Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=445https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3170GAMEPLAY While playing through my second session, I tried a new faction. I prefer this faction as it gives me access to more fighter craft, which I like to watch swarm over enemy positions. This is distinct from the first faction I had tried which stressed using fewer stronger ships. I also had more experience dealing with the pirate faction in the game which is not playable but can be influenced through bounty. I got much better at “sniping” the bidding war which comes every fifteen minutes or so much like one would snipe an eBay auction. This made it much easier to pull ahead of my opponent as he had to deal with pirate raids while I colonized new planets. In fact it seems that on a small map such as I was playing, pirates may be more dangerous than the opposing team. They get stronger over the course of the game and essentially get fleets for free. The games empire management is much simplified over most games in its genre, because players don’t have time to pore over screens of statistics. No longer must taxes be adjusted and such. This is an improvement in my opinion, especially since I am more of a fan of real time strategy games and I prefer to focus on commanding my forces. DESIGN The art aspects of this game are excellent. All of the graphics and ship designs are beautiful as are explosions and weapon effects. The civilizations all have a cohesive tone which represents their respective philosophies well. The Advent which I am currently playing is meant to be a more decadent society with themes of ascension. As such, its ships are much more ornate than those of the other races with curves invoking sea shells or rams’ horns. The music is also decent. It sets the mood well and changes tunes according to what’s happening on screen. It hasn’t gotten annoying yet, which is also a point in its favor. One final thing that the game does well is give the player control of his or her forces throughout the star system. With a simple scroll, a player can go from a close up of a fighter smoothly to an overview of the empire. The game abstracts the units more and more as the player zooms out, progressing from full 3D models to icons to an image of the planet with three bars representing player ships, player structures, and non-player ships. Each of these things will show an infocard with more details when moused over. There is also a so called “empire tree” which can be expanded to show lists of units and structures at any planet which the player can see. Players can select and even target units through this tree.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:14:35 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3170&iddiary=5973https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3170SUMMARY Sins of a Solar Empire is a space empire management game fused with a real time strategy warfare game. Players explore, colonize new planets, and engage in diplomacy or war with other factions. The ultimate goal is to control the entire star system or series of star systems. GAMEPLAY Sins of a Solar Empire is a very unique take on the RTS genre. While none of its features may seem innovative by itself, the way they are combined is what makes things interesting. The game strongly resembles a turn based strategy game in the way the player gathers resources and constructs units, but everything is executed in real time. This makes the game even easier to get pulled into than the already addictive turn based games. Where before there were breaks in gameplay between player turns while the computer player made its moves, in this game the player is constantly giving the game input and reaching new landmarks. The pacing of the game was surprisingly good for a game taking such big steps for a genre. The game does have fairly weak narrative besides the initial setup. However the setup is pretty neat and the three playable factions are all cool. I would have found more background to be very interesting.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:47:28 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3170&iddiary=5953https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2813GAMEPLAY The gameplay continued to be fun into the second hour. The game keeps things fresh by introducing mini games such as manta surfing. It also brings back the concept of giving Mario multiple costumes, similar to those that were in Super Mario Bros. 3. These make for a nice change in pace. Controls in the game are well tuned. It is easy enough to execute any of Mario’s jumps. Actions controlled by the accelerometer are responsive, and make the game standout a bit more from the competition. One thing that did disappoint me slightly in Super Mario Galaxy, is that there are fewer methods of attacking enemies than in Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine. No longer does Mario have a three hit combo or a sliding kick. He now only has a spinning attack triggered by a shake of the controller. This isn’t a big deal as combat isn’t the focus of the game, but it did add some variety. DESIGN Super Mario Galaxy does a great job of utilizing the Wii’s relatively limited horsepower. The levels are very vibrant, with lots of primary colors. The level designs are clever in many cases. One of the nicest things in the game is that few objects look blocky as levels in Mario 64 might. I haven’t come across any problems regarding my color blindness either. The games enemies are mostly recycled from previous Mario games, but they are nicely animated, and in several cases are given updated looks reflecting the space setting of the game. The game’s music is also a strong point of the game. It sets a strong lighthearted tone for the game. It was also nice to hear many of my favorite tunes from the series reinterpreted in higher quality. The original compositions are of similar quality. Some of the sound effects utilized by the game are really nice as well. I remember in particular the sound effects during a boss battle with a giant robot were cool.Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:07:23 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2813&iddiary=5380https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2813SUMMARY Super Mario Galaxy is the latest in Nintendo’s popular series of platformers. In the game you collect Power Stars while traversing levels composed of miniature planetoids which each have their own gravity fields. GAMEPLAY There is a lot to like about Super Mario Galaxy. The most striking aspect of it is the way the developers play on the variable gravity in the game. Most surfaces in the game have their own gravitational attraction. This serves a few different purposes in the game. It gives a sense of novelty, in that the player has to learn how to navigate a world upside down. It allows much more freeform level design. However, one of the more interesting changes this allows, that is not immediately obvious is that it makes the game much more forgiving than older Mario titles. If a player jumps off the edge of a platform, often he will curve around the planet and land on the bottom rather than plunging into the depths of space to his doom. This makes the game much more accessible to newcomers to the genre. The game also allows a second player to influence the game, another first for the series. The second player can stun enemies for the first, collect star bits which net the player extra lives, or even make Mario jump. The last can be used to either help out the first player when he is caught unaware of a danger or can even be used to sabotage him, which is often just as entertaining. The story in this game is more complex than the story of , say, Super Mario 64, but that isn’t saying much. It certainly isn’t on the level of the Mario RPGs, but it serves it’s purpose. There is more interaction with non-player characters than in previous Mario platformers in the form of Toads scattered throughout the levels who occasionally have useful advice.Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:05:54 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2813&iddiary=5242https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2530GAMEPLAY I definitely got the flow of the game better the second time. It was especially noticeable as I had to start from the beginning again as the game does not allow you to skip levels which have already been completed previously. However this did give me the opportunity to flex my improved skills. Because I didn’t die so easily, I did collect many more power ups which greatly decreased the difficulty of the next parts. Unfortunately, I found that power ups can become a sort of crutch. Once you die your power ups are taken away and you’re set back to a check point. Without four drones and a force field, the enemies are suddenly much more threatening. I also had more chance to try the different versions of the different power ups from the different sets. The choices made at the beginning can significantly alter the strategies the player can execute later in the game. Some power ups make it easier to flank the enemies while others are more suited to defend the player. DESIGN Gradius III has some issues in overall design. It has a good reward system for the short term in the power up system, but it has nearly no reward system on a larger scale. Very infrequently the player may earn an extra life, but that’s about it. It also has problems keeping the player interested. Most likely due to hardware limitations, most new environments are the old environments in different configurations with a different color pallet. There are also a pretty limited number of different types of enemies. The only thing that really keeps the player interested is the constant action which it executes well. The problem is, every time the action is interrupted, as by the game-over screen, it gives the player a chance to think about whether it’s really worth jumping back in the game. The game is also mostly a game of progression. There is very little dynamic behavior in the enemies, the majority of which travel on fixed paths. This may let the hardcore players set up routines, in order to play a perfect game, but for the rest of us it is merely boring. Gradius III also lacks a strong tone. The different levels don’t differ much in appearance. The space levels have identical star fields. The game is also very linear. The screen constantly pans forward leaving the player little freedom of movement. The game is rather lacking in design, and as a result it’s entertainment value is shortlived.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:46:12 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2530&iddiary=4810https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2530SUMMARY Gradius III is a shmup for the SNES. The objectives are simple, survive wave after wave of enemies by dodging and shooting them while collecting powerups. GAMEPLAY Gradius III is an extremely hectic game. This is often par for the course for shmups, but I haven’t played too many of them. This series shares a common core gameplay mechanic. This is a unique powerup system. A set of upgrades chosen before playing is attained by collecting the right number of powerup tokens and pressing the powerup button. This turned out to be a very important to succeeding in the game. The player is faced with a fairly limited number of powerup tokens and so must choose whether it is worth saving up for the more expensive upgrades. Furthermore, you have to spend all your tokens at once, so if you pass up a less expensive powerup, you can’t go back. Each powerup has a distinct effect. The speed upgrade is the most useful and the cheapest, but the least impressive as there is no graphical change when it is activated. The missiles are useful for attacking land based enemies. Laser weapons are more powerful and look cooler. The second most useful upgrade, but one of the most expensive, is the “option” upgrade. This creates a little invincible drone that mimics the players actions and increases the firepower at the user’s disposal considerably. The game is very hard, but I can see its appeal. After losing soundly for a while, I started to get into the sort of zoned out pure reflex mode you have to be in to play the game successfully. I started to see significant increases in my ability quickly. It was a very good example of flow. I hope that the game continues to be interesting, and that I don’t end up playing the same levels over and over again.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:37:34 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2530&iddiary=4758https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2182GAMEPLAY In the second play session I mostly came across more of the same but with slight variations on the theme. I worked through two more regions with very distinct themes. The first area had been a pirate ship. The next two were a volcano and a swamp respectively. Many areas also included animal helpers which could be ridden. These imbued me with new abilities such as flight or higher jumping. I also had to fight bosses at the end of each region. While they were a nice change of pace and contributed to the themes of the region, they were rather predictable and not particularly difficult to beat. DESIGN One of Donkey Kong Country 2’s strong points is a cohesive style. Levels are very good at conveying an atmosphere. The levels inside of the volcano all have orangish hues. The music echoes like it might in a cave. In contrast, the swamp levels are composed with hues of greens with music infused with the sounds of chirping frogs. All of the music in the game is top notch and I actually find myself humming the tunes every once in a while. The game also has several features which were innovative for the time. The game gives the player two characters to use. They each have slight variations to their abilities. Each also has the ability to pick up and throw the other across gaps. The level designs take advantage of these abilities well too.Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:55:28 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2182&iddiary=4284https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2182SUMMARY Donkey Kong Country 2 is a platforming game in which you take control of two monkey protagonists as they journey to rescue Donkey Kong from the evil Kaptain K. Rool and his Kremling minions. GAMEPLAY It is very easy to pick up Donkey Kong Country 2. The controls are fairly intuitive. I did, however, play the game on the Wii virtual console with a Gamecube controller, which is decidedly sub-optimal, but I can't fault the developers for this. There's no way they could have predicted the circumstances in which I played it. Besides the minor button placement issues, which I was able to overcome readily my play experience was very positive. Gameplay is varied and well polished all around. At multiple points in every level there are miniature bonus rounds which can be entered through barrel cannons. These bonus rounds have various objectives such as collecting stars or destroying enemies. Afterwards the player is rewarded with a banana coin which can be used to pay for hints an tips from the protagonists family members. The levels themselves also vary greatly. While most are standard platforming levels others include underwater levels and minecart rides. Enemies mostly follow reptilian or insect themes but they mostly have differing weaknesses and behaviors to keep the player on his toes. The game was very fun. The gameplay has aged to an extent; the characters don't have a huge variety of abilities, but those they have are very well tuned. They can be used in different situations to achieve varied goals. The different jumping challenges are well put together. The spacings are just wide enough to pose a challenge,but there is still enough leeway that it doesn't become tedious. Besides this, most of the hardest platforming is optional, leading to bonus stages. There are also checkpoints placed at midway through the levels. One area in which the game is lacking is narrative. It doesn't matter so much, as narrative would probably only pose a distraction from the excellent platforming gameplay.Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:44:30 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2182&iddiary=4232https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1606Gameplay: My second session with the game was a significantly different experience from the first. Soon after starting the game again I faced a boss battle and gained the attack form I had used in the vision sequence. This was in direct contrast with the exploration of the first session. The game then sent me through a gauntlet of enemies presumably to help familiarize me with combat. It didn’t take me long to pick it up and soon enough I was flinging energy balls like a pro. My next new experience with the game was a bit of light puzzle solving. The area mostly involved toggling switches to open gates whilst fending off enemies. The game keeps this interesting by keeping the player from singing and thereby using other spells while in attack mode. Even so, the puzzles are not incredibly challenging. I hope that they get more difficult as the game progresses. Design: I definitely like the character movement in Aquaria. It is easy to make subtle movements and turning and gliding through the water feels very natural and fluid. Combat is hectic and actually reminds me a little of games like Robotron, or Geometry Wars because the player must dodge projectiles while shooting his or her own. It’s not nearly as difficult as the combat in Geometry Wars however. Also, despite the small portion of the game I have seen so far, I have already seen maybe a dozen different types of enemies which have considerable variation in behavior. I also find the graphical style refreshing. The game features beautiful, high-resolution sprites for the characters the likes of which I have not seen often in recent years. Naija is well animated, her arms moving to control the direction of her swimming. The environments are of similar quality. The coloring conveys the ambience of an underwater world well. Once again, problem I have had in the graphics department is the developers neglect to keep in mind colorblind players, though I had no terrible issues during my play time. The story telling does not interrupt play much if at all. Mostly it’s done through some nice voice acting, with cutscenes kept short and engaging. The sound is also decent. I doubt I’ll find myself humming any of the tunes, but they do a good job of maintaining the mystical, aquatic ambience of the game. Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:40:47 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1606&iddiary=3766https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1606Summary: In the game Aquaria, the player controls an aquatic humanoid character named Naija who has magical powers channeled through different songs. The players motivation is to explore the underwater caves of Aquaria and learn more about Naija's background, gaining new magical abilities and opening paths to new areas along the way. Gameplay: The game began with Naija waking from a sort of state of meditation. Naija narrates the game at points of significance during the game to give the player some guidance and insight. For example, fter she awakes she states that she has grown restless and wants to explore. Soon I had learned my first song. Songs are executed by holding down the right mouse button and pointing in the correct order at the symbols which appear arranged around Naija. Because the symbols make up a scale, its also possible to play some simple tunes which I found quite amusing. I'll probable try to translate some of the ocarina songs from the Zelda games for the N64 to this eventually. The song created a shield around me so that I could mitigate some damage while avoiding enemies. I did not yet have a means of striking back at them. The next thing I learned was that certain berry like plants will burst open if you sing the correct note, allowing you to get useful items or recipes for cooking. This is when I struck upon the only real issue I have with the game. The easiest way to determine what note to sing to open the plant is to match the color of the berry to the color of the symbol of the note. Unfortunately I am color blind. This doesn't pose problems to me often in real life, but videogames are often terrible about catching these issues. Fortunately there are only eight possibilities and I rarely had to try more than three notes before I guessed correctly. After all, I'm not that color blind. It may be that the game might train me to see more subtle differences between colors. Still it was a minor disappointment. At one point the game also gives you a glimpse of what gameplay might involve later on. A strange shadowy creature appears to Naija and she experiences a vision of the life of another being similar to her. During this vision you control this other character who can fire some sort of energy or fireballs from her hands. Unfortunately this other person faces overwhelming odds. She is subdued by various hostile sea creatures, and the vision comes to an end. It seems that brief flashes of other locations are fairly frequent though I have not yet experienced another controllable vision such as this. The narration around this part of the game also indicates that Naija never really knew anything about the world she lived in. She merely lived from day to day, alone, with no clear goals in life, not knowing anything of her heritage. Suddenly she realizes there is more to the world and wants to know more. I think this sort of foreshadowing and narrative build up is an interesting way to keep the player engaged. The game doesn't jump straight for the action. Even after an hour of play I have no direct way to attack any dangerous creatures, but I haven't gotten bored. After reaching a convoluted series of tunnels and caves I was nearly lost until I remembered to check the games map which highlights explored areas. Soon I found may way and gained a new song which promises to open up more areas still. It was at this point, I think, that I noticed the map had zoomed out making the part I had already explored seem rather small. It looks like this game is quite extensive perhaps on the scale of a Metroid or Castlevania game. It successfully gives the impression that the player is progressing, but that there is more to come. I like that in books, but it is perhaps even more satisfying in gameswhen well executed . So far the game is very interesting and pretty fun. I've always been a sucker for a new fantasy or science fiction universe with a good backstory, and this one seems like it could be a good one. After seeing some ruins and hints of a past civilization, I'm looking forward to learning more about the world. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:32:47.)Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:56:29 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1606&iddiary=3398