Am I Dead Again?

Death and dying have been an integral part of the gaming experience since the beginning. When you failed at a game, usually you pick yourself right back up and try again. Death is usually a big part of the gameplay or used to get you to put in more quarters and increase the length of play time. Today we try to fight back even if we can’t. (I’m probably going to spoil some games where the main character gets killed off. That’s the WARNING.)

Permadeath has been reintroduced to gaming lately in the form of rouge-lites like Rogue Legacy or Dark Souls. These deaths represent a mistake the player has made with the consequence of losing progress. It’s becoming a larger trend in more mainstream, big budgeted games to kill off the player as a plot point. When Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare had you die in nuclear fallout it was an incredible scene that no one saw coming. Earlier in COD4 you took the role of a political prisoner who is executed, this was a compelling piece of storytelling that hadn’t been utilized in such a high profile title before. The wave it started is one that really bothers me.

Epic literature has a history of chronicling a hero’s life that usually ends in death. These stories are about a character that isn’t supposed to represent the player, they’re widely told biographies about an exceptional person’s life. I hate to break it to you, but in Killzone: Shadowfall the main character gets murdered with a handgun right when he finds out what is going on. This isn’t the most shocking event as the act is carried out by the commanding officer you’ve willingly disobeyed orders from; it isn’t even a shocking betrayal. It’s more shocking that the entire game you’ve been shrugging off bullet wound after bullet wound, I’d rather be left on a space station that’s exploding with no way out while fruitlessly running around in first person. The story in the latest Killzone game isn’t anywhere near epic in scope, the set up and universe is interesting but it’s still just a science fiction first person shooter.

Outlast is a survival horror game that also came out recently and was the latest release for Playstation Network’s Plus free software program for the PS4. Throughout the game you have no means to fight back and must run and hide from enemies al la Clock Tower. There’s little wrong with the actual gameplay but the atmosphere gets old and stops being creepy about an hour and a half in. So the daring investigative reporter stops the crazy experiments in the basement of the asylum only to get shot repeatedly by what looks like a private security corp. The main character’s death is an unfulfilling important plot point, but you know that he’s met a grim end and a possible fate worse than death.

There are many older games that kill off main characters, especially role playing games. Modern Warfare just seemed to have started the mass injection into the mainstream. That magical commanding officer betrayal handgun also appeared in Modern Warfare 2 and killed off two major characters; these games were like watching huge action movies that needed much better realized plot points. I’m sorry to have spoiled two recent releases but you weren’t playing those for story were you?

I wonder how long until we hit George R. R. Martin levels of character death.

And That Is Why I’m Not Torn

I talked about the Playstation Vita quite a bit in a previous post. The only real problem with the system was lack of software. There is no shortage of 3DS games that keep getting ported over to the Sony handheld and they really don’t show what the rig is capable of. If only there was a game that showcased all of the features of the system in an interesting way. Today we fight with the kitchen sink!

Tearaway is a charming title developed by the crazies over at Media Molecule. They also brought us Little Big Planet. I’m sorry to say that I really liked the concept of LBP but just wasn’t a fan of the game itself. It was adorable and championed user created content but the controls were floaty and there was an overwhelming amount of content to shovel through. History has not repeated itself as Tearaway is an extremely well constructed experience!

First off the graphics are amazing considering the fact that everything looks like it was cut out of construction paper. You can see the dioramas that must have coated shoe boxes during the design part of the game making process. It looks like a child has come up with this world and it’s the exact amount of charming that you’d want in a family friendly platformer. The real achievement here is that they made a 3D platformer in the paper style as opposed to sidescrolling in only two dimensions. I’m happy to say that the jumping feels just right with no floatiness and the Vita’s thumb sticks are definitely up to the challenge.

Difficulty wise, Tearaway is a little bit easy and a tad short. You won’t be mad at the game for giving you precision platforming that hates you a la Super Mario 3D Land and you’ll be through the story in matter of hours. This is definitely a relaxing, family oriented experience that you would have no trouble letting a young one ponder through. With the length of the game in question, a $40 price tag may be asking a bit much but nabbing it at any price less than $30 seems about right.

There is a story here. You are guiding a letter that must be delivered to You. Yes, You. The postal system in this world is bad enough that the letters have had to resort to growing arms and legs to deliver themselves. You reside in the sun; you know this because the sun shows active video from the front camera that would usually point at your own face. Insert Teletubbie joke here. I never realized how serious I looked gaming until now. The letter can’t even jump for the first hour of the game, instead you have to tap the back touch screen to make it bounce or press certain face buttons to move platforms to get to your destination. You get to do all this while playing a solid 3D platformer. The integration of the features of the PS Vita are the real stars here. I was home for the holidays and had my father roar into the microphone when it asked; every time a certain animal roars it’s my dad pretending to be a lion, just like the old days! I even have some animals running around with the pattern from my mother’s sitting room chair mapped onto them. The player gets to design their own items for in the world as well by cutting shapes out of paper using the touch screen. They can be as detailed or as simple as you like. I’me sure someone’s game has plenty of penis shaped snowflakes floating around.

Did I mention Tearaway is extremely charming? For that alone it should be one of those games that every Vita owner should own. This is the first time we’ve had an exclusive title that shows off the many features they threw into the Vita and it should be a pack in title. Playstation Network should at the very least drop Uncharted: Golden Abyss from the “permanent” free to subscribers line up and give everyone the experience of Tearaway; it’s a much better showcase piece for the system. Play it!

MAGFest 12 Is a Thing That Happened

Once a year, somewhere in the Mid Atlantic, thousands of people gather to completely geek out over video games.  Games of from all types and eras. Listen to chiptunes recreated with live instruments and live instruments recreated as chiptunes. Possibly, these people might drop some cash on gaming related swag that they wouldn’t buy normally. To be honest the hardest battle fought this particular weekend was with a snowstorm.

The National Harbor in Maryland is just outside of Washington DC and is a pretty upscale convention area with expensive restaurants and hotels that fill several blocks. I don’t know who green lit a giant nerd fest in the area; I guess moist money is as good as any other money. To be fair, there is a giant anime convention that happens in the same space. So a space that normally holds investor meetings, college graduations, and political meetings, gets run over by throngs of people in costume, the socially awkward, and YouTube celebrities.

On Thursday I had an eight hour drive to get to my destination. My brother and his friends were to meet me at the hotel across the street from the Gaylord Convention Center (seriously, it’s cheaper and they include breakfast) while my other friends would attend on later days. The worst of the drive were the multiple snowstorms encountered on the way. This was not the best weekend for weather. While I tried to avoid a car either stopped or in a ditch every few miles, I made the eight hour drive in just under ten and a half. At least that part was over.

Thursday night was spent finding out where everything was, scoping out the vendors to see if there were any actual deals, and figuring out when everyone else wouldn’t be eating so we wouldn’t have to wait for a table. You know, the regular convention stuff.

Friday morning my brother and I attended the Jon Tron panel. Say whatever you like about his material, he’s a legitimately funny guy. Jon offered some funny stories and seemed to answer fans’ questions with sincerity. I’ve got nothing bad to say about that guy. On the bottom floor of the venue, in an area the size of a plane hangar; was a giant arcade and vender area. Arcade machines from every era loosely arranged by genre litter the floor and sound as obnoxious as you remember. It’s really too bad that arcades have declined over the years, it’s still a blast to play pinball and shoot guys with a light gun.

Saturday we went to the Continue? Show panel and it was great. The guys that run that show are really awesome film makers and comedians. I’ve followed their show for a few years now and still laugh at all of the Billy Joel jokes they make. The band On Being Human is extremely awesome and the RetrowareTV panel was excellent. I really like “The Video Game Years” web show they produce, it’s like VH1’s “I Love the 80’s” but with games. I met some really cool people and saw some really talented musicians melt faces with 8-Bit melodies. I picked up some reproduction carts of some games I may have emulated 15 years ago and a Sega CDX for well under eBay prices. You can still find a deal here and there. Saturday night I went to the Jon St John panel. I played Duke Nukem 3D when I was kid and would love to hear him say he’s got balls of steel. Jon St John is an extremely talented voice actor, but he’s a raging asshole. The self proclaimed “King of Magfest” is known for crashing hotel parties, drinking the liquor, and then leaving; at one point a he had a guy wear a candy man thong while another guy from the audience ate  some of it while shouting “Only at my panel!!” Eh, he can just voice my games thanks.

It was a good weekend. Everyone I know who came had a good time. I’d recommend checking it out for a day if you happen to be around the Beltway while it’s going on. 

It's Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone. We had a good one this year. It was a good Christmas, but not the best Christmas. That was in the 90's and I opened a SEGA Genesis with a Sonic 2 pack in! I hope there were more memories like that made today. Maybe a kid got an XBOX One, or a 29 year old got a 12 pack and Call of Duty. Whatever they were. Don't forget em. Merry Christmas.

Goatee: A Game Good Enough to Savor

Every year around the holiday season people chime in to declare what the best game of the year is. Journalists clawing and scratching at each other to try and get a box quote. Many high profile releases from the year come back into relevance and may get a bump in sales from the extra publicity. I’m going to do my part and tell you Rogue Legacy from Cellar Door Games is the best of the year!

The masses of you that have been following my generic video game blog have probably heard of my love for pixels and may not be surprised that Rogue Legacy is my favorite. Was it the game that I spent the most time on? No. Was it the most emotional story told? No. Was it a marvel of current technology’s capabilities? No. Was it the most fun I’ve had this year? YES!  A Metroid based side scroller with the flavorings of Castlevania and Rogue? Sign me the hell up, I haven’t had this much fun since Symphony of the Night.

First off, the presentation of the game is ridiculously charming. The graphical resolution is exaggerated to show you all of the pixels and scale in Super Nintendo style. There are only a handful of areas to the ever changing castle that easily identify with enemy sets that differ between them. It all looks and controls like it should. It’s Rogue Legacy and you should be okay with that.

The story is incredibly thin, but it’s the gameplay that shines through here. You begin with a pretty simple tutorial that makes sure you understand basic platforming and then dumps you in the middle with hardly any direction. When you enter the castle there’s a large door with an emblem for each area boss and a rough map on the wall. You have a sword to hit enemies and candle sticks. Last as long as you can and amass a big a fortune as you can. You’re terrible weak in the beginning and will die. That’s the point of a game that changes every time you restart. The money you earn will be used to make your children more likely to succeed where you have failed by upgrading the family manor that provides permanent hereditary stat boosts. Make sure you use all of your money before you jump back because you have to forfeit your fortune.

The dying mechanic is pretty novel. Whenever you fail to finish the game, your descendants pick up right where you left off. They keep your stat boosts, equipment, and rune powers that affect mobility and life leech. This is great idea, but gets even better when each generation has its own quirks along with random semi-standard job classes. You may have a character that suffers from vertigo (the entire game is upside down), Alzheimer’s (large map is unavailable), and Dextrocardia (HP and MP values are switched); or positives like Peripheral Artery Disease (no foot pulse, spikes not triggered), Eidetic Memory (everything you’ve seen is marked on the map), or even ADHD (move faster). They even through in a few traits that don’t affect gameplay like baldness, sexuality, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Rogue Legacy isn’t a good pick for a novice gamer or anyone who rarely steps outside of the Call of Duty/Madden Camp. It’s just like anything else; you suck at first but might get better if you stick with it. Don’t worry though, if you get too good the game gets exponentially harder on multiple playthroughs. The difficulty is part of the appeal and really gives you a sense of accomplishment. Besides the difficulty spike, I can’t criticize Rogue Legacy. It’s new every time, there’s a sense of progression, and you laugh while you play.

This is the most fun I’ve had with a video game this year. That’s the ultimate measure while gaming. There’s still room for games that try to make statements like Gone Home, The Last of Us, and Spec Ops: The Line, but the games I come back to are the ones I felt joy playing. It goes to show that my runner up is Saint’s Row IV (yes, more fun than Grand Theft Auto V), that game was funny and has completely transformed from the open world rip off it started as. While you’re looking at what’s on the Steam sale this Christmas give my GOTY Rogue Legacy a try, it’s worth more than the $15 they regularly charge. 

Reverse Sequelitis

Triple A games have become a kind overblown derogatory item. Back in the day before games had street dates we would read about the carts that could hit stores any day. The hype machine wasn’t as well oiled and we wanted anything that has to do with gaming. Huge titles occasionally hit the sweet spot and rarely receive acclaim from everyone. Today we fight on the largest scale!

Assassin’s Creed has become one of our beloved yearly franchises that try to pump as much money out of our pockets with little innovation. There was a time when AC was a new and interesting intellectual property, and it was amazing. We had never seen parkour that flowed so smoothly and time periods that traditionally weren’t represented because they had nothing to do with World War II. The idea of a non wargame taking place during the Crusades or Revolutionary War is an inventive place to begin brainstorming. Even better is the idea of game during the Italian Renaissance, now there’s something we weren’t expecting.

If the proper care is taken in crafting a sequel it can be a shining example of progression. Elements from the previous games need to be enhanced or cut for the best experience. The first Assassin’s Creed had a main character that was a jerk, repetitive gameplay objectives, and a framing story no one cares about (or remembers). Assassin’s Creed II took everything from the first game and made it much better. Ezio is a loveable jerk of a lady’s man, objectives are varied, and they did something with the framing story that made it bearable.  To take the story further they somehow made me care more about the jerk face Altair character, talk about pulling a rabbit out of hat.

There are still plenty of flaws in the Assassin’s Creed formula. It’s understood that collectathons are around to lengthen game time with little effort or creativity. The item hunts are still around but not quite as obnoxious. The addition of small puzzles hidden in the environment was awesome, and the best part was there were only 20 of them to find. There’s nothing I really hate to see more than hundreds of collectable items thrown all over the place; look at Batman: Arkham Asylum versus Batman: Arkham City’s Riddler trophies. I prefer Asylum to City and one of the main reasons was I felt compelled to find all the Riddler collectables because there were fewer well thought out items as opposed to what felt like a sloppy selection of underwhelming widgets. It goes without saying that the 100 feather hunt in ACII is something I didn’t participate in. You obtain a villa to upgrade a few hours in, and it’s a take it or leave it experience. It’s nice to have what seems to be a Suikoden castle but it’s more of a diversion towards affording the best equipment in the game.

In a time when Assassin’s Creed was a new and exciting venture there were some neat combinations thrown together. Now we just expect another title every year. When I look at the “greater” games of a generation, they seem to have multi-year development cycles. Grand Theft Auto 5 took years and delivered an awesome single player experience, The Last of Us had been in development for years, and Assassin’s Creed II came out a few after after the first with a lot of thought behind it. It’s too bad that video games are no longer dominated by artists and are geared more toward making investors happy, but America has proven that the Michael Bay larger than life style has a place in our collective wallets. This is why the games press is so obsessed with smaller studios because this is where the innovation is coming from; support your local game makers.

Top 10 Reasons Internet People Do Top 10 Lists

Well, what do you know? I’ve reached an impressive 500 hits since I started! And only 497 of them are me obsessively hitting refresh! Everyone on the internet does top ten lists because they can and now I will do the same. Today we fight with convention!

10.  It’s the internet, the place where things are organized in the order of importance all the time. You know, like High School.

9.  “My friends told me I was funny; let’s see if I can throw 10 witty comments together!”

8.  Some people decided they needed to do hours of “research” to rank the top busts of the stars.

6.  Dammit Letterman.

5.  To drum up discussion! Please tell me how much you hate my opinion in the comments below so I won’t read them to prove once and for all I am literally above you!

4.  “I know no one knows what this is but I think the world needs to know all about it.”

3.  “I’ve got writer’s block and can’t think of anything relevant to paper. I know, I’ll make as specific a top ten as I can!”

2.  Adding a “controversial” item in the top five. I’m a unique snowflake that has had different experiences than you and love this because I grew up with it!

1.  Because they get more views than anything else. Youtube is a prime example, click on any personality’s profile and check what consistently gets the most views. These top ten’s make a person’s rent. And Chrono Trigger.

I hope you enjoyed the top ten garbage I threw up there! I really care about what you think about the blog where I post my opinions! That was actually kinda fun…