To Boldly Re-Go

Blog post times! I'm currently at home for a couple of days, after finishing my dissertation and such. I'm having a well earned break (hah) before going back to Canterbury for a month or two to revise like some kind of manic revision demon for my final final exams. I'm making the most of my time back home and playing a game that came out in 2007.

In my original blog post about Mass Effect, I complained about the combat being poor, and I stand by that statement. The combat isn't great. The enemy AI often runs around in a mad panic, confusing both themselves, your team-mates and me. However, I'm playing as an Infiltrator this time around, rather than a Vanguard, which means I have access to a bunch of tech-based powers, the use of all which result my enemies exploding. I had planned to use the sniper rifle as my primary weapon, but I am next to useless with the damn thing. Until I invest a few more points into sniper rifles, I'm having to rely on my pistol most of the time. It has poisonous bullets. I think my Shepard should nicknamed "The Viper" or something.

In a slight change to my original playthrough, I'm actually playing as a female Shepard (or FemShep, if you must). I can honestly say there's really not a vast amount of difference between playing with or without a Y chromosome. Conrad Verner's fandom takes a slightly weirder note, but apart from that, it's pretty much the same. I've never really like either of the voice actors for Shepard, so really, it's just a cosmetic change, with the plot rattling along as ever. Not that I'm really doing anything plot related. In fact, I'm making an effort to ignore it. I missed quite a few of the side quests in my first playthrough, so I'm not going to let that happen this time. Scanning planets and doing side quests has raised me to level 21 without going near Virmire, Feros, Noveria, or the other one.

And also, more Mako sections, because
fuck anyone who didn't like the Mako

To Hell And Back Again, Again

I'm not dead, honest. Just busy. Busy busy busy.

Back when I started this blog, I was a fresh-faced young seventeen year old, heading into his final year of A-Levels. It was 2009. Things were cool. I'm now a grizzled twenty year old, made cynical by my years of work on an unforgiving Biology degree, facing my final year of university. I'm also doing my dissertation. Part of that is writing a blog about science, which you can read here, if you are so inclined. Anyway, onto games.

I was back at home last weekend, which meant it was time to have a go on the Xbox again. Also pay attention to my family or something, but mostly Xbox. I JEST. It was Mother's Day. Always remember to thank your mum once a year for being your mum. It's a hard job, totally non-optional and the pension options are bullshit. What was I talking about? VIDEO GAMES. That's it.

Specifically, this video game.

Yes, I'm talking about Dante's Inferno again.
Yes, I know I'm the only one who liked it.

Livin' in America

I'm back. Turns out that bout of depression was a cold, and I'm a drama queen.

So you've probably heard the news by now. Assassin's Creed 3 is happening. And if you didn't...

There's so much awesome about this, I have nothing
to add but this self-referential statement

Adventures in Funding

Unless you had your head under a rock for the past week, you might have noticed that Double Fine made a little stir in the gaming community by using Kickstarter to fund a brand new point and click adventure game. They needed $400,000. They raised it in about eight hours. They then hit a million dollars in under 24 hours, and broke Kickstarter records. Four days from when they started, and they are currently sitting at $1.6 million, four times the initial amount. By the time their Kickstarter page closes in a months time, I wouldn't be surprised if they hit $2 million. Basically, Double Fine did something amazing.

A lot of people were commenting about how this might affect the industry. Some suggested that it might be the end of publishers. Others came back stating that the Kickstarter approach only really works for studios with an established studio such as Double Fine, which is true. But I think what is important about what DF have done is more the idea behind it.

Finally Fantasized

I always worry about writing too much on a single genre, because I fear it alienates my audience. Then I remember that this audience is almost entirely fictional, so it's all good again. Despite this, allow me to reassure you that this'll be my last post about Final Fantasy for a while. Maybe. I don't know, stop judging me.

NINE! IX! Yeah, it's going pretty well. My chocobo can fly now. Took basically forever, because the only way to get your golden chocobo is through a dumb-luck mini-game that is more than a tad frustrating. But hey, doesn't matter now, cause MY CHOCOBO CAN FLY! Getting to the stage where you have free roam of the map is something I've only really achieved in the original Final Fantasy, so I was super excited to be able to go everywhere.

Unfortunately, it turns out once you've got that far in the game, there's really shit all to do around the map. Yeah you can go to a flooded library, but there's not a huge amount to do there. It's fun to go back and explore old locales but it doesn't really add much to the game. I guess it's just that freedom of choice to be able to go anywhere you want. I just wished there was something to do when I got there.

Aliens, Raccoons and Modification

Despite never having played the XCom games before, I followed the announcement of the new FPS game with quite some interest. Nice art style, interesting era of history that is not normally explored, a potentially incredible deep tactical command/RPG system. Take a look. I personally thought that 2K Marin had really nailed a good balance between first person and strategy.

The internet, as it is wont to do, got rather angry. How dare they make a FPS game out of a beloved turn-based game? That will never work! People were angry, it seemed, because it wasn't the XCom they'd played 18 years ago. To which I say; "Of course it isn't." Sad as you may find it, turn-based games aren't as big as they used to be. There's less of a market for them these days (which makes the recently announced XCom Enemy Unknown reboot even more of a surprise). If it were me, I'd be quick excited to play a new spin on my favourite franchise. That said, I do sort of understand the outrage. If they announced a Grim Fandango reboot that was an FPS, there'd be blood.

The tagline would probably be
"They're dead... Now make 'em deader."

East Versus West: The Role-Playing Conundrum

There's a lot of ways to divide up role-playing games. Fantasy or sci-fi? First person or third person? Turn-based or action? It's hard to talk about RPGs, however, before one division rears its head; Western or Japanese?

There's certain expectation attached to either genre. The Western RPG, or WRPG, is associated with more action adventure stryle gameplay, usually involving you running about in a wide open world, taking quests and levelling up specific skills as you do. The Japanese RPG, or JRPG, is more linked to turn based battles, featuring a range of characters in a vast, and often complex story.

Since I'm currently flip-flopping between an example of both genres, Skyrim and Final Fantasy IX, I figured I might take a whack at comparing and contrasting the two. I will admit to having a limited experience of JRPGs, so please forgive any ridiculously inaccurate sweeping statements. Let's get to it.

For a start, there are a lot fewer of these guys in WRPGs