Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1884https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6488I finished! ...Or did I? What a rollercoaster the ‘ending,’ if you can call it that, was. The ghosts made a concerted effort to scare Alex off from continuing her plan to seal up the ghost portal. They tried to convince her her friend Ren is dead, they took over Jonas several times, and tried to barter with Alex, saying they can all go home if she surrenders Clarrissa, her dead brother’s bitter ex. She had some more flashbacks with her brother. But then they found Ren, not dead, and continued with the plan. And it turns out Ren and Nona are dating now! Yay, or whatever. Apparently I did that? I don’t even know how. The gang took one last selfie and Alex and Jonas head into the bomb shelter where the back entrance to the cave containing the anomaly is. It was at this point I think I accidentally sent Jonas to the shadow realm. One of those rewindy machines started playing and to his behest I tuned the signal...And he disappeared. Oops. Then there was the final faceoff with the ghost ...conglomerate, which I think went...well? They talked again about how Alex could just leave right now if she left Clarrissa, which, c’mon, even she doesn’t deserve that. I chose to remind the ghosts of one of their names which seemed to make them back off. To be honest I was expecting them to put up more of a fight. But then it was over. Alex had a flashback with her brother, and then fast forward to all the times she (with my steam name) spoke to herself as a reflection on the island, and suddenly the mirror comments made sense. Alex wakes up on the ship and everyone is alive and well, heading back to the mainland. But… Something’s not quite right. Ren repeats himself once and there’s a trace of ghost static. Then Alex does a “happily ever after” monologue, “Oh this character went on to do this, these guys did this… And as for me…” “Ren invited me to this island thing tonight...And I have to bring my new step brother Jonas…” And she’s on the ship again, heading back to the island. WHAT. Turns out she didn’t really escape! OoooOOooooOoooo… I’m not really sure if it’s simply a shoe-horned method to extend the relatively short game, or if there’s actually more plot to be had during a second playthough since I don’t have time to play the whole game a second time. But in the small bit after the ‘end’ I did play, a few things seemed to change, and Alex can seemingly tell something is up and there’s lots of ghost static. It’s definitely left me wondering if it is actually possible to escape from the island after all. I’d definitely like to go through and change a few of my choices to see how much they affect.Thu, 09 Nov 2017 01:45:27 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6488&iddiary=11398https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6488On this week’s episode of Total Drama Island… Alex has to decide who she wants to explore a part of the island with: one of the two boys she came with or Nona. I chose Nona since both boys were arguing with each other and being ridiculous, and I wanted nothing to do with that drama. Cut to Nona and Alex walking around the island lost for half an hour because I had no idea how to get back to the main part of the island where the quest was since there’s no map you can pull up at will to speak of. Eventually I found the right way, only to stumble across Clarissa, who was still possessed. We then discover that Maggie Adler, the old lady who lived on the island that died recently, was involved in or at the very least knew what was going on on the island. And then it happened. Finally, two hours into the game, one of the characters makes a Scooby Doo reference. Finally, someone acknowledges the similarities. Spooky island, meddling kids, all they are missing is the ‘dang dog.’ Something tells me we’re going to encounter a ghost at the end, and we’ll demask them only to find out it was ol’ misses Adler the whole time! She just wanted the island to herself instead of sharing it with tourists, or something. The gang goes to misses Adler’s house and digs around, and lo and behold the ghosts show up again and turn everything topsy turvy. Alex decodes their riddles and they leave her alone again, for now...Wed, 08 Nov 2017 00:00:36 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6488&iddiary=11380https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6488We’ve got a mystery on our hands, kids! It’s Oxenfree time. I had no idea what to really expect from this game. It didn’t look like something I’d be interested in at first, but when I heard it was kind of a horror game I decided to give it a chance and I’m glad I did. The game starts off with three kids who shouldn’t be unsupervised going somewhere they aren’t allowed to, away from civilization, at night. If you still aren’t cued into the fact that something is bound to go wrong, well, maybe don’t leave the house alone at night. Of course, after the requisite amount of hormone-infused teen awkwardness, things immediately go south. Alex, the main character, discovers that her radio can hear strange things when tuned to the right station while standing in the right place. She causes a light to illuminate a path into the cave, so her and her step-brother go investigating. The come across an out of place armoire and she tunes her radio again, but this time opens a traingular...portal thing? That begins to speak cryptically. Then the two pass out and, after a quick (acid?) trip to the bottom of the ocean, they awaken on a different part of the island. They quickly learn that a similar phenomenon happened to the other kids on the island, and so the two set off to find the others. Along the way they end up stuck in several time loops, each time appearing to be chased by an invisible demon only visible in photos. The only way out of them is to crank on an old machine once it appears in one of the loops. The other kids appear to be possessed; one attempts to kill herself (two different ways), and the other just walks around like a weirdo. But one of the other girls says that she also ran into Alex and her step sister once already, so they may be illusions, not possessions. Through Alex’s various interactions with the radio, we learn that the island may be haunted by the ghosts of people who died in a submarine nearby. And they want to get out. Maybe they’re also being chased by the picture demon. What will happen to Alex and her friends? Who is the spooky picture demon? Find out the answers to these questions and more on tomorrow’s episode of “What the Hell is Happening Island!”Mon, 06 Nov 2017 20:53:13 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6488&iddiary=11370https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6459Played through episode 3 today. The plot was straight out of an episode of The CW's Flash. Max discovers that she can change time, decides to go back in time to save someone she loves, then realizes that changing the past has significant consequences for the future. (Imagine that.) I can't wait for episode 4 where she goes back and makes sure the future happens how it's supposed to except some things will be slightly different, and everyone refers to the alternate timeline as "Maxpoint." Going through the stats after the chapter, I found it interesting that the "take/leave" the money choice had a 50/50 (as of my playthough) split between all players. But only 8% of people chose to kill the dog. Like, everyone agrees killing pets is bad, but stealing money from the handicapped? "Well, who REALLY needs it more?" Bucha self-proclaimed Robin Hoods over here. Not sure what else to say about this episode. Like I said the whole thing felt reminiscent of an episode of The Flash, except for that Groundhog Day part in the diner. (which was aptly referenced) There's a ton of movie and song references throughout the game, most of which aren't subtle. Like in the previous diner scene when Chloe says she's "hungry like the wolf." Duran Duran called, they want their overplayed song back. Subtlety is definitely not this game's strong point, but I guess it's hard to be subtle when your character's faces barely move. I definitely do want to finish this game, but the emotional impact of this episode was lost on me, partially due to me saying "Watch, now she's in a wheelchair" as Max approached Chloe's house at the end, and then just not being able to take it seriously when she actually was.Thu, 28 Sep 2017 02:34:55 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6459&iddiary=11321https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6459Finished another episode today. I felt like there were many more tense moments in this episode: Max's nose bleeds from using her power too much, shooting a car in a junkyard, pulling out a gun on the dealer guy in the RV, Chloe almost getting run over by a train, and Nathan sat on Max's desk! Oh, and Kate tried to kill herself and Max literally had to stop time to save her. So that was interesting. I'm glad I snooped around in her room enough and talked to her enough to be able to save her. I felt like this episode tried to break a few of the stereotypes it set up in the first episode. It seemed like the diner scene mostly existed to try to paint the security guard as more of a 'well-meaning, yet misunderstood' person instead of just the asshole he was portrayed as originally. Of course he quickly reprises his original role after the first interaction with him near the end of the chapter. Then we find out that Kate, for all her christian values, still had a darker side. Though what happened to her was clearly not her fault, she turned down a grave path. And at one point a jock character actually spoke to Max like a person instead of just 'some hipster geek.' Despite that, the game introduced several other characters based heavily on stereotypes, or well-established imagery: the crazy bus hobo, the distruntled, smelly fishermen, the homeless lady who's been around for as long as anyone can remember and knows everything about everyone, the rough and tough debt collector, and two truckers in a diner who just want a bite to eat before heading out on the road again. Stereotypes are helpful, but I'm beginning to wonder if this game is taking things a little far. Sure cliques in high school still exist, but I feel like even in 2013 when the game is set, people are more open to the idea of talking to people from other social circles instead of this 1980's coming-of-age movie vibe of "rich kids can't talk to nerds!" It feels a bit forced at times.Wed, 27 Sep 2017 01:52:16 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6459&iddiary=11304https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6459Started playing Life is Strange. I knew to expect an episodic story, and that one of the girls in it had blue hair, but that was about it. Somehow I've managed to avoid or forget any spoilers, so that's nice. The serene-ness of the main menu background and music were quickly offset by a startling loud boom accompanied by controller shaking - a truly visceral start to the story from a player perspective. Here I was thinking it would start me off in a room somewhere explaining backstory, but no. BOOM. Lost in the forest in a thunderstorm. Emperor's New Groove style. After rubbing my face against everything in the main hallway, (because that's how I play these games: screw pacing, I have to touch all the stuff first) I encountered the first instance of the game's mechanic - rewinding time. Something that I somehow had no idea the game had. A super interesting mechanic, but terrible (or good?) for my habits of wanting to see all the possiblities of my choices. It definitely lengthened my playtime, since I was basically playing the game twice. Sometimes three or four times if I accidentally hit the rewind button. I found it interesting how they don't shy away from issues pertaining to girls, particularly of this age group: sexual pressure, puberty, popularity contests, that sort of thing. Max makes a comment when you examine a tampon machine (is that what they're actually referred to? I wouldn't know) in the girls bathroom that she is "good to flow," something that would normally be glossed over or never be mentioned in most other games. At another point Max has an inner monologue with the voice of Gollum from Lord of The Rings about protecting her "precious" flash drive. I felt it added a layer of realism to the characters that would have been missed otherwise. The writing is a bit cheesy at times ("But there's something else I have to tell you... Something...hardcore.") and a bit heavy handed on the swearing, but probably accurate for the age group. There's definitely something fishy going on under the petty arguing at Blackwell, and I look forward to finding out more and exploring what else the characters have to offer.Tue, 26 Sep 2017 01:03:47 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6459&iddiary=11291https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6435This game is toted as a “headphone experience,” but the developers clearly didn’t bother testing with Bluetooth headphones, as the sound is utterly unlistenable with them. I had an app do this in the past but the developers have since patched it: when connected to Bluetooth, the sound repeats over and over on top of itself, slowly. It’s a strange thing to describe, but an even stranger thing to listen to. It’s like playing 10 slow-mo versions of an audio track overlapping over each other with a .3 second delay. Needless to say I did not get much play time in since I was not in a place where I could play without headphones, and wired headphones were not an option. I will edit this when I have time to make a proper third play session. Well I finally had a chance to play some more. I didn't quite get through the whole story but I got through the part where the game got it's namesake: "Black Friday" AKA the day the government went crazy and shot everyone. I spent most of my game time arguing with the main characters mother and fumbling around in the dark looking at old family photos. All of which were actual photos and videos, so it was cool to see that these characters are (were?) real people. Again, the game does an excellent job of hitting home that this is stuff that actually happened by mixing real and created content. I'm actually invested in seeing this game through to the end instead of just stopping because I am done with the assignment, so kudos to the developers for that. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Fri, 01 Sep 2017 01:01:39.)Thu, 31 Aug 2017 11:32:59 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6435&iddiary=11260https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6435Today's play session started at chapter 5. I started off in the middle of a large crowd (which again I am amazed that they got this game to run on mobile, even if it drops down to about 6fps sometimes) where some people I didn't recognize were up on a stage peacefully protesting, loudly. Then the police showed up and someone my character apparently knows showed up as well and started throwing rocks at the police, inciting riot. The next several chapters involved fleeing the riot and dealing with the ensuing chaos via QTE's and a rather gruesome mini-game where I had to pull glass shards out of Voice-of-the-resistance's skin. I didn't fail, but I am curious to know whether there is the option to fail and pursue a separate storyline. With story style games like this there are two main ways to handle player choice and failstates: Writing a hundred different branching endings, or write the script in such a way that the player only has infuence over minute story details. In this case I have a suspicion that had I failed, I would have to repeat the minigame until I succeeded, due to the character's major involvement in a later chapter. However, I can also see the possibility that his role could have been filled by a second character. If I have time to do a second playthrough I'm going to experiment with mechanics like this to see how much control I really have over the story. In the last chapter I played this session (11, I think?), I was tasked with finding out who the traitor was that tried to murder Stabbed-with-glass guy from before by exploring an environment and talking to a bunch of characters. Maybe I missed something or maybe it was intentional, but nothing I saw pointed towards traitorous activity, so at the end of the chapter I just threw a random guy under the bus (metaphorically) since "I don't know" wasn't an option.Thu, 31 Aug 2017 00:50:27 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6435&iddiary=11254https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6436This is my second attempt at this log, since the website ate my first one. Undoubtedly it will be worse, but something is better than nothing. 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a story-style game in the vein of Telltale titles such as Sam and Max and The Walking Dead. Only 1979 is based on a real life event, so the point of the game seems to be to educate the player on the historical event. My first choice-based action was I was given pictures to pick from that seemingly controlled the starting point of the story. I started by selecting the picture in the top left, since it made the most sense. Shorty after, my character was kicked to death after my choice to call a man "Asshole" instead of his real name, and subsequently not relenting after an attempt by "Asshole" to beat my character into submission. Not a great start to be sure, but hey at least now I know how many kicks to the rib my character can survive. What followed was an emotionally powerful minigame involving the in-game camera and walking around a bustling street. The mechanics of it are pretty frustrating, but comparing the pictures I took in-game to real life pictures of the event was striking. It instantly brought a reality to the game that simple storytelling could not. I was also highly impressed by the amount of characters the game presented on screen at the same time. The crowds actually felt substantial, which is something that doesn't happen often on mobile. The game dropped quite a few frames during the busier scenes, but never crashed. So from a technical standpoint, I was amazed. I made some dialogue choices along the way, doing my best to sound as neutral as possible since I didn't want to affect the story much. (Paradox: Does not interfering with the story count as changing it? What if I was meant to pick a side and I didn't?) Mostly I learned that my character has family in the police and friends in the resistance, so it makes sense that he only wants to document the events and not take a side. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Thu, 31 Aug 2017 01:27:11.)Tue, 29 Aug 2017 23:54:53 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6436&iddiary=11234