Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=123https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1420So I had actually played Minna Daisuki Katamari Damashii (We Love Katamari) before this. I'd played the Japanese version so I had a slightly hard time understanding it, but the non-textual cut-scenes made it pretty easy to understand what was going on. Playing the prequel to it made me realize that there were things to the first one that were actually BETTER than the sequel. It's even just the little things like having a unique Katamari for each level that matches the theme of that level. I.E. in the level where you must collect cows, the katamari you begin with is white with black spots, ala a cow. It's surprising they didn't have that feature in the sequel. I also feel like the level design is slightly better, especially in the smaller levels. There are a lot more ramps and almost kind of puzzles that the player needs to figure out how to do in order to proceed. I also think the cousins and the hidden items are placed more cleverly. However, the narration scenes are not nearly as well done. In fact, I've already seen the narration scenes in Katamari Damashii because as a bonus in the sequel, you get to watch all the scenes from the first one in a sequence. The sequel definitely is much more genius in this sense, because they effectively tell a story without the use of any dialogue. Overall the series is a charming one, even if the second Katamari is really unnecessary. I'd like to see the game on the Wii with all the potential that the wiimote has to improve the games controls.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:14:30 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1420&iddiary=3021https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1420There's a certain charm to Katamari Damashii that simply doesn't exist in any other game I've played. It gets you excited with the feeling of power, but limits that feeling from going to absolute craze with subtle, enjoyable background music. The combination of consistently well designed visuals, a variety of quirky soundtracks, and an ingeniously intuitive control-scheme make this game one of the finest in game history. For one, there's a very consistent style to Katamari. All objects in the universe seem appropriate amongst eachother, even if, given the context of the real world, they absolutely would not (why the fuck are there gorillas on the beach?). The game has entirely obscure levels and while it's horribly funny, the game has us come to accept the weirdness of the game as completely natural. The sometimes absurd, but usually very beautiful and engaging soundtrack lends itself to the drive for this game. Have you ever tried playing Katamari without sound? It's really not enjoyable at all. The music keeps you rolling and that is half the game. Katamari Damashii has the best use of two joysticks that I've ever seen. It works perfectly for the game mechanics in KD and is really all the player needs to control their Katamari. I've noticed that I've managed to get a lot of "non-gamers" into this game based just on the simplicity of the control scheme. The lack of any real need to use buttons makes it almost immediately accessible to anyone.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:12:16 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1420&iddiary=3000https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1241So I got a chance to get into the battle-system a bit more. It's interesting because at first the characters fight, but soon afterwards, they run into an encounter with Nene, who is presumably the grand master behind the Jisame, and end up being forced to swallow blue crystals which cause them to acquire avatars in the form of a cow, dragon, and horse. From then on, the characters fight using their avatars, who in turn have shadows. Reintroduce the job system in the form of shadows, that's interesting. The shadow system essentially gives the character a different set of skills depending on which shadow they use. For example, one of the characters Shuu, could use the "white" shadow. This will allow him to use a variety of white magic skills and will also affect his stats to bias it towards magic defense and away from attack power, etc. As he levels up that shadow skill, he will slowly permanently acquire some of the white magic skills into his pool of skills that he can equip when he's using a different shadow. One gripe I have with the shadow system is that it's not explained at all. Why there are different shadows and why new ones are acquired are, as of yet, simply things that happen. Unlike in Final Fantasy V, where the characters acquire the souls of ancient warriors, here, the shadows just exist. I hope this is explained later, because otherwise it's somewhat silly. I've been reading online and a lot of people highly criticize the "primitive" turn based battle system. What's said is that with game like Final Fantasy XII progressing towards a more real-time system, Blue Dragon looks in comparison very "old-school". Personally, I think this is completely a design choice and that Mistwalker had it completely in their hands to design a game that wasn't turn based. While one was certainly introduced later, it doesn't mean that it is necessarily a better system than the turn-based system, but rather an alternative. Both produce entirely different effects and some like one more than the other. It's hard to argue that either is the best. I will say though that the turn-based system in this game is particularly drab, and I still can't figure out why. It might be the music, or it could be the slow speed the attack animations go at. It'll take me more time before I really figure out why, but I can't say I'm always the most excited to enter a battle. Though simultaneously, the player's never forced to enter a battle because all enemies are present on the screen, and it's up to the player whether or not they want to engage them in a battle. This certainly brings up very unique game design elements in Blue Dragon. There are times where you can group several enemies together and have what's called a "Monster's Fight" which allows the player to, if having chosen the enemies grouped together right, let the monsters fight amongst themselves. I find this system particularly genius, and it allows players to manipulate their enemies on the world map. I still have a lot to see in this game and I really hope the story picks up because the game is horribly cliche right now and I can't help but think that it could remain that way for the rest of the game.Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:29:50 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1241&iddiary=2654https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1241A quick preface to Blue Dragon: the story's written by Hironobu Sakaguchi　(坂口博信), the original creator of Final Fantasy and writer for the stories of Final Fantasy I - V. The music composer, Nobuo Uematsu (植松伸夫), is well known for making what's considered some of the best video game music to date, and has made the entire sound track for this game. Finally, the main art designer, Akira Toriyama 鳥山明, is world famous for his Dragon Ball Z series. All-in-all, what's considered the "Dream Team" have put their efforts into this game over the last 5 years. Whether they've succeeded, I've yet to find out. The game makes full use of next-gen capabilities. I played out the intro a bit and immediately I realized I couldn't tell the difference between the cinematics and the in-game graphics. This was because, normally one would notice a resolution change between the gameplay and the cinematic, but in the case of Blue Dragon (which also indicates why the game is 25GB large... 3DVDs), all cinematic scenes are done in 720p as well, making transitions between gameplay and cinematic seamless. This, in turn, helps the game's narration feel more natural. The use of high resolution textures in both gameplay and cinematics, and the wise use of motion and distance blurring makes every area good for story progression. While I've only got through a little bit of the game, the voice acting and the facial expressions (which are really clear with Toriyama's translated-to-3D artstyle) are extremely expressive and really convey each character's apprehension or, in the protagonist's case, desire to take down the Jisame (the evil spawn). I haven't gotten yet to the core battle-system mechanics yet, but I'll critique more of that when I get to a point where that's possible.Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:03:48 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1241&iddiary=2642https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1047So I got a chance to play some more Gradius and get a bit further. Here are my findings: I love the seamless level design of the game. In the way that it is completely continuous, it makes the game far more immersive and the sense of space much more real. How the game alternates between the space scene and then the "level" scene gives the player the feeling that they are traveling alone through the depths and quirky segments of space, and really adds to the "lone samurai" element that is natural to the genre. Each level has its own theme to it. Part of the charm of Gradius that differentiated itself from other shmups was its extremely obscure level environments. From easter-island to lava, the player travels through many progressively weirder environments with progressively weirder bosses and by the end, they've seen all of it. Who thought of these bosses? Gradius has arguably the most confusing enemy designs, and this is in a good sense. I was only able to make it through the first three segments of the game, but I remember over a decade ago when I first played the game, I nearly pissed my pants when the scrolling stopped and volcanoes started randomly shooting out rocks. Genius! Using inanimate objects as bosses is something I still have not seen outside of the Gradius series. In the end, what makes Gradius, and further more the Gradius series so distinct in the shmup genre is its level of polish. Every level, every sprite is so solid and defined with proportions that work so well with everything else... the original Gradius still amazes me in the realm of 2D shoot em ups.Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:28:38 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1047&iddiary=2279https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1047I knew I'd be playing this one at some point from the classic list. Gradius is the first shmup I've ever played and I used to own it on the original NES over a decade ago. Gradius really hits home some aspects of the genre that none of its predecessors did nearly as well. Enter the dynamic power-up system. In games prior to Gradius (and even in many shmups after Gradius), the power-up system in shmups has been often used in a linear way. I.E. get the first power up, your weapon gets stronger. Get the second power up, your weapon gets even stronger... etc. Gradius on the other hand leaves the power up sequence to the player, who must make decisions on which power up configuration is best for the time. The power system is the most immediately obvious game design facet of Gradius so far. I'd like to comment on the level designs which I think are fantastic... but I need to get further in the game first.Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:11:38 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1047&iddiary=2253https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=783So I spent some more time playing Kirby and I've finally realized why I could play this game without end. The game is continuous. There isn't a single time where you're taken out of the 2D side-scrolling adventure mode of play as even the "world map" is set up in a 2D side-scroller. This creates a sense of immersion that does not interrupt gameplay at any time. The game is simple. The directions are illustrated and the mechanics are intuitive. The way you see your enemy attack is the way you will attack when you acquire their ability. In the way that the game saves after every level you clear is, at first seemingly too forgiving, but in the end is a nice convenience (especially when your NES tries to access that dusty pin and commits suicide soon afterwards). But most importantly, the game has ingenious mini-games that hooked me for hours. In the end, the charm of the Kirby games are not in the borrowing-and-expanding platformer portion of the game, but in the mini-games that are so simple to play, but so difficult to master. Ultimately, Kirby captures the essence of simplicity. The character itself is a circle with two eyes, feet, and hands (as described in the "how to draw Kirby" clip before the game title screen). The game is nothing more than passing through colorful stages, with interspersed, short minigames. Kirby does not try hard to integrate tough, very complex gameplay mechanics - it's just Kirby.Fri, 19 Jan 2007 14:20:26 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=783&iddiary=1786https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=783A few points of interest about the Kirby series before I begin my critical analysis of "Kirby Adventure". For one, the 1993 copyright date shot me straight in the face as I thought the Kirby series dated far further back. It's true that the very first Kirby game was in fact on the original Gameboy in 1992, but considering the iconic nature of Kirby, I thought Kirby's lineage would have begun back in the 80's. Unlike with all the other titles on the "classics list", this was my first time playing "Kirby's Adventure". I've played several of the other Kirby games and it surprised me how similar the Kirby game of 14 years ago is to the latest one for the Nintendo DS that was just released a few weeks ago. What was immediately apparent to me was the familiar sound-track. What is true about the Kirby series, it seems, that is not true with any other game series that I know of, is the retention -almost in its full completeness- of the sound-track and related sound-effects. The same songs re-hashed into later iterations of the Kirby games may seem like a cop-out (and really sometimes it feels like that), but it's nonetheless a great soundtrack and lends itself to a solid "definite" style for the series. Being a series made so much later than most of Nintendo's other established franchises, the Kirby series borrows several gameplay aspects from other respected series', namely Mario and Mega Man. It took the best of both series' - that is to say while it is a colorful, easy to play platformer just like Mario, there is still diversity in the gameplay mechanic as Kirby acquires new abilities a la Mega Man's powers gained from defeating reploids. However, unlike Mario and Mega Man, Kirby implements consistent strategy and puzzle-solving into its play. Where in Mega Man, any enemy can effectively be defeated with the standard Pea shooter, Kirby will require you to make use of the various abilities to defeat certain enemies and to destroy obstacles in order to proceed. As such, there is higher potential to make the game difficult in a more sophisticated way than simply bombarding the player with more enemies. There are a few other things I want to mention but I will get to those once I've thought about them a bit more.Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:48:23 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=783&iddiary=1744https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=603This game is definitely not one of those games you can play for longer than an hour or so without getting a headache. However, I did get a whole lot better after studying the bullet patterns. I must mention before I hold off any longer, "ZUN Software" is actually all one guy. The marvel of the "Touhou" series is not just the innovative approach each game in the series takes, but the fact that all the music, art, gameplay mechanics, and programming is done as a solo job. Anyways, I took some time to look at some of the fine design choices done by ZUN. For one, after each picture, the boss gets progressively harder. I.E., one of the bosses shoots out large bullets in a triangle formation before you take the first picture. After taking the first picture, those bullets that shoot out split into bullets in the form of a circle. As you get closer to the number of pictures required to defeat the boss, the boss evolves its strategy. This makes the gameplay even within each stage somewhat dynamic. Also, as a farcry from other vertical shooters in the genre, the game does not involve full blown levels, per-se, but rather single encounters with bosses that each have their own battle strategy. So in essence, the game becomes a lot less about mindless dodging and shooting, but instead about formulating strategies for counter-acting the strategies of the bosses. The game has a built in replay saving function that records the moves performed during the session (which results in a very small file since it's just a set of instructions) and so in the Touhou community, people can share their strategies for defeating bosses very easily. One big problem (maybe not a problem?) about many vertical shooters is the extreme feeling of disappointment after the final life has been used and the player has just invested 30 minutes of their life into getting through the game. Phantasmagoria of Flower View helps this problem by eliminating load times and having short "scenes" so that the time between start and restart is next to nothing. This allows players to remain immersed for as long as their head can handle it. But that's exactly the problem. Since the game is so consistently stressful, it isn't easy to play the game for a long period of time without feeling completely exhausted. The only reason why I'm typing this instead of playing more is because I simply can't handle playing it for longer than 30-45 minutes at a time. All in all, the game has excellent game design. The art is beautiful, yet simple. My one gripe is the music... while it is great music that loops well and sets the repetitive mood of retrying stages... there just isn't enough variety. There are only 6 sound tracks in the entire game and the game could likely take a player 20 hours to complete. That's a ratio of nearly 3 hours per song of listening which gets boring after a while. In close, the game brings about a challenge and gameplay dynamic unprecedent not only in the Touhou series, but in vertical shooters overall. ZUN Software still continues to pump out games every year and it will be interesting to see some sort of multiplayer implementation of this game in the future.Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:44:07 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=603&iddiary=1411https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=603ZUN Software is well known in Japan for their "Touhou (東方）" series which is a vertical shooter in which, every iteration introduces a new gameplay mechanic or play-style altogether. In the U.S., ZUN Software's "Perfect Cherry Blossom" has some mark of fame, and by many is considered ZUN's hallmark game. However, "Perfect Cherry Blossom" does not catch my eye as much as the more recent "Phantasmagoria of Flower View", which takes the vertical shooting genre into an entirely different light. I suppose you couldn't really call PoFW a shooter at all. You don't actually shoot, but rather you take pictures. The game is a series of challenges in which the player is pitted against progressively harder bosses during which they must take several pictures to defeat. The player is set in a square-bounded region and must wait till their camera-ability charges before taking a picture while dodging the enemies attacks. Since I've been getting my ass kicked constantly, I'll have to get into the details once I actually am able to progress further than challenge 1-3!Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:04:49 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=603&iddiary=1397