Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1527https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4924Your thoughts on the gameplay. Gameplay is much faster than the original, though the style of play is similar. Your thoughts on innovative elements of the game. Risk: Legacy adds many new additions to the game. The fact that each game changes future games is very interesting and well implemented. Each change that I have run across has been very fun and exciting. What design elements make this a good (or bad) game? See previous comments. No real complaints to speak of: except that the rules can be confusing. How does the game keep the player interested? Constant changing to gameplay rules and territories adds many fun elements to the game. What would you change about the game? What was frustrating? See previous comments. What ideas does this game give you for your own game project? Having a semblance of permanence between sessions is common in videogames, however, requesting hard disk space has been an issue previously untouched by any of our class's previous games. Implementing such a feature would be interesting to say the least. Does the game exhibit emergent complexity? Risk: Legacy does exhibit emergent complexity. The state of the board is a prime example of a state machine. As the game progresses, the state is constantly altered. The beginning of each new game also introduces new possible states. How did you respond to the game's reward structure? It is very satisfying to be able to permanently mark the board upon victory. Plus, it does so in a way that does not break the game but does impact future games, which is nice. Did you experience flow while playing the game? What contributed to this feeling? The game is smooth and well designed. I did feel flow while playing the game. The well thought out additions to the game, including additions to the rules as well as additions to the board and cards added made it interesting. The feel of the game is that you are in a constantly changing, dynamic world. Together this provided a feeling of flow. What kind of social interactions did you have with other players? With bystanders? Like Risk, Risk: Legacy is a multiperson game. It is not possible to play solo, and adds lots of diplomatic elements with 5 independent forces fighting amongst each other. Would the gameplay work as a computer game? Would the gameplay have to be altered to work on a computer? It would work well as a computer game (there are video game versions of Risk already). However, certain information would have to be stored on HDD.Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:43:54 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4924&iddiary=9129https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4924Risk: Legacy is a new spin on the classic board game Risk. Like Risk, each player controls a number of infantry units as well as more advanced units. In Risk: Legacy, there are a number of races which each have their own specific abilities. Each race has its own special unit (although each special unit is only worth 3 infantry and has no special abilities). The objective is to gain 4 "red stars" (acquired through various means). The major difference between Risk and Risk: Legacy, however, is the permanence that persists between games. As each game progresses, certain cards are unlocked, or rules are unlocked, or the territory is changed in some manner. These changes last not only for that game, but for all future games as well. For example, one unlockable event occurs when 3 missiles are used at the same time (missiles change a di roll to a 6). After this occurs, the territory in which they were fired becomes "Fallout" territory and imposes severe penalties on all who traverse it. Risk: Legacy is a very fun and engaging game. The victory condition of 4 red stars makes games shorter than the original Risk game. So far, my games have lasted about an hour apiece. The different races are allowed to unlock special powers once certain conditions are met, which keep the game interesting and new each time. Also, those who survive are allowed to found minor cities, while the winner of each game can name a continent or found a major city. There is also a draft mode that makes it so that every time the game is started, varying numbers of troops, first turn ordering, subsequent turn ordering, coin cards, and races can be awarded at the beginning of the game. This ensures that no one race becomes too powerful. Risk: Legacy adds many new and interesting elements to the original. It makes Risk less of a tedious and exhausting experience and makes it more fun. I would highly recommend it to any board game enthusiast.Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:19:18 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4924&iddiary=9128https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4920The gameplay in SR3 is quite good. It maintains a decent pace (although certain side missions [Smoov] are frustratingly long) and keeps the action going the entire time. Saint's Row has a rather familiar style to those who have played GTA, but the ludicrous minigames help to relieve any serious tension that may build up. It has a nice upgrade system set up that relies on money and respect (which you gain by doing evil things). It is also innovative in its character customization, which is extremely extensive. The lack of focus on realism makes this game better than GTA in my opinion. However, SR3 goes off the deep end with some of its features, so bear that in mind. The level is one large map, with many minor activities located within. The game creates conflict by pitting enemy gangs against the saints form the beginning. Any criminal activity can bring the local enemy gang or law enforcement down on your head. The game keeps the player interested with its exotic storyline and interesting minigames. Certain minigames were quite frustrating (obtaining a helicopter is a pain for some assassinations and some assassinations require specific times of day). The game's reward structure was quite clear and relied on the 2 main resources, money and respect. Respect is almost like a leveling system. As the player commits evil actions, their respect grows. Higher respect increases the upgrades the player can buy. Money is used to purchase these upgrades once they have been unlocked by a high enough respect level. The bystanders by and large treat you with dislike, or adoration, depending on whether they are a Third Street Saint's fan or not. I have only played single player, so I don't know how the interactions with other players is implemented. Overall, Saint's Row: The Third is a fun game if you like the crime genre. It takes itself lightly enough that it does not become dull and tiresome like GTA. It has a decent engine and a nice reward system. In my opinion, the side quests could use a little fine tuning, but overall a great game!Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:30:45 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4920&iddiary=9119https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4920Saint's Row: The Third is a well designed crime game. I played SR3 on my personal computer and found it very entertaining. The engine is decent, though there have been a few occasions where minor glitches caused catastrophic consequences (for example, I tried opening a car door, but the way it was positioned caused my character to randomly die). SR3 offers a sandbox variety crime game that appears a lot like GTA:4. However, GTA took a realistic approach to the crime genre, while Saint's Row 3 has many unrealistic aspects. In the first mission, you skydive from an airplane, just to later shoot a hole in the pilot's window and land back inside the airplane, just to jump back out and catch a free falling friend of yours. However, the graphics are decent, and gameplay is fun. There are many side quests that I found interesting. If you are looking for a twisted, fun and entertaining game that paints crime comically, I would suggest SR3. NOTE: Saint's Row: The Third has a LOT of mature material and will not be suitable for all audiences. In the next gamelog, I will post a deeper analysis of the game.Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:17:22 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4920&iddiary=9118https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4869League of Legends immediately introduces conflict by pitting players against each other in teams of 5. The game is not particularly innovative, as it was designed to take over another game's popularity. In fact, many of the characters introduced early in the game include mechanics used in the game DotA. However, since its initiation, LoL has added its own unique elements. It is common in many gaming tournaments. It hosts servers in the States as well as Europe and Asia. The rewards occur either through playing (Influence Points) or through payment (Riot Points). These points can be redeemed for various benefits including characters and skins, to name a few. When the game was first released, it competed with Heroes of Newerth, another MOBA style game, but it eventually outpaced HoN. It will be interesting to see how LoL fares after the introduction of DotA 2.Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:25:29 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4869&iddiary=9021https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4869I have been playing League of Legends since the Beta, with occasional breaks up to a few months in length. League of Legends is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game based off of the Warcraft 3 custom game DotA. League of Legends embraces the MOBA style by allowing the player to choose a different character at the beginning of each battle. The characters have set attributes that include damage, health and mana. They also have a set of 4 spells and a passive ability, all of which are unique to that champion. However, the players may customize their champion by buying different items. There are 2 teams, each of which contains 5 players. Along with the players, NPC "creeps" spawn periodically for each team and move to fight each other along one of 3 lanes. Players can gain currency by killing these creeps. There are also towers that stand between each team's main base. Each team controls 3 towers per lane, as well as 2 that protect their main base. The objective is for the team to destroy the opposing team's main base. League of Legends is a quality game that is free to play, with the option of spending money for additional content (mainly more champions and skins). It is enjoyable, especially because of the replayability inherent in the genre. Graphics 4/5 ------------ The graphics are not mind blowing, but due to the cel shading technique used in the game, the detail is not bad. Engaging 5/5 ------------ League of Legends requires fast reflexes and quick decision-making. There is never a dull moment. Story 1/5 --------- There is a "story" behind the game and every champion, but the storyline is inherently weak and not engaging at all. Don't play this game if you want a deep storyline. Music/Sound 2/5 --------------- There is some music in the champion select, but the majority of the time users play their on music as they play. Replayability 5/5 ----------------- Due to the MOBA genre, each game played is unique. High points for replayability. Fun 4/5 ------- This is my total rating (obviously not an average of the above values). See below for pros and cons. PROS ---- -Decent graphics -Very low system requirements -Every battle is unique -Engaging combat -Multiplayer -SOME interesting character/ability concepts CONS ---- -Frustrating community -Sharp initial learning curve -External music suggested -Weak storyline (although this is not needed for this game)Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:18:02 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4869&iddiary=9020