• 16Dec 09

  This That and the Other

  A bit of a random jumble today.

  This is part of an answer to a question asked of Heavy Rain writer/director David Cage;
  "I wanted to create an experience based on several points of view. I played with this idea since my first game, Omikron, where you could get reincarnated into another body when you died."
  
  I found this interesting and thought it could make for a good mechanic in RPG's. Granted, I'm aware from some friends blogs/reviews that there was something like this in Planescape : Torment which I haven't played, so I don't know how exactly this was implemented. But I was thinking, what if you learned some information as some form of character, but due to some restriction (race, caste, cIass etc) were unable to seek audience with certain people or reach certain areas. But once you die, you can get reincarnated in a new body with your knowledge (or some of it) intact. Then you can go to places you couldn't before to complete these discussions. Or revisit people you have had personal conversations with and have them wonder how you came across such personal information. I can't think of many specifics, but I'm sure there is room for some interesting situations.
  
  Went on a spending spree. Bought Brothers In Arms : Hell's Highway (360), Saints Rows 2 (PS3), Oblivion GOTY (PS3), Valkyria Chronicles (PS3). AU$120 because the cashier gave me $50 off BIA instead of 50%, knocking an extra $20 off. Plus I used a voucher still left over from work (which sadly they aren't doing anymore) so it still puts my spend on games this year probably under $300 which is awesome. I also bought my sister and her fiance a Wii for Christmas which was a bundle. She can have Mario Kart, but I'm going to keep New Super Mario Bros as they weren't actually packaged togother. Not like she can complain, she is getting a Wii!
  
  Also playing Burnout Paradise on PS3 at the moment, which I'm not terribly good at, but am enjoying nonetheless. Had a good time trying some of the challenges with Foolz3h the other day, if anyone else might be keen to play some time let me know and I'll add you as a friend. Keep in mind I'm an aussie though so if you are on the other side of the world I might not be able to play with you that often!
  
  Also finally bought my first Wiiware game, World of Goo. Awesome game. In 3 play sessions I'm up to the end of Chapter 3, so the game doesn't appear to be terribly long but based on my experience so far it is probably the perfect length as I wouldn't want it to overstay its welcome either. I finally completed the Upper Shaft level which was giving me grief, just needed to balance my bridge better.
  
  I was thinking of writing a blog about what you could buy gamers for Christmas with a few ideas, but it is probably getting a bit late. One of my basic suggestions given that retail games are expensive and potentially out of budget, and it can be hard to know exactly what someone likes or has already played without knowing a fair bit about their preferences, is to buy them points for an online store. It shows you've thought about something they like, they get to choose the exact games they purchase, and they aren't prohibitively expensive like new games can be.

  • Posted Dec 16, 2009 5:00 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 9Dec 09

  Why DOES it matter?

  I'm refering to games as art. I found it interesting that in The_Druggies recent soapbox entry, I noticed a blacked out comment by grigjd3. Being curious I had to find out what it was. His response to the blog?

  Why does it matter?

  So it looks like instead of getting a response he got lots of thumbs down. But I'm curious. Why DOES it matter? It has been talked about a lot over the last couple of years, and I'm not ready to put myself in either camp, for or against. But if Roger Ebert turned around and proclaimed that games were art, what would change? I'd still be enjoying games like I am now. Maybe it would mean we would have some more musuems devoted to video games (as I believe there are already some around the world), but I don't see this form of entertainment being validated as an art form having much impact on the industry or our personal enjoyment of it. Does it really matter?

  • Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:20 am PT
  • Category: General
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• 7Dec 09

  Link To The Past Review

  Well, I finally finished it. It was a bit of a chore at times, but I did enjoy it most of the time. I've given Link To The Past a score of 7.0. I wonder how many thumbs down that review will get for giving this 'cIassic' game only a score of 'good'. I make up one of the people in the 5% of player ratings that scored it less than 8. But hey, I can only be honest with my feelings towards the game.

  ---

  At the time of this writing A Link To The Past is over 17 years old. So how does this early entry in a revered franchise hold up today? While it has a simple premise and easy controls, the design decisions are a mix of great and dated.

  You play the titular Link, who finds himself mixed up in an adventure to defeat the evil wizard Ganon and prevent him from conquering the Light World. The game takes place in an isometric view. Before long Link has access to a sword which will be your main weapon during the game. Link is also able to lift objects and throw them, though what he can pick up is limited to small items at first. Link can head into dungeons and houses, but everything is accessed from the overworld, and there is a handy map feature so you can see where you are, and your next destination is usually pointed out for you to make navigation a bit easier. The overworld is well designed, as there are places that Link can't reach at first, but as he acquires new items he will be able to access additional areas, and you will usually be able to tell what you may need to reach that new destination.

  A short time into the game after defeating the first incarnation of Ganon, you will be transported to the Dark World, which shows off another aspect of great design, even so many years later. The geography in the Dark World very closely mirrors that in the Light World, but aside from the enemies, people and shop placement, there are some other differences. With the help of the Magic Mirror, you can transport yourself back from the Dark World into the Light World. By taking careful note of the differences in georgraphy you can transport yourself back into the Light World in a location you couldn't reach before, to reach new dungeons or acquire new items. While the first few hours will be collecting a few essential items you need before your first battle with Ganon, after this point the dungeons you will need to overcome are all in the Dark World. These are all numbered on the map, and while you may be able to reach and enter a number of them, you probably need to finish them in order as the equipment required to complete or access a dungeon is often found in the one preceding it.

  The dungeons are where you will find most of the challenge, in both the enemies themselves, various traps, as well as the puzzles and devious design. Usually not too far from the entrance you will find a basic map of the dungeon which shows you all the rooms on all the floors. It doesn't have details of what is in each room, but it is enough to get your bearings, as you will often have to walk back through some areas you have already been. You will find keys about the dungeons, which may be hidden in chests, or you may need to defeat all the enemies in the room. Some doors may be one way and close behind you, or sometimes they might stay closed until you defeat all the enemies in the room. There are some switch puzzles, as there are red and blue blocks which can bar your way; one will always be up, the other will always be down, but these can be changed with the flick of a switch. To progress in some areas this means smart use of your equipment to trigger these from afar. Other obstacles include flying tiles, rotating observation statues that shoot you if you are in line of sight, moving spikes, and more.

  Many rooms contain enemies that can be defeated, and these are also quite varied over the course of the game. From skeletons that try and jump away when you attack, to cyclops' that throw bombs, to moving orbs that bounce you away when you attack, there are a lot of different techniques you will need to emlpy to overcome them. Things get further tricky later in the game as the combinations of enemies and traps/obstacles becomes more complex and challenging. Each dungeon also has a boss, and the difficulty of these is a bit varied; a few early ones I found quite frustrating, and some of the later ones a lot easier. These are usually larger enemies that may have an obvious weakness, and often it will be the item that you acquired in that dungeon. However, this is not always the case.

  This doesn't apply to just bosses though; the game is riddled with secrets, but there is a problem. Whereby games today don't require you to find the secrets, or offer you pretty strong clues, A Link To The Past does not always do this, and some of those secrets need to be found and items acquired before you can progress. Other times things are obscure and don't make any sense. Minor spoilers ahead. For example, who would have thought that a bug catching net can be used to deflect a fireball? And after a few dungeons of losing health for falling down holes, one of the dungeons requires you to fall down a hole to progress, and if there was a hint that I needed to do this, I certainly missed it. I was also able to face the final boss, but I was unable to defeat him because I hadn't acquired the weapon I needed, but had no idea. I became stumped like this on quite a number of occassions in the game, and I turned to a FAQ quite frequently. Another frustration from time to time was running out of magic. A number of items at your disposal use up magic, and some are required to complete some dungeons. Granted, the first time I entered one of the later dungeons it did recommend not to enter if I had no magic potions, but it is frustrating if you mess up a section a couple of times and then have to go back outside to collect more before retrying. While the controls are generally very good, there were a couple of occassions when they felt a bit wonky; while swimming, walking on floors with ice, and a section where you direct a floating platform all seemed to lack responsiveness and were often frustrating as a result.

  All that said if you know the items you are supposed to be using, the game is not overly difficult, but there will be certain bosses or rooms that will challenge you a lot more than others and may cause frustration until you can finally overcome them. As you progress you will find pieces of heart or heart containers, and these will increase your maximum health, and your sword, shield and armour will upgrade as you explore and find new items or talk to people. You can also acquire jars in which to keep faeries who can restore your life, or medicine to restore either your life or magic. If you die while in a dungeon, you can restart from the beginning, but any unlocked doors will remain so and you will retain any items that you had already retreived. In this way even if you die in a dungeon, you have usually still made progress and it often doesn't take long to reach the place where you perished.

  I experienced problems with emulation on the Wii, where the screen would frequently black out for about a second, and this did not seem related to any heavy activity on screen. The volume of sound effects also varied frequently for no apparent reason. You will certainly curse if the screen blacks out while surrounded by enemies and it leads to your death, but this only happened to me a couple of times despite the frequency of the black outs. While some dated design decisions might have you looking up a FAQ to find out how you need to progress, it is worth it to see the other great design decisions and the basic action that still hold up well today.

  Score 7.0

  I will go play something else before I tackle Ocarina of Time. Gamespot gave it a perfect 10 on release, though only 8.9 on Virtual Console (I say only, that is still a great score for a game that old). The last 4 player reviews were all 10's... I wonder if I will get death threats if I think it only deserves a 7.5or something.

  • Posted Dec 7, 2009 5:22 am PT
  • Category: Games
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