• 24Nov 09

  Game Analysis

  This is the part of that "best assignment ever" I had to do that's boring. The being ordered to play a game of my choice for four hours, that was fun. But this is the not-so-fun part. At least I did get it done, and I'll post it here for those who might be interested.

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  1. Game Title: Dissidia: Final Fantasy

  2. Game Development Studio and Publisher: Square Enix

  3. Platform: PlayStation Portable (PSP) – this is the only platform upon which Dissidia: Final Fantasy is available.

  4. Genre: 3D Fighting. This genre is suitable because the core game play features real-time one-on-one duels between original characters in a three-dimensional environment using swordplay, magical attacks and martial arts. I would also assign the genre role-playing to this game as a subgenre. This is due to the fact that the game has many features that RPGs share, including the ability to equip and customize characters with stat-boosting items that directly affect each character's abilities in combat.

  5. Player Mode: Dissidia: Final Fantasy is primarily a single-player game but also supports two-player game play via ad hoc or infrastructure (online) play, allowing players to duel with their customized characters.

  6. Time Interval: Dissidia: Final Fantasy is played primarily in real-time. The battles are action oriented and both the player and opponent (AI or another human) are in full control during combat. During the game's "Story Mode", the player moves along a board game-like interface between battles upon which the player can move at his/her own pace, but this mode does not involve any other players and therefore does not qualify as a truly "turn-based" mode.

  7. Audience/Market: Because Dissidia: Final Fantasy is primarily a tribute to the long-running Final Fantasy game series, the game is clearly designed to appeal to gamers who have a long history with the franchise and have developed an attachment to the series' most popular characters. Based upon its anime-like appearance and flashy combat, I believe it appeals to the 18-35 male demographic, particularly of Japanese origin or descent. The game's content is reminiscent of the visual style and flair of many more recent entries in the Final Fantasy game franchise, so the content is appropriate for the target audience.

  8. Rating: Dissidia: Final Fantasy is rated "T for Teen", with the criteria of "Fantasy Violence", "Mild Language" and "Partial Nudity". I believe the rating is appropriate. One female character in the game appears to wear nothing during a specific event, but the figure does not feature any detail that would imply the character is nude, and rather appears to be surrounded by an aura. Another female character wears a very revealing outfit. The fantasy violence does not feature any blood or gore and only the mildest of harsh language ("Damn") is used during character dialogue. Some of the game's creatures or phantoms could possibly frighten young children, and many characters wield fearsome weapons (such as one character's lengthy sword), but the violence is highly stylized. I believe the "T" rating is most appropriate for this game.

  9. Challenge and Fun Factor: I found Dissidia: Final Fantasy to be a moderately challenging game. The hardest part of playing Dissidia: Final Fantasy is the learning curve. The controls are simple in theory but difficult to learn because of the nature of the fighting. While most fighting games feature characters with their feet firmly planted on the ground most of the time, Dissidia: Final Fantasy's characters fight in the air almost as much, if not more than on the ground. The environments are expansive and the characters can leap and soar what appear to be several hundred feet in the air. In addition, there are many gauges, point systems, attack types, abilities and more to keep track of that add to the complexity of the fighting system, almost to an overwhelming degree. However, I found the game to be fun. I played the game for approximately five hours to date and I will continue to play it because every step forward in the game seems to unlock new items or features to play with. I prefer games that have secrets and depth to unlock, rather than straightforward missions.

  10. Features Analysis: The interface of Dissidia: Final Fantasy can certainly be simplified. As the player starts the game, it doles out a great deal of information over time, and the menu has a great many options to explore. Though the player can access a help feature at any time for explanation, the complexities of the game are far deeper than most role-playing games! Between "Destiny Points", "Action Points", "Player Points", "Story Points", on top of "Brave Points", "Hit Points", "EX Gauges" and so on, I found myself saying that the game is trying to do far too much and giving the player a great deal to keep track of. There is no part of Dissidia: Final Fantasy that can be described as "simple" except, ironically, the story. The Final Fantasy series prides itself on its dramatic storytelling, but Dissidia: Final Fantasy lacks a cohesive narrative, instead dragging the main character and villain from several titles in the Final Fantasy timeline together under a basic story about resolving a battle between an ultimate "light" and ultimate "darkness". Each character struggles with issues that haunted them in their respective games, but only in their most basic form. I would have preferred a much richer narrative that treated the characters with much more depth. The problem is that anyone who does not have history playing Final Fantasy games and picks up Dissidia: Final Fantasy would not know why they should care about the various characters and their problems. However, as a fighting game, story is less important and therefore the overall quality of the game does not suffer because of the weak story.

  • Posted Nov 24, 2009 9:55 pm PT
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• 19Nov 09

  PSP and the best assignment ever

  I decided to wait to make sure things turned out well before reporting this. Things seem to be well so I'm going to report it. I finally got my PSP back, and the third time does indeed seem to be the charm, for it has given me zero problems since last Friday. I feel I can finally confidently shop for and rent PSP games again. Which is good, because I've been wanting to own Dissidia for quite some time. I also took the time to order a copy of the Korean-only game DJ Max Black Square for a great price, and I might look into the PSP Assassin's Creed game too.

  In other news, I just thought I'd mention that I have the greatest assignment ever for class due Tuesday...I'm required to choose a game, play it for four hours and analyze it. Yes, I actually have to play video games for homework. I mean, I'm in a game design curriculum so I figured I'd have to do something like this sooner or later, but I wasn't expecting it to happen this soon. The idea is that we need to learn how to pick apart games on a variety of levels, not simply on graphics and presentation, but all the little nuances that make--or break--the game. Naturally, the teacher prefers that we play something that we haven't already played extensively, which gives me an excuse to buy something new this weekend (or at least rent). My current stock of Gamefly rentals have been in my possession for a while so I need something new.My wife is understandably irked about the whole thing--she thinks I play games too much as it is.

  • Posted Nov 19, 2009 9:20 am PT
  • Category: General
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• 16Nov 09

  Game Dev 101-What I've learned

  As some of you may or may not know, I am actively enrolled in an accredited Game Art and Design program. My first true game-related course, "Introduction to Game Design" started last Thursday, and I've already begun learning some interesting facts. I figure I'll chronicle a summary of what I've learned and what my impressions are here. It's pretty fitting, I think.

  - Gamers are growing up. According to www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp the average gamer is 35, the most frequent game purchaser's average age is 39 and 25 percent of Americans over age 50 play games. Yet, while the "millennial" generation (the youngest) make up the smallest portion of gamers, they're also the ones who will be growing up and designing the games of the future. The games we are playing now mostly reflect the "lone wolf", "rebellious" values of the Gen Xers and the Boomers, which explains why most older, "veteran" gamers are more interested in single player experiences than in team-based play, online multiplayer games and the like. Obviously, this is a generalization and not an absolute--plenty of older gamers play MMOs and games like Call of Duty. But this is most likely due to the fact that they are a relatively new kind of game and older gamers are fascinated by them. What I take from this is that as millennials, young children and teens who are closer to their parents and less private than their Gen X predecessors, grow older and get into the game development industry, multiplayer games, especially online games, will become the norm--World of Warcraft is just the beginning. Single-player-only games like Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Origins and Final Fantasy will be a thing of the past before too long. Interestingly enough, the millennial generation is said to be less respectful and admiring of celebrities, focusing more on self-achievement and group interaction than with looking up to idols or solitary achievers.

  - South Korea, the country with the largest percentage of "wired" consumers, is heavily into online gaming. It's not just about socializing with other gamers--online gaming is taken so seriously over there that many are able to treat online gaming as their day jobs, between "pharming" and selling in-game items for real money and playing games professionally. South Korean online gamers regularly compete in tournaments representing their neighborhoods, schools, offices, etc. This trend is likely to grow and spread to the point where it will become the norm in many more parts of the world. Professional gaming is already prevalent in the US but only in a few select regions...but for how long?

  - To develop games for today and the future, all developers need to recognize these changing trends. Though, at age 32,I am a "Gen Xer", I have to be smart enough to realize that by the time I get through with my degree program and start developing games in the next 3-5 years, that making the kinds of games that I grew up wanting to play--epic single-player adventures--may not be profitable or even possible (depending upon which company I end up working for, if I don't go indie). Many gamers will say they don't play Call of Duty for the campaign anyway, and most reviewers complain that the campaign is entirely too short anyway. It won't be long before it may prove more profitable to simply develop more games for multiplayer-only...games like Warhawk have already set the trend, and the fact that games like Call of Duty (with record-breaking sales) are mainly purchased for their multiplayer features (not to mention the gaming media's obsession with giving glowing reviews to games with online components) means that, my personal gaming preferences aside, I might need to shift or spread my focus when it comes to developing games for the future.

  Naturally, I have my personal ideas for games, single player and multiplayer alike, and I hope to be able to develop all of them and more in my lifetime.

  • Posted Nov 16, 2009 6:56 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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