Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=131https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1430After a bit of single-player action, a few friends came over to play multiplayer. In this, we played through a few of the levels from the single-player game, but most of the challenging levels are expansions on the originals. After each round we changed the weapons, which completely changed the challenge. Each player chose a character, but this selection didn't alter much of the gameplay. The only place where the game was affected, in relation to character choice, was found with Oddjob. With weapons that required more precise aiming, Oddjob, being a midget, is more challenging to hit. Apart from this, his movements and gestures are much more funny to watch. As we played a half dozen rounds, it became obvious that different players fared differently in each specific map and weapons challenge. When rockets were selected, those with quick reflexes and deeper knowledge of the map prospered. Those with the most practice at aiming with the joystick and maintaining contact succeeded with more traditional weapons. Unique to Goldeneye though, are the proximity and remote mines. These require a mix of sinister relentlessness and ingenuity in protecting the player character in a room full of explosives. These weapons were surely not designed for overuse like in a multiplayer challenge, but that makes it even more fun. With mines, the game easily becomes confusing and frustrating to those who don't get it, while the sinister planners win.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:44:40 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1430&iddiary=3017https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1430Few games offer fun, simple gameplay with replay value as rewarding as Goldeneye 007. For this session, I played a friend's maxed-out saved game. Despite access to all levels and cheats I jumped right into, my favorite level, the first one of the game. I've probably played this specific level hundreds of times, and for a number of reasons. It is one of the only levels that offers a real connection to the movie, as you go about enacting the prologue as seen in the movie's first scenes. The first enemies are located either protecting or inside a gun tower and, like always, I found myself drawn up to the top of it to eliminate gunmen who pose a threat to me. I knew that once I'm up there, enemies would start streaming down the tunnel ahead of me. This particularly level is full of cues that offer the viewer what he should do next to complete the challenge. After passing through the tunnel, I found myself behind a truck that offered protection all-too-cinematic. Knowing where the enemies are, I traveled from one side of the truck to the other in order to shoot down threats. The truck stopped right in front of a door with a button, an obvious cue that I should press the button in order to move the truck and follow it some more. Throughout the level, cues like the truck or the switch lead me through without needing much individual effort. Enemies all react the same, and if I attempt every challenge put in front of me, the objectives melt away without a hitch. What is it about this game that, even the most simplest of levels, bringing the player back after a dozen years? The enemy AI isn't much to write home about, nor is the complexity of the levels' design. Goldeneye, like the blockbuster movie named after it, pulls the player through the levels by rewarding good eyes. A lock on a fence, an alarm on a wall, or a stalled truck all invite the player to explore the designer's world and unlock its challenges.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:44:29 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1430&iddiary=3016https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1256In chapters after the first, Phoenix must go through a few days of investigation in order to develop his case. The player must travel around town, questioning anyone potentially connected to the crime and investigating any suspicious scenes that Phoenix comes across. A careful eye must be kept, as scenes may change in the most subtle ways. Without catching these subtle changes in the setting, such as a few documents appearing on the surface a desk, the game will not proceed. Getting stuck, even if just for a few minutes, becomes frequent and can be frustrating when the only interactions with the game world come with Examine, Talk, Present, or Move. Just as Phoenix Wright leaves the player frequently stuck and confused, the game rewards the careful player with all kinds of hints. When faced with character particularly resistant to questioning, Phoenix may think out-loud to. After hearing the player character mention, “maybe I should find a way to bribe this guy...” the solution to challenge becomes tangible. Sometimes the most crucial hints are simple and easy to interpret while other times the player finds Phoenix stuck and the game repeats itself like a broken record. This becomes especially frustrating when in court as, unlike investigation periods, the game limits the number of missteps granted to Mr. Wright.Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:28:11 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1256&iddiary=2676https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1256Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney starts off with a short introduction chapter. Here, the player is introduced to the game's characters, it's quirky style, and how to go about accomplishing its various challenges. After a few minutes of storytelling, setting the stage for the trial reminiscent of Law and Order, the player is quickly thrown into a trial. The gamer controls Phoenix Wright, his foxy boss Mia at his side, as both Phoenix and the player attack their first trial. While the player must prove his client innocent, the game's narrative offers significant hints to go about matters at hand. As we watch the narrative cutscene prior to the trial, we are informed right away that our client is innocent when the unidentified murderer mentions his motive to frame your client. After seeing this, the task becomes a matter of proving the story we already know instead of the challenging task of starting from scratch. Being an attorney is surely a hard job, but Phoenix Wright makes it fun. Subtle, or often not-so-subtle, cues throughout the game lead the player through the game's conflict. This relieves the most difficult challenges in order, leaving the player with a relaxed and quirky visual novel to plod through.Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:12:09 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1256&iddiary=2666https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1073The biggest gripe that I have with this game is its failure to reward the player's mastery of each level. Beside platform or simple boss challenges, the only reward the player gets comes with collecting different enemy abilities. Swords, parasols, and lasers are fun but the player can ignore them and push forward easily without grabbing them. The Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 all but require the player to gather coins, while later games like Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country encourage the player to master each world and collect a few rare or hidden coins in order to fully complete the game. Despite this lack of challenge, Kirby's Adventure is still a hell of a lot of fun. New gamers should feel comfortable learning the genre through Kirby, while experienced players can plow through each level and savor the minor challenges casually. Console games of today are no doubt more challenging than they were on the NES, yet a pickup game of Kirby is just as fun as contemporary games. Challenge is an important factor to consider when sculpting a game world, but its surprising how little of it is necesary to still have fun.Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:36:47 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1073&iddiary=2298https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1073The level design and gameplay of Kirby's Adventure remind me of a mix of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. Like Mario 2, the backgrounds and sprites are soft, almost fluffy, and the visual experience as a whole is quite inviting. The levels feel more interactive than Mario 2 though, and emphasize speedy gameplay with few challenges than today's player expects. Like Mario 3, a vertical dimension is required as well as alternate status attacks. Kirby can devour enemies and take on an attack of their characteristic, paralleling Mario's changes with a fire flower, raccoon suit, or mushroom. Platforms and platform challenges also owe a lot to the Mario series with their stacked platforms that require a plan to avoid and properly challenge the multiple enemies. Overall, Kirby feels like an update to the Mario series. Gameplay is much more inviting and, upon retrospect, you can feel SNES on the horizon. Unfortunately, the level design doesn't really affect gameplay like it does in the Mario series. The range of feeling isn't there that is provided by Super Mario's ice levels or Giant levels. Kirby's challenges stay largely the same; race through a level, perhaps do a few simple moves to clear a blocked path, and complete some sort of swallow-and-shoot type challenge to beat the boss.Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:36:19 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1073&iddiary=2297https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=811Despite the sheer fun that can come from mindlessly playing this game, Katamari is a game whose linear path must be followed in order to beat each level. In order to clear a level and unlock a new world, one must complete discrete objectives. When building a new star the Katamari's diameter is the rubric on which success is determined. Other missions, where the Prince is to re-build whole constellations present more of a challenge, asking the player to complete an array of more challenging objectives. The linearity of Katamari is most apparent in the game's longer missions. Unless the player pays attention to recently-unlocked areas, the Katamari's diameter will suffer. After missing the game's cues and staying in an area she's familiar with, the gamer will find little means to get bigger as all her potential objects have been gathered. Because of this, satisfactorily completing each star relies on memorization of a map, along with understanding the best routes through a level which cued by the placement of objects along a path. Above all else, the most striking feature of Katamari Damacy is found in its controls. Few games offer controls that provide so much fuel for debate and the deviation of personal taste as does Katamari. After two sessions of play, I can say that no game's controls have pulled me in more than Katamari's. As I play, I find my thumbs moving the ball with enormous ease. To get around an object while at speed, simply moving the right or left stick a few degrees is the solution. I can't help but dream of playing Mario with Katamari's controls, jumping and moving the character even without the push of a button.Fri, 19 Jan 2007 15:33:01 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=811&iddiary=1816https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=811As it pulls the player into its unique and ultra-stylized world, Katamari Damacy shatters any expectations that the player may have. Silly music, quirky cutscenes, and a simple-yet-challenging control scheme alienate the gamer yet these aspects, both confusing and alienating at first, are the exact aspects that won't let you put this game down. When I first started playing, the use of both analog sticks was hard to adapt to, but I didn't want to put the controller down by the end of my 45 minute session. While it couldn't be more confusing upon first play, the alienating quirkiness of Katamari is exactly what bonds the player to this fresh and fun game. Play comes number one in Katamari; the rules are only there to string the gameplay together. Its not hard to find a game whose deep and nuanced ruleset matures throughout a game; in Katamari, few rules change as you go through the game. Roll up a few thumbtacks and you can roll up an eraser; be careful though, that frog will knock a few bits off of your ball; pick up a few more orange pieces and you'll be able to get that frog. As you get bigger you can roll up more matter, and with more matter you'll find a new part of the map unveiled; don't stay in one spot too long, keep moving or else you won't complete goal in time. Building the stars under the gun of the clock, levels that use this scheme of rules, is the most fun and rewarding part of Katamari.Fri, 19 Jan 2007 14:30:56 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=811&iddiary=1791https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=602Few games offer a better introduction to the Nintendo DS console than Taito's Cooking Mama. Avoiding flashy cutscenes and dramatic characterization, the developer built this game around the completion of a series of simple mini-games. The gamer can expect to measure out portions of water to make rice, to learn how best to chop an onion, or the flip and press an omelette as it cooks. Each of these mini-games makes use of the stylus and both screens of the system. No individual mini-game is too challenging. The hard part is successfully completing each back to back with all the other required mini-game steps. Each recipe requires a unique series of steps to create a dish, the quality of which is graded on a rubric of 0 to 100 points harnessed to how well each task was completed. Looking at both the Wii and DS we see Nintendo developing games that are quick, easy, and clean fun. Just as quick as I can flip open the lid of my pocket console, the stress of my assignments disappears while I jump into the middle of cooking a perfect Japanese Hamburg steak. I was able to score an 89 on the bus ride to class but I know that, to get any further in the game, I had to go for the gold, a perfect score. Once I get the gold here, all kinds of variations of this steak will appear. That means more even more recipes to unlock and more perfect scores to earn. Player interest are held as one tells themself “just one more game!” for an hour before they stop. The player fights the clock in some games but each game is easy enough that there is little reason to settle for anything beyond perfect. After completing seven straight perfect mini-games, a single flub in a step makes the difference between perfection and mediocrity. Hands down the most striking characteristic of Cooking Mama is its approachability. Introducing the game to my friends didn't take long once they got started making fried rice. The simplicity of chopping onions builds the players self-confidence in seconds. Players who said to me “I just don't play video games” refused to give up the game after a few seconds of play.Fri, 12 Jan 2007 13:16:49 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=602&iddiary=1388