So I was able to take advantage of a neat K-Mart deal where all their 3DS games were $30, and I picked up Pilotwings: Resort using some leftover Paypal funds I had.
Now I loved Pilotwings 64. I spent a ton of time with that game, just exploring the levels and seeing all the neat little things the designers hid in there (like shooting a missle at Mario's nose to change him into Wario in the Little America stage). I also really enjoyed trying to master the controls to get medals on all the missions. My favorite part of Pilotwings 64 is probably the music, surprisingly enough. Tracks like this (read the comments for that video, the writer of that particular song comments on it!) and this are some of the most relaxing videogame tracks I've ever heard.
The missions were almost an afterthought, really. I mean I enjoyed them, but didn't play them too much. I spent most of my time exploring Little States. Even though it wasn't exactly right in every place (Michigan is a sort-of hand-like stump without the upper peninsula, for example), it seemed enormous and filled with personality and hidden stuff.
...Which is why Pilotwings Resort is such a letdown in retrospect. On its own merits, its an entertaining game, and I certainly had fun with it and will likely revisit it every once in a while, but Pilotwings 64 eclipses it in almost every way. The music is merely okay. It sounds a lot like a lame rip-off of Pilotwings 64, to be honest. The missions are about what you expect - there were no missions where you use the "missile" function of the plane to shoot anything besides targets or balloons, for example. I mean it's not like I'd expect them to put anything in there that you'd have to shoot down, but come on - no Mario/Wario transformation, or anything like that? LAME.
Another problem I have is how Free Play mode is timed. Why do they time a mode that is CALLED "Free Play?" Because there isn't much to explore, really. The entire game takes place on one island (okay, one and a half). Wuhu Island is fairly small, and maybe I would appreciate it more had I played much of Wii Sports Resort, but I shouldn't have to play some other game (that doesn't even remotely play like Pilotwings!) to enjoy the setting here.
I mean it's okay. Sure, I enjoy using the Turbo Jet to shoot down the volcano and come out the side entrance, but that's only fun for a minute or two before you get bored. I enjoyed finding the balloons hidden around the island, but forcing me to collect them only if I'm piloting a certain vehicle seems dumb to me. I understand that they want you to play with every vehicle, but I just don't like hang-gliding much (the Pedal Glider helped, but your very quickly depleting stamina meter sort of renders it moot). I would have rather used the Turbo Jet and Super Rocket Belt the whole time! I do enjoy the stuff you collect for each vehicle, though. The gold rings almost (almost!) made the hang-glider worth using, and why you collected presents with Mii Trophies in them with the Rocket Belt didn't make sense to me, but forcing you to do a barrel roll or fly upside-down through a Stunt Ring was a lot of fun with the planes. I'll probably get all those some day.
I know a lot of this seems negative. Like I said, Pilotwings Resort is only a letdown in retrospect. On its own, I enjoyed it quite a bit. While I still had missions and tons of stuff to collect in Free Play, I couldn't put the game down. The controls in Pilotwings: Resort are probably the best in the series. Landing with a plane seems more finicky (I always hit the water too hard, according to the game, but I have no idea how to counteract that), but other than that I have no complaints. I even got the hang (no pun intended) of landing the hang-glider. Still, I'll probably never get perfect scores on all the missions. If only I could land that damn plane effectively, I might go for it, but failing to land properly after flying a perfect run for 2-3 minutes and having to start over sucks.
Put it this way: I'm glad I got the game for close to free due to some judicious trades on the internet. If I actually had to put a dollar value on the game... Fifteen bucks would easily be worth it, but if you saw it for $20 you should probably pick it up. Hopefully it comes down in value someday so more people can play it.
I just hope Nintendo makes another one someday, and gives us a new place to explore, instead of some recycled areas from an unrelated game. That is, unless they want to make like Pilotwings: Twilight Princess or something, which, let's be honest, would be totally rad and not dumb as hell. Right...?
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
What a Nightmare: Catherine, part 1
Catherine is fucking with me.
I figured that was a wholly appropriate way to begin writing about Atlus' new 360 and PS3 game, Catherine. This is the Persona Team's latest release, and you can see the influence their prior games had here - even down to the basic structure of the story. Like in Persona, Catherine spends its gametime exploring time, not space. There are a limited number of places the player can go, but it is how they act and the choices they make in those places that affect the story.
The main "game-y" portions of Catherine are basically puzzles. The player is tasked with climbing to the top of a giant tower, night after night, and the only way to do so is to move around and manipulate the blocks to create paths to the top, while avoiding enemies and not falling off. This is harder than it sounds, because time is limited - the bottom floors of the stage fall off as time goes on, so you can't dawdle to figure out how to progress. The "boss" stages also have some giant monster chase you, while using attacks that can really mess you up - one of them I encountered reversed your controls, another knocks you down a few levels, and yet another just outright kills you. This adds an even more frantic pace to the puzzle levels, and they tie into the main story, as well - typically the bosses are metaphors for the main characters current predicament.
But I'm here for the story. Catherine is about a middle aged man named Vincent Brooks, who has been dating his girlfriend Katherine for something like five years. She wants to get married soon, and Vincent is having trouble coming to grips with the idea. To further complicate things, he gets drunk one night and begins an affair with a girl named Catherine, a much younger, seductive girl who has no idea Vincent is already spoken for. The main point of the game is to guide Vincent through his relationships with these two women, and (I presume) ultimately come to a decision over which one to stay with (or, if the game really has balls, neither - but I haven't beaten it yet, so I have no idea at this point).
I really have trouble with this game, and I'm not even talking about the puzzle bits. When Vincent is awake, he is constantly getting texts from the two women, and the player is responsible for responding to them. You have a few options in how to word your text, and, like in real life, you have to try to send a text that doesn't screw up your relationship with the girl you want. As much as I want to scream at the TV "Tell Catherine about your longtime girlfriend and dump her NOW!" you don't really get that option. The player is more like Vincent's conscience, rather than in complete control of the man himself.
The game also has some neat online integration, as well, because in between puzzle levels, the player is asked questions like "Does life begin or end when you get married?" All the other players' answers are all tallied up online and shown after you answer. The answers that are displayed are also the ones people said when they first played the game, so you know what most people really think (because I'm sure when I'm done with this playthrough, I'll play again and go after the young Catherine to see how the story changes).
I just beat the fourth night, and am growing increasingly conflicted as I play. I know I want to repair Vincent's relationship with Katherine, but I don't want to hurt the feelings of Catherine, either, because she seems innocent to me at this point. It seems like that's how Vincent feels, too, which might be why he can't bring himself to tell either woman what is going on.
They'll find out soon enough, I bet. And I bet Vincent's nightmares that night will be demented as hell. I can't wait.
I figured that was a wholly appropriate way to begin writing about Atlus' new 360 and PS3 game, Catherine. This is the Persona Team's latest release, and you can see the influence their prior games had here - even down to the basic structure of the story. Like in Persona, Catherine spends its gametime exploring time, not space. There are a limited number of places the player can go, but it is how they act and the choices they make in those places that affect the story.
The main "game-y" portions of Catherine are basically puzzles. The player is tasked with climbing to the top of a giant tower, night after night, and the only way to do so is to move around and manipulate the blocks to create paths to the top, while avoiding enemies and not falling off. This is harder than it sounds, because time is limited - the bottom floors of the stage fall off as time goes on, so you can't dawdle to figure out how to progress. The "boss" stages also have some giant monster chase you, while using attacks that can really mess you up - one of them I encountered reversed your controls, another knocks you down a few levels, and yet another just outright kills you. This adds an even more frantic pace to the puzzle levels, and they tie into the main story, as well - typically the bosses are metaphors for the main characters current predicament.
But I'm here for the story. Catherine is about a middle aged man named Vincent Brooks, who has been dating his girlfriend Katherine for something like five years. She wants to get married soon, and Vincent is having trouble coming to grips with the idea. To further complicate things, he gets drunk one night and begins an affair with a girl named Catherine, a much younger, seductive girl who has no idea Vincent is already spoken for. The main point of the game is to guide Vincent through his relationships with these two women, and (I presume) ultimately come to a decision over which one to stay with (or, if the game really has balls, neither - but I haven't beaten it yet, so I have no idea at this point).
I really have trouble with this game, and I'm not even talking about the puzzle bits. When Vincent is awake, he is constantly getting texts from the two women, and the player is responsible for responding to them. You have a few options in how to word your text, and, like in real life, you have to try to send a text that doesn't screw up your relationship with the girl you want. As much as I want to scream at the TV "Tell Catherine about your longtime girlfriend and dump her NOW!" you don't really get that option. The player is more like Vincent's conscience, rather than in complete control of the man himself.
The game also has some neat online integration, as well, because in between puzzle levels, the player is asked questions like "Does life begin or end when you get married?" All the other players' answers are all tallied up online and shown after you answer. The answers that are displayed are also the ones people said when they first played the game, so you know what most people really think (because I'm sure when I'm done with this playthrough, I'll play again and go after the young Catherine to see how the story changes).
I just beat the fourth night, and am growing increasingly conflicted as I play. I know I want to repair Vincent's relationship with Katherine, but I don't want to hurt the feelings of Catherine, either, because she seems innocent to me at this point. It seems like that's how Vincent feels, too, which might be why he can't bring himself to tell either woman what is going on.
They'll find out soon enough, I bet. And I bet Vincent's nightmares that night will be demented as hell. I can't wait.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Etrian Odyssey III: Tales of the Metroid Guild, Epilogue
The main force of the Metroid Guild stepped off the raft and onto the small shore, carefully hopping over the lava. The new Hoplite, Jaha, seemed somewhat nervous as he fidgeted in his armor. He, as well as everyone else, knew that his talents were crucial to surviving the ordeal ahead. The original founders of the guild had recruited him specifically to learn a technique of their own design. It was suitable for use only by someone who had experience as a Hoplite due to the defensive nature of that particular study.
It wasn't an offensive move, at all. In fact, it was a skill designed to keep up to five people alive in very specific, extremely dangerous circumstances.
It also had never been performed against anything that could prove its worth.
Marth, the battle-hardened Prince who had joined the Metroid Guild upon hearing of their accomplishments, patted Jaha on the back. "Fear not, my friend," he said as the other three looked on. "This will work. We trust in your skills. Shadow trained you well."
Nathan, original founder and current leader of the Metroid Guild, shook his head. "We have no time for this. Jaha, you're ready. Let's go." After readying his sword, he began walking over the crest of the island.
Behind him, Yukiko, the senior Monk who had also been an original founder of the Metroid Guild, looked at Kyle, also an original founder and senior Zodiac. "I hope you taught the prince well," she mused. "If he doesn't keep that Hoplite from passing out, I'm not sure my healing qi will be of much help if I'm dead."
"We'll see, I suppose," the diminutive magician said. Yukiko nervously cocked an eyebrow at him before catching up to the others on the crest of the island. She had never heard her old friend second guess himself before, and it worried her. Every person had a very specific job to do, and if any of them failed, every single one of them would die.
It was too late to back out now, though. As the rest of the five members reached the top of the small crest, they watched as their target became aware of their presence. It got up on its back legs, clawing at the charred dirt beneath it. It raised its enormous head to the sky as it roared, blasting pebbles and dirt past the guild as they stood there, in awe of the magnificent beast before them.
The beast settled down on its haunches, and the five brave souls threw themselves at it. Before they could even reach it, it bellowed a searing blaze of fire at them, large enough to engulf all five of them and then some. Jaha was ready. He threw up his rather large shield and chanted a few words, and the fire was fully absorbed by the enchanted shield.
Marth let out a celebratory holler. "Well done, Jaha!" he shouted as he and Yukiko started casting some protective spells to prevent heat exhaustion, confusion, and fatigue. Nathan did what he always did, and taunted the enormous creature - albeit nervously, because he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand up to too many focused attacks by it. The rest of the team would have to take some hits themselves. He worried about Kyle more than the rest, mostly because his small frame didn't lend itself well to much physical punishment. He would have to rely on Jaha for that...
Before the dragon composed itself, Jaha began using his familiar Line Guard skill, which helped mitigate the damage his friends would take. He threw a twist on his old standby, though, by utilizing Bunshin, a technique taught to him by Shadow, the veteran Ninja of the Metroid guild. It allowed him to spread his techniques to the entire party.
But the dragon, surprised his fire breath hadn't handled his attackers like it had always had, flew into a rage. It charged his small enemies, well aware how easily it could crush them.
It was again surprised to learn that these fellows were ready for him. It was stunned when the smallest one, dressed in black, shot two extremely cold, extremely painful spears of ice directly at his face.
It had been a long, long time since this ancient beast had felt pain.
They had the full attention of the entire Stratum now. Around them, the beasts in the cavern hid behind rocks or simply fled in terror at the battle unfolding before them. None, not even the large (at least not when compared to the beast now embroiled in battle) Poison Dragons dared participate. They watched in silent awe as the small humans fought valiantly against the Wyrm of the Molten Caves.
Nathan had given up on provoking the dragon, as the beast had gone completely out of control. It was throwing everything it had at them by wildly swinging its limbs at anything that dared come near it, while spewing fire in every direction every chance it got, and it when it wasn't spewing fire, it was spouting as much smoke as it could to try to befuddle the five humans.
The Metroid Guild weren't exactly in great shape, either. All five of them were covered in burns, and most of them were cut fairly deeply by the maniacal beasts claws. Yukiko had entered a healing frenzy, healing every one of them as often as possible, with no regards to her stamina. Once in a while she had to eat an amrita or two, to summon the mental acuity needed to keep her companions healthy.
Jaha hadn't had a coherent thought in a half hour. He didn't have time. He was a mess, but he showed no signs of falling. He was taking as much damage for his compatriots as he could, and his shield, thank the Goddess, was holding up admirably.
Kyle had been taking a beating like he had never had before. He felt as close to death as he had ever felt the whole time, as Yukiko's healing spells seemed to hit him as late as possible just before he was torn asunder by the beasts claws. He got angrier and angrier as he threw every ice spell he knew at the damned Wyrm; sharp ice seemed to flow from both of his hands constantly.
Marth was rattled. The prince had seen many battles in his time, and had fought against some tough adversaries, but nothing like this. This seemed a force of nature to him. He wasn't sure he and his compatriots would make it, and was worried that if they failed, the beast would continue to frenzy out of control, leaving the cave and killing anybody it found. He was chanting as fast as he could, occasionally striking the beast when he saw an opening, but at one crucial moment, right when they thought the beast might fall, he forgot to chant a spell to keep Jaha from passing out from confusion.
All four of them knew what happened instantly. They had no time to berate him, as the dragon let loose a flurry of smoke, disorienting Jaha and making him break away from the group. He knew he had to regain his composure or he and his friends would die. The dragon swung one of its giant claws and struck Kyle directly, finally landing a clean hit on the small wizard. The powerful spellcaster was sent flying, and he landed with a thud several feet away after splitting his head open on a rock. His main adversary downed, the dragon roared, and stood on its haunches as it prepared to finally take down these pesky, though worthy, adversaries.
Yukiko, already casting healing spells as hurriedly as possible, tried to make up for the lack of defense from Jaha by chanting every spell she knew for her compatriots. She upped Nathan's strength in the hopes he would down the dragon. She tried to help Jaha regain his composure and bring him back to the rest of the group. She tried vainly to revive Kyle, as his body lay lifeless several feet away from them.
Nathan began to panic. His sword lately had seemed to barely do anything to the dragon, and the beast seemed to have gained a bit of confidence and strength when it killed Kyle. He still madly swung his blade at the beast, in the vain hope he'd be able to save his remaining comrades.
Jaha had regained composure and charged back into battle, defending his friends as best he could. Without Kyle, the battle had come to a stalemate at best, and the four Metroid Guild members knew the dragon could outlast them. They still fought, courageously hoping they'd be able to somehow survive.
Just when Jaha felt he had no more strength and Yukiko had long since run out of amritas, the dragon began to lunge at Marth. Right before his jaw clenched down around his torso, the dragons head was sickeningly rocked backwards as an enormous bolt of ice shot through its left eye socket. The dragon reeled backwards, and with a pained cry, finally spent its last breath.
Nathan turned around. "Kyle!" he laughed. "I thought you were dead!"
The wizard certainly looked it. He needed to be treated, fast, and the party had little means to comfort him. Jaha and Marth looted what they could from the enormous corpse, while Nathan and Yukiko tended to their old friend.
"You did it, Kyle!" Nathan told him. "We killed the Wyrm. We're going to be legends."
"We're already legends, you fool," he sputtered back.
. . .
The strong wizard was right. A little over two years ago, they had saved the town of Armoroad from an ancient and evil threat. They had mapped the Yggdrasil Labyrinth beneath the town, and had slain many dangerous monsters in the meantime. Tales of their valiant efforts had spread, and hundreds of warriors had come from all over the world to join their ranks. They had long since assured their financial well being, and decided to spend the rest of their days taking whatever challenge they could find.
They scoured every cave, every ruin, every haunt they could find. They were recognized as legends in their own time. Their tales would even be collected in a series of books that would become classics in their own right, making their authors and their heirs rich.
The title of the book is "Etrian Odyssey."
It wasn't an offensive move, at all. In fact, it was a skill designed to keep up to five people alive in very specific, extremely dangerous circumstances.
It also had never been performed against anything that could prove its worth.
Marth, the battle-hardened Prince who had joined the Metroid Guild upon hearing of their accomplishments, patted Jaha on the back. "Fear not, my friend," he said as the other three looked on. "This will work. We trust in your skills. Shadow trained you well."
Nathan, original founder and current leader of the Metroid Guild, shook his head. "We have no time for this. Jaha, you're ready. Let's go." After readying his sword, he began walking over the crest of the island.
Behind him, Yukiko, the senior Monk who had also been an original founder of the Metroid Guild, looked at Kyle, also an original founder and senior Zodiac. "I hope you taught the prince well," she mused. "If he doesn't keep that Hoplite from passing out, I'm not sure my healing qi will be of much help if I'm dead."
"We'll see, I suppose," the diminutive magician said. Yukiko nervously cocked an eyebrow at him before catching up to the others on the crest of the island. She had never heard her old friend second guess himself before, and it worried her. Every person had a very specific job to do, and if any of them failed, every single one of them would die.
It was too late to back out now, though. As the rest of the five members reached the top of the small crest, they watched as their target became aware of their presence. It got up on its back legs, clawing at the charred dirt beneath it. It raised its enormous head to the sky as it roared, blasting pebbles and dirt past the guild as they stood there, in awe of the magnificent beast before them.
The beast settled down on its haunches, and the five brave souls threw themselves at it. Before they could even reach it, it bellowed a searing blaze of fire at them, large enough to engulf all five of them and then some. Jaha was ready. He threw up his rather large shield and chanted a few words, and the fire was fully absorbed by the enchanted shield.
Marth let out a celebratory holler. "Well done, Jaha!" he shouted as he and Yukiko started casting some protective spells to prevent heat exhaustion, confusion, and fatigue. Nathan did what he always did, and taunted the enormous creature - albeit nervously, because he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand up to too many focused attacks by it. The rest of the team would have to take some hits themselves. He worried about Kyle more than the rest, mostly because his small frame didn't lend itself well to much physical punishment. He would have to rely on Jaha for that...
Before the dragon composed itself, Jaha began using his familiar Line Guard skill, which helped mitigate the damage his friends would take. He threw a twist on his old standby, though, by utilizing Bunshin, a technique taught to him by Shadow, the veteran Ninja of the Metroid guild. It allowed him to spread his techniques to the entire party.
But the dragon, surprised his fire breath hadn't handled his attackers like it had always had, flew into a rage. It charged his small enemies, well aware how easily it could crush them.
It was again surprised to learn that these fellows were ready for him. It was stunned when the smallest one, dressed in black, shot two extremely cold, extremely painful spears of ice directly at his face.
It had been a long, long time since this ancient beast had felt pain.
They had the full attention of the entire Stratum now. Around them, the beasts in the cavern hid behind rocks or simply fled in terror at the battle unfolding before them. None, not even the large (at least not when compared to the beast now embroiled in battle) Poison Dragons dared participate. They watched in silent awe as the small humans fought valiantly against the Wyrm of the Molten Caves.
Nathan had given up on provoking the dragon, as the beast had gone completely out of control. It was throwing everything it had at them by wildly swinging its limbs at anything that dared come near it, while spewing fire in every direction every chance it got, and it when it wasn't spewing fire, it was spouting as much smoke as it could to try to befuddle the five humans.
The Metroid Guild weren't exactly in great shape, either. All five of them were covered in burns, and most of them were cut fairly deeply by the maniacal beasts claws. Yukiko had entered a healing frenzy, healing every one of them as often as possible, with no regards to her stamina. Once in a while she had to eat an amrita or two, to summon the mental acuity needed to keep her companions healthy.
Jaha hadn't had a coherent thought in a half hour. He didn't have time. He was a mess, but he showed no signs of falling. He was taking as much damage for his compatriots as he could, and his shield, thank the Goddess, was holding up admirably.
Kyle had been taking a beating like he had never had before. He felt as close to death as he had ever felt the whole time, as Yukiko's healing spells seemed to hit him as late as possible just before he was torn asunder by the beasts claws. He got angrier and angrier as he threw every ice spell he knew at the damned Wyrm; sharp ice seemed to flow from both of his hands constantly.
Marth was rattled. The prince had seen many battles in his time, and had fought against some tough adversaries, but nothing like this. This seemed a force of nature to him. He wasn't sure he and his compatriots would make it, and was worried that if they failed, the beast would continue to frenzy out of control, leaving the cave and killing anybody it found. He was chanting as fast as he could, occasionally striking the beast when he saw an opening, but at one crucial moment, right when they thought the beast might fall, he forgot to chant a spell to keep Jaha from passing out from confusion.
All four of them knew what happened instantly. They had no time to berate him, as the dragon let loose a flurry of smoke, disorienting Jaha and making him break away from the group. He knew he had to regain his composure or he and his friends would die. The dragon swung one of its giant claws and struck Kyle directly, finally landing a clean hit on the small wizard. The powerful spellcaster was sent flying, and he landed with a thud several feet away after splitting his head open on a rock. His main adversary downed, the dragon roared, and stood on its haunches as it prepared to finally take down these pesky, though worthy, adversaries.
Yukiko, already casting healing spells as hurriedly as possible, tried to make up for the lack of defense from Jaha by chanting every spell she knew for her compatriots. She upped Nathan's strength in the hopes he would down the dragon. She tried to help Jaha regain his composure and bring him back to the rest of the group. She tried vainly to revive Kyle, as his body lay lifeless several feet away from them.
Nathan began to panic. His sword lately had seemed to barely do anything to the dragon, and the beast seemed to have gained a bit of confidence and strength when it killed Kyle. He still madly swung his blade at the beast, in the vain hope he'd be able to save his remaining comrades.
Jaha had regained composure and charged back into battle, defending his friends as best he could. Without Kyle, the battle had come to a stalemate at best, and the four Metroid Guild members knew the dragon could outlast them. They still fought, courageously hoping they'd be able to somehow survive.
Just when Jaha felt he had no more strength and Yukiko had long since run out of amritas, the dragon began to lunge at Marth. Right before his jaw clenched down around his torso, the dragons head was sickeningly rocked backwards as an enormous bolt of ice shot through its left eye socket. The dragon reeled backwards, and with a pained cry, finally spent its last breath.
Nathan turned around. "Kyle!" he laughed. "I thought you were dead!"
The wizard certainly looked it. He needed to be treated, fast, and the party had little means to comfort him. Jaha and Marth looted what they could from the enormous corpse, while Nathan and Yukiko tended to their old friend.
"You did it, Kyle!" Nathan told him. "We killed the Wyrm. We're going to be legends."
"We're already legends, you fool," he sputtered back.
. . .
The strong wizard was right. A little over two years ago, they had saved the town of Armoroad from an ancient and evil threat. They had mapped the Yggdrasil Labyrinth beneath the town, and had slain many dangerous monsters in the meantime. Tales of their valiant efforts had spread, and hundreds of warriors had come from all over the world to join their ranks. They had long since assured their financial well being, and decided to spend the rest of their days taking whatever challenge they could find.
They scoured every cave, every ruin, every haunt they could find. They were recognized as legends in their own time. Their tales would even be collected in a series of books that would become classics in their own right, making their authors and their heirs rich.
The title of the book is "Etrian Odyssey."
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Dead Money: To Begin Again
Today, I beat the first add-on pack for Fallout: New Vegas, the Dead Money expansion. I must say, I enjoyed myself quite a bit, despite absolutely hating it the first time I gave it a shot.
At about level 23 or 24, I had beaten the main story of the game, and decided to go see what was going on over in the Sierra Madre casino. Once I got there, everything I owned was taken away, and I was given some paltry weapons and light armor and basically told what to do by the mysterious Father Elijah. What sucked was that he put a bomb collar on me, making me do his bidding until the casino was properly raided.
But the bomb collar had a drawback (besides, you know, being a bomb). Radio interference would cause it to beep for about 10 or 15 seconds, at which point it would blow up, blowing the player's head off. So you have to either get out of range of the radios or speakers, blow them up, or deactivate them (some speakers are armored, and cannot be blown up and must therefore be deactivated at a computer terminal somewhere nearby).
Compounding this problem was the Cloud floating around the Villa, where the player starts in Dead Money. It's poisonous, and will rapidly drain your health if you remain in it. It also appears as a sort of fog, making it difficult to see things like speakers you have to destroy so your head doesn't get blown to bits.
Also, there were these guys running around the Villa, dressed in ancient metal haz-mat suits who threw spears at me and swiped long pole-arms at me, causing me and my light armor great damage. They also were tough to kill - once knocked down, they would get back up again, with full health, unless I managed to cut off one of their limbs or head, at which point they would be dead for good. Since I had, at the beginning of Dead Money, very few options for weapons (most of which were Melee, which my character has little skill in), killing these guys was incredibly difficult. I didn't have any of my Stimpaks, either, so regenerating my health was hard because I also couldn't sleep anywhere besides the Police Station in the Villa, which was quite out of the way most of the time.
For these reasons, I ultimately quit playing Dead Money, and went back to the main New Vegas area in a previous save, and leveled up some more. Once I reached level 31 and felt a bit bored with what was left of the main game (I certainly didn't complete everything in it, but finding new stuff to interact with was becoming more and more rare), I decided to give Dead Money another try.
Armed with a little bit of knowledge of the nature of the Sierra Madre, and with level 100 lockpick, science, and speech skills, I was able to arm myself much more quickly this time around. I knew the utility of the vending machines and how they worked, and I knew to look for Dean's Secret Stashes (marked by a glowing hand pasted on the wall near one of them) to stock up on healing supplies and ammo early on. I also went hog wild, not caring if I took damage, and ended up being able to kill the Ghosts much more quickly and permanently, at the cost of a decent amount of health. Once killed, though, they stayed dead, and subsequent trips through their territory wouldn't be as difficult (until much later, anyway).
So I eventually completed the old man's quests, and made my way into the casino proper. After turning the power on and locating all my comrades (whom had helped me get into the casino in the first place), it was time to enter the vault of the casino. I encountered the old man, killed him, and ran out of the vault, Metroid style, avoiding my own death via bomb collar, activated by the old man upon his death.
I skipped, in there, a whole bunch of story, which was actually quite good. I don't want to spoil it (there's really no point), but I do want to point out something I'm experiencing for the first time, here: narrative continuity between an add-on pack and the regular game. Typically, when I've played add-ons in the past, they are either pseudo-sequels to the main story, or completely divorced from it altogether. And while much of the story of Dead Money is separate, many of the characters in it have a lot to do with characters in the main story (one is even directly affected by the events in Fallout 1!). The ties to the main story are well done and subtle, and maybe aren't even obvious if you don't pay attention. I also liked how the main story, without even downloading the Dead Money add-on, references it, as well.
Overall, the add-on was worth my ten bucks, and I downloaded Honest Hearts, the second add-on, today. I've heard much about the Burned Man in my travels in the Mojave, and I bet I'll meet him in Utah.
What a great game.
At about level 23 or 24, I had beaten the main story of the game, and decided to go see what was going on over in the Sierra Madre casino. Once I got there, everything I owned was taken away, and I was given some paltry weapons and light armor and basically told what to do by the mysterious Father Elijah. What sucked was that he put a bomb collar on me, making me do his bidding until the casino was properly raided.
But the bomb collar had a drawback (besides, you know, being a bomb). Radio interference would cause it to beep for about 10 or 15 seconds, at which point it would blow up, blowing the player's head off. So you have to either get out of range of the radios or speakers, blow them up, or deactivate them (some speakers are armored, and cannot be blown up and must therefore be deactivated at a computer terminal somewhere nearby).
Compounding this problem was the Cloud floating around the Villa, where the player starts in Dead Money. It's poisonous, and will rapidly drain your health if you remain in it. It also appears as a sort of fog, making it difficult to see things like speakers you have to destroy so your head doesn't get blown to bits.
Also, there were these guys running around the Villa, dressed in ancient metal haz-mat suits who threw spears at me and swiped long pole-arms at me, causing me and my light armor great damage. They also were tough to kill - once knocked down, they would get back up again, with full health, unless I managed to cut off one of their limbs or head, at which point they would be dead for good. Since I had, at the beginning of Dead Money, very few options for weapons (most of which were Melee, which my character has little skill in), killing these guys was incredibly difficult. I didn't have any of my Stimpaks, either, so regenerating my health was hard because I also couldn't sleep anywhere besides the Police Station in the Villa, which was quite out of the way most of the time.
For these reasons, I ultimately quit playing Dead Money, and went back to the main New Vegas area in a previous save, and leveled up some more. Once I reached level 31 and felt a bit bored with what was left of the main game (I certainly didn't complete everything in it, but finding new stuff to interact with was becoming more and more rare), I decided to give Dead Money another try.
Armed with a little bit of knowledge of the nature of the Sierra Madre, and with level 100 lockpick, science, and speech skills, I was able to arm myself much more quickly this time around. I knew the utility of the vending machines and how they worked, and I knew to look for Dean's Secret Stashes (marked by a glowing hand pasted on the wall near one of them) to stock up on healing supplies and ammo early on. I also went hog wild, not caring if I took damage, and ended up being able to kill the Ghosts much more quickly and permanently, at the cost of a decent amount of health. Once killed, though, they stayed dead, and subsequent trips through their territory wouldn't be as difficult (until much later, anyway).
So I eventually completed the old man's quests, and made my way into the casino proper. After turning the power on and locating all my comrades (whom had helped me get into the casino in the first place), it was time to enter the vault of the casino. I encountered the old man, killed him, and ran out of the vault, Metroid style, avoiding my own death via bomb collar, activated by the old man upon his death.
I skipped, in there, a whole bunch of story, which was actually quite good. I don't want to spoil it (there's really no point), but I do want to point out something I'm experiencing for the first time, here: narrative continuity between an add-on pack and the regular game. Typically, when I've played add-ons in the past, they are either pseudo-sequels to the main story, or completely divorced from it altogether. And while much of the story of Dead Money is separate, many of the characters in it have a lot to do with characters in the main story (one is even directly affected by the events in Fallout 1!). The ties to the main story are well done and subtle, and maybe aren't even obvious if you don't pay attention. I also liked how the main story, without even downloading the Dead Money add-on, references it, as well.
Overall, the add-on was worth my ten bucks, and I downloaded Honest Hearts, the second add-on, today. I've heard much about the Burned Man in my travels in the Mojave, and I bet I'll meet him in Utah.
What a great game.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Best Donkey Kong Ever
Game Boy Donkey Kong is without a doubt the best game with the words "Donkey Kong" in it ever. I mean as much as I do like the first two Donkey Kong Country games, they don't even come close to this one.
Which isn't to say they are very similar; in the SNES games, you actually control Donkey Kong himself, whereas in the Game Boy game, you are Mario, trying to rescue Pauline (the original girl in distress from the arcade game - but by 94, Mario had been rescuing Princess Toadstool for years. Did Mario have an affair?!) from Donkey Kong himself.
Interestingly, Donkey Kong Jr. made an appearance here. In the DKC games, this Donkey Kong would go on to be the one you control, whereas the big Donkey Kong in the Game Boy game would (apparently) go on to become Cranky Kong.
Anyway, Donkey Kong '94 is king because Mario must traverse over 100 levels, solving puzzles along the way, to try to finally confront Donkey Kong. But what is glorious about this game isn't just the puzzles - it's really Mario's moveset. Mario has one of his most diverse movesets here - and he needs no powerups to access them. He can double and triple jump, do a backflip, and do handstands, which allow him to use his feet to stop barrels from crushing him, also making them land lightly next to him so he can pick them up and throw them back at Donkey Kong. He can even pick most enemies up, like in Super Mario Bros. 2, and throw them around, killing other enemies or (in a few levels) chucking them at Donkey Kong himself! All of these moves are mapped well, too. None are difficult to pull off. The double and triple jumps just require timing to activate at the right time, the handstand is just down and jump, and the backflip is jumping while turning around while running. It's actually fun beating the levels from the arcade Donkey Kong with this huge set of moves - I beat the first level in three seconds in this playthrough, actually.
The game really is an amalgam of all the mainline Mario games made up until that point. It even predicted some of the moves Mario would have in his first 3D outing two years later. But the puzzles are great, too. Figuring out how to get the key to the door is, years and countless playthroughs later, still a blast. Stage 8-1 gave me problems, even though I have beaten this game a ton of times - I couldn't remember how to beat it, so I had to solve it all over again.
The music, too, is amazing. Each world has it's own theme, and they all evoke the setting quite well (nothing too serious, either - this is, after all, a game in which you spend one world on a pirate ship, another on a plane, and yet another in an ice world) with upbeat tunes and the occasional ominous tune. The last few levels, in particular, have interesting music, some of which I haven't really heard imitated elsewhere, either.
It's interesting, having played through this game after beating Rabi Laby, a DSi downloadable title by Agetec. It, too, is a puzzle platformer, and an enjoyable one at that, but it pales in comparison to Donkey Kong '94. Rabi Laby is a bit more puzzle-y, with less reliance on traditional platforming than DK: the girl in the game can barely jump, and the rabbit only jumps twice as high, so you spend most of the game working around these limitations to get the little girl to the exit. Rabi Laby definitely had harder puzzles, though. There was one instance where I couldn't stand it anymore and had to look up the answer to one level online (and I'm glad I did, because the answer was stupid and I never would have figured it out). Rabi Laby was worth the five bucks I paid for it, but if I had a 3DS, given the choice between Rabi Laby and the recently released Donkey Kong '94 for the 3DS virtual console, I would go with DK94 every time. That's actually the reason I played DK94 the past day or two, too. Everyone who had a 3DS has been talking about the game online recently, so I had to dig up my copy and play it on my GBA SP.
Man, between Ocarina of Time 3D (with awesome commercials!) and the virtual console already having Donkey Kong '94 and Link's Awakening on it (the two best original Game Boy games ever made), I really need to get a 3DS. Maybe in a month for my birthday...
Which isn't to say they are very similar; in the SNES games, you actually control Donkey Kong himself, whereas in the Game Boy game, you are Mario, trying to rescue Pauline (the original girl in distress from the arcade game - but by 94, Mario had been rescuing Princess Toadstool for years. Did Mario have an affair?!) from Donkey Kong himself.
Interestingly, Donkey Kong Jr. made an appearance here. In the DKC games, this Donkey Kong would go on to be the one you control, whereas the big Donkey Kong in the Game Boy game would (apparently) go on to become Cranky Kong.
Anyway, Donkey Kong '94 is king because Mario must traverse over 100 levels, solving puzzles along the way, to try to finally confront Donkey Kong. But what is glorious about this game isn't just the puzzles - it's really Mario's moveset. Mario has one of his most diverse movesets here - and he needs no powerups to access them. He can double and triple jump, do a backflip, and do handstands, which allow him to use his feet to stop barrels from crushing him, also making them land lightly next to him so he can pick them up and throw them back at Donkey Kong. He can even pick most enemies up, like in Super Mario Bros. 2, and throw them around, killing other enemies or (in a few levels) chucking them at Donkey Kong himself! All of these moves are mapped well, too. None are difficult to pull off. The double and triple jumps just require timing to activate at the right time, the handstand is just down and jump, and the backflip is jumping while turning around while running. It's actually fun beating the levels from the arcade Donkey Kong with this huge set of moves - I beat the first level in three seconds in this playthrough, actually.
The game really is an amalgam of all the mainline Mario games made up until that point. It even predicted some of the moves Mario would have in his first 3D outing two years later. But the puzzles are great, too. Figuring out how to get the key to the door is, years and countless playthroughs later, still a blast. Stage 8-1 gave me problems, even though I have beaten this game a ton of times - I couldn't remember how to beat it, so I had to solve it all over again.
The music, too, is amazing. Each world has it's own theme, and they all evoke the setting quite well (nothing too serious, either - this is, after all, a game in which you spend one world on a pirate ship, another on a plane, and yet another in an ice world) with upbeat tunes and the occasional ominous tune. The last few levels, in particular, have interesting music, some of which I haven't really heard imitated elsewhere, either.
It's interesting, having played through this game after beating Rabi Laby, a DSi downloadable title by Agetec. It, too, is a puzzle platformer, and an enjoyable one at that, but it pales in comparison to Donkey Kong '94. Rabi Laby is a bit more puzzle-y, with less reliance on traditional platforming than DK: the girl in the game can barely jump, and the rabbit only jumps twice as high, so you spend most of the game working around these limitations to get the little girl to the exit. Rabi Laby definitely had harder puzzles, though. There was one instance where I couldn't stand it anymore and had to look up the answer to one level online (and I'm glad I did, because the answer was stupid and I never would have figured it out). Rabi Laby was worth the five bucks I paid for it, but if I had a 3DS, given the choice between Rabi Laby and the recently released Donkey Kong '94 for the 3DS virtual console, I would go with DK94 every time. That's actually the reason I played DK94 the past day or two, too. Everyone who had a 3DS has been talking about the game online recently, so I had to dig up my copy and play it on my GBA SP.
Man, between Ocarina of Time 3D (with awesome commercials!) and the virtual console already having Donkey Kong '94 and Link's Awakening on it (the two best original Game Boy games ever made), I really need to get a 3DS. Maybe in a month for my birthday...
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The DS: A Classic Adventure Powerhouse?
I suppose it makes sense, what with the touch screen, stylus, and the (relative) rebirth of classic point and click adventure games on the PC in the past few years, but this old genre has flourished on the Nintendo DS.
Sure, it's no PC in that regard, but the level of quality versus quantity is pretty unarguable. Here's the list of classic adventure games that I've played:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Ace Attorney: Miles Edgeworth Investigations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
And I'm not even counting the Professor Layton games, which are kind of borderline. They are great games, either way, though.
It is somewhat odd that Capcom dominates that list, publishing all but two games (Hotel Dusk and 999). Who would have thought Capcom would make so many awesome adventure games?
Anyway the reason I bring this up is because I just finished Capcom's excellent Ghost Trick. Developed by many of the Ace Attorney people (possibly the same team, depending on where you get your info on the internet), the game is about Sissel, who dies at the beginning of the game. He receives powers after his death, and is able to move about in ghost form by possessing certain items. Sissel can manipulate many of these items, allowing him to move around farther, and also to interact with the many living characters that inhabit the game world.
Also, when he discovers a dead body, he can travel back in time to four minutes before their death, and do his best to reverse it. If he does so, he changes their fate, and thus allows the storyline to progress.
Sissel, you see, suffers from amnesia. He cannot remember who he was, other than the fact that when he dies, he can see his body from his ghost form. He spends the rest of the game trying to figure out who killed him, why they killed him, who he really was (for example, why was he present in the junkyard when he was killed?), and why many of the people he encounters seem to know and recognize his earthly body.
I will not spoil the story here, because it is fantastic, but it also holds up throughout. This is probably my main complaint about every other adventure game in the above list, save for Hotel Dusk. That isn't to say the stories aren't enjoyable, just that the suspension of disbelief falls pretty hard near the end (especially, ESPECIALLY in 999 - as much as I enjoyed the characters and most of the dialogue in that game, the true ending was pretty forced and weird). Ghost Trick has a somewhat goofy explanation for the main event the story spins around, but given the context of the game, it seems grounded and makes sense. I was satisfied with it, and was surprised several times by the twists and turns in the story.
Also, the puzzles were never too obtuse to figure out with a few tries. They were challenging, but since they made sense, it should only take even a adventure game newbie a few tries to figure out.
The animation, though, is unbelievably gorgeous. The characters who move around on screen look a touch rotoscoped, then colored over. They move smoothly, and often hilariously (see Detective Cabanela doing anything, also the "Panic Dance"). The dialogue shifts between lightly comedic (Missile the Pomeranian might be the only dog of that breed whom I find both adorable and lovable, and hilarious) to somewhat gloomy and sad, but never excessively so.
There is the possibility of a sequel (don't worry, nearly all story elements are tied up in this game), although apparently the game didn't sell to well in Japan (and likely in America, either). Capcom apparently even blamed it for a poor showing in the fiscal quarter of its release, too, so that probably dooms any chance of a sequel. Maybe. The runaway success of the Ace Attorney series, and the fact that this is Capcom, who makes sequels to EVERYTHING (they even made an Okami sequel, of all things!), might mean we get to solve more mysteries via Ghost Tricks.
Sure, it's no PC in that regard, but the level of quality versus quantity is pretty unarguable. Here's the list of classic adventure games that I've played:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Ace Attorney: Miles Edgeworth Investigations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
And I'm not even counting the Professor Layton games, which are kind of borderline. They are great games, either way, though.
It is somewhat odd that Capcom dominates that list, publishing all but two games (Hotel Dusk and 999). Who would have thought Capcom would make so many awesome adventure games?
Anyway the reason I bring this up is because I just finished Capcom's excellent Ghost Trick. Developed by many of the Ace Attorney people (possibly the same team, depending on where you get your info on the internet), the game is about Sissel, who dies at the beginning of the game. He receives powers after his death, and is able to move about in ghost form by possessing certain items. Sissel can manipulate many of these items, allowing him to move around farther, and also to interact with the many living characters that inhabit the game world.
Also, when he discovers a dead body, he can travel back in time to four minutes before their death, and do his best to reverse it. If he does so, he changes their fate, and thus allows the storyline to progress.
Sissel, you see, suffers from amnesia. He cannot remember who he was, other than the fact that when he dies, he can see his body from his ghost form. He spends the rest of the game trying to figure out who killed him, why they killed him, who he really was (for example, why was he present in the junkyard when he was killed?), and why many of the people he encounters seem to know and recognize his earthly body.
I will not spoil the story here, because it is fantastic, but it also holds up throughout. This is probably my main complaint about every other adventure game in the above list, save for Hotel Dusk. That isn't to say the stories aren't enjoyable, just that the suspension of disbelief falls pretty hard near the end (especially, ESPECIALLY in 999 - as much as I enjoyed the characters and most of the dialogue in that game, the true ending was pretty forced and weird). Ghost Trick has a somewhat goofy explanation for the main event the story spins around, but given the context of the game, it seems grounded and makes sense. I was satisfied with it, and was surprised several times by the twists and turns in the story.
Also, the puzzles were never too obtuse to figure out with a few tries. They were challenging, but since they made sense, it should only take even a adventure game newbie a few tries to figure out.
The animation, though, is unbelievably gorgeous. The characters who move around on screen look a touch rotoscoped, then colored over. They move smoothly, and often hilariously (see Detective Cabanela doing anything, also the "Panic Dance"). The dialogue shifts between lightly comedic (Missile the Pomeranian might be the only dog of that breed whom I find both adorable and lovable, and hilarious) to somewhat gloomy and sad, but never excessively so.
There is the possibility of a sequel (don't worry, nearly all story elements are tied up in this game), although apparently the game didn't sell to well in Japan (and likely in America, either). Capcom apparently even blamed it for a poor showing in the fiscal quarter of its release, too, so that probably dooms any chance of a sequel. Maybe. The runaway success of the Ace Attorney series, and the fact that this is Capcom, who makes sequels to EVERYTHING (they even made an Okami sequel, of all things!), might mean we get to solve more mysteries via Ghost Tricks.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Shining Force CD: A Reflection on Nostalgia
I didn't realize how much the "Sword of Hajya/The Evil God Awakes" sucks.
One of the things that always annoyed me about my beloved childhood Game Gear Shining Force was how a few battles into the game, your Force splits into two parties. This means that for the next few hours of the game, you are fighting battles with about 5 or 6 characters in each party. This wouldn't be so much of a problem, if the battles themselves weren't so stacked against you.
Sure, you say. It's supposed to be hard - you're unexpectedly split up and the odds are stacked against you! To that I say "go hump a weedwacker." First of all, you cannot pick who goes in what team (which I suppose makes sense, due to the events at the particular moment your guys split up) so if your characters aren't leveled properly on either team - guess what! Difficult grinding time!
Then you have the maps. Most of the Shining games don't put you on maps that have very slim paths, but when you split up and only have 6 characters, there are a lot of them. There is also a map wherein you play in the dark, and enemies randomly appear as you make your way across the map. Oh yay! My mage, who I had been keeping in the back due to her low HP and defense (and who also happens to be the party leader, which means if she dies, it's game over) is now surrounded by zombies and dark knights. Oh and my healer - who also has the highest attack power in this party - is near the frontlines, so if she gets damaged, he might be two turns away from healing her! Oh and he also has low MP so he may be out of healing charges anyway. Fun!
The other party, with the main character you named at the beginning of the game (Deanna, for whatever reason, is the canon name) is a bit better balanced, but doesn't face nearly as difficult battles as Natasha's party mentioned above. Right now, I'm in a lava battle with this team, and I'm finding it difficult to find the urge to play.
Which really speaks to the issue I have with many RPGs, though. It's probably why I don't find Final Fantasy IV or Four Heroes of Light too enthralling - people are constantly coming and going from my party. Let me level them up! Don't let me possibly lose equipment when they leave! Stop making stupid plots where the people have to leave for little to no reason (Shining Force CD and the aforementioned Final Fantasy games are very guilty of this, 4HoL in particular). It's frustrating to have to deal with some asshole leaving your party when you've built them up for hours on end. I mean, if it's like Tellah from FFIV and they don't come back ever, fine! I don't even know why I put up with it in Final Fantasy VI... Although come to think of it, at least there the reasons the characters split up were usually for good reason (Sabin jumping in the river to fight Ultros aside).
Anyway I'm going to beat Shining Force CD, dammit. No matter what this stupid thing throws at me. But the original Shining Force Gaiden, "Toward the Root of Evil," is so far the better chapter.
One of the things that always annoyed me about my beloved childhood Game Gear Shining Force was how a few battles into the game, your Force splits into two parties. This means that for the next few hours of the game, you are fighting battles with about 5 or 6 characters in each party. This wouldn't be so much of a problem, if the battles themselves weren't so stacked against you.
Sure, you say. It's supposed to be hard - you're unexpectedly split up and the odds are stacked against you! To that I say "go hump a weedwacker." First of all, you cannot pick who goes in what team (which I suppose makes sense, due to the events at the particular moment your guys split up) so if your characters aren't leveled properly on either team - guess what! Difficult grinding time!
Then you have the maps. Most of the Shining games don't put you on maps that have very slim paths, but when you split up and only have 6 characters, there are a lot of them. There is also a map wherein you play in the dark, and enemies randomly appear as you make your way across the map. Oh yay! My mage, who I had been keeping in the back due to her low HP and defense (and who also happens to be the party leader, which means if she dies, it's game over) is now surrounded by zombies and dark knights. Oh and my healer - who also has the highest attack power in this party - is near the frontlines, so if she gets damaged, he might be two turns away from healing her! Oh and he also has low MP so he may be out of healing charges anyway. Fun!
The other party, with the main character you named at the beginning of the game (Deanna, for whatever reason, is the canon name) is a bit better balanced, but doesn't face nearly as difficult battles as Natasha's party mentioned above. Right now, I'm in a lava battle with this team, and I'm finding it difficult to find the urge to play.
Which really speaks to the issue I have with many RPGs, though. It's probably why I don't find Final Fantasy IV or Four Heroes of Light too enthralling - people are constantly coming and going from my party. Let me level them up! Don't let me possibly lose equipment when they leave! Stop making stupid plots where the people have to leave for little to no reason (Shining Force CD and the aforementioned Final Fantasy games are very guilty of this, 4HoL in particular). It's frustrating to have to deal with some asshole leaving your party when you've built them up for hours on end. I mean, if it's like Tellah from FFIV and they don't come back ever, fine! I don't even know why I put up with it in Final Fantasy VI... Although come to think of it, at least there the reasons the characters split up were usually for good reason (Sabin jumping in the river to fight Ultros aside).
Anyway I'm going to beat Shining Force CD, dammit. No matter what this stupid thing throws at me. But the original Shining Force Gaiden, "Toward the Root of Evil," is so far the better chapter.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Shining Force CD: The Sword of Hajya
A few days ago, I beat the first scenario of Shining Force CD, "Towards the Root of Evil," based on the Japan-only Game Gear game, "Shining Force Gaiden." Sadly, there were no additional battles as creative (or fun) as the one where you had to find weapons on the beach, but the game did ramp up the difficulty a bit as it wore on.
Which isn't to say it is as difficult as its console counterparts; it isn't. Very rarely did I feel in danger in "Towards the Root of Evil," and really wasn't until the very last battle. There were bosses, sure, but with proper movement, and the slow pace I usually go through battles, I very rarely had player characters in any amount of danger. Now, it's very likely this is just because I know the battle system of these games inside and out, and therefore know the AI patterns of the enemies, but I would like to see a bit more challenge in the second part of Shining Force CD.
As for the final battle... The main bad guy of the game, Woldol, inexplicably turns into a scorpion and is invincible until you hit him with the Sword of Hajya. Going into the battle, I thought this was a Taros from Shining Force II situation in which only the main character could damage him, so I prepared accordingly, only to find out that after being damaged once with the Sword of Hajya, any old Force member can damage him. By the time I realized this, I had let a few of my party members die while trying to fend off Woldol from targeting the main character. It didn't matter, though, because once I realized what to do, I just threw everything I had at him and he went down pretty easily (coincidentally by the main character, no less).
What I do like about this scenario is how it ties into the second Game Gear game (part 2 of Shining Force CD, released as Sword of Hajya in America on the Game Gear in 1994). The main character of "Towards the Root of Evil" is actually Prince Nick, who, at the beginning of the second game, along with Gyan and presumably Claude, leave to go conquer Iom, where they eventually get defeated and your party has to help them. When I first played the Sword of Hajya, I had no idea why Prince Nick seemed to be important and why there was some random bird who looked important in the army that left that never spoke. And why Gyan had a face portrait. I never beat the Game Gear game, so it's possible that I'll eventually join up with those guys in "The Evil God Awakes," as part 2 is called in Shining Force CD (confused yet?).
Looking at a FAQ for what I missed in "Towards the Root of Evil" shows that apparently there were a few secret characters you can only get by searching certain bushes during certain battles. I like the idea of secret characters, but think it's dumb you can only get them by randomly searching bushes during battles. It'd be one thing if the game gave you some kind of hint, or something, but I had no idea they were even there. Also, I apparently missed a secret already in "The Evil God Awakes" because I didn't search a well a few battles ago. The item you find there supposedly unlocks the hidden boss rush chapter, where your party fights every boss from both "Towards the Root of Evil" and "The Evil God Awakes." I suppose I might try to get that eventually, just to see all the content the game offers (I'd also like to write about it).
Anyway, so I'm underneath the castle of Emild, about to fight the first true boss of the game, Gordon, to finally re-obtain the Sword of Hajya. I have gotten this far in the Game Gear version, and don't really remember having a problem with Gordon, so we'll see if that still holds true. I will likely write about Shining Force CD soon...
Which isn't to say it is as difficult as its console counterparts; it isn't. Very rarely did I feel in danger in "Towards the Root of Evil," and really wasn't until the very last battle. There were bosses, sure, but with proper movement, and the slow pace I usually go through battles, I very rarely had player characters in any amount of danger. Now, it's very likely this is just because I know the battle system of these games inside and out, and therefore know the AI patterns of the enemies, but I would like to see a bit more challenge in the second part of Shining Force CD.
As for the final battle... The main bad guy of the game, Woldol, inexplicably turns into a scorpion and is invincible until you hit him with the Sword of Hajya. Going into the battle, I thought this was a Taros from Shining Force II situation in which only the main character could damage him, so I prepared accordingly, only to find out that after being damaged once with the Sword of Hajya, any old Force member can damage him. By the time I realized this, I had let a few of my party members die while trying to fend off Woldol from targeting the main character. It didn't matter, though, because once I realized what to do, I just threw everything I had at him and he went down pretty easily (coincidentally by the main character, no less).
What I do like about this scenario is how it ties into the second Game Gear game (part 2 of Shining Force CD, released as Sword of Hajya in America on the Game Gear in 1994). The main character of "Towards the Root of Evil" is actually Prince Nick, who, at the beginning of the second game, along with Gyan and presumably Claude, leave to go conquer Iom, where they eventually get defeated and your party has to help them. When I first played the Sword of Hajya, I had no idea why Prince Nick seemed to be important and why there was some random bird who looked important in the army that left that never spoke. And why Gyan had a face portrait. I never beat the Game Gear game, so it's possible that I'll eventually join up with those guys in "The Evil God Awakes," as part 2 is called in Shining Force CD (confused yet?).
Looking at a FAQ for what I missed in "Towards the Root of Evil" shows that apparently there were a few secret characters you can only get by searching certain bushes during certain battles. I like the idea of secret characters, but think it's dumb you can only get them by randomly searching bushes during battles. It'd be one thing if the game gave you some kind of hint, or something, but I had no idea they were even there. Also, I apparently missed a secret already in "The Evil God Awakes" because I didn't search a well a few battles ago. The item you find there supposedly unlocks the hidden boss rush chapter, where your party fights every boss from both "Towards the Root of Evil" and "The Evil God Awakes." I suppose I might try to get that eventually, just to see all the content the game offers (I'd also like to write about it).
Anyway, so I'm underneath the castle of Emild, about to fight the first true boss of the game, Gordon, to finally re-obtain the Sword of Hajya. I have gotten this far in the Game Gear version, and don't really remember having a problem with Gordon, so we'll see if that still holds true. I will likely write about Shining Force CD soon...
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Shining Force CD: Fanservice of the Highest Caliber
I picked up Shining Force CD a little while ago, knowing it's a Sega CD remake of the two Game Gear Shining Forces (one of which was only released in America on this disc) but what I didn't know was how there is actually a few chapters exclusive to this release.
This makes Shining Force CD an absolute treat for series fans.
Having grown up playing Shining Force II, I still prefer the strategy-lite approach to tactical RPGs the classic Shining series uses, as opposed to the complicated "make-sure-your-guys-aren't-exposing-their-backs" tedious BS of the Final Fantasy Tactics lineage (and pretty much every other tactics series besides maybe Advance Wars or Fire Emblem). There aren't too many games like this left, sadly, and Sega seems to want to make the Shining series into action-RPG only. This makes me sad, because there is Ys for that, and I want more Shining Force.
I picked up Shining Force III last year, and played a few hours of it before being distracted by other things. That may happen with Shining Force CD, but I don't think it will. You see, the game has 2D graphics, basically a mix between Shining Force I and II. Having been 16 years since the game released, I have memories of Shining Force II and this game calls back to it very well. In fact, I think that's the best way to enjoy this game; having played the original Shining Forces as a kid, going back to this sixteen years later is a treat, somewhat like Mega Man 9 was when that came out in 2008.
Anyway, so there are a few differences. Unlike Shining Force II, there is no between battle exploring - there is simply the option to Save, manage items and characters, and the occasional shop, then on to the next battle. Which is somewhat disappointing, because I really liked talking to people in Shining Force II - made the world seem more real. Then again, having played games of a more recent vintage that present their worlds on a deeper level, perhaps this is for the best.
The battles themselves so far have been pretty great, though. My favorite so far was the one where my characters had to abandon ship, and after washing up on a beach, find themselves under attack. They lost all their weapons and items when this happened, so they had to search the beach to find some sticks to use to beat the battle. I doubt a scenario like this would come up later in the game, but I thought it was pretty neat - in fact, there isn't anything like it in Shining Force I or II. It also highlights something I wish would have been implemented into the American version of II - the ability to search treasure chests and the ground - when applicable - during battle (Shining Force II had a few battles with chests in them, but they were only accessible in the Japanese and European versions, for what reason I do not know). This changes the strategy of battles, because the player will want to go out of their way to obtain items from chests rather than just go beat the boss. There was one battle, though, which had a treasure chest that I had to send a character way out of their way to go get that was just a stupid Medical Herb that pissed me off, but that has only happened once so far, thankfully.
I'm in Chapter 2 of the first part of the game, and I have no idea what that means in terms of how much of the game I have completed. I'm sure I'll blog more about the game, though, as I'm having a blast identifying the references to Shining Force I and II (sadly, most of them are to the first game, although we'll see how long that holds true as I go on).
This makes Shining Force CD an absolute treat for series fans.
Having grown up playing Shining Force II, I still prefer the strategy-lite approach to tactical RPGs the classic Shining series uses, as opposed to the complicated "make-sure-your-guys-aren't-exposing-their-backs" tedious BS of the Final Fantasy Tactics lineage (and pretty much every other tactics series besides maybe Advance Wars or Fire Emblem). There aren't too many games like this left, sadly, and Sega seems to want to make the Shining series into action-RPG only. This makes me sad, because there is Ys for that, and I want more Shining Force.
I picked up Shining Force III last year, and played a few hours of it before being distracted by other things. That may happen with Shining Force CD, but I don't think it will. You see, the game has 2D graphics, basically a mix between Shining Force I and II. Having been 16 years since the game released, I have memories of Shining Force II and this game calls back to it very well. In fact, I think that's the best way to enjoy this game; having played the original Shining Forces as a kid, going back to this sixteen years later is a treat, somewhat like Mega Man 9 was when that came out in 2008.
Anyway, so there are a few differences. Unlike Shining Force II, there is no between battle exploring - there is simply the option to Save, manage items and characters, and the occasional shop, then on to the next battle. Which is somewhat disappointing, because I really liked talking to people in Shining Force II - made the world seem more real. Then again, having played games of a more recent vintage that present their worlds on a deeper level, perhaps this is for the best.
The battles themselves so far have been pretty great, though. My favorite so far was the one where my characters had to abandon ship, and after washing up on a beach, find themselves under attack. They lost all their weapons and items when this happened, so they had to search the beach to find some sticks to use to beat the battle. I doubt a scenario like this would come up later in the game, but I thought it was pretty neat - in fact, there isn't anything like it in Shining Force I or II. It also highlights something I wish would have been implemented into the American version of II - the ability to search treasure chests and the ground - when applicable - during battle (Shining Force II had a few battles with chests in them, but they were only accessible in the Japanese and European versions, for what reason I do not know). This changes the strategy of battles, because the player will want to go out of their way to obtain items from chests rather than just go beat the boss. There was one battle, though, which had a treasure chest that I had to send a character way out of their way to go get that was just a stupid Medical Herb that pissed me off, but that has only happened once so far, thankfully.
I'm in Chapter 2 of the first part of the game, and I have no idea what that means in terms of how much of the game I have completed. I'm sure I'll blog more about the game, though, as I'm having a blast identifying the references to Shining Force I and II (sadly, most of them are to the first game, although we'll see how long that holds true as I go on).
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Super Mario Sunshine: How Does It Hold Up Today?
Super Mario Sunshine is a bit of an odd game.
Released for the Gamecube in late 2002, the game is the second 3D Mario platformer. There was a lot of hype before release; there hadn't been a 3D Mario since 1996's Super Mario 64, which was (and still is) considered one of the best video games of all time.
Nintendo had to differentiate Sunshine from 64, though, and not just aesthetically (which we'll get to later). They didn't want the game to simply be "Mario 64 2." The game also came (somewhat) early in the Gamecube's life - having only been out a year, Nintendo still had the opportunity to sell the system to people who couldn't decide between it and the Xbox or the Playstation 2. But how to innovate on Mario 64's design? Mario already had a great moveset in that game, and it would be difficult to just add more varied jumps to the mix.
Enter FLUDD. An acronym for "Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device," Mario wore this contraption on his back. Using the R button, Mario could use the various functions of the machine. It could spray water in whatever direction Mario was facing, whether standing still or not. By pressing X, Mario could switch to the Hover Nozzle, which allows him to hover in midair for a bit while holding R. Later in the game, Mario can find the Rocket Nozzle and Turbo Nozzle, which let him jump incredibly high in the air and run very fast respectively. By utilizing most of his jumping skills from Mario 64 (Mario cannot use the long jump or the backflip in Super Mario Sunshine) and FLUDD, Mario must find Shine Sprites (which work the same as stars from Mario 64) scattered throughout Isle Delfino.
One of the other things Nintendo put in the game that Mario 64 didn't have is the ability to ride Yoshi. Yoshi can use his tongue to eat fruit and enemies, and can also spit "Juice" to eliminate certain barriers. The "Juice" mechanic is the oddest thing in the game, as it looks like Yoshi is vomiting liquid all over the place while he makes a gargling sound. Yoshi himself is fairly limited in utility; other than breaking the aforementioned barriers with his "Juice," he prevents Mario from using FLUDD while riding him and cannot jump very high nor float very far. He is used fairly little in Super Mario Sunshine.
The game looks fantastic, though, even to this day. Thanks to the ability to output in widescreen and Progressive Scan mode (a rarity for games at all in 2002, and even rarer for Nintendo even up to this day), the game still looks clean and has pretty good art. Some of the character designs can be poor(the Pianta and the Noki just seem like blobs), but most of the enemies and bosses are detailed and cute, which fit the aesthetic.
The difficulty, however, wildly varies throughout the game. The game isn't usually too bad, but there are definitely difficulty spikes. Early on, the player is likely to encounter a "Secret," which is a special stage where Mario must get to the end of some tricky platforming without the aid of FLUDD. These areas, while usually fun, highlight the odd physics Super Mario Sunshine has when Mario isn't using FLUDD. He controls a bit slippery, and has a tendency to fall off ledges when landing from jumps. Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine's sequels, the Mario Galaxy games, don't suffer from this at all. Without FLUDD and the moves Mario has in Mario 64 and the Galaxy games, specifically the long jump and backflip, make navigating without FLUDD sometimes more difficult than need be.
There is one Shine in particular, though, that I died on nearly thirty times today. That is "The Goopy Inferno" in Pianta Village and it is easily the most difficult Shine to get in the game. Mario does not have use of FLUDD until he can get to the center of the level. There really isn't a good way to get through it; I believe you are supposed to use the fences underneath the level to navigate your way to the center to rescue the Mayor of the town, but it is almost impossible to get to him. Look at this video and watch how that guy does it. Doesn't seem like it's the way to beat the level, does it? There are other ways, but they are all exceedingly difficult. If Mario touches any of the orange glop, he is damaged, and the player loses control of him until he hopefully lands on non-gloppy ground (he will continue to take damage until he does so).
There is also the matter of the Blue Coins. When Mario collects ten of them, he can turn them in for a Shine Sprite in the hub level. There are 240 Blue Coins in the game, meaning a fifth of the game's Shines are bought using these coins. To complete the game one hundred percent, the player has to collect every coin. There are upsides and downsides to this. The Blue Coins are typically hidden well, and are satisfying to collect (the game saves every time you collect one), but when trying to complete the game, they become pretty tedious. Finding every single last one gets old, and will likely be the last couple shines a player gets in a given playthrough.
The Blue Coins seem to exist because Super Mario Sunshine has much fewer levels than any of the 3D Mario platformers (including it's sequels). The levels included are larger, of course, but less diverse. Most of them take place on beaches or outside in some capacity. They are relatively well-designed, though. Because there are fewer levels, Nintendo probably wanted there to be 120 Shines to collect so people wouldn't complain that Sunshine was "shorter than Mario 64," although that's a bit of a guess.
The game is worth playing, though. It gets some retroactive hate these days, but many people consider it to be "hardcore 3D Mario" in that it certainly isn't easy to beat. Mario 64 and the Galaxy games are better overall, but last place in a near perfect series is nothing to turn your nose up at.
Released for the Gamecube in late 2002, the game is the second 3D Mario platformer. There was a lot of hype before release; there hadn't been a 3D Mario since 1996's Super Mario 64, which was (and still is) considered one of the best video games of all time.
Nintendo had to differentiate Sunshine from 64, though, and not just aesthetically (which we'll get to later). They didn't want the game to simply be "Mario 64 2." The game also came (somewhat) early in the Gamecube's life - having only been out a year, Nintendo still had the opportunity to sell the system to people who couldn't decide between it and the Xbox or the Playstation 2. But how to innovate on Mario 64's design? Mario already had a great moveset in that game, and it would be difficult to just add more varied jumps to the mix.
Enter FLUDD. An acronym for "Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device," Mario wore this contraption on his back. Using the R button, Mario could use the various functions of the machine. It could spray water in whatever direction Mario was facing, whether standing still or not. By pressing X, Mario could switch to the Hover Nozzle, which allows him to hover in midair for a bit while holding R. Later in the game, Mario can find the Rocket Nozzle and Turbo Nozzle, which let him jump incredibly high in the air and run very fast respectively. By utilizing most of his jumping skills from Mario 64 (Mario cannot use the long jump or the backflip in Super Mario Sunshine) and FLUDD, Mario must find Shine Sprites (which work the same as stars from Mario 64) scattered throughout Isle Delfino.
One of the other things Nintendo put in the game that Mario 64 didn't have is the ability to ride Yoshi. Yoshi can use his tongue to eat fruit and enemies, and can also spit "Juice" to eliminate certain barriers. The "Juice" mechanic is the oddest thing in the game, as it looks like Yoshi is vomiting liquid all over the place while he makes a gargling sound. Yoshi himself is fairly limited in utility; other than breaking the aforementioned barriers with his "Juice," he prevents Mario from using FLUDD while riding him and cannot jump very high nor float very far. He is used fairly little in Super Mario Sunshine.
The game looks fantastic, though, even to this day. Thanks to the ability to output in widescreen and Progressive Scan mode (a rarity for games at all in 2002, and even rarer for Nintendo even up to this day), the game still looks clean and has pretty good art. Some of the character designs can be poor(the Pianta and the Noki just seem like blobs), but most of the enemies and bosses are detailed and cute, which fit the aesthetic.
The difficulty, however, wildly varies throughout the game. The game isn't usually too bad, but there are definitely difficulty spikes. Early on, the player is likely to encounter a "Secret," which is a special stage where Mario must get to the end of some tricky platforming without the aid of FLUDD. These areas, while usually fun, highlight the odd physics Super Mario Sunshine has when Mario isn't using FLUDD. He controls a bit slippery, and has a tendency to fall off ledges when landing from jumps. Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine's sequels, the Mario Galaxy games, don't suffer from this at all. Without FLUDD and the moves Mario has in Mario 64 and the Galaxy games, specifically the long jump and backflip, make navigating without FLUDD sometimes more difficult than need be.
There is one Shine in particular, though, that I died on nearly thirty times today. That is "The Goopy Inferno" in Pianta Village and it is easily the most difficult Shine to get in the game. Mario does not have use of FLUDD until he can get to the center of the level. There really isn't a good way to get through it; I believe you are supposed to use the fences underneath the level to navigate your way to the center to rescue the Mayor of the town, but it is almost impossible to get to him. Look at this video and watch how that guy does it. Doesn't seem like it's the way to beat the level, does it? There are other ways, but they are all exceedingly difficult. If Mario touches any of the orange glop, he is damaged, and the player loses control of him until he hopefully lands on non-gloppy ground (he will continue to take damage until he does so).
There is also the matter of the Blue Coins. When Mario collects ten of them, he can turn them in for a Shine Sprite in the hub level. There are 240 Blue Coins in the game, meaning a fifth of the game's Shines are bought using these coins. To complete the game one hundred percent, the player has to collect every coin. There are upsides and downsides to this. The Blue Coins are typically hidden well, and are satisfying to collect (the game saves every time you collect one), but when trying to complete the game, they become pretty tedious. Finding every single last one gets old, and will likely be the last couple shines a player gets in a given playthrough.
The Blue Coins seem to exist because Super Mario Sunshine has much fewer levels than any of the 3D Mario platformers (including it's sequels). The levels included are larger, of course, but less diverse. Most of them take place on beaches or outside in some capacity. They are relatively well-designed, though. Because there are fewer levels, Nintendo probably wanted there to be 120 Shines to collect so people wouldn't complain that Sunshine was "shorter than Mario 64," although that's a bit of a guess.
The game is worth playing, though. It gets some retroactive hate these days, but many people consider it to be "hardcore 3D Mario" in that it certainly isn't easy to beat. Mario 64 and the Galaxy games are better overall, but last place in a near perfect series is nothing to turn your nose up at.
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