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Mar 5th, 2008 at 22:03:31 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS) |
GAMEPLAY
So this game is fun. How do I know, well when I sat down to play – which I planned to only do for a short period of time – I ended up playing through about half of the game. That's about 5 hours of game play. I'm not sure what it was that drew me in to continue playing, but once I started on each case I just felt like I had to finish it. I mean, for example, the first case the game throws at you has your mentor killed and you left to solve the murder and prove her sister (and you) are innocent. For some words scrolling across a screen the game is pretty intense.
For me, who enjoys reading mystery novels in his free time, this game has proven to be one of the best I have played in a while. Even though the game relies on some of my least favorite game play elements to continue the story – 'GO TALK TO EVERYONE THAT EXISTS, MAKE SURE YOU EXAMINE EVERY SINGLE THING EVER, TOO. HAVE FUN, KTHXBYE.' - it still proves to be a fun and interesting experience. Further, the player really feels like they are doing their part to solve the mystery.
DESIGN
The Phoenix Wright series does an amazing job of using game elements that aren't innovative – text based interaction, 2d sprites, murder mystery – and putting them into a very innovative and different setting from one that the player is used to seeing in video games. The game play itself is not so new and original. In fact it is almost like a text based adventure game. However, the position of a defense attorney given to the player at the start of the game is unlike any other game I've ever played – and I haven't even heard of any other games that revolve around a court room battle.
But even though the setting is innovative, the game play can drag on at times. In fact, when the player is not taking action in the court room, and is instead gathering evidence, the game seems to falter a bit. Instead of going from place to place searching for clues it instead becomes talk to x until you learn y, then move to place a so that person c can tell you more about y. And this can go on for the entire investigation part of the game. Don't get me wrong, it isn't particularly un-fun or bad, but it can get extremely tedious.
Even with these minor flaws though, the setting of the game, and of course the tone it creates makes for an amazing game play experience that I would heartily recommend to any who have not heard of the game.
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Mar 5th, 2008 at 21:50:25 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS) |
SUMMARY
The Phoenix Wright series has the player control the character, Phoenix Wright. Phoenix is a defense attorney in the near future where, due to the vast number of cases being tried in court, court cases have been limited in time to three days. The player must find evidence and clues as to the truth of the murder and then use that evidence to prove his clients' innocence.
GAMEPLAY
I am not a big fan of games that have the player constantly clicking, or pressing a button, to get through hours of dialog. Of all the things that can decrease my enjoyment of a game, incessant clicking to get through (often) shoddy dialog has to be at the top of the list. However, when I sat down and started getting into playing through the first Phoenix Wright game, I noticed that, while the gameplay almost entirely consisted of dialog, I was still enjoying myself. The dialog can be tedious at times, especially when you think you've solved something only to find out you had the right idea but you picked the wrong evidence to support it with. But, even with that, the story is extremely enjoyable.
Further, the player's interaction, through Phoenix, with the other characters in the game is about as animated as it could get for just being the player viewing a 2d sprite and reading some words. Each character has their own set of mannerism and actions that become apparent when talking. Each is fairly unique, even going so far to have hilariously outlandish names, such as Yanni Yogi, or Dick Gumshoe.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 02:10:33 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
GAMEPLAY
After taking a break to rest for a bit, the four of us came back and started up a exlposives only game on the classic map Facility. Once again we were back to shooting each other, trash talking and complaining about screen watchers. For me at least, most of the fun wasn't from the game itself, but instead from the interactions between me and my friends as we played.
One thing I noticed time and time again was that although the controller is bulky and the controls arent perfect, we would be having fun. The game itself was innovative at its time, setting the stage for nearly every console shooter to come, but playing it make it seem somewhat bland. Even though the games are fun, the game itself isn't what is interesting.
DESIGN
Continuing with the idea of the game itself not being so much fun when compared to the interactions of the players, it would seem the developers definitely took the right approach in creating a split screen multi-player mode. The controls aren't particularly amazing, and with the controller itself being a problem, it is surprising they didn't just scrap multi-player altogether.
However, the multi-player is not the only aspect of the game. In my opinion, Golden Eye features some of the most well thought out and designed levels of its time. The player, although put onto a path, can play through each level the way they want. From speed running, to carefully and stealthily defeating every enemy, the player can choose how to finish.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 01:37:17 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
SUMMARY
In GoldenEye 007, the play controls James Bond, famed MI:6 agent 007, as he follows the plot of the movie of Golden Eye. The player controls the game as a first person shooter. The story is a near exact copy of the movie. However, the main draw of this game is its excellent multiplayer aspect.
GAMEPLAY
I'm glad my roomate has an N64 as it means I get to play some of the best old games available. One of the games we play a ton is Golden Eye. Four player split screen is always fun. Running around dodging bullets and grenades to get the RC-P90 and going to town on everyone never gets old.
Even more telling is that we, the four of us playing, lost track of time playing the game and ended up playing for almost 3 hours the first time we sat down. Even though the maps are all blocky and similar and the graphics are terrible compared to the norm of today, the game does a very good job of holding players in.
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Refried Hero has been with GameLog for 16 years, 3 months, and 6 days |
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