowchart and never think about it twice. When puzzles are woven in so closely with the world, requiring the player to think outside the box at all times, as they're out there exploring, it makes the whole game feel like it's working together to make a point, and helps reduce that feeling one gets when playing RPGs where there are very separate elements of gameplay that... Don't really connect to each other very well. Sure, you're blatantly aware you're playing a videogame at all times, and it's not super great for immersion, but this was a time when there just... wasn't enough memory for immersion. It was a constraint that naturally gave way to challenges that capitalized on its own limitations, and therefore, created a type of immersion of its own, where the player is completely sucked into their own thoughts, holding a notebook with a rough sketch of the world map in their hand (yeah, I might have done that), taking notes and thinking where in the world could that last crest possibly be?! I think DQII hit that sweet spot of looseness vs. clarity in the narrative that helped these wild, nonsensical elements flourish. I really don't know how other people react to this sort of thing, but I don't care. I had a good time with it, and soon after this game, everything RPG started to become more focused on story. That's definitely not a bad thing, but I felt a kind of clear, developer-to-player kind of communication from these small bits of wrongness that made me more aware of the time, effort and creativity put into it by the people who were making it. I realized that, were I in the shoes of the dude who was making all this crazy stuff, I'd be stoked to see my friends trying to solve them. I'm not trying to be sentimental, that's how I honestly felt while playing that part with the teleporter and the chest. In any case, I appreciated it.

Then you get to the road to Rhone.

Though, apparently, the game was not pressured into deadlines by higher-ups, I did read something about one of the guys in the team offhandedly setting a deadline that turned out to be just that little bit too tight, requiring it to be delayed from November 1986 to January 1987. This, along with the fact that, at the time, the second title in a franchise had the habit of being designed for people who were hardcore fans of the first game in that series, might go a little ways into explaining why everything starting from the road to Rhone is absolutely fucking brutal. Every element of the game that, previously, was a tad questionable, leaving that little itch of worry in the back of your head, returns here with the express intent to make your life miserable. I have a high tolerance for difficulty, one that is even higher for RPGs where, for the most part, there are always ways to slightly circumvent it and make your life easier. The simplicity of design in DQII means that this is not the case here, and from this point on you're expected to not only have the skill and familiarity you've accrued while playing, but also a very healthy amount of luck to go with you, otherwise you will die. And rest assured, you WILL die. In fact, due to the specific way in which the player's mortality rate skyrockets in Rhone, it's almost not even a matter of the game being "hard" in the traditional sense, because it doesn't exactly require you to be strong enough or smart enough anymore, it just requires you to be patient enough to slowly trudge through the mountain of corpses of your former attempts until you figure out how to minimize your risks to the lowest degree they possibly can be minimized, then hitting that sweet spot of luck and control that finally allows you to reach the end of the game. This particular way of handling things means that, after you hit about level 30 with the main character, further leveling will only render you negligibly less likely to die, and the effects are not strong enough from level to level to even be clearly noticed. But what exactly makes it so hard? The answer is primarily RNG. When you reach the end, you will begin to notice just how much RNG there is through the whole game. Starting off, the turn order is entirely random. There is an agility stat, but I never found any evidence of it actually factoring into who goes first in battle (instead, it's a carryover from DQI that calculates your base defense). If there are more than three enemies, you're at a disadvantage, but even if there aren't, a stray run of bad luck - which is guaranteed to happen given the density of random encounters - means you're gonna have to scramble with enemy attacks, and they are perfectly capable of leaving you in such a state that it would take a miracle to put yourself back in shape, if they don't just wipe you out instantly. Now, remember, two of your three characters have magic. However, at this point in the game, enemies have a large amount of magic resistance to all kinds of different spells, and magic resistance in this game means that there is a chance the spell simply won't work. If it does, it deals full damage. If it doesn't, it deals none at all. I don't know about you, but I almost never take my chances with low-accuracy, gimmicky stuff in other games. This one renders all spells like that given enough time. If you decide to rely on physical strength, the main character is the only one who will bring you any significant results. The pure mage at this point in the game is far more efficient at support casting than direct damage, and the balanced character is - memetically, at this point - incompetent at both, and also sucks as a physical fighter, so once again, you're boned on that front. All of a sudden, running away becomes an alluring strategy. However, once again, there is an ever-prevalent random factor to it, so the pressure is on in all fronts. The game becomes a challenge of carefully planning out how to simply survive each encounter. Do you take the chance and run? If you fail, you'll be wailed on by the full force of the enemy party, and will likely be too weak to attempt mounting a resistance. Do you take the bait and unleash the full force of your attacks? What if they all target different enemies in the group? You won't deal enough damage to kill one of them, so you'll suffer heavy retaliation and waste precious MP that could be spent on healing spells. Did you win or escape successfully? You've only lost about 20% of your health, but some encounters can relieve you of the remaining 80% before you can even act, so do you spend MP healing or do you trudge on because you already don't have that many to go around? If you make the wrong decision at any of these break points - and rest assured, there won't be a shortage of them - you'll either die or get so close to death it will be almost irrelevant to keep going. And then, it's back to the last save point. Rinse and repeat many times until you clear the road and get to Rhone proper, for one final save point and one last, grueling stretch of game before the final boss. Here, the game introduces enemies that have, no joke, a move that kills your entire party and has 100% accuracy. Typing it out, it sounds like hyperbole, like i'm salty that I died so much and am exaggerating the things the game does in order to trick myself into believing that it was super impossible times infinity, but no, it's true. To be fair, there isn't a high chance the enemy will perform this move, but when they do, there's absolutely nothing you can do to save yourself. Just reset the game when the screen turns red. Other than that, the rest of the lovely cast of enemies rounding up the final waves are more than capable of just killing you the regular way, so keep your wits about you like you did back in the cave and grind yourself up until the stat bonuses start getting negligible, because now, you need to face five bosses in a row. Right, okay, technically you can go back and heal yourself right before the last one, but I didn't know that, so if you're an idiot like me, try to get ahold of a Wizard Ring, as well. It's the only way to heal MP, and can be used multiple times until - you guessed it - it randomly decides to break. After that, you just have to contend with two bosses that use a move that heals all their HP when it gets low, so you also have to roughly keep track of their state in your mind so you can unleash a full round of attack before they can get in that heal. Unless your spell doesn't hit them, of course. Or they happen to go first. Or you just barely miss the threshold of HP that will actually kill them. Oh, and be careful! One of the other bosses also knows the instant death move. He won't use it often, but 30 or so attempts in, you're likely to see it once or twice.

Then, the final boss can randomly spawn with a number of hit points between 75% and 100% of his assigned value (every enemy does that), and you're gonna deal an average of about 15% damage per turn to it. Sounds easy at first, but he will take you out in either one or two moves, and...

...Here's the motherload...

...He has a 1 in 16 chance of casting the full heal move at any point in the battle. And he WILL do that the first 2 or 3 times you get to him, sucking you dry of resources and smashing your face all the way back to the save point to try the 5 bosses again, so it's back to grinding attempts until you have another mostly hopeless shot at him.

But when you get him, man...

When you do it...

*sigh*

Anyway, this was a long, rambling, focus-shifting tangent just to correctly capture the degree of luck and randomness that constitutes the final stretch of Dragon Quest II. How does it impact the rest of the game? Well, I still appreciate it for what it did right, and there's a small, strange part of me that actually thinks the insane difficulty perfectly fits the stakes that the game set up, but it is, nevertheless, very hard. And once again, it's the kind of hard that is virtually impossible to circumvent. For any average, non-god-tier player, there is no alternate way of tackling the simple-looking, but highly controlled challenges in this game that trivializes it. You can't change your party, you can't buy extra spells, you can't really use stat-up items to change stat configurations in any significant way. You just have to keep trying and hope it works, and for the first few dozen times, it won't, so you'll just have to deal with it.

Still, it shows, even up to the end, that the DQ team has a certain grasp of consistency in design that will slowly grow and adapt as the series embraces new complexities through the years. DQII stands as somewhat of a black sheep in the series (as the second titles of old franchises often do), but I think it has its place, and it's surely a wild ride. Also, if you can get yourself into the mindset of late 80's design, I can assure you it won't ever be boring. Maddening, sure, but not boring. It's more fun in the midgame, in my opinion, as for someone who is very used to RPGs, it can be exceesingly simplistic at the start and too hopelessly uncontrollable at the end, but I feel it deserves a score of 7 out of 10. It's pure gameplay, and, for what it's worth, you WILL get an intense experience. Just be ready to shake, a lot. And pad your walls.

#rpg #video games #review #dragon quest

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drink-n-watch · 5 years ago

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Well, here we are. It was quite a ride! Demon Slayer was not without its lows, but it’s highs were impressive and now that season 1 is all said and done, I can confidently say that I am very happy I got to watch this! But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. First, let’s get to some important stuff: How are you Crow?

Hi, Irina! I’m doing well. I hope you enjoyed your week! Gotta say — this episode’s energy surprised me. It felt more like an opening than a closing! Oh, I’m bold, and we’ll likely have spoilers. Don’t want to mislead anyone!

For those of you that may not know – Demon Slayer was Crow’s recommendation and I’m sure glad he made it! How about we get this finale rolling.

When the episode opened back in Shinobu’s hospital, I thought we were in for another training montage and although I enjoy those, it seemed a little lackluster for a last episode, you know?

I was pretty happy when we suddenly moved to some creepy otherworldly demon meeting. Let’s say that poor guy’s question of “Where the Hell is this” may have been a little too accurate! But as hellish as it was, that twisty house was superb! Don’t you think?

It was architecturally fantastic. I felt like I was inside an M. C. Escher painting. It was also really cool to see how the demons themselves reacted. More than one of them were completely freaked out, which gave even more power to the feeling of unease. I’m pretty sure Crow hadn’t noticed my title when he made this comment….

And it was beautiful, too. This show excels at making evil look good.

As it happens the lower 5 kuzukis (Rui’s contemporaries) had been brought together by a rather dissatisfied Muzan. But they didn’t quite know that yet. I have been consistent in my praise for the Demons’ designs in Demon Slayer, and this episode was a treat in that regard. The lower 5 were just as varied and interesting as the hashiras but they don’t have to conform to a uniform or reasonable designs which made them even more interesting to me.

It’s impressive how much effort was put into each of their very individual appearances and even personalities considering how much time they got.

The range was amazing and the designs vibrant with individuality. One of the demons was more classical in that she had horns. The other, Lower One, was quiet and almost conservative, but here eyes and facial markings made it clear she was a demon. Even without know what was to come, there was something about her that marked her as particularly dangerous. Maybe the way she walked? How she stayed calm when some of the other demons were clearly skittish? Whatever it was, the show continued its tradition of being gorgeous.

Turns out, Muzan had decided to be a beautiful Japanese lady that day. No one knows why. Just in the mood for it I guess. It’s all good. The thing is, this particular design overlaps somewhat with lady Tamayo, and it’s never in your advantage to compare yourself to Tamayo

I don’t know about you, but a female Muzan felt terrifying in a way the male form never did for me. It might be that I kept seeing Michael Jackson instead! But his female form? Dang.

What follows was an education. It made sure I had properly assimilated the lessons of this season of Demon Slayer. (I say this season, I’ll get back to it).

First, being a Demon is no fun. It simply isn’t. They might grin like cheshires but no one wants to end up in their shoes. Well, maybe some people do but they are not o.k. Demons are without value even to each other as even kuzukis’ lives are cheap. Although I guess those aren’t exactly “lives”.

Second, Muzan is a monster, and whatever humanity he may have had has leaked out a while ago. There’s little point in hoping for any type of understanding. He’s also a rather horrible boss. I certainly have a whole new appreciation for mine after this episode.

And third, Tanjiro is special. Out of everything that is happening to encite Muzan’s rage; all the priorities he may have with the Demon Slayer corp nipping at his heels; the one thing he cares about is getting the slayer with the hanafuda earrings. At this point I’m seriously beginning to wonder why Tanjiro doesn’t take those earrings off, they constantly get him in trouble.

What were your takeaways from the scene?

His interactions with them were brutal. Of the demons was dumb enough to beg for mercy. What was he thinking? Another tried to argue; that didn’t get much farther. A third tired to escape — you can guess what happened to him. And when another tried to plead his case, Muzan accused him of disagreeing. “Whatever I say is right is the right thing,” he said as he killed the poor demon.

By the end of the scene, that’s how I thought of these blood-thirsty creatures — poor demons!

But did you see how Lower One watched the others die before fashioning her response? “This is like a dream to me,” she said. “To die by your hand in person… I thank you for leaving me for last.”

He “spared” her by giving her an injection of his own blood, which will give her a power up — if she survives!

You’re absolutely right. Being a Demon is no fun!

After Muzan neetly culls his troupe, leaving only one particularly interesting looking one behind (this guy (or girl – seems Crow thinks it’s a girl and he may be right) will make for some great cosplay – also that gravity defying transition shot was the bomb!) the episode brings us back to the present where Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke seem to have mostly recovered from their wounds. And just in time as it seems the “train incident” is getting worse!

Before leaving on their new mission though, the boys have on last day at Shinobu’s to say their goodbyes. We mostly follow Tanjiro, though, and he is his usual overly earnest and touching self. First he takes on Aoi in a scene that was touching but rang hollow to me.

Aoi is chastising herself for not being an active combattant and Tanjiro cheers her up by saying he’ll carry her feelings in battle with him. I would feel worse if someone told me that. Aoi works tirelessly to help slayers recover. She basically was their nurse, doctor, maid, cook and physical therapist for months. That’s no small feat! Why is Tanjiro just basically saying – Yup you’re a coward but it’s OK cause I’m brave! I know it was animated and conveened as words of compassion and encouragement and that’s how most fans will see them. Just for me, I thought the double message was pretty amusing.

I didn’t take it that way — and I think this might be a case of a gender bias I didn’t realize I had. I saw the scene as touching: Here was Tanjiro being the combat form of Tooru Honda again, spreading cheer and forgiveness! But if I put myself in Aoi’s position, and if Tanjiro were to say that to me, I would feel humiliated.

I’m reminded of when the two Kakushi grabbed Tanjiro and Nezuko back in episode 23. Tanjiro seriously wanted to head butt Sanemi for stabbing Nezuko, but the Master finally convinced him to stand down. As the two Kakushi carried our two heroes to the hospital, one of them practically screamed that she was furious with him for putting her in such a terrifying position. “Ready the room!” she yelled at him. That’s Tanjiro, though, isn’t it? He’s so earnest that he often misses little details — like he does later with Kanao!

Then Tanjiro bid farewell to Kanao in a scene that was akin to emotional fanservice. I’m saying that as a good thing. I do think most fans would really enjoy this scene. It was very sweet.

For a second I thought Tanjiro may actually have lost the coin (I thought he was going to throw it away for a bit as well), and that the entire thing would have turned to slapstick comedy with Kanao royally beating him up. It stayed sweet instead.

This is where Tanjiro showed his oblivious side again! When he told her that he was going to flip the coin to determine if she would listen to the little voice in her heart, she almost looked panicked. The prospect was clearly scary for her! He showed her it was heads and was so happy that he grabbed both her hands. He had no idea what he was doing to her feelings at that point. He was just focused on the idea that he had helped her move forward!

And when he gave her his carefree grin and said goodbye, he had not a clue the emotional confusion he left in his wake. He had just introduced a huge change into his life, then skipped off to war!

Seriously, Tanjiro, read the room!

I forgot to mention that we also saw scar boy in the halls and I don’t know what type of Demon steroids he’s been taking. I think he was roughly the same size as Tanjiro last time we saw him, now he dwarfs him. And it’s not like Tanjiro has been laying around on the couch eating chips or anything…

Can confirm. Not a single chip was consumed.

Were you as surprised as I was by the fact that all three of them could break the big jugs with their breath? Zenitsu and Inosuke actually ended up taking their training seriously enough to not be left behind. That’s pretty impressive. I figure Inosuke may have powered through on brute force but Zenitsu must have actually put in the work at some point!

They even got a reward from the three scary therapy girls. With the way they handle Zenitsu and Inosuke, I’m thinking just send these three after the demons, they’ll make short work of it. Or is that too mean to the demons?

I didn’t think they were scary! To be fair, I didn’t try to subject them to emotional blackmail like Zenitsu did. I loved how they told him, “Maser Zenitsu, please try to learn how to be considerate and respectful of girls.” I laughed even harder when he asked if they were even a little sad he was leaving.

In unison, they answered, “We are not sad.”

From that perspective? I can see how scary they can be! And good for them.

As the last scenes were coming up, I realized something. This isn’t an ending. As in, not even close. It’s a clear set up for the next arc. There’s no pretense that the story has any sort of end point here. You might as well have stopped the season mid sentence.

The reason it took me so long to realize this though is because the boys were about to board a train. A first for both Inosuke and Tanjiro who have lived isolated in the mountains their entire lives. So it was up to city boy Zenitsu to be the voice of wisdom. And he was! It was so weird!!

I almost felt dizzy because of that. It was so disorienting!

Not only did this last scene set up the “train incident” it also brought up a lot of other great world building tidbits. Trains are still not common in the countryside, which means the world of Demon Slayer is right at the cusp of heavy industrialization. This is bound to change how Demons live and how Slayers hunt! Tanjiro has visited the big city once, it’s where he met Muzan but he was in a daze and frantic then. I’m not sure Inosuke ever has. How will they take the culture shock? Slayers are not officially sanctioned, and it seems law enforcement does take its job seriously. A clash between Slayers and the government could be an amazing storyline. And why aren’t they sanctioned, aren’t demons a huge problem? All these questions brought up in the last minutes. How mean!

I agree. It didn’t feel like an ending at all. The energy was much more like the first few episodes!

Back in the first episode, I did a little research. According to Manga Tokyo, the series takes place during the Taisho Era, which was between 1912 and 1926. I hadn’t considered that “modern” transportation wouldn’t have reached non urban areas. It was hilarious how Inosuke thought the locomotive was the master of the land — an opponent he had to confront. Tanjiro spoke up, and I thought okay, he’s going to correct Inosuke. But no, he suggested they shouldn’t attack because it might be the “guardian spirit of this land.” Like you said, it was Zenitsu who set them straight.

Did you notice how he was more subdued this episode? Do you think it’s too much to hope this is a permanent thing?

I firmly believe it will last for the rest of the season….

All in all, this last episode was a showcase for what Demon Slayer does best. Breathtaking animation, ambitious CG integration, eye popping designs mixed with a bit of action, a bit of comedy, a measure of intrigue, a few feels for good measure, and just buckets of blood! It was fun, heartwarming and harshly disturbing all in a single episode without giving me whiplash! What did you think Crow?

I think you summed it up! Oh, do you want to share the news about the movie? Or do you want me to?

Well all we really know for now is that a movie adaptation of the Infinite Train arc has been greenlit. Demon Slayer must be so impressive on a big screen!

*** I had made a gif for my header but it turned out a bit too gruesome so I made a different one. Still it was a nice gif so here it is:

Reviews of the Other Episodes

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 01: Cruelty

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 02: Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 03: Sabito and Makomo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 04: Final Selection

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 05: My Own Steel

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 06: A Friend fo All Humans

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 07: Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 08: The Smell of Enchanting Blood

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 09: Temari Demon and Arrow Demon

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 10: Together Forever

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 11: Tsuzumi Mansion

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 12: The Boar Bears Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 13: Something More Important Than Life

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 14: The House with the Wisteria Family Crest

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 15: Mount Natagumo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 16: Letting Someone Else Go First

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 17: You Must Master a Single Thing

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 18: In which Tanjiro Dispenses Good Advice

Review Of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 19: The Bonds That Tie Us And A Family Affair

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 20: Playing House

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 21: Challenge Accepted and Be Careful With That Thing

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 22: Master of the Mansion

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 23: Hashira Meeting

Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 25: Tanjiro Triumphant and What’s Up with Kanao?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 26: The House of Escher Well, here we are. It was quite a ride! Demon Slayer was not without its lows, but it’s highs were impressive and now that season 1 is all said and done, I can confidently say that I am very happy I got to watch this!

#action #anime #Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba #Horror #shonen #supernatural

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travllingbunny · 6 years ago

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The 100 rewatch: 4x02 Heavy Lies the Crown

The season 4 premiere wasn’t that great, but this is much better and much more typical of the overall quality of season 4.

The Polis storyline is, for a change, actually quite good. I’ve always thought that season 4 did a much better job with most Grounder characters than season 3 or even season 2. And the storyline in and in relation to Arkadia is great, with Bellamy, Clarke and Raven having to do make difficult choices. In particular, Bellamy finds himself in the position to make a really tough choice, and the choice he makes really encapsulates his leadership style and worldview.

The title is another literary reference – after Dante and Poe, now it’s Shakespeare – although it is a misquote of the line “Heavy lies the head that wears the crown” from Shakespeare’s Henry IV. They supposedly chose to name it that way because they thought it sounded better – or maybe they just thought that would make it more obvious to the viewers that the theme of the episode was the difficulty of being a leader.

The flashback that opens the episode would have fit better as the opener of 4x01, which was much more about the fallout of the City of Light and people who died because of ALIE. (No surprise, since it was originally meant to be in 4x01.) It’s the introduction of another interesting new Grounder character, Ilian, whose family suffered a really tragic fate – ALIE made Ilian kill them or torture them in order to force his mother to take the chip. Seeing it all happen helps build sympathy for Ilian and makes it easier to understand his later actions. It’s also one of the few times we see Grounder farmers. I like the fact that the show isn’t focusing just on Grounder warriors anymore and that we get to see more and more of Grounders of different professions and worldviews.

In Polis, the leader who has to make decisions is Roan, who is preparing to meet the challenge of an ambassador of one of the other clans, Rafel, who is trying to use the fact that Roan is still recuperating from his injury and isn’t full strength, Roan is a good character to watch because he’s smart and capable, and morally grey – he isn’t one of the bad guys, but he can be ruthless and sneaky if he has to. The fact that he’s a very different leader from his mother certainly helps. This is emphasized when Echo, who is sparring with him, goes on about how awesome Queen Nia was, in her mind, for being so ruthless and murderous and not giving a damn about anyone other than Azgeda; After being questioned why he decided to accept the Sky people as the 13th clan, Roan finally tells Echo the truth about Praimfaya and that they need Sky people to survive it.

Talking about Roan’s chances in single combat, Octavia says Lexa kicked his ass when he wasn’t wounded, but she doesn’t know that the Nightblood basically gives you superpowers, which is only revealed later during S4

Kane is again the Chancellor – but we don’t learn if another election was held or not. He is mostly acting as a diplomat, however – he’s more of an ambassador, while Clarke pretty much acts like acting Chancellor in Arkadia.

Kane tries to reason with Rafel, and makes the good point that, if they are going to blame Sky people for the City of Light, they should also credit them for destroying it. But don’t expect Rafel to listen to reason. So Octavia eventually solves Roan’s and everyone’s problem by murdering Rafel, which is later portrayed as a heart attack. I should be generally against assassinations and Octavia using violence and murder to solve problems, but, you know what, I liked this solution.

Major development forward for the Kabby relationship: After the kiss last season, there’s a rather steamy, by CW-standards, sex scene and, while there is no “I love you” in so many words, the relationship between Abby and Kane is strongly affirmed. Initially, after their sex scene, we see that Abby used to wear her wedding ring on a necklace. She’s unsure or uncomfortable with putting it on again, as Kane sees it, but Kane tells her Jake is a part of her, But later Kane realizes that she is not wearing it – and they kiss, as Abby has just shown him that she has really moved on from Jake and committed to him.

Abby decides to go back to Arkadia to help Clarke and the rest find a solution for Praimfaya

In Arkadia, Clarke, Raven and Bellamy arguing over what to do; Raven is concerned thatthere are not enough volunteers to repair the ship. She also has insecurities and feel she shouldn’t be main engineer - Sinclair should be, but he is dead, Clarke replies that she’s in a similar position since she’s no Chancellor. However, they’re all basically back to their own season 1 roles, when they were the only ones on the ground and leaders of their people.

One of the most pleasant surprises about season 4 is that it found a purpose for Jaha and started using his character in a much better way, and even managed to make me finally interested and enjoying his character, even though he hasn’t actually changed his personality. This is probably because 1) he is not in position of power now, 2) he wants to and manages to be useful – as an engineer, which is his original profession, and 3) most importantly, he has a number of interesting interactions with the main characters that he didn’t get to interact much before, like Clarke, Bellamy and Raven. In the season when they are faced with particularly difficult leadership choices, which are similar to the situation on the Ark – having to make choices who will live and who will die because it’s impossible to save everyone; having lie to people in order not to cause panic – Jaha is both there to offer his perspective and advice (which may be good or bad), and as a cautionary tale: he is what they all used to hate and what they really don’t want to become, but now they are afraid they may be becoming like him.

The crux of the episode is Bellamy’s mission (with Monty, Harper, Bryan and Miller) to go into the Azgeda territory, to the remains of the Farm Station that Azgeda occupied, and retrieve a hydro generator that would help produce water for the people in Arkadia during the five years of radiation. They start off hoping to get it peacefully, by showing Roan’s seal. They get a hostile reception instead, but eventually the head Azgeda guy agrees to it. However, things change when they learn that the people working at the station are slaves…

…Let’s take a moment to emphasize the fact (for the benefit of all of those who like to portray Sky people/Arkers as the Bad Guys and Grounders as Good Guys, that, in addition to everything else we know Azgeda did under Queen Nia’s rule, like killing Arkers indiscriminately, including children, from the moment they landed, and blowing up a bunch of Arker civilians as a part of a political power play that wasn’t even about them, they also practice slavery, enslaving both Arkers and other Grounders.

…This is a big moment where the group has to decide whether to prioritize getting the hydro generator, or blowing it up to free the slaves. Bryan argues in favor of the latter, especially since he recognized one of the slaves as a friend of his, called Riley. (Now, I know that the fandom likes to make fun of Riley because of the way that this character was made important in spite of never being heard about before, but this is more of a problem in 4x05. I don’t see any problem here – we never saw any of the Farm Station before season 3, either, and we knew very few of the people on the Ark in season 1, and many we knew are dead. And the actor does a good job playing someone who has been traumatized and beaten down by slavery and abuse.) The group split votes – Bryan and Harper for freeing the slaves (Harper compares their fate to her experience of being put in a cage in Mount Weather), Monty and Miller for getting the hydro generator, so Bellamy makes the decision and chooses to free the slaves.

This decision is something I need to talk about a bit more. I love the way season 4 in particular has so many situations where there is no obvious right or wrong choice - neither choice is great and wrong in some way while good in another way, and you can make good arguments for either alternative. This is one such case. Personally, while I understand and respect the position that the hydro generator should have been the priority and slaves ignored, I was happy with Bellamy's decision, was rooting for him to make that choice, and it's what I would probably do. Regardless of how things turn out in the end, I think this is the better principle to live by: "We save who we can save today". (Which also reminds me of the decision Bellamy made in 2x04 – save the person who is in the most immediate danger and need.) There are many leaders in this show, maybe too many, who advocate the Big Picture thinking, which is a legitimate position if moderate, but taken too far, it can lead to (in the name of some hypothetical better future) present oppression, killing the people you're supposed to protect, executions for all sorts of silly reasons as on the Ark, letting innocent people die from enemy bombs, or cold blooded murder of an innocent person for "pragmatic" reasons - as Jaha did in season 2, using the motto "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". I don't trust anyone who uses that motto to justify killing other people rather than sacrificing themselves (which was how that character we all know and love used it in that well known movie that the quote comes from). And I don't fully trust anyone who does things in the name of an abstract notion of "people" or "my people" while not caring enough about individuals that make up that abstract collective

I liked Bellamy’s decision before I knew how things would turn out, and would like it regardless of the eventual consequences. But as it turns, out, if they had saved the hydro generator, it would have been for nothing, since Ilian will blow up Arkadia in a few episodes. This way, those people who had been slaves a couple of months of nice life back with their families.

Another minor in-character moment: when they are about to take the Grounder ex-slaves to their villages, Bellamy is again taking care of a little girl in the group.

Raven is angry over Bellamy’s decision, and Clarke at first seems to disagree, but eventually accepts it, and Bellamy he sticks to it and takes full responsibility. Clarke finally decides to tell people a half-truth: she tells them about Praimfaya, but claims they will be able to save everyone, even though, without the hydro generator, they can only save 100 people there. Raven gets to display my least favorite character trait of hers, getting all judgmental and b1tchy and sarcastically telling Clarke: “Your father would be so proud!” I dunno, Raven, if you think the people should be told the truth, why don’t you simply tell them? No one is stopping you.

Both Raven and Jasper compared Clarke’s decisions to that of Jaha and the rest of the Ark leadership. Except they forgot the minor detail that she hasn’t executed anyone, imprisoned anyone, or sent anyone to die.

Jasper is now in a very different, but still similar mindset from the one from season 3: he has embraced the “Seize the day” approach, and seems very cheerful, having a shower, singing, asking Monty to bring weed, and telling Clarke he doesn’t want them to survive, he wants them to live. But he is like that only because he knows it will all be over in a few months.

The song Jasper plays is “I Don’t like Mondays” by Boomtown Rats, which includes the line “Silicon chip inside her head”…

This is the last episode where Bryan appears, which is a shame, because he was an interesting character, and his and Miller’s relationship actually got some focus and development, unlike Miller’s mostly off-screen later relationship with Jackson. The actor got a role in another show, but instead of getting killed off, he was just written out quietly – he simply never appears after this episode, and we never learn of his fate. The first time I watched this, I didn’t even realize that the argument between him and Nate at the end of this episode was the end of their relationship, so I was later wondering “so where is Bryan?” when Nate and Jackson became a couple out of the blue. Rewatching this, I can see how this was the end of the relationship. I like the fact that Bryan (who, we have it confirmed now, is now the only survivor, aside from Riley, from the initial number of around 160 people who were on the Farm Station when it fell to Earth) refuses to condemn Pike and still feels loyalty to him – because it would be really unrealistic if everyone now had the same opinion about him. Bryan confirms that he basically never stopped supporting Pike, who he felt loyalty to because he saved his life and they spent several months fighting together, and simply chose his boyfriend over him. But I think the main reason why the relationship broke was not just political differences, but because, after Miller didn’t support or understand Bryan’s decision to prioritize freeing the slaves, Bryan felt that Miller doesn’t understand what he went through with the rest of the Farm Station people in those 4 months and the trauma and effect it had on him.

Timeline: It has been 9 days since the season 3 finale, which means it’s about 8-9 days since 4x01.

Body count:

In the flashback (which is technically in the timeline right at the end of season 3 or the beginning of 4x01), Ilian’s father, brother and mother got killed by ALIE-controlled Ilian. Add them to the list of people who died because of ALIE, We don’t see how the father died, but Ilian killed his brother and almost killed himself, and tortured his mother, and she eventually died of injuries.

Rafel, Trishanakru ambassador, killed by Octavia. (Good riddance- he was really annoying. We’ve seen way too many irritating whiny Grounders who rant about how Sky people are to blame for everything. That’s so last two seasons.)

Several Azgeda slavers got killed in the explosion of the hydro generator.

Tybe the head slaver, beaten to death by the freed slaves. Bryan revealed that he was the one who killed Monty’s father, saying he was therefore Monty’s kill, but Monty chose to do justice in a different way, letting the ex-slaves decide Tybe’s fate.

There are some pointers about the number of surviving people – from a list that Clarke made of the number of people that need to be saved. It’s a partial list: we learn that there are about 500 people Arkadia, 4000 in Polis (out of which 400 children), 300 in Tondc, and we see several smaller places with just a few people. Just counting the numbers we see, we get 4877 Grounders in addition to 500 Arkers (obviously, neither are exact numbers, since the numbers for Polis, Tondc and Arkadia were rounded), but it’s clearly not a full list, as we don’t see the numbers for, e.g. Boat people, Shallow Valley people, and many other villages and towns, so I don’t know if the numbers of Grounders in this part of Northern American territory is around 5000-6000 or more like 10.000.

Rating: 8.5/10

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dcarevu · 6 years ago

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DCAU #16: The Cat and the Claw (Part 1)

“Never trifle with the affections of a woman!”

15 episodes into Batman The Animated Series and, hey, we’ve finally arrived at the first episode! Isn’t that something! Yeah, I’ve stated a few times that this show was aired in a very different order than how it was produced. Some people like one way vs the other, although I’m a production-order guy myself, but I’m not gonna pretend like this doesn’t make a decent first episode. It has a pilot quality to it, and the way the episodes sounds in particular make it seem like it would come before episodes like Heart Of Ice. But whichever way you prefer to watch the show, let’s agree on one thing: airing part 2 seven episodes later was not the best way to watch the show. For anyone that’s curious, though, this was done because the way weekend airings vs weekday airings worked. Part 1 was shown on a weekend, so part 2 was shown the weekend after.

Episode: 15 Robin: No Writers: Sean Catherine Derek (story), Laren Bright (story), Jules Dennis (teleplay), Richard Mueller (teleplay) Director: Kevin Altieri Animator: Sunrise Airdate: September 5, 1992 Grade: B

Saying that this episode has a pilot-quality to it isn’t exactly a compliment, as in some ways it feels like we’ve again taken a few steps back here. This episode sits right at home with On Leather Wings, Nothing to Fear, and even The Underdwellers. It’s not bad, but the footing just isn’t there, and the vibes are very similar to those three. Looking at the credits only backs up this observation. Some of the lower-tier episodes we’ve seen have come from these writers. I think that so far this is one of the better ones they’ve worked on, but it didn’t blow me away or anything. Sunrise handled the animation, and it worked for the most part in Pretty Poison. Here, though, there were some weird things. There is a shot of Catwoman climbing up a building that looks pretty damn awful. It’s quick, and most may not notice it, but I didn’t have much choice in the matter because someone working for Warner (probably an intern or something) chose this shot for the DVD menu on disc 3. What the hell? You turn on the DVD and you get this awkward, misshaped Catwoman that gets worse the longer you stare. Like god, it’s ugly, guys. And Catwoman is an attractive character! I can only imagine that they were pressed for time or something. I’m mostly just bringing this shot up because I find it funny, but there were some other things too that stuck out like sore thumbs. This included some weird facial expressions (like the goon at the end or the dude constantly gritting his teeth like an old Looney Tunes antagonist), some overall messier work, and the lighting was all over the place. A lot of shots just seemed a little bit too bright for the show. It’s not all unsightly, though. Sunrise have a weird, weird style, guys. There are some scenes that I think I like the looks of, much like some moments in Pretty Poison, but really nothing I was blown away by. I hear Akom did part 2, so I am actually genuinely excited to compare them. I’ve been okay with Akom so far.

So this sounds like a recipe for disaster so far, I know. But the episode is generally enjoyable, despite. I have no idea how they pulled it off either. Where the visuals fail, the magnificent, ballet-esque score picks up the slack. While the lines don’t always stick with me, they don’t downright flop, and the characters are great. Catwoman really impressed Char (who, once again, is a newcomer to the DCAU), and like some other rogues, I don’t know if she was necessarily expecting much beyond a typical villainess dressed in a distinguishable suit. In fact, I wouldn’t necessarily label Catwoman the villain at all. Yeah, she shows that she has a robbing hobby at the beginning, and I’m not gonna defend that, but she spends the rest of the time attempting to get her way with the animal preserve and genuinely showing that in some ways she’s pointed in the right direction. I’ll talk more about her character, along with Batman’s, in a bit, however. But before diving into some of the more social/psychological aspects, I wanted to note how fun the beginning of this one was too. It was a unique start for the series, and watching these two run around on the night rooftops is fascinating to watch. I was almost sad when it ended. Especially since a lot of the other action in this one was a lot more par for the course. When we cut to a police chase going on, I internally groaned just a little bit. I feel like that is one of the most common things to happen on this show, and there was no real twist on it. Things are calm and casual, then out of nowhere some guys with machine guns are being tailed by the police. Maybe I’m imagining things, but I think it’s getting a little bit stale. Oh, also, just as an observation, I felt like everyone was whispering throughout this one. Catwoman, Batman, and Red Claw all said their lines in such a soft manner, and while inside some of the buildings made sense, I’m surprised they didn’t have a tough time hearing each other on the rooftops at times. That’s what I mean when I say this one sounds like an early one. Anyone else feel me on this? Like, did the actors have to be quiet because another show was being voiced or something? That’s a joke, by the way.

A big plus was getting to dive into our main characters. Batman and Selena’s chemistry is fairly natural, despite them not sharing too-too many lines with each other, at least in costume. Yet it just works. Batman is a man of few words sometimes. I don’t think his ways of communication and relation necessarily rely on English. You get a sense of chemistry from watching them soar among the turbines, free fall toward the street, and basically try to keep ahead of each other in an almost playful way. We even see Batman crack a smile as he talks to his new, curious friend, and it’s not even weird to see. Add in that downright beautiful score, along with them mixing as their civilian selves, unbeknownst to them, and it starts to become a shame that you know that in their current ways, they’re not gonna work. It’s as both of them worked together to say; there is something in between them, that thing being the law. Parts of me reluctantly want Batman to just give in, but admittedly, that would be rather hypocritical of him. Ha. Yeah. Imagine how that relationship would go. “Hey, honey, have fun hitting the Smiths’ house tonight! I’m off to stop a robbery!” Would make for a decent parody, though, for sure.

Even without Batman, though, Catwoman is an interesting character. I love how strong and dedicated she is. She knows what she wants, and she’s not gonna back down until she obtains it. She goes a little too far with taking things into her own hands because, well, she’s literally taking things that don’t belong to her into her own hands, but you get the feeling that she works her ass off with her conservation efforts and doesn’t take shit. This is another factor that makes her relationship with Bruce so interesting. She first flat out tells him that she’s not interested in dating him. He politely asks her if they can just try it out once, she agrees, but she actually ends up cancelling to do something that she sees as more important. She’s not about to feel bad about it either, and why should she? You get the feeling that in some ways she is equal to Bruce, and if she were a lot weaker than him, then their midnight meet ups wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. By the way, a cartoon show displaying a strong, independent woman acting like a hero, but also performing cat burglary? Some parts of me are surprised that at the time this was let through. She is clearly someone to admire in some aspects, but not necessarily in others, which is kind of a complex, abstract idea for kids.

Of course, you wanna talk about strong women, we can’t leave out Red Claw, the terrorist leader. Now this lady, she is not someone I’d ever wanna mess with. She looks like she could pound me into a pancake with one whack. Char was not a fan of her design at all. When she walked into the screen, I heard her go, “That design is shit.” It didn’t strike me nearly that hard, and while I don’t find her to be awesome-looking, her design never really bothered me. Char mentioned it being the way she was proportioned. I did think that she looked a little bit…hm…maybe hefty is the word? But I sorta dig that choice. It adds to her intimidation-factor. She looks like she’d be a challenge for even Batman to square up with (even though this is likely not the case if we’re talking strictly hand-to-hand combat). But maybe the strong reaction to her design was simply Char finding the model off-putting, and maybe Akom can amend this next time. We shall see! I’m also hoping that she’s not wasted potential. I get that most of the emotional depth should be focused on Batman and Selena, that’s obvious. But I at least want to avoid Red Claw being obvious stock. We have a whole extra near-half hour to use, so let’s hope the writers learned from their light mistakes in previous episodes and deliver a thrilling conclusion. Char really loved this episode (she liked it a lot more than I did), and was very interested at what was going on basically the whole way through, plus I think Catwoman is going to be a new favorite of hers. Don’t want it to let her down! Even if this one is an episode that I don’t consider amazing, it brings me a lot of joy to see it getting so much mileage with someone else. This is part of the reason I’m doing these blogs, people, and I hope that many more of you in the future will end up following along and coming to your own opinions that you can compare and contrast with mine. It’s no fun if everyone feels the same way and makes the same observations, right?

Oh, we both agreed that this one had one of the best title cards so far, by the way. And after the episode is finished, you go from thinking it’s a Catwoman reference, to realizing that it almost seems to be referring more toward Red Claw with that scratch mark!

Char’s grade: A

Next time: The Cat and the Claw (Part 2) Full episode list here!

#dcau #dc animated universe #catwoman #the cat and the claw #batman #batman tas #batman the animated series #red claw

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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Resident Evil 2 Remake Will Have you Seeing S.T.A.R.S.!

I’m supposed to gather some electric parts to turn on the mechanism that opens cell doors in the underground jail cell. I found one after dodging vicious zombie dogs, and now I’ve found myself climbing back into the very police station I was trying to escape less than an hour ago. I know where I need to go--by now the police station is somewhat safe, and I know the best routes to get to where I need to go… until I find myself needing to extinguish a fire. "No problem," I say, and go about doing so with some easy exploring. Things are going well. I’ve got good health, ammo, and then… Mr. X happens. Suddenly, everything I thought I knew had changed.

All the skills I remembered from playing Resident Evil 2 20 years ago vanish, as the huge Tyrant hounds my every movement. Open a door too fast? Footsteps. Shoot my gun? Louder footsteps. Suddenly… a door opens that I didn’t open. I panic, and run. "If I can just get to the save room, I’m fine…" And then I hear it. A Licker. I ran too fast and too loudly, and with only a second to spare I dodge into the S.T.A.R.S. office, safe for now, and pause the game. My breathing is ragged and I put the controller down for a moment. I’m terrified, excited, and above all, happy. This is the best feeling in the world!

Resident Evil was always my favorite horror franchise, and Resident Evil 2 was the game I spent the most time with when I was younger. I played it more than I played any other game in the series until the co-op fest of Resident Evil 5 with my partner. The zapping system of Resident Evil 2 entranced me; the idea that a game had multiple storylines that interacted with each other, and that the game itself changed when you played it again blew my mind. The campy charm of the weird puzzles, esoteric nonsense, and scary but cool monsters made it all a blast. And then Mr. X showed up in scenario B, and I lost my little mind! I couldn’t believe a game could have a monster chase me, know where I was going, and make me feel unsafe in areas I thought I cleared. Fast forward to 20 years later, and I found myself doing the exact same things I did when I was a kid, totally amazed by the experience I was having, and watching as nostalgia mixed with the new experiences introduced in this remake to create something truly special.

There’s no real way to beat around the bush: the Resident Evil 2 remake is an amazing game! If that’s what you wanted to know, you can stop reading now and go buy a copy of it right this instant. It might even be my Game of the Year, and the year just started, and yes, I know that Kingdom Hearts III just came out. But the Resident Evil 2 remake has an addictive and entrancing combination of things going right for it that make the game not only thrilling to play, but a game you constantly want to get back to playing. To play again and see if you can get a better score than you did, how much ammo you could have saved, what route you might have tried to avoid Mr. X better the next time (For the record, my Leon playthrough resulted in a 7.5 hour B rank, and I’m already gunning for that A!). If you have played Resident Evil before, you’ll likely find a lot to love in this game, and if this is your first introduction to the series (or maybe second following last year’s also stellar Resident Evil 7), you’re in for a real treat. And there’s an odd magic to this remake; if you never played Resident Evil 2, it’s still an amazing game, and if you were a fan of the original, the Resident Evil 2 remake might transcend to be an almost perfect game. The graphics are amazing, and the combination of sound, lighting, and effects make the game feel tense and scary even in well-lit areas, and downright terrifying in dark ones. Each area of the game (there are 3 major ones) have a distinct feel and sense to them, making them unique and exciting to explore.

But much of that, frankly, you probably already knew. The game looks amazing and borrows heavily from the new engine used in Resident Evil 7, changing from the first person perspective of that game to the somewhat more traditional over the shoulder camera from Resident Evil 4 through 6. The controls are fluid, particularly when compared to the older “Tank Control” style of the original, but at times I found the game still had a weird inorganic movement to it that made avoiding enemies still pretty challenging in tight areas, as if the remake combined the two control schemes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4. This isn’t really a complaint, and if anything the Resident Evil 2 remake feels like the best version of Resident Evil controls since 5 (omitting 7 here since 7’s first-person view really changed the game experience). In terms of how the game feels, looks, and plays, there’s very little to complain about with this remake; it just works.

Perhaps the biggest discussion to bring up in terms of gameplay, however, is difficulty. I found myself caught off guard by the difficulty of the Resident Evil 2 remake even as someone who had played all of the previous titles, and even done runs of earlier titles at harder difficulty. Generally, I play the game on normal first, then go back and test myself with harder difficulty, or use easy difficulty to attempt a speedrun or pick up missed collectibles. In this remake, my first zombie encounter left me totally stunned and, honestly, panicking. I had shot him in the head 4 times… and he got back up! I found myself running low on ammo constantly early on because I kept trying to kill my enemies, angry at times that the monsters I had so easily killed when I was younger were now giving me trouble. And then I encountered my first Licker, and things changed.

This game is not about fighting. It is quite literally about surviving, which means making the decision of when to fight, when to run, and when to plan your next move. Normal difficulty will provide you with this question just as readily as hardcore will, and players should be prepared for that difficulty swing if they’re used to Resident Evil 4 style Super Secret Agent Leon, popping off Ganado heads and doing sick melee takedowns. You aren’t that Leon (or Code Veronica Claire) in this Resident Evil 2, you’re a person trapped in a hellscape with no way out and limited supplies. It was a funny thing to realize, because the term “survival horror” has rarely focused on the actual “survival” part, with more and more modern games focusing on early weakness transforming into endgame destruction on a grand scale as your character finds better weapons and levelled up. The Resident Evil 2 remake turns that on its head, instead focusing on making you think about the best way to get from point A to point B with the least possible risk to yourself. A mistaken calculation can cost you time, ammo, and health, and there are even times when you’ll need to judge if it’s better to take damage to avoid using up precious ammo, and you’ll certainly need that ammo when you face the bosses that this game throws at you occasionally!

Each boss fight is exciting and challenging, and while you may feel frustrated at the amount of ammo used, the game seems somewhat fair in helping you replenish yourself afterwards, and doubly rewards you for good planning and smart use of resources and your environment. At times I felt early on that I might struggle with the game and run out of ammo, but when I finally finished Leon A, I found myself literally swimming in ammunition that I could probably never use all of. Judicious use of non-combat items matters as well, and while the game doesn’t have a strict upgrade path like later installments did, you can still find ways to make your weapons better, usually by hunting safe combinations and exploring hidden areas off the beaten path. To this end, the map in Resident Evil 2 is an amazing ally and one of the best new features in the game. When you enter a new area, the map will turn red if there are any items, files, or important interactables to locate. The closer you get to that item (or, if like me, you actually brushed up against it but didn’t notice the prompt), the map will tell you exactly what that item is for you to go back and grab. Seeing what rooms were red and what weren’t really gave me a sense of knowing that I had finished an area (for the moment, at least), and tracking my progress in an organic manner.

One of the charms of Resident Evil 2, and the Resident Evil series as a whole, are its puzzles. It would probably not be incorrect to say that the Resident Evil games are actually puzzle games that occasionally have you shooting giant mutated zombies and other things. If you wanted to abstract that even further, it’s honestly fair to say that the avoidance and risk-reward routing through areas of Resident Evil 2 is a puzzle itself. This is probably also why Resident Evil 2 is one of the strongest in the franchise with its somewhat ridiculous set piece puzzles spread out around the police department. Finding weird keys, turning dials on giant statues, finding gems to insert into boxes are all within the game's experience, and it does little to ever try and make any of that make sense. In the Resident Evil 2 remake, there are a few attempts with the narrative change that the police station used to be an art museum, but it still makes little to no sense, and is lovable for it more than frustrating or silly. The sewer system, with its chess piece keys, is even sillier, and all in all adds up to what makes Resident Evil 2 so fun: its charm. The game has a weird charm about it that makes the experience fun to work through, even when fighting off flesh-eating monsters. The puzzles add a thoughtful but not particularly difficult wrinkle to that mix, making you think every action out in advance, and putting you on somewhat constant quests to find the one weird item you’ll need to open a door so you can collect a medallion to… well, you get the picture! All of that supposed backtracking may sound tedious, but it isn’t, because every time you venture back into the areas you’ve explored, not only might you find new secret places to explore or connect to, but the threats have likely changed too.

There are a few odd quirks to the game, however. One of which involves the DLC add-on that allows you to play the game with the original Resident Evil 2 score and sound effects for things like menus and typewriters; once I heard about it from friends, I bought it myself during the review and was blown away by how much it changes the experience! While it may not matter as much initially if you’re new to Resident Evil 2, playing with the original score was the missing component for me in some ways of merging the two versions of the game. Hearing the classic police station music play when I entered the main lobby was an amazing thing, and it made me feel like I was 20 years in the past, playing the game for the first time. Even if this remake is your first rodeo with the game, I honestly suggest getting the DLC to really complete the package; the new score is fine by all means, but the original score was a real work of art that fit the game perfectly. The added benefit of the Resident Evil 2 sound effects being thrown in was a great bonus.

My second issue with the game is voice acting. For whatever reason, Capcom decided not to use the union backed voice actors from past Resident Evil games; I’m not sure if development and recording for this game coincided with the SAG-AFTRA strike that took many voice actors out of games, but what I am sure of is that I think Capcom did the game a disservice by not working with the original actors to ensure the true feeling of Resident Evil 2 was preserved. The new voices of Leon, Claire, and the rest are fine, but they feel off or wrong in a way that you think you know what these characters might sound like, and they don’t. Some line readings are a little awkward (I’ve found this to be the case with Claire more than Leon), and while 20 years ago we might consider that campy charm, here it just sounds… odd. I don’t think there’ll ever be some way to fix this in DLC like with the music, and it makes me sad. I really enjoy the Resident Evil 2 remake, and don’t think I’d not play the game because of it, but I wish Capcom had waited or elected to pay the union actors and preserved the original personalities and intonations of the Resident Evil cast before release. As a few minor notes, if you get extremely anxious while playing horror games, or find games where monsters chase you constantly (like Alien: Isolation) hard to play, do know that Mr. X can be a bit of a handful (he’s really smart), but it doesn’t take up as much of the game as it seems. It can change the pacing and comfort level a bit, so be forewarned!

As we got our code right at release, I decided to take my time with the game and play through the storylines fully to see what the full game really had to offer. It may seem odd for a review, but here are a few tips that I learned while playing that I hope can help you out when you try out Resident Evil 2:

1) If you don’t think you’ll enter an area often or for a long time, aim for zombie’s legs rather than try to kill them if you can’t just dodge by them. It slows them down considerably and saves some ammo.

2) Blue herbs may seem worthless (there are like 2 enemies in the game that poison you) but can be combined with Red+Green herb mixtures to give poison healing but, more importantly, damage resistance! Great for boss fights!

3) Save frequently and cycle saves; I hunted a few trophies this way that I either missed initially, or would have needed to go back and do things I might not have done originally to get them.

4) Don’t worry about your ranking! That’s what replays are for! The game rewards multiple play through attempts through familiarity and speed.

5) Dogs suck. Run.

6) You get the ability to craft certain types of ammo. Always prioritize weapons that have scarce ammo but big impact on your play style or needs.

If you are a Resident Evil fan, you probably stopped reading this review after the second paragraph; the game is just that good and you probably already bought it. If you’re new or on the fence, or never got to experience Resident Evil 2 the first time, you should absolutely consider making this game part of your library. There are a lot of great reasons to play through the game multiple times, and Capcom has promised some new DLC expansions to add on to the game over time as well. Even without them, the Resident Evil 2 remake is an absolute blast of amazing gameplay and experiences that you’ll find yourself going back to again and again, wondering if this time, just maybe, you can get that S rank. So buckle up, take your G-Virus shots, and get ready to tag along with Leon and Claire.

REVIEW ROUNDUP

+ Amazing atmosphere, graphics, sound direction, and controls make this probably the best Resident Evil yet

+ There is a lot to do across multiple routes and reasons to keep replaying the game

+ It’s Resident Evil 2!

+/- Difficulty might turn off some at first, but it is worth sticking through and learning from your mistakes

- While almost everything else is fantastic, the non-union voice actors used instead of the original cast is a real letdown

Are you a member of S.T.A.R.S., returning for more? Or will this be your first encounter with Resident Evil? Let us know what you think of the game in the comments!

----

Nicole is a features and a social video script writer for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

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melonbreadreviews-blog · 6 years ago

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Playing ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ Three Years Later

I’ll admit, I’m often late to the party on major title releases in gaming. I’d like to tell you that it’s an intentional choice of mine, that it’s in my best interest to let the best and worst parts of these landscape altering pieces of art simmer in a pot together. I picked up Bloodborne on a whim three years after its release, and after about a two hour play session, I decided it wasn’t for me; three months later I was glued to my TV every night after work searching every nook and cranny that the hunter’s dream had to offer me.

My point is that buying a game upon its initial release is a commitment to either loving or hating that game. I often feel compelled to shower praise on the solid parts of games that I love, and pressure to explain with hyperbole the games I just couldn’t vibe with. Playing Bloodborne years after its release at a much lower price allowed me to put it down when I didn’t enjoy it, and pick it back up when I needed it. The parts of it that I didn’t like weren’t exacerbated by a pressure to validate my own experiences relative to the gaming community. Likewise, when i picked the game up again, I loved it not because I thought I should, but because the experience itself was legitimately breathtaking.

Three months later, set against the familiar hum and drum of my slowly dying Playstation 4, my experience with CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt begins. I tried to begin this same journey a few months earlier, but that run died on the starting line in a messy tutorial and a post-Bloodborne haze. One enormous Dragon Quest XI run later, and I’m finally ready to give this journey three years in the making a chance. My expectations are a mixed bag; I carry with me the influences of a thousand burning reddit threads and the weight of an inescapable question: Has this game aged well?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Witcher franchise (I’ve never read the series or played a mainline game before touching The Witcher 3, so you’re not alone!), the main plot of the game follows the journey of a Witcher named Geralt as he searches for his protege and ward Ciri while also fending off the primary antagonistic force of the game, the Wild Hunt. Witchers serve as bounty hunters of the region, often dealing with the monsters and villains ordinary folk are incapable of handling themselves. Throughout the game, players can feel the tension in the air between Geralt and the people around him, often including the ones he saves. Witchers exist outside the realm of normalcy in this universe, and to some extent the amount of agency the franchise gives you over the lives of the people who exist around you is a direct cause of the aforementioned tension. Though the social world Geralt inhabits mirrors the dangers of the physical world around him, there are romantic options in the game that allow for a deeper understanding of his character and The Witcher universe. The lore aspect of this game really separates it from similar titles in the same genre.

My first memories of the game still hold true, though my feelings about them have changed. I love the comic style art that flashes across the screen as the game loads, not because it matches the aesthetic of the game, but precisely because it does not. If I compare The Witcher 3 to other iterations of the same genre like Skyrim or Fallout, I find myself enjoying that not every moment of The Witcher is something that I need to take seriously. Sometimes, it’s okay to be reminded of the fact that I am actually playing a game and not living and dying by the decisions I make in this world.

That isn’t to say that decisions in this game don’t matter, though; I find that The Witcher 3 places weight on its decisions in a similar fashion to Mass Effect, rather than Skyrim or Fallout. There are several moments in the game that require a timed quick response in conversations or during action, and those quick responses sometimes dictate both the flow of ongoing dialogue and possible relationships with the characters around Geralt. There are even dialogue options that seem quite diplomatic on the surface, but end in brawls or even death for characters that the player did not expect. These moments are meant to teach the player just how much agency they have over the lives around them; sometimes Geralt feels like a god, and sometimes he feels just as vulnerable to the whims of the world as the people around him.

Normally, worlds that freely give that sort of agency to the player overwhelm me. I feel paralyzed by just how much my choices matter, and my love for the friends I’ve made throughout the story keeps me from playing the game as intended. Through the use of guides and reddit threads, I orchestrate my game in order to keep those characters alive, and that leaves me with less of an experience in the end. The Witcher 3, however, doesn’t leave me paralyzed in the same way. Because much of the main narrative is decidedly linear, Geralt is free to explore the world around him, which includes contracts to kill creatures and free spirits and occasional games of a fairly fun but not too complex card game called Gwent. Not every decision has a role to play in the main story, and the ones that do feel natural in the game’s flow. Geralt is both insanely powerful and incredibly vulnerable, but I never fear for the outcome of his story while enjoying the fun of making decisions.

The skippable tutorial of the game remains not so skippable considering the amount of experience I have with The Witcher 3’s combat, but I appreciate that I have the option of ignoring it if I decide to run through new game plus. It’s here that the meat of the game comes to the forefront. The reason I initially put down The Witcher 3 was because I didn’t enjoy the flow of combat, which includes the two primary slashing attacks with two variants of weapons, a myriad of magical powers called Signs, and the use of items like bombs, crossbows and oils which can be applied to Geralt’s main weapons. If you’re just judging the combat of the game on the first few hours, The Witcher 3 may not meet your expectations of a major title release. When disjointed in the name of learning, the combat feels clunky, and the first few contracts in the region, especially on higher difficulties, are a major challenge for the uninitiated.

But in the same way I came to love Bloodborne, I’ve come to adore The Witcher 3 because of my journey with it. Sitting through the first few hours of the game, especially in 2018, can be sort of a grind. The story has yet to materialize, the combat is underdeveloped, and Geralt himself can seem unrelatable, but as the hours move on, the game opens up in parallel fashion to the world it encompasses. The combat itself feels incredibly fluid, each piece of it tied together in a way that challenges the player to learn how to be a Witcher, while also rewarding enough to encourage growth and not detract from the side-questing and story that make this game fun. The Witcher 3’s systems include a hearty dodging mechanic that feels clunky outside of battle, but seamless in it, and a parry system that is absolutely necessary on higher difficulties. Geralt’s magic, Signs, interact with objects in the world, but they can also be morphed and shaped into crowd control devices. The ability tree is extensive, but in a way that represents a mixing of action and role-playing. Each playthrough can be different, but Geralt remains much of the same, just upgraded.

Though not combat in a traditional sense, I think The Witcher 3’s in-game card system, Gwent, represents an entirely different method of fighting for players. Though not required, there are various quests given to Geralt in different regions of the game which involved beating skilled Gwent players at cards. While the game involves a little bit of strategy, it’s never overwhelming, and because Gwent isn’t a major factor in the story, it’s skippable for fans who don’t enjoy it. I found myself going from inn to inn, challenging keeps to games for their best cards, and I really came to love a part of the game I didn’t enjoy all that much at first. It’s a missable portion of the game, but it definitely adds dimension to the gameplay without requiring too much effort on the part of the player.

Much of the game’s story is very compelling, and it isn’t saddled with an extensive lore that the player is forced to grapple with. There is lore, yes, but that lore is discoverable all over the world, and it’s the player’s choice to explore it, or not. There is a distinct moment in the first 20 hours or so of the game that allows the player to learn about about Geralt’s relationship with Ciri through dialogue options with another character. The player can listen to all of the heavy lore in the dialogue, or simply skip it. The Witcher 3 is chalk full of story, but it never asks the player to share the burden of that story. In much the way you can flow in and out of the narrative of the story through side-questing and contracts, you can simply choose not to pay attention to certain parts of the main quest line.

That isn’t to say that the story is lacking or is unfocused. There are reasons to want to stay on track, including a wide array of characters who are, though not as interesting as Geralt, incredibly complex. The Witcher 3 does a fantastic job of presenting its best qualities though, and those qualities encourage players to explore the world around them and creative a narrative journey that varies significantly from player to player. Whether or not a player values that storytelling approach, though, depends on their own taste. Personally, I found that I could have my fill of Gwent and monster hunting, and then pick right back up where I left the main story.

The Witcher 3 is not without its faults, despite my glowing praise up to this point. While the world itself is rendered beautifully, I found the interactions with other characters to pose the biggest problems for the game’s graphics. There were times where Geralt’s face would simply teleport all over the screen until the game was able to settle into the set animations for the dialogue, and I distinctly remember an interaction between Geralt and Triss Merigold which involved Triss pressing a hand to her face that was stuck in the Igni battle animation for fire. While these graphical glitches don’t detract from the overall product, they are wrinkles on the surface of the game that begin to show its age. I was surprised that the world remained incredibly stable, save for a few times I found my horse could fit between a clustered group of trees better than I could, while the dialogue options proved incredibly difficult for the animations in the game. It reminded me a lot of my time with Mass Effect, in both good and bad ways. There was a certain novelty, but maybe that novelty is a bit too dated for a Playstation 4 title.

I’d like to end this review where I started, and that is on the subject of playing games years after they’ve already debuted. I wish I was a strong enough person to not feel the pressure that comes with making a commitment to a new title, but I often let reviews and recommendations, either positive or negative, affect the way I experience games. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a near perfect example of my current status as a consumer, because I’ve been able to enjoy all the good that the game has to offer without taking the bad bits too seriously. I did expect the game to be great, of course, but I didn’t expect it to be perfect, and that’s partly because I don’t have a need to be justified in having purchased it. I haven’t tasked myself with deciding The Witcher’s place in history; that’s already been decided. So, for now, I feel quite content to stroll along cobblestone city roads and swampy marshes, living life as a Witcher.

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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

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Dark Alliance Reminds Us We Need a Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Remaster

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The verdict on the recently released Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is still being decided as fans and critics finally get their hands on the highly-anticipated Action-RPG, but you’re not alone if the mere thought of the game has you dreaming of a Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers remaster.

Released in October 2002 (a couple of months ahead of the film it shares a name with), Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers was a hack and slash action game eventually available for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube as well as Game Boy Advance and even cell phones. The story goes that publisher EA and developer Stormfront Studios were supposed to make a similar game based on Fellowship of the Ring, but in 2001, all parties involved realized that the game wouldn’t be finished in time for the movie’s global release. As such, the work that had gone into that title was carried over to an adaptation of The Two Towers.

We have to stop there for a second. See, it’s pretty hard to separate the Two Towers game from the Lord of the Rings films, and not just for the positive reasons you probably think of when you remember that game. While 2002 wasn’t quite the darkest time for video game adaptations of TV shows and movies, many gamers had been burned by half-hearted adaptations too many times before to be inherently excited about the idea of “living the movie” that we were still being sold on. There were some circles in which the mere mention of a Lord of the Rings game based on the beloved movie drew hesitant sighs and concerned groans.

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However, you also have to understand just how big The Lord of the Rings was at that time. Prior to Fellowship‘s premiere, the odds were good that you either grew up with the books and thought there was no way that the movies could do them justice, or you had never read the books but were feeling cynical about the idea of another franchise blockbuster after The Phantom Menance. In either case, what many of us saw when we first saw Fellowship of the Ring could only be described as magical.

The Two Towers obviously benefited from its association with a property that had ignited the imagination and spirits of film fans across the world, but one of the most fascinating things about the game wasn’t just that it would feature levels, characters, and footage from 2001’s Fellowship of the Ring but 2002’s The Two Towers as well. That meant Two Towers players would actually get to see and play parts of The Two Towers movie two months before it was released in theaters for a global audience.

It was kind of a gimmick, but it was a great one. Much like Enter the Matrix, The Two Towers initially sold itself on the promise of not just letting us dive into a world we loved but actually showing us parts of that world we hadn’t seen before. For a generation in awe that was still processing the grandeur and impact of Fellowship of the Ring, this was more than we could have ever dared ask for. It would have been enough if the games treated the source material with respect (which they did) but to offer us a preview of the movie we stayed up at night thinking of? It was an idea so far beyond what so many of us wanted: an excuse to be in that world for just a little longer and maybe even have our own adventure while we were there.

Yet, when I think back on the Two Towers or hope for a re-release, I rarely dwell on the ways that the game innovated. Honestly, I more often find myself thinking back on the ways that the game was so wonderfully simple and even familiar.

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Honestly, there’s not a lot that separates Two Towers from Double Dragon, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade games, and so many beat ’em ups of the golden era of that genre. In all cases, the premise is rather simple. You walk across linear, but often beautiful, levels and mash a few buttons to wail on the various enemies in your path. You may have to throw in a special attack here and there (and Two Towers utilized a basic character upgrade and experience system for good measure), but the formula is pretty much the same as it ever was.

Compared to something like 2001’s Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Two Towers was almost comically simple. In fact, I can remember some at the time referring to the game as a watered-down version of those more Diablo-like experiences. Honestly, it wasn’t an entirely unfair criticism if you were determined to stack those games side-by-side based on a few similarities. Games like Dark Alliance offered dozens (or more) hours of rich action-RPG gameplay in lush fantasy settings, and Two Towers could be beaten in a handful of hours with relatively little skill or effort.

Furthermore, it always felt a bit strange to boil The Lord of the Rings down to action sequences. The movies absolutely took the action scenes from the books to a new level, but the games made little to no effort to recreate or expand the more subtle storytelling and character-building elements that really made the books and movies everything they were. Just about any modern critique of The Two Towers game written by someone who has no nostalgia for the game would likely (and perhaps rightfully) focus on the game’s simple combat, abbreviated storytelling, and all-around basic nature.

Years later, though, that’s actually the aspect of the game that I feel has aged best throughout the years. I could rant about how Two Towers‘ short, sweet, and complete design is a breath of fresh air compared to the onslaught of open-world games that seem to secretly want to be live service titles, but the beauty of The Two Towers isn’t the idea it’s somehow this bastion of noble game design. It’s more about how it so perfectly represents the idea that a good beat ’em up never really grows old. From the original genre innovators to modern throwbacks and even those titles that tried to do a bit more with the genre (such as Rockstar’s brilliant The Warriors), these games offer a kind of simple pleasure that sadly seems to be harder to justify at a time of escalation in game production.

Mostly, though, fond memories of The Two Towers are rightfully often rooted in the thrill of experiencing a loving tribute to the early Lord of the Rings movies with friends. It’s been said that it’s easier to make a game where the joy of playing with others allows you to overlook game design elements that would otherwise bug you, and maybe there’s some truth to that. Even negative reviews of Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance published so far tend to mention that the game can still be a good time when played with others. It’s just more fun to play with friends, and you could certainly argue that there have been game developers who rely on that quality to sell games that would otherwise be unappealing.

The thing that’s easy to love about Two Towers is how openly it embraces that philosophy. The game isn’t trying to be much more than it is by forcing in systems and mechanics that ultimately bloat what the game actually does so well. Just about any gamer of any skill level with a friend by their side, an extra controller, and a love for The Lord of the Rings movies can hop into Two Towers and experience exactly what that game was meant to provide: a simply fun time designed to make you celebrate this thing you love and not feel exploited.

That’s what makes the fact that we’ll probably never get a remaster or remake of the Two Towers (or its exceptional follow-up, Return of the King) due to the complicated nature of the licenses involved so upsetting. WB mostly controls the rights to Lord of the Rings games now, and even if they were willing to allow EA to remaster or remake these games, it’s not entirely clear how that process would work or how much of the original games’ film footage and “DVD” extras could be retained. It’s always tragic when licensing gets in the way of our ability to enjoy a gaming experience, and it’s especially sad when licensing impacts our ability to enjoy a game that not only celebrated its license but gave many of us reason to believe in licensed games again.

Yet, I refuse to give up hope. As we near the 20th anniversary of Fellowship of the Ring later this year and the 20th anniversary of The Two Towers‘ game next year, now feels like the perfect time to revive these classic hacks and slash beat ’em ups. Without them, a new generation of Lord of the Rings fans must rely on dwindling backward compatibility support and emulations just so the idea of a simply enjoyable Lord of the Rings game easily shared with friends doesn’t go from history to legend and legend to myth as much that once was in gaming becomes lost.

The post Dark Alliance Reminds Us We Need a Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Remaster appeared first on Den of Geek.

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sketchiedetails · 7 years ago

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While I think Binary Domain is a fun action game with a great B-movie tone, I feel like its plot is trying to do way too much at once to make any of its core themes really stick.

Lemme just get this out of the way: Binary Domain is one of the funniest action games, both unintentionally and intentionally. The cutscenes have better comedic timing with their edits and performances than most Western games these days and that’s when the game is trying. There’s some jank in the game that comes across and adds another layer of bizarre humor to the overall package. If you played the game, then you know about Bo’s stare or even trying to rescue Bo at the end of the game.

It took me a while to warm up to the cast, but they’re all very likable with their exchanges and you really feel that they develop a sense of camaraderie by the endgame.

My problem with BD’s writing isn’t with the characters; it’s with the setting. I wanna say the central theme in Binary Domain is “loving someone shouldn’t change after learning they are different from you” but it comes way too late in the game to be properly expressed and the people who should exemplify that theme - Dan and Faye - don’t really have enough time to naturally develop that kind of relationship. They’re supposed to start out butting heads and that tension transitions into sexual tension and eventually love but it really only works if you keep Faye on your team from the very beginning of the game and never swap her out.

Dan and Faye’s love arc is part of my problem with the writing. Binary Domain’s setting very clearly treats robots as second-class citizens. They’re called “scrap heads” as a slur and it gets thrown around very liberally and later on people who sympathize with machines get called “scrap lovers.” It kept reminding me of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided when they tried to make “clank” a slur for augmented people. I find it weird that unanimously people are on board for treating robots so terribly. Everyone across the globe just universally agrees that robots need to be suppressed, and I guess Yoji Amada himself points this out and calls it “The Frankenstein Problem,“ where humans fear the things they create will surpass them. I get it’s a theme, but it feels like it’s half-committed. I don’t buy in a setting that everyone would completely agree on the same thing; there should have been other people in the setting to offer counterpoints to provide different takes at the issue.

On my initial run of BD, I assumed there was gonna be a point that the Hollow Children would prove that they were capable of being sentient and shouldn’t be suppressed, but no it never gets proven and the game actually kneecaps that possibility. Hollow Children are considered terrifying to people because they can pose as regular humans for decades and no one would know, even the Hollow Child wouldn’t know what they are until ... something happens? The game is trying to be like Blade Runner, but there’s no rules established to explain how people can discover if a person is a Hollow Child, and the true purpose for Hollow Children doesn’t get revealed until the very last chapter, and it doesn’t really justify their existence.

At the end of the game, Yoji Amada reveals that he isn’t really Yoji Amada: he’s a sentient AI that the original Amada created to prove to the rest of the world that it was possible and died by his creation out of fear that the IRTA would come - who better to describe The Frankenstein Problem then an actual Frankenstein’s monster? AI-Amada (AI-mada?) then proceeds to create Hollow Children because he needed to procreate like any other lifeform. His plan is to integrate his Hollow Children into the general populace and create hybrids which have both human DNA and ... Hollow Children DNA? (I’m not sure how it works biologically, but it’s interesting how this game cribs from Blade Runner and then somehow unintentionally predicts the main plot of Blade Runner 2049.)

So if Amada’s plan is to cause miscegenation between humans and Hollow Children, what is the point of creating male Hollow Children? It’s stated just before this reveal that female HC’s can conceive, but nothing about male HC’s virility. It’s shown that Amada can remotely hijack any Hollow Child anywhere in Japan, and that really doesn’t help the argument for Hollow Children since they pose a threat as potential sleeper agents.

The most important part of this reveal is that it turns out Faye is a hybrid - her father is human, and her mother is a Hollow Child. Amada captured Faye and by the time the Rust Crew reach them, she’d already been turned. Dan at this point had been stubbornly defending Faye against the rest of the Crew who automatically agree to put her down - it’s their job, y’know how it be - and a boss fight ensues with Faye leading a pack of ninja robots. The fight has moments where the player as Dan can issue voice commands saying they love Faye and don’t want to fight, but again the pacing here has sideswiped so fast and so frequently that none of this really feels earned.

There’s a recurring flashback Dan experiences throughout the game where he’s a child bashing in a robot’s face in his family’s kitchen. It’s implied that his alcoholic father beat Dan and his mother and the robot did nothing, so in a fit of impotent rage Dan retaliates on the defenseless machine. When Dan learns that Faye is a Hollow Child’s ... child, he returns to that flashback but it’s adult Dan kneeling over a battered Faye. It’s supposed to be symbolic of Dan overcoming his bigotry and accepting Faye to be as much of a person as he is; I read it as Dan being an idiot for most of his life and having an epiphany that the rest of the world should have had from the very beginning when they started focusing on robotics as their main source of infrastructure.

During my last run on Metal Gear Rising, I listened to as many of the Codec conversations as I could this time around. They offer some very detailed world building that the rest of the game itself couldn’t support at the cost of the game’s pacing. The conversations cover a wide range of topics concerning a world recovering after the fall of the Patriots. Cyborg soldiers took over as the main source of infantry in PMC’s, and the game dips into concepts about how the rules of engagement would work with cyborg soldiers, the logistics it would take to maintain a cyborg body, and the public perception of cybernetics in both a domestic and military context.

I’m not saying every game needs a codex section in their menus to explain the world and how it works (BD technically does have that via the info logs you can pick up in the game), but the setting should be internally consistent. MGR’s Codecs add flavor text to the world, but they also explain away the more gamey aspects of the setting, like why it’s important to the Doktor that Raiden collect as many left hands as he can or why some returning boss fights aren’t as imposing as their initial encounters.

Most of the time Hollow Children appear as a way to create a plot twist and shake up the story. Shindo’s right hand man was a Hollow Child and the rebel base gets attacked by a huge robot. The general at the beginning of the game who ranted about how the existence of Hollow Children was ridiculous turned out to be a Hollow Child. They exist in order to generate drama, much like how Dan and Faye’s relationship exists in order to challenge the notion that Hollow Children shouldn’t be allowed to live.

Binary Domain’s final boss turns out to be the Rust Crew’s commanding officer. I’m not sure if he states that the President approved it, but the US is going to take the Amada AI for their own purposes and kill the Rust Crew so the rest of the IRTA won’t know what happened. It’s interesting how all three games I’ve played to write these series of posts - Vanquish, Metal Gear Rising, and Binary Domain - all feature either final or penultimate bosses that are involved in some branch of the US government. Lt. Col. Burns and Major Philips are part of the Marines, and Armstrong is a US Senator. I hate to keep dumping on BD, but their plot twist just feels unnecessary and would be but it needs to happen in order for Dan and Faye to run off together and hint at potential sequels where Faye becomes a leader for Hollow Children resistance with Dan by her side.

As a piece of speculative sci-fi, I think Binary Domain has some faulty logic but I still enjoyed this game. The combat is slower and more plodding compared to the other two games I recently wrote about, but that’s the point of the gameplay. It’s a group of humans fighting machines who can be engineered to have an edge in fights where the humans have to rely on their wits and each other in order to win every battle. Also, Vanquish and MGR are Platinum titles, and every action game is gonna feel like a slog compared to a Platinum game.

I’ll have to amend my original thoughts about playing Binary Domain alongside Vanquish: you should definitely play those two back to back, but also add in Metal Gear Rising to that block. They’re all compelling action games with some interesting ideas about how war will look in the future.

#binary domain #metal gear rising #mgr #vanquish #thinking bout games

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xb-squaredx · 7 years ago

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Nier: Automata Review: Do Androids Dream?

2017 was a solid year for video games, and one unlikely candidate for Game of the Year for a LOT of people was found in Nier: Automata. A sequel and somewhat of a spinoff to Nier (which is itself a spinoff to the Drakenguard games), this game might prove to be the breakout hit of director Yoko Taro. While not quite a household name yet, Automata’s financial and critical success provides him with a decent foot in the door. While his games have a devoted cult following, this will likely be a great many gamer’s introduction to the man and his…interesting ideas on game design. Let us begin the weird, melancholy journey that is Nier: Automata and I’ll attempt to do so with as few story-spoilers as I possibly can.

Set far into the future, humanity has been driven off of their planet by aliens and their powerful machine lifeforms. With the remnants of humanity living on the moon, Project Yorha is created, a military force of powerful androids that work to repel the machines and take back the planet. The war has been locked in a stalemate for a long time however, and the story begins at a crucial time in the conflict, following the perspective of androids 2B, 9S and A2, androids at different stages of dealing with the constant struggle. The atmosphere of the game is definitely somber, downright heartbreaking at times, but balanced out with some odd humorous moments and sweet interactions, before the viewer’s heart is yanked out and shown to them. This isn’t a game to induce good feelings, is all I’m saying.

Obviously, the story is the biggest draw here, and I’ll take care to not say much more. Automata’s story details the ongoing conflict and questions what it really means to exist. The lines between humans, androids and machines and how blurry they really are; it gets quite existential. Along the way there is a good amount of foreshadowing and twists that, on a repeat playthrough, completely re-contextualize several moments in the game. There are several sequences in the game that are incredibly disturbing and will stay with me for a long time. An uncanniness in these metallic characters displaying human-like qualities, but being ever so slightly off. Automata isn’t quite a horror game, but it’s very haunting all the same as you explore the ruins of mankind with something in its place that feel like cruel imitations.

The voice cast is phenomenal, everyone knocking their roles out of the park. Kira Buckland and Kyle McCarley have a great dynamic in 2B and 9S, 9S in particular developing in an interesting manner throughout the game. Cherami Leigh plays the gruff A2 well and Alexis Tipton brings a lot of heart to the character of Pascal, one of the few friendly machines the player encounters. There’s a great amount of talent to be found in this game and it really makes the more emotional moments hit hard. Other aspects of the presentation are great; the music is the standout there, with hypnotic, somewhat haunting vocal themes throughout the OST, aided by slick visuals. I’m not a fan of the somewhat desaturated look the game is going for, I like vivid, colorful games myself, but it goes with the tone so I don’t mind too much.

Now, gameplay is where things get interesting. Any fan of Yoko Taro’s games will tell you that while his games are almost always interesting…they aren’t that great to play. This time around, PlatinumGames have been brought in to polish the action and the results are mostly fantastic, resulting in two companies playing to their strengths. While not nearly as in-depth as most of the action games in Platinum’s resume, Automata has their telltale slick and stylish footprints all over it. You can chain together simple attacks with a variety of weapons, from swords of varying sizes to giant fists and spears. All the while, you have a dodge that can allow for a counter attack if you time it right that seems right out of Bayonetta. Players also have a Pod accompanying them, a little drone that assists in battle. Pods work as a long-range option, their default attack being a gatling gun that sends bullets straight ahead, and can use Pod Programs as special attacks working off a cooldown. You can summon a shield or hit enemies with a big attack; it’s quite similar to Grimoire Weiss in Nier, for reference.

Adding to all this, players can use Plug-in Chips to customize your abilities. Augment movement speed, attack power, grant yourself a parry maneuver or slow down time after a dodge—there’s a lot of chips out there to really change things up. However, you have limited memory to work with and have to pick and choose chips that will fit, but in an interesting twist you can remove aspects of your HUD to free up extra space. If you really want that extra bit of attack power, then you don’t REALLY need that minimap or health bar visible, right? Just don’t remove that OS-Chip. You kinda need that to live. All and all, the combat in Automata isn’t quite as deep as Platinum’s other titles in terms of weapon variety or combos, but has plenty of options to keep it interesting. In fact, the gameplay itself will change up quite a bit throughout the game; you can pilot a flying mech or engage in hacking, the camera even changes to overhead or side-scrolling positions at times to keep things fresh. One thing is certain though: Yoko Taro LOVES bullet hell and you better be prepared for a LOT of that sprinkled in. Enemies frequently launch projectiles at you, but most can be cancelled out with shots from your Pod, though some require a melee attack to dissipate. These sequences can be a bit bothersome if you’re not into that genre, but if you stick with it I don’t think they’re too bad (up to a specific point that anyone who’s beaten the game will know anyway…).

The Platinum touch is very appreciated with the combat, though there are some elements that don’t come together as well I think. The bullet hell sections occasionally work, and sometimes they don’t. I find the changing camera perspectives to be disorientating more often than not, and more than one boss feels way more awkward than they needed to be. While battling against common enemies isn’t too bad, there are times when they seem to just…randomly ignore hitstun and attack me anyway, or else there are SO many enemies being thrown at you, and you can barely get a hit in before you have to dodge like mad. One area really stuck out to me; fighting a bunch of strong enemies in a little pit with a ladder in the center. The camera gets hung up on the geometry of the area and at times I’d accidentally attach to the ladder and be unable to escape as an enemy winds up and knocks off half my health. Most of the game is set up in wide-open areas at the very least, but to say every fight works smoothly wouldn’t be true.

But now we get to the BIG elephant in the room, one Yoko Taro fans know all too well: multiple endings. The Drakenguard games and Nier all have multiple endings and that much also holds true for Automata, but that isn’t to say you can beat the game once and are stuck with the ending you happen to get. The “endings” in Nier: Automata are less like endings and more like “routes.” Each new route you play through will add new elements that weren’t there before and eventually more parts of the story are shown. This isn’t like Ghost n’ Goblins where you beat the same game twice just for a slightly different ending screen; things can get VERY different as you go through later routes, but this does lead to a bit of repetition in a game that’s already filled with backtracking. Without saying too much, ending A of Automata is only about a third of the game as far as narrative is concerned and stopping there (where I fear a lot of people will) would result in a story that has potential, but doesn’t seem to conclude much of anything. So I will say this: keep playing. Square Enix even puts in a message at the end of the credits asking you to keep playing. I was invested enough to keep going and I was glad I saw the game through to the end. The REAL end. There’s so much more story, so much more variety to the gameplay after those credits roll the first time, and it’s sad that so many people will likely miss it because…well, we got to credits, so game’s over, right? But that isn’t how Yoko Taro thinks, for better or worse.

Speaking honestly, while I enjoy the game a great deal and really like the places the story goes…I won’t pretend that the decision to break the narrative up like that does the game a lot of good. I think it only harms the game, really. Compared to something like 999, a game that integrated the concept of new-game plus into its narrative in a way that made sense, Automata doesn’t handle it as gracefully. In 999 you can skip past dialogue and scenarios you have already done, but you aren’t so lucky in Automata. Granted, there are fairly significant differences that appear as soon as you start that second playthrough but it’s not exactly fun to go through the same story beats and wait to re-unlock fast travel again. I get what Taro is going for; only in video games can you do something like this. You can’t read a book, then go back to re-read a section and have new pages suddenly added. I can appreciate him for trying something different, but I question if that’s the best usage of the medium for telling a story. It might not be worth alienating people who don’t want to jump through all those hoops just to get closure to a story, nor is it going to help if people don’t know that the game has multiple routes in the first place. That Square Enix needed to put in a message after you beat the game is pretty telling.

Even without taking the multiple routes into consideration, I’m not fond of all the backtracking. While at times new things are added to locations you’ve already visited to keep it interesting, a lot of the time you’re simply going across the same four or five areas. I can’t tell you how many times you’re told to explore the factory that makes up the first “level” of the game. Often times this is for sidequests, sure, and thus the backtracking can be optional….but then again, the sidequests are so rewarding both in experience points and rewards, it’d be crazy to NOT do a good portion of them. On top of that, the areas just feel kinda empty, which might be the point. Still, navigation could be better. You CAN ride on the backs of animals to cut down on travel time…sometimes anyway, and you do get fast travel later on but it’s limited. Why is it I can save when I get close enough to an Access Point, but have to physically touch the Access Point when I want to fast travel? There’s even one extended sequence of “controllable helplessness” where you have to drag your limping body halfway across the game world that, while memorable…is memorable more so for dragging on WAY too long. It’s a bit of fat that could have been trimmed.

At the end of the day, Nier: Automata is a game I won’t soon forget, and it’s largely a positive experience. I do really enjoy it, even if at times the frustrations overwhelmed the good parts. Platinum and Yoko Taro’s team gelled together fairly well, resulting in something that’s solid in just about every fashion. The combat is slick and open-ended, the soundtrack is fantastic and the performances by the voice actors really sell the scenes and add a little extra heart to it all, but the fragmented story, constant backtracking and the rare shoddy battle here or there brings it down a bit. If you’re a fan of Yoko Taro’s work, you’ll enjoy it immensely and if it’s your first experience with the man’s games, you’ll still find a lot to like here. I WILL state that it would be better if you’ve played Nier beforehand, but there’s generally enough context within this game that certain late-game moments will…mostly make sense. You’ll just be lacking a bit of clarity. Glad I was able to get to this game before 2017 was over, and I would look forward to whatever Taro does next…because no matter what it is, it’ll be something worth talking about. See you next time.

-B

#xb-squaredx #blog #review #nier: automata #2B #9S #yorha no. 2 type b #yoko taro #PS4 #PlatinumGames

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soundwave-and-cassettes · 7 years ago

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DJD Odyssey

Etrian Odyssey is pretty much my favorite game series of all time. The wiki has a much more in-depth explanation, but basically they’re dungeon crawling/mapping games. The first two (and to a lesser extent the third one) are known for being very difficult, something later entries in the series have dropped. I have. Mixed feelings about this. A few months ago I played a bit of the original EO and found that it hasn’t aged very well, mostly due to a lack of convenience features like “comparing equipment in the shop to your current equipment” and “clearly displayed skill prerequisites” EO2 does have those things so I wanted to see if it’s held up better.

EO parties have five members. So does the DJD. They’re not going to translate into the game nicely with classes and/or portraits that make any sense, but ehhh.

Meet the team:

He’s a healer that can and will stab you. I chose the class for him because the portrait sorta kinda reminds me of @lickoutyourbrains human Tarn. (mostly just the dreds, but shhh) And because we need a healer or we will die immediately

Tesarus is mostly blades. This portrait is mostly blades. This is as good a match as we’re going to get. Landsknechts are basically the fighter class. They wear heavy armor and use axes or swords. Their skills aren’t very exciting but they can deal and take a good amount of damage.

The best justification I can come up with for this one is uh? Orange? I wanted to use a troubadour. Troubadours cast buffs and use bows.

The idea of a gun using a gun is very funny to me. Gunners have good damage, including elemental damage, but they’re pretty squishy.

Last but not least, Helex is creepy. I’m done trying to justify these. Hexers cast debuffs and status ailments, which are much more useful here than in most RPGs.

As a side note, I do own this game, but I have no way of taking screenshots from my actual DS, so we’re using an emulator.

Title screen. 3D on the original DS was a little rough.

I kind of spaced out on screenshotting the intro but the gist is that there’s supposed to be a floating city full of riches at the top of this labyrinth and lots of adventuring guilds are trying to find it. This game is pretty light on plot. After the intro we go to create our guild

You have no idea.

Now it’s time to play the game, and by play the game I mean create 30 throwaway characters, take their gear, and sell it to buy better armor so Tarn doesn’t get OHKOed by a hedgehog. Let’s say they’re traitors and we’re taking their stuff for the cause.

Our blood money isn’t going to go as far as you might think.

Buyin a gun for a gun

The shop selection isn’t great right now, but everyone has the weapon they need for their skills and enough armor to keep them from dying immediately. We have enough money for two nights at the inn left. Time to go hunt traitors hedgehogs and bugs! We’re level 1

Graphics! I actually think it’s kind of pretty.

Our first mission is mapping the first floor of the labyrinth, and we can’t move on to other floors until we do. A guard drops your party off in the middle of floor and explains how to map, but I didn’t get a screenshot. This was originally me showing a friend the game, not an actual LP, so it’s missing some pictures it should really have. If I do another installment it’ll be better

Our first encounter is indeed a hedgehog and two snails. This is basically the weakest enemy party in the game, but at this low level they can kill a party member if you’re stingy with heals or have really bad luck

This guy hit Tarn once. This is the second random encounter in the game.

And here’s our TP after 3 fights. The map isn’t done, but we really need to get to the inn.

Sure, ok. I’m not going to look this guard in the mouth.

First FOE! If you were on the internet c. 2008 you might remember the FOE meme. Anyway, they’re powerful enemies that will attack you if you run into their orb on the map (replaced with actual 3D models in later games). This one is stationary but most either chase the party or move in a set pattern. They generally can’t be defeated at the level you first encounter them, but maybe that’s obvious considering how deadly regular enemies are.

On to the second floor. No screenshot but 2F looks exactly life 1F so I don’t feel too bad.

The main difference is random encounters. Poison deals over half of a level ~5 character’s HP in damage at the end of each turn of combat (no status ailments, besides death, persist after battle in any EO). If your whole party gets poisoned, you basically have a turn to win or flee before you die. Later games made poison a single target attack, but in this one it hits the whole party (although it does have a chance to miss). This is a good and fun game.

We survived the venomflies and almost immediately walked into an FOE. Running moves you back a square and our backs are to the wall so

Yep.

This feels like a good place to stop (we have a save, I didn’t lose too much progress). All said I was pleasantly surprised by how playable this game is. It lacks a lot of the conveniences of the later EOs (and lower difficulty settings. If you want to get into the series maybe don’t start with this one) but it also has something the newer ones are missing. I’m struggling to put it into words but I’m gonna go with “sense of helplessness”. The most recent game is a remake of this one and the “expert” difficulty setting is roughly equivalent to this game, enemy stat wise, but it doesn’t feel? Unfair? Like this game does? I am not selling this game at all. Maybe I’m just a masochist.

Anyway, if you want more of this LP-type thing or have any feedback, please tell me. Thanks for reading!

Stats at the end of part one:

#Tarn #Tesarus #Vos #Helex #Kaon #DJD Odyssey

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entergamingxp · 5 years ago

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The Definitive Ranking of Every Halo Story Campaign

April 9, 2020 2:30 PM EST

After playing through every mainline Halo game over the past year or so, here’s how every entry’s campaign stacks up against the rest.

For the past year and a half or so, I’ve been gearing up for the release of Halo Infinite by revisiting every mainline game in the series. Despite having played nearly all entries countless times, this was the first instance in nearly a decade that I was finally returning to some of these classic shooters. I also did this seven-game playthrough with fellow DualShockers writer Michael Ruiz, and speaking for us both, I think it ended up being some of the most fun either of us have had with video games in a hot minute.

Of course, now that I’ve finished my playthrough of the saga, there’s only one thing left to do: rank every game in order from worst to best. Using math, science, and my own objectively correct intuition, I’m going to let you know which Halo game is the cream of the crop and which ones just can’t match up. You’ve surely seen Halo game rankings, but I can promise you: this is the only one on the entire internet that is completely factual.

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Also, as the title indicates, my rankings here are only going to be based on the campaigns from each Halo entry. While I have spent a fair amount of time with each game over the years and can still recall my feelings of multiplayer, Forge, Firefight, Spartan Ops, and a variety of other features that have been present, we’re just going to be sticking to nothing but campaigns for this ranking. So before you go yell at me in the comments and tell me that I should’ve put one game higher or lower than another, keep this in mind.

7. Halo 5: Guardians

If you clicked on this article and expected to see Halo 5: Guardians in last by default, well, you weren’t wrong. Unlike a lot of other fans, I really didn’t remember strongly disliking Halo 5’s campaign before playing it again here recently. Upon finishing it up a little under a week ago, yeah, I can now reaffirm that it’s definitely not great.

Overall, there isn’t one major thing I can point to in Halo 5 that makes it a lesser experience than every other entry. Instead, it’s a death by a thousand cuts situation. Most notably to a lot of fans, myself included, playing as Locke and Osiris Team for 80% of the campaign isn’t as fun as it is to play as Master Chief. Then there’s also the fact that the squad-based gameplay that 343 tried to lean into with this entry just doesn’t work well at all. Since the game is more focused on fighting as a team, 343 littered the environments with way more enemies than in past entries, leading to me and my companions being downed in this installment way more than any other Halo campaign. Plus, I cannot begin to express how lame it is to have to fight one boss nearly ten different times over the course of the game.

There are some redeeming aspects of Halo 5, but those mainly are present in the game’s multiplayer offering, which, as I said, isn’t being taken into account here. As such, Halo 5: Guardians easily stands as the worst in the series and makes me somewhat nervous about Infinite‘s prospects later this year. If anything, I’m glad that Halo 5 at least prompted 343 to return to the drawing board and create an entirely new engine before continuing on with the development of the franchise.

6. Halo 4

This one was actually really tough for me because largely, I think Halo 4‘s campaign is pretty darn good. For 343’s first outing, Halo 4 ended up boasting a tight, concise campaign that feels excellent to play. Like, seriously, before 343 really mixed up the franchise’s control scheme with Halo 5, 4 was the best installment in the series by far with the “classic” shooting stylings. Not only that, but all the new additions to the game in the way of new enemy types, new weapons, and new vehicles all felt great to me.

I think the only reason it didn’t end up going higher on this list is just because I really cannot get invested in the new direction that Halo 4 took the series’ story. Look, I’m not a big Halo narrative guy by any means. I’ve never read any of the novels, listened to spin-off podcasts, and honestly, I don’t care if that TV show ever gets up and running. Still, I just find it hard to care about Master Chief’s current struggle with the Forerunners. DualShockers‘ own Steven Santana wrote a piece for us a few months back talking about how Halo‘s storytelling felt better when it was smaller, and I totally agree with that. For all of the qualities of Halo 4 that I like, I wish it was a bit easier to get invested in.

5. Halo 3

Despite being the game where Master Chief finishes the fight, Halo 3‘s campaign isn’t as great as I remember it. Yes, there are standout levels like The Covenant and Tsavo Highway that are excellent, but it’s the missions in between that I forgot were so straightforward and bland until this recent replay. This isn’t to say that the campaign is bad though, because it absolutely isn’t. Halo 3 has so many memorable moments, it ends on a high note, and altogether just wrapped up the initial Halo trilogy in a fantastic way.

Halo 3 is arguably the zenith of the franchise’s popularity and it’ll likely never get bigger than it was when it launched in 2007. Even though it’s my least favorite installment in Master Chief’s original three-game outing, Halo 3 is still excellent in its own right and is a game that an entire generation of players will look back fondly on for years to come.

4. Halo: Combat Evolved

It’s honestly wild how well Halo: Combat Evolved holds up. For a game that is nearing its twentieth anniversary (that’s so bizarre to even say), Combat Evolved still feels fresh to this day. Having played through the game countless times in my life already, I was really surprised in this most recent playthrough at how fun the game still is. This just speaks to how well-polished and realized Bungie’s initial outing was on the original Xbox.

Comparatively, Combat Evolved doesn’t reach the same highs as other campaigns in the series, but from front to back, it’s still a much stronger experience than a handful of other installments. As such, it slots in nicely right here in the middle of the pack.

3. Halo 2

In the opening hours of Halo 2, Master Chief prevents a bomb from blowing up his ship. He then drags that bomb with his bare hands to an airlock, jumps out into space with it, flies into the middle of a Covenant ship, and then detonates it before safely landing back aboard his own aircraft.

Halo 2 is far and away the most memorable campaign in the Master Chief line of Halo titles, which is crazy because you don’t even play as Chief in about half of the game. Bungie’s bold idea to place you in the shoes of the Arbiter, the initial antagonist of the first Halo, paid major dividends in this sequel. Not only did this decision help spice up each mission a bit and make them feel more varied, but it further fleshed out the world of Halo to great effect. The way that Master Chief and the Arbiter’s stories also end up crossing over near the conclusion of the game is also fantastic.

Halo 2 also just has so many little things that really put it over the top, too. The game’s score features the work of legendary guitarists Steve Vai and John Mayer, the ending cutscene is perhaps one of the most iconic in the history of video games, and the Anniversary edition which launched with Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a truly fantastic remaster. If Combat Evolved was the game that brought console shooters to the masses, this sequel is what made Halo a household name.

2. Halo: Reach

From the outset of Halo: Reach, you know how the campaign is going to end. Not only had Reach’s history been well-documented in Halo lore, but the campaign opening itself makes it clear that you will not be surviving this mission. And with this at the forefront of your mind, it makes Reach all the more compelling and intriguing to play.

Even though the entire Halo series is set on the backdrop of war, Reach is really the only game that captures that wartime atmosphere. Some of the missions within Reach are set on the backdrop of massive battlefields, reminding you constantly that you’re just one cog in this larger scheme. Plus, Reach is one of the few Halo entries that actually makes the Covenant feel threatening, unlike the fodder that they can sometimes be for Master Chief. Reach also makes you feel overwhelmed in the best way possible, with the epilogue mission really nailing this idea more than anything else.

Bungie really went out on a high note with Halo: Reach. Not only is the storytelling and journey of Noble Team perhaps the best single arc in the series, but some of the new ideas, guns, and mechanics that were introduced here worked incredibly well and are still present in the franchise to this day. Bungie was really starting to take the Halo saga in some interesting directions before its work on the series ended. At the very least, I’m glad that the studio gave us Reach before moving on.

1. Halo 3: ODST

I’m going to be honest: I’m shocked that Halo 3: ODST ended up reaching the top of my list here. To me, stepping into the shoes of an overpowered super soldier is half of the allure in playing each Halo campaign. For the best installment in the series to end up being the spin-off entry of Halo 3 that doesn’t have you playing as a Spartan and instead forces you to utilize a faceless, voiceless soldier shouldn’t work as well as it does, but here we are.

Compared to every other Halo entry except for maybe Reach, ODST just oozes a distinct tone and feeling that is never present in other campaigns. Backed by the best Halo soundtrack of them all, ODST‘s focus on isolation in a somber environment makes it wholly unique compared the loud, bombastic tone that is frequently found in other installments.

More than anything though, I think what I realized I loved the most about ODST was just how the campaign was constructed. Instead of just going from one mission to the next without pause, Halo 3: ODST is a semi-open world title for some brief portions. You’ll have to wander around the streets of New Mombasa and try to figure out what happened to the rest of your squad before being launched into a flashback sequence that details what they’ve been up to. It’s a simple idea on paper, but it’s one that makes ODST feel more cohesive in its storytelling than any other Halo campaign.

I’ve had a lot of ideas in recent months about how 343 Industries should look to construct Halo Infinite’s campaign and I really hope that they look to ODST for inspiration. While we don’t know what Infinite might look like just yet, if the game does go in a more open-ended direction, ODST‘s template blown up on a larger scale could potentially work out really well. If the Halo series wants to bounce back moving forward, 343 would be smart to borrow ideas from the franchise’s best campaign of them all.

April 9, 2020 2:30 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/the-definitive-ranking-of-every-halo-story-campaign/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-definitive-ranking-of-every-halo-story-campaign

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morshtalon · 5 years ago

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Majin Tensei

(Part 6 of the MegaTen thing)

Welp, Majin Tensei was a thing, wasn't it? Not a lot of people have played it, almost no one remembers it, there isn't a page on it on tvtropes, and the SMT wiki itself just has a few short articles here and there, but it sure did exist! It even spawned a sequel that, to my knowledge, gathered a bit more notoriety.

But why is it that the game flew under the radar like that? Well... Probably because the fan translation patch only came out in 2018, but I feel a little more comfort knowing about the game's obscurity, even compared to other titles in early SMT history, and imagining it to be the byproduct of the effect the game's quality had on the few people that actually did play it.

I say that, of course, because Majin Tensei was quite a miserable experience for me. It's a tactical RPG spinoff that translates series conventions into a strategy game format (Yes, another spinoff, but at this point I'd like to think MegaTen is kind of an all-encompassing thing with no true mainline games and spinoffs, just a whole bunch of products with baseline thematic/gameplay similarities organized under different banners representing closer similarities). Now, I have no problem with tactical RPGs at all, and some of the most fun I had back in 2017-2018 was when I started to work through the Fire Emblem series, but playing tames like Majin Tensei really helps one visualize exactly how all the elements piece themselves together to create a stimulating sRPG experience in a Fire Emblem title, and when these elements are not well-balanced, sometimes even at a level that you wouldn't realize at first, much frustration can ensue.

Naturally, the reason I say that is because Majin Tensei takes a lot of inspiration from Fire Emblem. The maps are similarly structured top-down boards, there's different types of terrain affecting movement one way or the other, there's a bunch of "classes" (a nice opportunity to make the demon races a little more distinguishable from each other), the attacks consist of the attacker striking then the opponent countering, your units are blue while enemies are red, and in general it just seems to operate through the same rough guidelines as an FE title

However, just as much as it takes mechanics from FE, it also changes around a lot of other stuff and introduces quite a few quirks that help distinguish it and make it a unique (said in a not particularly favorable or unfavorable way) experience. Let's make a rundown and compare them to how it would be in Fire Emblem!

Stats work much more like they do in MegaTen. On level-ups, you can select which stat you wish to increase; HP goes up to 999 instead of the mid-to-high double digits; levels go up to 99 instead of 20 or so; demons don't level up, but they can sort of pseudo-level up and acquire skills which can be passed on to demons made with them through fusion (I realize now, I think this is where the skill inheritance comes from. Huh...) and it plays a lot more like a translated regular RPG than something specifically tailored for the format it's using. I don't think I need to point out the likelihood of something that borrows mechanics from a different subgenre being better than something that was originally crafted for use in an sRPG (it's pretty minimal), but regardless, the point is, the attack/damage formulas and correlations of Majin Tensei are very difficult to pin down. In an RPG, it's completely fine to play around with unpredictability, but in a tactical game, you need to give the player agency and control over the game's minutiae to better allow them to piece a plan together. In Fire Emblem, the numbers are very low, and formulas are simplistic enough that the player can do some basic math and map out a course of action several moves in advance. Not so much here, as the eluding nature of the relations between strength, defense and damage means that you'll be going into most fights guesstimating what their result will be. That being as it is, the game's design isn't too concerned about tightly creating stages and enemies to take advantage of the player's exposure to this degree of information, and most maps feel much less involved than anything an FE title can offer. I'm not saying Fire Emblem is perfect or anything, but it does provide good insight into how to approach the RPG elements of something like this, while Majin Tensei, aiming to simulate the inner workings of more normal franchise titles, sacrifices immersion and makes a lot of maps dull because of that.

Oh, and rest assured, there's no shortage of them. While most FE titles hover around 25 maps, Majin Tensei has a staggering 59 scenarios, some of which far bigger and more filled with enemies than an average level in FE. I'm not exactly sure how long the game is, because it doesn't keep track of playtime, but it felt like an eternity. I was hoping the game would end at scenario 25, because it seems like it's at a point where it reasonably could stop the plot, but nope, it only stops after more than double that amount.

But if you thought only some vague notion of stat design is what made me deem the stages uninteresting, boy, you've got another thing coming. First of all, there's only one set of tracks (player phase, enemy phase, neutral phase) through the entire game, with the rare exception of boss maps, which use a single track that's shared between all of them (for all phases), and the final boss which also gets a unique track of its own. For comparison, Mystery of the Emblem has 3 sets of tracks and 24 stages, and Genealogy of the Holy War, though it is 2 years younger, has a unique set of tracks for every one of its 12 chapters. I will say, the music in Majin Tensei is quite good. It has a nice collection of samples, some enjoyable, prominent basslines, and encapsulates the chaotic setting and tone quite beautifully without having to resort to power rock stuff like SMT 1 did (I like the music in SMT 1, by the way, I just think the soundtrack here is a bit more matured). I actually think the tracks themselves are superior to the ones in all Fire Emblem titles for the Super Famicom. But man, listening to Flame Up Fragment's intro for several turns through 52 or so stages really starts to get under my skin.

Secondly, many stages are wide open fields, and the game tends to make enemies haul ass towards you whenever it can. This means that, optimally, you're just gonna bunch up somewhere narrow and relatively safe-ish and wait for the main wave of enemies to come toward you instead of doing anything yourself. Later maps have generators that basically serve the same function reinforcements do in FE, so you're gonna have to move to block the generators at some point. It can't help but feel arbitrary, though. You're not moving because you have to, or because enemies are trying to lure you to then, or because of a natural reason like that. You're moving because the game put some generator on the opposite end of the board, and even though the enemies the generator produces are hilariously underpowered compared to you, the stage requires you to defeat all enemies, and before you can kill a wave of generator guys, another one is produced, so you have no choice but to block it. I realized through Majin Tensei that destroy all enemies is a very risky thing to make your baseline objective for scenarios. It's kind of like if you were forced to kill reinforcements on a Fire Emblem map.

Point is, there's a lot of waiting involved, way more than in FE, so you'd at least expect them to include ways to expedite the process, right? Well, if there are any, I sure haven't found them, and you can bet your ass I tried, a lot. There's no way to speed up or skip enemy phases, and scenarios can have up to a maximum of 30 enemies in them. Furthermore, the AI takes a fraction of a second to decide where each enemy will move to, and that fraction of a second adds up pretty fast. There's a scenario late in the game that I swear was designed to annoy the player into ultimate frustration. Throughout the map, there are 30 level 3 kobolds spread out randomly. However, there are generators at key points, and whenever you kill a kobold, the generators immediately spawn another one until there's 30 in the map once again. Since at that point you are omnipotently stronger than this type of enemy, you're not really gonna bother summoning a lot of your demons, because it's just gonna be a waste of money and magnetite, so you just choose 3 of the good ones and leave it at that. So, each turn, the AI takes upwards of 2 and a half minutes to move all its units, then you move yours closer to the generators for five seconds, rinse and repeat. Heaven forbid you actually get surrounded by a bunch of them, because the combat "animations" (really just a barely animating sprite of the target getting struck by a generic RPG slash effect) also can't be skipped. It got to a point where I was so bored and frustrated, I did something I've never done before in any game in my life: I used emulator tools to fast-forward through enemy phases. Being a borderline OCD player who abhors the use of tools and even sometimes forgoes using mechanics in remakes that didn't exist in the original versions of the games, you can see how miserable I was.

I guess I should take some time to say, the artwork in the animations is very detailed and big compared to other games so far in the franchise. The demons look pretty good, but I feel like sometimes they're drawn a little weird, like Orthrus having some weird proportions and Maya looking unintentionally hilarious. There's also very rampant palette swapping, to the point where it can sometimes kill the excitement of seeing a new demon on the map because you know they're gonna look the same as 3 others. The most egregious example I could find was Empousa looking the same as Abaddon, of all things, which I found extremely odd when you compare it to any other game in the series. Some of the fairies and catwomen look really sexy, drawn with no clothes, and have a flirtatious personality, but I can't see anything other than a group of middle aged japanese men getting all hot and bothered writing the lines for these demons.

Overall, the game is, again, pretty easy. Not because of anything the player will feel is their own credit, but because periodically, neutral demons will show up. While enemies have a variable chance of even beginning conversation with you (from 0% to 80% depending on the phase of the moon, which changes at the beginning of each player phase), these demons will pretty much always talk to you (the game says 80%, but I never had it fail) and have no level restrictions to enter your party, unlike demons you can make through fusion and enemies you can convert. Most of the time, these neutral demons are massively overpowered, far stronger than anything else you'll have for several maps, and when you do get to the maps that have similar enemies, your own troops will all be at the maximum pseudo-level, so they'll still curbstomp the enemies into oblivion. Only at the tail end of the story do you ever have to really start taking relationships between demon races seriously into account and use your minions cleverly, but still, all you have to do is watch the effectiveness indicator at the bottom left. If you still find it too challenging, you can save at the beginning of every turn, which... Never really goes well for these types of games in terns of presenting the player with a reasonable, well put together challenge. Since you can fix mistakes at a moment's notice by save scumming, being careful is hardly ever necessary, and since demons aren't unique, there's nothing preventing you from sacrificing a few for the greater good, so it's very, very rare that you'll have to use your brain much. This is a strategy game, and you can just blast through most things!

The only stage I found truly challenging was scenario 45, I believe. It's actually the same premise as the kobold level from earlier, except when you kill an enemy (and you will, because they suicide on you), the generators, which are far out of the way and are only accessible by flying units, replace them with level 50 leviathans instead. The whole level turns into a race as you have to use your fliers to quickly cover the generators while trying your best to delay the onslaught of leviathans as much as possible, then carefully manipulate positioning and backup troops to minimize the damage that the leviathans that inevitably start pouring out after a while deal to you. It's a rage-inducing level at first glance, but it was pretty much the only time Majin Tensei actually delivered a well thought-out stage that has its concept introduced earlier then turns it into a game of using your units for purposes that require out-of-the-box thinking (like using your fairies as meat shields because they can't kill level 3 enemies in one hit). I would have appreciated the game so much more if it were just 18 or so stages of clever stuff like this. It would have been harder, sure, but damn man, this genre is basically made to offer a more thinking experience for the player, and Majin Tensei does have a lot of mechanical complexity with all the correlations between things, so why does it only use it in extremely rare occasions like this?

As it stands though, Majin Tensei was loathsome to me. All the things I appreciate about it are for the vast majority of the game in service of a dull, neutered tactical experience that offers little over passively going through the motions 59 times in a row until you get to the end. There's a plot, but it's hardly even worth talking about. It's a spinoff, so the game feels it can just do the same shit over again, and it's basically one long trek through Tokyo, then the underworld, then it ends. There's nothing stimulating about it other than some questions the demons ask the hero pertaining to the reasons why he's fighting or something, but it's so underdeveloped, nothing substantial comes from it. There are multiple endings, but it has nothing to do with law or chaos, it's just standard good/normal/bad endings. Maybe the good one offers some more closure, but it's still an overly simple plot spread as thin as possible among the game's sheer bloated girth. It's exhausting just to think about it.

Given that, this game is a 2.9 out of 10 for me. Yeah, that's pretty low, and I considered giving it a higher score based on its sort of complex mechanics and enjoyable interactions, but while playing I felt nothing but boredom and irritation, and while it felt like an eternity had passed while I was playing it, now that it's over, it feels like it came and went in a nanosecond. I'm actually starting to think it was just some weird fever dream I had, and thinking about it definitely brings me images of being sick, so take that for what it's worth.

#majin tensei #megami tensei #shin megami tensei #review #rpg #game #criticism

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ciathyzareposts · 6 years ago

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Crusaders of the Dark Savant: Summary and Rating

Kind-of a weird image choice for the box. Is that supposed to be one of the “maps”?

Wizardry: Crusaders of the Dark Savant

(Generally known as Wizardry VII but never called that in the game or documentation)

United States

Sir-Tech Software (developer and publisher)

Released in 1992 for DOS, 1994 for FM Towns and PC-98, 1995 for Playstation, 1996 for SEGA Saturn; re-released in 1996 for Windows and Macintosh as Wizardry Gold

Date Started: 20 August 2018 Date Ended: 2 December 2018

Total Hours: 108

Difficulty: Moderate (3/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at Time of Posting: (to come later)

In my many entries on Crusaders of the Dark Savant, I’ve painted it as a game that tells a mediocre story, does so ineptly, and usually doesn’t take its own story seriously–at least not until the end, when it becomes almost comically full of pathos. It also has a way of feeding the player over-wrought prose, often one line at a time, multiple times, with no way to escape. I hold to these criticisms as we enter this final summary, but as in the case of many other games we’ve seen on the blog–the Ultima series primary among them–my criticisms have to be understood in the context of the fact that few other games of the era offered enough of a story to make such criticisms possible. A game that offers no backstory offers nothing to make fun of. One that puts itself out there with a detailed backstory and complex plot offers dozens of things to react to.

I don’t apologize for a blog whose purpose is to chronicle these reactions, from the perspective of a modern player, but I do apologize if I don’t put sufficient context around my criticisms, or if I don’t balance them by highlighting the positive content and mechanics of the game. Looking over my previous entries on Crusaders, I don’t think I conveyed often enough that even though I had some issues with some of the storytelling and other content, those reactions were in the context of a title that kept me up all night playing. Even in the “game world and story” category, Crusaders is going to perform well.

One of the more broadly-drawn and poorly-explained factions in the game.

Part of my reaction to the plot is personal preference. I will always prefer the low-key, locally-relevant story to the world-threatening catastrophe. Give me the party trying to clear out the slums of New Phlan instead of the one trying to save the universe. You think that higher stakes might make a more epic game, but I find that the opposite is true–that there’s more opportunity for deeper and more realistic characterizations of people and places when the scope of the game is smaller. The Fallout games all do a good job in this regard. None of them invite you to save the world from a nuclear war. You just get to make your little corner of the world a little better.

In this case, though, the nature of the threat isn’t even really clear, partly because the characterizations of key NPCs are so thin. Who is the Dark Savant? Where does he come from? What are his motivations? Again, what the game gives us is, unquestionably, better than the standard “evil wizard” with no background who appears in 90% of the games before this one. But in some ways that just makes this experience all the more unsatisfying.

Is it a time for a new purpose, or a new perception of purpose?

Nothing in the game is more frustrating than the character of Vi Domina. She shows up in the backstory, scantily-clad, sporting a mechanical arm and visor, like someone’s cyberpunk cosplay fantasy. When she finally appears late in the game, she’s more of a naif than someone whose name all but demands that you add a “trix” to the end. You’re told repeatedly that she’s a “warrior,” but she never seems to fight anything. For the final chapter, she’s everywhere, and and the game trips over itself telling how how awesome she is and how much you love her. Literally some of the last lines tell how you “are pleased to be in the company of such a pleasant traveling companion and new partner.” I don’t like it when games tell me what my characters think, especially when they haven’t earned that right by giving me any insight into the character’s backstory or motivations.

This is laying it on a little thick.

The story is attributed to David Bradley, although I don’t know how much of it is wholly his creation. It’s no secret that I had a near-immediate negative reaction to Bradley when I first started playing Wizardry VI, what with the ridiculous photograph and cringe-worthy interview that appeared in the game’s cluebook, plus his insistence on dropping his name on literally every page and calling the game a “fantasy role-playing simulation.” Too much authorial presence breaks the fundamental illusion of a game, book, or even a blog. I’ve run afoul of this myself. Audiences want to be able to take what they read seriously, authoritatively, and they can’t if they feel that someone ridiculous is feeding them the story. (I often wonder how many readers Terry Goodkind lost by putting this picture on his books.) I realized writing this that I have no idea what specific individuals to credit for most of my favorite RPGs, like Baldur’s Gate and Morrowind, and perhaps that’s a good thing.

But it’s worth remembering that I had issues with Bradley even before I knew who he was, with the absurd NPCs in Wizardry V (e.g., the Duck of Sparks, Lord Hienmiety, the god La-La and his priest G’Bli Gedook). Bradley is fond of broad humor–the type that that favors ridiculous names with long o sounds (“Phoonzang,” “Bambiphoots”) or puns (“Ratsputin,” “Blienmeis”) that most of us grow out of by age 10. I’m sure he had a clear idea in his own mind about the Dark Savant and his Mary Sue Domina, but I don’t think he conveyed their story competently.

And it begins.

Having said all of that, it’s important to keep in mind that in my complaints, I’m evaluating Crusaders against a modern game, or an “ideal” game, rather than other 1992 games. Compared to its own contemporaries, there’s no question that Crusaders deserves a high score in the “game world” category. More important, it deserves high scores in the equipment, combat, and character development categories. The mechanics of the game are excellent. The worst thing Bradley could have done when taking over the series was to jettison the approach to combat introduced in the first Wizardry, but he did a good job keeping its fundamental tactics alive. He, or someone, deserves credit for perfectly balancing the “rest” system. If it had restored everything, as it does in Might and Magic, the game would have been far too easy and all the challenge would have come down to individual battles. If they’d made you return to a central location to restore spells and health, as in the first five games, extended expeditions would have been a nightmare. As they programmed it, resting restores just enough hit points and spell points to keep you going, but it takes just long enough, and offers just enough chance for random encounters, that you’re discouraged from abusing it.

Character classes are well-differentiated, and the system of switching between them is well-balanced enough to offer rewards for switching but equal rewards for staying. (Perhaps putting a maximum on the number of times you can switch, or the lowest level at which you can switch, would have been a good idea.) Character development is constant and rewarding throughout the long game. The equipment system is equally solid.

I’m on the fence about certain aspects of the game world and quest. In general, I favor open game worlds with nonlinear narratives, and even games where the main quest itself is something of a mystery. Crusaders checks all those boxes. It also deserves credit for making its game world somewhat dynamic, with roaming NPCs who engage in (off-screen) conflicts with each other and sometimes (often, in my case) find key treasures before the party does.

The “Locate Person” spell helps keep tabs on constantly-shifting NPCs.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t have minded if the game had offered a little more guidance on the main quest, particularly in respect to the 11 “maps” that become the focus of the exploration and quests. (I put that in quotes because they’re not really maps at all, but texts.) I was deep into the game before it became clear that assembling the set of maps was the primary goal of exploration. Just a few lines in the manual or in-game backstory would have cleared up a lot of confusion.

Hardcore Gaming 101 has an excellent paragraph that describes some of the negative aspects of the open game world:

The game is entirely non-linear, and upon landing the player doesn’t even get a clue what to do first. Even though most areas are effectively locked off due to being inhabited by far too strong monsters, the game is always dominated by a crushing feeling of being lost. The world is full of items that absolutely have to be kept, remembered, and recognized for puzzles somewhere at the other end of the world, dozens of gameplay hours later. Many puzzles aren’t necessarily all that hard on their own, it’s just that the ingredients are spread out too far, and the hints are often obscure, if there are any hints at all.

But it’s again important to remember that Crusaders was pioneering new territory here. Only a few games prior to it were as physically large, long, and complicated, and the developers didn’t have a lot of good examples to draw upon for balancing such a large world and complex plot. In the end, I’m grateful that Crusaders advanced the importance of detailed stories, NPC interaction, side-quests, sub-quests, and player choices. As such, I would be surprised if the GIMLET didn’t put the game in the top 5. Let’s see:

1. Game world and story. Crusaders offers a detailed backstory that plays a significant role in the game itself. There are multiple factions with their own characteristics and motivations, history, and lore. The characters’ actions visibly affect the world, and the game is one of a rare few in which some events happen dynamically, without the player’s input. There are aspects of each of these elements to criticize, but I’ve mostly done that enough. Score: 7.

2. Character creation and development. Mechanically, the game’s approach is about as good as any game on the market. It has a full set of race choices, class choices, attributes, and skills, several magic systems, and meaningful inventory restrictions by race and class. (I think some of the races are stupid, but that’s a minor concern.) Different selections create different experiences for different players. The ability to switch classes, while perhaps unbalancing the game a bit, adds additional dimensions to character development. Development is regular and rewarding throughout the game.

On the negative side, the classes and races really don’t play any meaningful role in the game, at least not in a way that was clear to me. Certain skills are useless or mostly useless, and I don’t think the game gained anything by dividing skills into multiple categories. Score: 7.

Defeating the Dark Savant kicked everyone up a level.

3. NPC interaction. I actually think the series took a step backward here. In the system introduced in Wizardry V and included in VI, characters can have full-sentence dialogues with NPCs, but the previous games seemed to offer a more sophisticated interpreter in which full sentences were actually necessary. Phrasing things as statements or questions, even with the same keywords, might produce different results. Here, the game just seems to scan for keywords regardless of their positions in the sentence or the surrounding text, and I offered a few joking screenshots along those lines.

Having said that, I don’t really mind this “dumbing down” of dialogue, since it was always frustrating to figure out exactly how to phrase a question to get an intended result. What I do mind is that the NPCs respond to a lot fewer keywords than their Cosmic Forge counterparts while simultaneously tripling their dialogue quantity. They are also a lot goofier and thus less realistic.

Back on the positive side, I like the way NPCs roam around and engage in conflict with each other, and I wish the game had done more with this, offering more reasons to seek out, track down, and ally with (or oppose) various NPCs. Instead, since encountering NPCs is non-optional and results in pages of unskippable and unvarying dialogue, the game effectively encourages the player to simply kill everyone.

The end result of the goofy names and characterizations and long-winded introductory dialogue, there wasn’t a single NPC in the game that I actually liked. That’s particularly too bad given that, mechanically, the game supports fairly deep interactions with its NPCs. Score: 6.

One of the game’s goofy NPCs responds solely to the word “archives.”

4. Encounters and foes. The foes are mostly originally-named, which in this case is a negative because most of the names are silly. I didn’t like that so many enemies used the same graphics and were thus difficult to distinguish, even though their strengths and weaknesses might vary considerably. On the other hand, the bestiary is satisfyingly large, with enough strengths and weaknesses among them to create different tactical challenges.

Non-combat encounters were plentiful and engaging, and while they didn’t offer a lot of opportunities for role-playing, many of them provided challenges of satisfying difficulty. Score: 6.

5. Magic and combat. The magic and combat system continue to be the primary strengths of the series, and as I said above, Bradley deserves a lot of credit for adapting rather than replacing the system introduced over a decade prior. The various spells and enemy characteristics come together to create a near-infinite number of tactical choices, but everything is exquisitely balanced.

I see that in my GIMLET for Bane of the Cosmic Forge, more than five years ago, while giving the combat system a high score, I said I was “past the whole ‘line up your attacks and execute them all at once’ system.” I understand what I meant, favoring more tactical combat screens like those used in the Gold Box games, and anticipating more real-time (but no less tactical) combat as in Might and Magic III. Still, it was a short-sighted statement. Crusaders proves there was still life in the old system. Score: 7.

I’m not sure I used “parry” once in the entire game.

6. Equipment. My primary quibble here is that the game only gives you one “accessory” slot, and you find so many rings, necklaces, capes, belts, and similar items that it’s constantly torturous to choose among them. I also continue to dislike the identification system of the series. I don’t mind so much the process of casting “Identify” to view an items characteristics, but I rather wish that having done so, I could simply view the item in the future to remind myself of those characteristics, not have to cast the spell again. It makes evaluating multiple items a time-consuming, spell-point consuming chore.

But overall, the game does a good job here. There is a such a variety of weapons of different types and ranges, armor (helms, upper body, lower body, gloves, boots), and usable items that almost every treasure chest offers something useful. What I particularly like is that the selection of items in chests (and, to a lesser extent, on dead enemies) is mostly randomized. I hate when the same artifacts appear in the same locations for every player. Score: 6.

7. Economy. I didn’t talk about it much during my entries, but it’s not very good. The primary problem is that “stores” are mixed up with NPCs, and there simply aren’t enough of them selling enough useful stuff. You mostly end up selling rather than buying, amassing a huge amount of gold before the end, and spending most of it on plot-specific purchases (like ascending in the Dane Tower or buying your way into the Umpani legions) rather than equipment. I would have appreciated more places to spend gold and a less-cumbersome purchasing system. Score: 3.

I ended the game with far too much money and not nearly enough things to spend it on.

8. Quests. With a main quest with not only multiple endings but multiple beginnings, faction options, and numerous side-quests and sub-quests (although it’s not always clear which is which), it’s hard to ask for more in this category except for better writing and greater complexity, both of which later games would offer thanks to titles like Crusaders setting the standard. Score: 8.

9. Graphics, Sound, and Interface. Perhaps the weakest category in my opinion. The graphics are certainly improved from previous titles in the series, but they’re still just textures. While many of the monster animations are fine, I wasn’t in love with anything else. Sound effects were at best adequate, at worst annoying (e.g., the continual background droning), and since they slowed down the game so much, I turned them off halfway through.

It’s tough to write a good interface in a game of this complexity, and while I eventually got used to it, there were aspects that bothered me until the end, including poor use of the keyboard, inability to switch between characters while in sub-menus, limited scope of the automap, lack of any way to determine coordinates, inability to skip text you’d already seen a million times, and a lot of unintuitive commands. Score: 3.

10. Gameplay. We get to end the GIMLET on a positive. Crusaders is the first truly non-linear Wizardry, and it’s about as nonlinear as you can get (even the starting and ending locations can vary) except that the so-called “outdoor” world is still pretty confining and there’s a bit of frustration involved in simply getting from once place to another. The faction options, ending options, and different experiences afforded to different character classes make it highly replayable. Its difficulty is pitched perfectly, and even adjustable.

Although it avoided the worst flaws of long games, such as artificial level caps and a general feeling that characters stopped developing, 100+ hours is still far too long. I don’t mind games with optional content that push past the 100-hour mark, but otherwise I feel that a game is becoming indecent if it exceeds a couple of work weeks. Score: 7.

That gives us a final score of 60, tying it for the sixth-highest rating on my blog so far, seven points higher than Wizardry VI. As much fun as I’ve made of David Bradley, the inescapable result of his involvement with the series is that it kept improving–in sharp contrast to a lot of series of the era that, while advancing in superficial elements like graphics and sound, struggled to out-perform their first installments in core RPG mechanics.

“True point & click mouse interface.” Ugh. Eventually games will come full circle and say things like, “Makes effective use of the full keyboard.”

Contemporary reviews were universally positive, although some reviewers complained about over-length, interface issues, and too much backtracking. In the February 1993 Computer Gaming World, Scorpia called it “the first Wizardry that has a real-world feel to it,” praising its various factions and roaming NPCs, but sharply criticizing the backtracking that the game requires, including my complaints about having to leave the Isle of Crypts multiple times. The magazine was a bit more positive when it gave the game “RPG of the Year” (for 1993). It is of course extremely well-respected today, with numerous fan sites, analyses, and retrospectives.

“One day” being nine years from now.

Wizardry 8 didn’t come out for nine years, and I can’t possibly close this entry without talking a little bit about what happened in between. (Whatever I think of David W. Bradley as a storyteller, he comes across as the least reprehensible party in the mess that followed.) As with many things involving multiple perspectives, it’s hard to glean the raw truth about some of the issues, but I’ve done my best to summarize as best I understand it. Primary sources include a 2014 Matt Barton interview with Robert Sirotek, a 1997 New York Supreme Court decision, and a 1998 Usenet thread now archived by Google Groups.

While Crusaders of the Dark Savant was still under development, Wizardry series co-creator Andrew Greenberg–who had become an intellectual property attorney in the meantime–sued Sir-Tech Software for breach of contract. His cause seems to me to be legitimate. In 1991, Sir-Tech closed its development shop in New York and transferred its assets to Sir-Tech Canada. Its position was apparently that because Sir-Tech Canada was a different company than the New York Sir-Tech, its contract with Greenberg was now void, and they stopped sending checks, despite the fact that they continued to market and sell Wizardry titles in the United States and the same principals owned both companies.

However, in filing suit, Greenberg for some reason named Bradley, who had no ownership stake in Sir-Tech, as one of the co-defendants. Both Bradley and Sir-Tech balked at the inclusion of Bradley, and Sir-Tech later argued, in a counter-suit, that Greenberg’s suit had ruined Bradley’s productivity and caused a one-year delay in Crusaders of the Dark Savant (it had original been planned for a holiday 1991 release). A 1997 New York court decision on the issue would later find that:

[C]ontemporaneous memoranda do not indicate that Bradley was ever unable to work and, in fact, make absolutely no reference to the Federal court action. In sharp contrast to the position taken in Sir-Tech’s complaint, these writings provide persuasive evidence that the sheer magnitude of the Crusaders project, programming and operating system problems and, quite possibly, Sir-Tech’s own impatience and interference, were the major causes for the delay, which extended for a full year beyond the September 1, 1991 deadline and, in fact, approximately six months beyond the dismissal of the Federal court action.

The documents I reviewed suggest that Sir-Tech did their best to keep Bradley out of the legal mess and to cover any of his legal expenses, but you can see how it would be hard to maintain good working relationships in such an environment, and after the publication of Crusaders, Bradley left the company in a “falling out” that I haven’t seen otherwise specified.

The lawsuits, counter-suits, and appeals wouldn’t be settled until 2005, two years after even Sir-Tech Canada closed its doors for good. But these legal straits may explain why Sir-Tech decided to keep further development of the Wizardry franchise as far away from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts as possible. They asked their Australian distributor, Directsoft, to put together a team. Directsoft responded by assembling a group so comically inept that it’s almost as if they wanted the project to fail. The project head was a sound editor-cum-film director who had never (as far as I can tell) managed the development of a computer game before. No one on the initial staff knew much of anything about programming. After months of producing nothing but maps and lewd monster graphics, the team finally hired a couple of programmers. These included Cleveland Mark Blakemore, who by his own account tried his best to turn the documents into an actual program but ultimately got frustrated by the ineptitude of his colleagues and repeatedly tried to quit. In 1994, sensing the project had become a money pit, Sir-Tech canceled further work on what would have been Wizardry: Stones of Arnhem. This might have been a wise move for thematic reasons, too: nothing about the game, as far as I can tell from the documentation, suggests it would have been a sequel to Crusaders. In the Barton interview, Sirotek even suggests it may not have gotten the Wizardry label.

A map from the development of Stones of Arnhem. Oddly, most of the major locations named on the map are real place names in Australia.

Blakemore is himself a controversial figure whose accounts of working on Stones of Arnhem were doubted for years until a stash of Sir-Tech documents emerged in an abandoned storage locker in the town where Sir-Tech had its headquarters, not only confirming his employment but also largely his account of why the project failed. (The documents went up for sale on eBay briefly, but Sirotek somehow got the auction shut down. Somehow the Museum of Computer Adventure Game History ended up with a bunch of scans, and you can find more on various online threads.) Unfortunately, Blakemore chose to pepper his accounts with homophobic and white supremacist rantings and self-aggrandizing nonsense. In 2017, after almost 20 years of development, Blakemore released Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar, characteristically calling it “the greatest roleplaying game of them all.” It got mixed reviews.

The Wizardry series was adrift again. In 1996, Sir-Tech re–released Crusaders of the Dark Savant under the odd title Wizardry Gold, an update for Windows 95 and the Mac on CD-ROM. The game is an artifact of the mid-1990s obsession with CD-ROMs, animated graphics, and voiced dialogue before the technology was really there to make any of it good. The result is that the game feels more outdated today than the 1992 version. Here is a link to a video of the game. I would have tolerated that voiced narration for about 30 seconds.

In 1998, Sir-Tech repackaged the first seven games, plus Wizardry Gold, as The Ultimate Wizardry Archives. I bought the compilation nine years ago to play Wizardry II and have been dipping into it ever since. It’s odd to finally retire the package.

Wizardry 8 would eventually be completed, by most accounts under the direction of long-time Sir-Tech employee Brenda Braithwaite (née Brenda Garno, now Brenda Romero), although in the Barton interview linked above Sirotek seems eager to give her as little credit as possible without naming a specific individual as the project head. Whatever the case, it was released to excellent reviews–but that’s a story for a (much) later entry. In between, we have Nemesis: The Wizardry Adventure (1996), an almost universally-panned single-character game with simplified RPG mechanics.

We will also meet David Bradley again, as soon as 1995, with CyberMage: Darklight Awakening. After a brief stint with Origin (where he developed CyberMage), he founded his own company, Heuristic Park, which remains in business 23 years later. The company developed Wizards & Warriors (2000), Dungeon Lords (2005), and Dungeon Lords MMXII (2012). I’d say I’m looking forward to playing them, but of course it took me five years just to get from Wizardry VI to VII. I hear that Wizards & Warriors in particular shows a Wizardry influence.

Crusaders of the Dark Savant is the third-longest game on my blog, in raw hours. I’ve had it going on and off since August. In some ways, I’m sorry it’s over because it means I have to focus on a series of RPGs that are a lot less approachable. Let’s see if I can get anywhere with any of them.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/crusaders-of-the-dark-savant-summary-and-rating/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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