Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1591https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5405Metal Slug 3 is a third-person shooter video game for the Neo-Geo and arcade platform, which was developed and published by SNK. Later, the game was ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This was last Metal Slug that SNK was worked on until the bankruptcy. The game mechanics are the same as previous Metal Slug games. Basically, players walk or run through a path with a gun and they have to go destroy enemies and/or obstacles in their way. Eventually, players had to win the boss battle to move on to next level. The new feature for Metal Slug 3 is the branching path system, where there were different paths for players to choose from. Each path had its own obstacles and varying length and difficulty. Eventually, all paths lead to the same boss battle. Metal Slug 3 had two modes: single player and two player co-op. I usually played two player co-op with a friend or my brother. Players could choose from four different characters, two being male and two being female. Players start out with a handgun, which is semi-automatic pistol. This weapon is very weak but it does not run out of ammos. On the path, there are several different types of weapons players can pick up. All these weapons have ammos; thus, if players use all ammos for a weapon, then they no longer can use this weapon and have to use handgun until they pickup new weapon. Furthermore, there are ammunition items on the path, each ammunition is only works on right type of weapon. My favorite weapon was Laser, which fires a laser that can cut down groups of enemies in rows. Also, players were equipped with secondary weapons which are melee weapon and Grenade. Furthermore, players can utilize different vehicles in Metal Slug 3. Although no new weapons were added to the game, it contained new vehicles. These include Slug driller, Slug mariner, Elephant slug, Ostrich slug, Iv Rebel armor, Slug copter, and Astro slug. Each vehicle was located in a level where it fit into the environment. Although almost everyone could bit the levels in Metal Slug 3, the score a player receives at the end of each level differentiated good player. The player can earn more point by going through the level quicker, rescuing more hostages, and picking up items. Upon dying, the player loses point that he or she earned to that spot. In arcade, players have three lives to get through the path. If players use up all lives, they have to insert a coin in order to continue the game. Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:48:27 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5405&iddiary=9693https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5373Final Fantasy X is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square, now known as Square Enix. The game was released in 2001 for PlayStation 2 and it is the tenth installment in the Final Fantasy series. This was my second encounter of the Final Fantasy series and my first encounter was Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy X is played through third-person perspective, with players directly controlling the main character, Tidus. Players navigate around the world interacting with people and objects. The most interesting part of the game is the combat system. Final Fantasy X uses the Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB) system. In CTB system, a player’s characters and enemies await their turn to attack. Basically, it is like Pokemon battle system where a player and other trainer take turn to fight. Thus, the CTB allows the player to select an action without time pressure. In the battle, the player can control up to three characters. It is important to choose three characters that will be on the battle field because this will determine the performance in the fight. Furthermore, the player can replace characters in the battle field with a character outside the active party through a swapping system. Like previous series of Final Fantasy, the game features many minigames. The most notable minigame in Final Fantasy X is underwater sport “blitzball”, which main character Tidus is a star blitzball player. Also, the game contains many short clips that connect to make a story. This is known as embedded narrative, which all Final Fantasy series contain. The basic story is the main character Tidus navigates through the world meeting other characters to fight against enemies known as “Sin”. So far, I have only played up to the point where Tidus and Auron get sucked into the world of Spira. This is actually my second time playing this game since I was not able to finish the game when I played first time. Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:17:23 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5373&iddiary=9669https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5361Halo 2 is a first-person shooter game developed by Bungie Studios. The game was released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004 and it is second series of Halo franchise. Just like the previous Halo, the player assumes the roles of the Master Chief. However, new feature is added to Halo 2, where the player assumes the roles of the alien Arbiter. There are two modes in Halo 2. First mode is campaign and there are four levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary. It offers both single-player and cooperative multiplayer participation. Basically, the player has to complete storyline by completing a series of levels. These levels alternate between Master Chief and the Arbiter (a Covenant Elite). After completing each level, there is short scene that connects each level. Furthermore, there is hidden content within the game. The hidden content that I found out was really strong weapon that is located on the top of building. This weapon is known as Scarab Gun. It is a reward given to a player who took time to steal enemy’s Banshee and fly this through a tunnel without getting it destroyed. The second mode that Halo 2 offers is multiplayer. Like previous Halo: Combat Evolved, multiplayer mode allows players to compete with each other in split-screen and system link modes. Several new maps were introduced and some old maps were still offered in this mode. Players could utilize new vehicle in some maps which is Banshee. Although there was Banshee in Halo: Combat Evolved, players could not operate or ride on Banshee. Also, there were several new weapons that players could use. Furthermore, there was glitch in one map where a player does specific thing then his or her character will hyper jump and land on top of the building. I used this glitch to get to the top and sniped others with sniper rifle. Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:36:40 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5361&iddiary=9651https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5332Kingdom Hearts 2 utilizes different reward types to make the players feel that they have achieved or accomplished very difficult task. Reward of substance allows players to maintain their character’s status quo and continue playing. In Kingdom Hearts 2, a player’s character, which is Sora, receive full health and MP after he or she has defeated any member of Organization XIII. Also, when a player defeats important boss, he or she receives reward that increases health or MP of player’s character. Furthermore, reward of access is predominately used in Kingdom Hearts 2. Reward of access allows players to access to places not previously reachable. In Kingdom Hearts 2, a player must finish the quest in one land to gain access to other land. For example, a player must finish the quest in either The Land of Dragons or The Beast’s Castle in order to gain access to Olympus Coliseum. However, a player does not gain access to new world that easily. Before a player can enter the new world, he or she has to go through boring part of the game. This is where a player has to fly Gummi Ship and destroy other space ships that attack the Gummi Ship. Furthermore, rewards of facility are huge part of Kingdom Hearts 2. Rewards of facility allow players’ character to do things it could not before, perhaps by enhancing the abilities it already possess or adding new abilities. In Kingdom Hearts 2, Sora, which is a player’s character, learns new ability every few level ups. Also, Sora’s AP increases every few level ups. Some abilities take only 1 AP, but most abilities take about 3 AP. By equipping abilities, Sora can do things that he could not do before. The most prominent reward for the Kingdom Hearts 2 is embedded narrative, or short clips that are shown after a player completes quests or defeats important boss. Personally, only reason that I wanted to finish the game was to see these clips. Sat, 10 Nov 2012 05:11:14 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5332&iddiary=9619https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5312Pokemon Black version is a third person role-playing game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo. The game was developed for Nintendo DS. The game was the fifth generation of the Pokemon series of role-playing games. The game was first released in Japan on September 18, 2010. In Pokemon Black, young Pokemon trainer journey through the region of Unova. As young trainer progresses through the region, he or she competes against other trainers, while fighting against criminal organization called Team Plasma. The game introduced over 150 brand-new Pokemon. Like previous generations of Pokemon game, young trainer must obtain eight badges. After obtaining eight badges, young trainer can battle elite four. Also, a player can battle elite four for second time and these elite four become much stronger than first time. The new feature of the game is the introduction of seasonal cycle, with the seasons advancing every month. The seasonal cycle is not linked to the actual calendar. Also, the game added two new battle mechanics. One of the battle mechanics is Triple Battles, where both trainers must send out three Pokemon at once. In Triple Battles, the Pokemon only attack certain Pokemon which depend on the position. For example, Pokemon on the left or right sides can only target the Pokémon directly opposite of them. Another battle mechanic is Rotation Battles. In Rotation Battles, trainers also send out three Pokemon, but instead of three-on-three battle in triple battles, it is a one-on-one battle. Trainers can rotate between three Pokemon to fight. The most important aspect of Pokemon game is deciding which types of Pokemon to carry around. A player can carry around maximum of six different Pokemon. The best strategy is to carry around all different types of Pokemon. For example, if you already own a fire type Pokemon, you should probably capture other types like water or glass. Also, each Pokemon can have maximum of four different attacks or moves. At certain level, Pokemon learns stronger attacks or moves. However, there are certain moves that are useless. Thus, it is important for players to decide what moves to learn and delete. Sun, 04 Nov 2012 08:53:24 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5312&iddiary=9598https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5291Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is a PC game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment. In North America, the game was released in June 27, 2001. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is hack and slash role playing action game. It is an expansion pack of Diablo II, which added two new classes, Assassin and Druid, and one more act. Diablo II only included four acts and final boss, or what Blizzard refer to as prime evil, was Diablo. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction added one more act, Act V, and final boss became Baal. Also, the game added new area in season 3 patch 1.11. The area was called Uber Tristram where player can open portal through combining three organs, Mephisto’s brain, Baal’s eye, and Diablo’s horn. In Uber Tristram, there are three prime evils, which are Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal, and they are much stronger than bosses in the acts. If a player manages to kill all three prim evils, he or she can pick up unique large charm called Hellfire Torch. In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, a player can choose from seven different classes. These are Amazon, Assassin, Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Sorceress, and Paladin. Each class has different skill sets and a raising skill point has different affect on them. For example, Sorceress has fire spells, lighting spells, and cold spells as her skill trees. Also, Sorceress starts out with 10 strength, 25 dexterity, 10 vitality, and energy 35 as her stats. All classes have health and mana. These are important resources because these resources determine how easily a player can die or how much a player can use skills. However, the most important resource is inventory. A player is given the space to equip items. A player can only equip one armor, one helmet, one glove, one belt, one boots, one amulet, and two rings. A player is given two weapon sections, where he or she can switch between two. Depending on the weapon type, a player can equip a weapon and shield or just a weapon. Only one class, Barbarian, can equip two weapons in same section. A player has 4 by 10 inventory box where he or she can pick up items that are dropped from monsters. Also, a player is provided with chest where he or she can store items that are picked up. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is all about obtaining quality items. These items will significantly power up the characters. Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:18:30 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5291&iddiary=9576https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5273TeKken 4 is a game developed and published by Namco. It was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2002. The genre of the game is an action-fighting game. The game includes single-player and multiplayer modes. In single-player mode, player can enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, fight against CPU, and play Tekken Force. In the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, player fights series of battle to get to final round. If player wins the final round, he or she will unlock new character. Each character has different embedded narratives for joining the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. Tekken Force is a beat’em up minigame which allows players to go through stages to discover different ranks in the organization. In multiplayer mode, two players can fight each other by choosing a character. Also, players can create tag team and fight each other with maximum of eight characters. For first time, it allowed players to do extra damage by maneuvering around obstacles in the arenas. The game also introduced six new characters. Finally, the game introduced a brand new graphics system and smoother surfaces. The most important resource in the game is the health. Once you run out of the health, you lose the fight. Also, the time is another important resource. If a player has greater health then opponent, he or she can run out the clock to win the fight. The most important aspect of Tekken is balancing out the characters’ power. If one character is overpowered, a player will have dominant strategy of choosing that character. For example, Paul Phoenix deals heavy damage with his fists compared to Hwoarang. However, Hwoarang has quicker feet and can attack very quickly. This will offset the imbalance between these two characters. Tekken 4 is very symmetrical game where each player has the same staring condition and has same objective. However, players can add handicap to make the game asymmetrical. If player put handicap, then he or she start out with less health than one who did not put handicap. Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:17:36 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5273&iddiary=9555https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5247In League of Legends, character development is very important. Every few months, new champion is introduced to players of League of Legends. Riot game introduces new champions because it wants to provide players with more options. Also, players will get bored if they play limited set of champions over and over. When Riot game develop champion, it has to look into variety of factors. First, Riot game has to decide whether the champion is range or melee attack. It has to decide attack distance for the champion. Also, it has to balance out between attack damage (AD), health, and ability power (AP). A champion cannot be high in all aspects because it will be too strong and dominant strategy will be to choose that champion. Furthermore, a champion’s movement speed is a critical factor. For example, if range champion is faster than melee champion, melee champion will not stand a chance against range champion. Thus, based movement speed of melee champion is faster than range champion. Also, melee champions usually have skills that allow them to close the distance between range champions. However, Riot game sometimes develops and introduces champions that are too strong. Players refer to these champions as op which stands for overpowered. If players complain about some champions being too strong, Riot game will tried to fix the problem through patch. It will nerf, which means to weaken, the champions and explain the reasons for nerfing. Vice Versa, Riot game might develop champions that are too weak and it will try to buff these champions through patch. Another important aspect of developing champion for Riot game is the name and the storyline for the champion. Riot game decides the name and title that follows right after the name. For example, Garen is a champion in League of Legends and his title is “The Might of Demacia.” Furthermore, each champion has storyline dedicated to itself. One of the biggest stories in League of Legends is a battle between countries. For example, Demacia and Noxus were at war but settle it by signing a treaty. Soon after, Noxus turned to invade Ionia so they can expand outward. These are some example of stories that are involved in the game. Also, there is journal, which is called the Journal of Justice that is dedicated to telling the story. Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:06:18 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5247&iddiary=9523https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5229League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Riot Games. It was first released on October 27, 2009. The genre of the game is a real-time strategy action game. Each player controls a single character and devices strategies with team members to beat the other team. There are three maps in the game called Fields of Justice. These maps are Summoner’s Rift, Twisted Treeline and Dominion. Players are formed into two even teams of three or five, depending on the map. For Summoner’s Rift and Twisted Treeline, the objective of League of Legends is to destroy opposing team’s Nexus. Along the way to the Nexus, players have to destroy series of Turrets. Each player gains levels and gold from killing the opposing team’s Minions and champions. Minions are constantly spawned and help the team progress toward the Nexus. The outcome of the game is zero-sum game. The team that destroys the Nexus will win and other team will lose. The most important resource in the game is gold. With more gold, a player can purchase stronger and better items. Each player is limited with six inventory spaces; therefore, it is important to purchase right items for the situation and the character. Each player will power up as his or her character levels up. Each level up will increase character’s attack damage (AD), ability power (AP), health, and Mana. Also, a player can level up his or her character’s skills by leveling up. Each character has four distinctive skills and one passive feature. The skills become stronger as a player put more points into them. Maximum of five points can be put into three skills and maximum of three points can be put into one skill. Furthermore, players can power up by obtaining jungle buffs. In each side, there are two jungle buffs, one blue and one red buff. Blue buff gives a player lower cool down for skills and replenish mana. Red buff allows a player to slow and damage the other players’ characters by attacking them. The most important jungle buff is a baron buff. This buff given to the team that kills neutral monster called Baron Nashor. This buff gives massively increased attack damage and ability power as well as a bonus to health and mana regeneration to all the players in the team. Sat, 06 Oct 2012 15:08:38 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5229&iddiary=9504https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5196The previous game Kingdom Hearts and opening ten minute cut-scene of Kingdom Hearts II act as narrative descriptors. Without these two descriptors, a player will have difficult time understanding the story of the game. Also, Kingdom Hearts II, just like previous one, contains embedded narrative. The embedded narrative in the game is cinematic scenes or cut-scenes that connect the storyline. After a player finish a quest or battle, a brief cut scene is shown to a player. These scenes are very interesting and important feature of the game. Thus, Kingdom Hearts II is more of pure narrative game than pure mechanic game. However, a player does not have to watch all the cut-scenes. He or she has option to skip these cut-scenes. This feature is really useful because it allows a player to save time. Like any other games, a player can come up with his or her emergent narrative in Kingdom Hearts II. Personally, I had trouble finding a way to continue the game when I visited the Atlantica too soon. Therefore, my emergent narrative was how I can continue the game without further proceeding through the Atlantica. I could not figure it out by myself so I had to look at the game walkthrough to continue the game. Kingdom Hearts II contains three difficulty levels, which are Beginner, Standard, and Proud mode. The beginner mode will be boring for a player that has high skills and abilities. On the other hand, the proud mode will be frustrating for a player that lacks skills and abilities. A player will have more enjoyable time if he or she can choose the mode that corresponds to his or her skills. Finally, Kingdom Hearts II contains several storylines. The game has one overall storyline and several independent storylines that connect to overall story. The overall storyline is Sora tracking down Organization XIII to stop its plans and find his friend Riku. The independent storylines are more specifically dedicated to Disney themed worlds. For example, the storyline in Olympus Coliseum is mostly about Sora, Donald, and Goofy helping Hercules fight against Hades. The storyline in Olympus Coliseum and the overall storyline are connected by introducing a member from Organization XIII in Olympus Coliseum. A member from Organization XIII is causing problem in a world, and a player has to defeat one member at a time. Each storyline is comprised of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement. For the independent storylines, Sora arriving at new world serves as exposition and Sora leaving this world after defeating the enemies serves as denouement. Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:49:56 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5196&iddiary=9471