Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=501https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3194GAMEPLAY The gameplay remain the same throughout the game. It actually gets quite repetitive, and boring after a while. The only thing that needs to be done is the gather information, view points, and kill the target. That is pretty much the whole game. The story is what keeps the game going and cover the fact that the game is repetitive. The gameworld is as beautiful as ever. Each city has its own special feeling, and can be distinguished from other cities. Each cities has flags that needs to be gathered. I, personally, think that this gathering mission is not as fun as everyone says. The fact that some of the achievement can only be gained to gain the score is annoying. DESIGN The gameworld is what shines in Assassin's creed. The gameworld is important to the game because the game tries to give the player the most realistic way of showing the world and how an assassin work. The only way to do that is force the player to explore a whole new city and the have them gather information about there target within the city. At the same time, the player knows the city a lot better than normal. By exploring the gameworld, the player is experiencing a whole new experience. Social Stealth is the new way of playing a stealth game. The player gets to blend in with the crows and the guards wouldn't notice them. The battle system is, however, lacking of complexity. One button does everything from attacking to countering. Most of the time, countering is the best way to kill the enemy and I mostly used that move to win fights against the enemy. I like the combat system, but I just wished that it could be a little more complex.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:27:36 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3194&iddiary=6003https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3194Summary The game consist of an assassin in the crusading era. The assassin is tasked in killing a list of people. In order to assassinate them, the player needs to go through all the view points to get a bird eye view of the city and gather information on the target in order to chose the best path in killing the target. GAMEPLAY The story consist of an assassin in the crusading era, but that is only the surface of the game. The game is actually about a descendant of the actual assassin who is put in a machine to read his memory in order to retrieve an artifact. The story is interesting to the point that will want to keep me playing. The characters all have a mysterious background that is slowly explored. The characters however is not the center of the game. The gameworld is the best aspect of the game in which that the player must navigate through the city in order to find information and to kill its target. Social Stealth is the new feature of the game in which the player can blend in with the crowd to evade capture. This idea is innovative because in past game the only way to hide is to literally hide somewhere dark. Social stealth allows the player to be creative in terms of escaping, and blending in is not as easy as one may think because the AI is smart when it comes to detecting the player. The control is strange as in each button controls each body part. For example, to climb a wall, the player needs to press the legs button in order to climb, while grabbing a bad guy, the player need to press the arm button.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:19:14 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3194&iddiary=6002https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2697GAMEPLAY The gameplay remain somewhat the same. I am still jumping through different world trying to fulfill different tasks so that I can restore the engine and save Princess Peach. There are a few differences as in that the game tries to make things more challenging by adding world where I have to roll on a ball, blow a bubble, and swim. The wii-mote serves as a stick control for the ball mini game, where I have to try to roll the ball to the final destination so that I may get the star inside, while with the bubble game I have to blow the bubble all the way through so that Mario can get the star. All these are welcomed addition to the already successful formula that is Mario. Frustration is a big factor in this game. One might think that lives run out really quick, but the strange thing is that ever since Mario has gone 3D the game usually gives out lives like hot cakes. Therefore, the player doesn't really need to worry about lives, but they have to worry about getting really frustrated at some part of the game. Sometime, the task is really simple, but it is just impossible to finish. I, sometime, get really mad just because of some stupid quirk in the game that doesn't allow me to win. DESIGN The thing that shine the most in Super Mario Galaxy is of course the gameworld. There are so many gameworld in mario galaxy that, but it is impossible to confuse them. They each have their different characteristic, so that the player may remember every world that he/she has visited. Since it is a platform game, the maker have to pay great attention to different platform, they have program it in a way that it is a possible for the player to finish a level, but not let the player win too easily. the mechanic of the game stays the same except for the fact the levels are now consisted of planet. Therefore, the player usually does not die by falling off a platform, instead they get sucked to another planet due to gravity. However, if you are unlucky enough to get sucked into one of the many black holes, then you lose a life. This new idea of different planet is a great idea that should be explored more in the future. The power-ups is something important in the game too. In the past, the power-ups are something that helps the player in succeeding in the game, and make their life easier. However, in Mario Galaxy, power-ups are a must. This means that the player will not be able to finish a level if the power-up is not obtain. I do not like the fact that now the power-up are required and not there to help you on your adventure. For example, if a person wanted to visit the queen bee, then they must use the bee power-up to get there, or if the player wanted to cross a frozen river they would need to have ice power-up. I wish that they make the power-up to help the player and not as another obstacle.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:35:42 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2697&iddiary=5085https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2697SUMMARY The player assumes the legendary Mario, and tries to fulfills Mario's goal of restoring the ship's main engine by finding power stars. The player goes to different world in order to find the the power star. The player can do that be completing tasks specific to the stage. GAMEPLAY Like all Mario game the story is not that well developed, but that is done on purpose. The main focus of the game is the gameplay. It is amazing how the maker of all mario games have the ability to renovate the game while keeping the old formula alive. The gameplay consists of Mario walking/jumping/swimming through different levels in order to achieve different objective. These objective varies in difficulty. Most of them are simple, but requires some skills. Some of the more important star either has a difficult task to fulfill or require the defeat of a boss. The gameplay and the story are pretty much the same in a way because the story is told through the use of gameplay. The character is, of course, the legendary Mario. He returns to save Princess Peach once more. The character's story are left out on purpose, I would guess so that the game can make way to where the game really shine, the gameplay. However, since these characters are so well known, there is really no introduction necessary. People who watches this game gets bored after a while because there are much material for an audience in Super Mario Galaxy. This game can only be appreciated by playing the actual game.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:23:11 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2697&iddiary=5084https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2392GAMEPLAY The game continues with the violent fighting. However, in between boss battles, I have to get random jobs to get enough money to fight the next boss. The job ranged from working at a gas station, cleaning the streets/wall of the city, scorpion extermination to full assassination job. These jobs are repetitive. For example, I have assassinate the CEO of Pizza Butt Company three different time just with the difficulty adjusted. It was annoying to do these jobs. The story, however, continues to be riveting. I wanted to know what is going to happen next and what is the back story of the next boss. I needed to know who Travis Touchdown really is. The game never really explained how he ended up in Santa Destroy or why he is going after the assassin. People just assume that he like to fight and kill people. The character development stays interesting throughout the game. Design The battle system is the most interesting in this game. Weapons can be upgraded and equipment can be attached to the light saber. Managing between charging your weapon and actually attacking is tough because if the enemy catches you charging your weapon they will not hesitate to attack you. However, at the end of the game, I acquired a light saber and an attachment that allowed me to never need to charge the weapon again. That is quite useful because now I have no need to charge and I can just fight freely without having to worry that my sword is going to stop working. I like the battle system and the upgrade system wherein you have to make enough money to buy it. One thing I found annoying with the boss battles is that I have to find the exact time to attack them, and every other time they simply block it. When you do find it, you just keep repeating it till they die. Also, some bosses, such as bad girl, will decide not to let you have that opportunity too many time and just keep doing whatever is that they do, and never let you attack. Those kind of bosses are not even hard, but they just want to extend the game as long as possible and annoy the player to a maximum level. Other than that, the game has a great battle system and a great story. -Weilee ChenFri, 08 Feb 2008 03:09:30 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2392&iddiary=4543https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2392SUMMARY No more heroes is game about Travis Touchdown, an Otaku turned assassin, who wants to kill all the assassin that are ranked higher than him. He starts out as a rank 11th, and kill his way to number one. Throughout the story, the player encounter twists plot and great boss battle. In order to advance, Touchdown has to pay an entry fee, which is gained by doing random jobs in the city of Santa Destroy, California. GAMEPLAY This is one of the more violent game I played. The battle sequence goes from battle the enemy and finishing them with a gory move. However, it is not violent to the point where I don't want to play. The blood spilled was so great that I know it is not real, so I am not repulse by it. The characters were great. The game, in nature, makes fun of society and its quirks. Travis Touchdown, an otaku assassin, is not the average protagonist. He is a nerd, and not sociable for he likes anime, games, and to kill people. I relate to him because I am nerd. However, I do not like killing people, so people reading this can relax. The story is not the major aspect of the game, but it is worth noting that the game has a great story, with turns and twists. However, it is not as deep as I expected, but good nonetheless. Each boss battle has its own story, some more important than other and it is always interesting to find out how each character is going to turn out. Some of them are cheap (destroy man), twisted (bad girl), and interesting (Shinobu), and that only begins to describe each character. The most important part of the game is the battle system. You battle a person and when they run out of health you can do finishing move wherein a copious amount of blood spills out. It was fun to do just that, and when it comes to the boss battle, you need to know when they have an opening that I can exploit and do maximum damage. People watching the game all say that the game is a bit too violent, but say that they enjoy watching just because they want to see how I am going to kill the boss. -Weilee ChenFri, 08 Feb 2008 02:59:25 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2392&iddiary=4541https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2048GAMEPLAY As I played Final Fantasy XII, I noticed that the action bar is a good idea, but it was frustrating at the same time. At critical moments, I always wished that the time bar will go faster. It really depends on the speed of the character. I wasn't used to it too much because I was so used to the fact that characters cast spell or attack right after I issued the command. Also, it was annoying how the boss always get to attack numerous time before I pull off one attack. My strongest character, Balthier, wields a gun, but it took the action bar forever to fill up. It took even longer than casting a spell. That was frustrating. That, however, was part of the game, and I have come to accept it. The story has stayed character driven throughout the time I played. One thing I noticed is that although it is an ensemble cast, where every character is important, Balthier seems to be the main character. Vaan was advertised as the main character, but, to me, Balthier is more important to the plot. The empire's intention plays heavily in the game as well, but Vayne, a potential successor to the empire's throne, was more important than the other villains. I especially enjoyed watching how Vayne was going to take the throne and destroy Ashe who is desperately trying to restore Damascus under her control. My friend and I remained interesting in the story. This game is like a movie, and like a good movie, it sucked me in. The flow of the game was smooth. It made me want to know more and know everything about the story. The world of Ivalice is very suited for the story. The world of ivalice is similar to the world of star wars as in that many races interact and form a functional society. I like the world ivalice a lot. DESIGN The game world and how the battle system uses that world is amazing. There is no fast way to travel from one point to an untraveled land. Therefore, the player must travel the whole trip by foot. While traveling, the player will encounter all sorts of enemy and will be switched to combat mode. One thing I like about the encounter is that there is no more random encounter, and so I know exactly when and what I am encountering. The leveling system is subtle as in I don't know exactly when I level up, but it does happen. Leveling up happens really simply, and I like that because I don't like to distribute experience points and customize skills. The space is further improved with the help of gambits. By setting the gambits, the characters controlled by the computer will be able to do what you order even before you actually issue the order. That way I did need to freak out every time I see an enemy. The gambits work by giving each character a parameter to follow, such as, attacking lowest HP, attack same as primary target. In the vast world, these gambits are a life saver because so many things happen at once that sometime I can't even cast the right magic or heal the right person. This battle system is innovative in a way, but I am sure that they can make it better by improving the system. I am hoping that in Final Fantasy XIII they would have it down. Weilee ChenFri, 25 Jan 2008 01:32:38 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2048&iddiary=3984https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2048SUMMARY The story follows a group of people who tries to unravel the secret of an empire trying to invade neighboring countries. It if 12th story in the final fantasy series. It takes place in the Ivalice world, and the battle system follows a real-time battle system. The story starts out with Reks, shortly after we follow vaan and company through ivalice and discovering what the empire is trying to hide. GAMEPLAY Reks eventually dies at the beginning of the game, and that caused me to be angry because he tried so hard to defend his country, Damascus. At first, I thought he was the main character, but it turns out the main character is Vaan. I progressed through the game, and met Ashe and company. I knew Ashe wa sthe princess, but I thought she was snobbish. I did not like her. I eventually met Balthier, and I got to say, he is my favorite character. Fran is Balthier's companion, and serves as a sidekick. I enjoyed each character as who they are and what they contribute to the story. The story was character driven, and each character has a back story, which is explored throughout the game. Therefore, I think the characters form an ensemble cast rather than a main and supporting character situation. It was interesting to find out what each character is after, and why they are part of the gang. The battle system is different than other final fantasy or other Japanese RPGs for that matter. In previous final fantasies, they usually use the Active Time Battle system or the turn by turn system. In Final Fantasy XII, they use the Real-Time battle system where time does not stop for you when you select a character's action. It was a strange system at first because I never played the game like that. By picking an action, the character will keep doing the same action every time its action bar fills up. I eventually got used to it and have come to like it. The only problem I have with this system is that once you choose the action the computer pretty much take over, and you only need to keep an eye on the status of the character and cast magic accordingly. It was definitely an interesting new way of battling in RPGs. Since the story is so character driven, it was a lot of fun to find things out slowly like a movie. my friend sat through the sessions just because he wants to find out what will happen next. I honestly wanted to find out what is going to happen next as well. The learning curve of this game was a bit long, but at the end, I realized the best way of battling, and gambits (will be a topic in the next log) helped a lot too. I am off to play even more, I will write another one later. Weilee ChenThu, 24 Jan 2008 23:18:02 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2048&iddiary=3958https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1635GAMEPLAY The story continues to be simple, which is a test subject trying to escape The Aperture Science Laboratories. However, the characters continue to grow more interesting by the minute because I eventually find out that there is no one in the Aperture Science Laboratories, and GLaDOS was the only one left. She is the central unit of the laboratories. This means she runs everything, and the test was her idea. That theory, however, was not completely proven at the end of the game. GLaDOS remains to be humorous, but becomes more sadistic as the game goes on. She threatens to "Bake her, then there will be cake." (GLaDOS) I was becoming more determine to find her and destroy her. Eventually I escaped the test location, but must escape from the actual facility. GLaDOS becomes friendly because she doesn't want me to escape. Eventually, I reached her and found out that she is composed of many branch unit, and must destroy the branch unit to kill her completely. The test subject escapes. The character are explored throughout the game, but not deep enough. The game remain fun to play. It still engages me to think in different ways, since it is a game style that I have never played before. The physics part of the game is really great because the makers of the game actually took into the fact that gravity and momentum are conserved as the test subject goes into the portal. As GLaDOS said: "speedy goes in, speedy goes out," which is a very good representation of the physics part of the game. The back seating play of the game continues as everyone want to solve the puzzles because it is so stimulating to the brain. I just hope that they explained more about the connection between Aperture Science Laboratories and Black Mesa. Other than that, I was really glad that played this game because it was so innovating. DESIGN This game was simply put-innovative. Valve Software wanted to created a new kind of puzzle game, and to my opinion, they did a pretty good job. This new way of thinking should be incorporated into their future game as a new weapon or new feature. The only flaw of this game is that since it is an experimental game, it was short for a first person shooter. I wished that I could have played more of the game and that they make it longer. By the end of the game, I was not satisfied, I wanted more puzzles, and more in depth story line. I enjoyed the challenges that the game presented to me because I was tired of going into a FPS and just shoot everything that moves. The innovation not only is the best aspect of the game, but also is what keeps the game interesting. They were really successful at making the game world creepy. No one likes to be alone, and that is exactly what portal offers, a lonely world. There is absolutely no one else in the test center other than the test subject. Even the only other character, GLaDOS, is a computer. There was another "character" called the weighted companion cube. It was an interesting character because it was inanimate, but GLaDOS insists that it is real. At the very start of the game, a radio was playing a song, as if to make the player feel comfortable, but it did exactly the opposite. I felt increasingly uncomfortable with the environment. The game world was quite monotone and unfamiliar, which also contributed to the strangeness of the world. As I went on to play the game, writing on walls starts to surface. It says "The cake is a lie," which is exactly what GLaDOS promised the player at the start of the game. I started to suspect GLaDOS real intentions. Eventually, I finished the tests (Test 19), GLaDOS wanted to murder me since the test was over. The game was eerie with a touch of humor. The use of game space was important since it is a puzzle game. One of the features of the game is that the player must open the portals at the right places. For example, in order to kill a sentry gun, I had to open a portal right above the sentry gun, and another one right below a weighted cube. If one of the portal is misplaced, the cube will simply miss the sentry gun. The momentum part of the game forces the player to aim the portals in the right places so that we can fall from a high enough place and get shot out of the other portal, since momentum is conserved.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:20:32 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1635&iddiary=3434https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1635SUMMARY Portal follows an experiment in progress performed by Aperture Science Laboratories, where the player is the test subject. The test subject were to perform a series of puzzle with the help of a portal gun. The portal gun allows the test subject open two portal, which on serves as an entrance and the other serves as an exit. Using that knowledge, the player must try to escape. GAMEPLAY The game was eerie to say the least. The fact that the test subject was the only human character in the game contributed to the eerie part. However, when GLaDOS (the computer voice that talks to you occasionally) joins in the game, the game becomes humorous while still retaining the creepiness. GLaDOS sounds child-like and a sociopath. She annoyed me most of the time, but once in a while she would say something really funny. Little was known about the test subject (me), and I wished that the game would tell me a little bit more about the test subject and Aperture Science Laboratories. The character exploration is shallow, but the game is mainly focused on the gameplay. The story is told through GLaDOS. She will talk about the experiment once in a while, but rarely talks about Aperture Science Laboratories. However, at a certain point of the game, I saw a slideshow with the name Black Mesa on it, and that is how I know that the game is somehow connected to the Half Life series. Other than that, little is known about the stories. Although, the story is not too deeply explored, the gameplay is where the game shines. The gameplay was quite innovative in that, the player needs a whole new way of thinking. Opening portals at the right places, and understanding simple laws of physics is required. For example, falling from a high place into a portal will shoot you out the other portal. It was quite fun to play, I enjoyed the experience. Although the story is not deep, the gameplay made me want to keep playing. It was so interesting and such a new way of thinking that it won me over with the first few puzzles. People would be really intrigue because there was nothing to kill and no guns involved, which is strange for a first person shooter. Friends would help me solve puzzles that are hard to solve, they also enjoyed the back seat gaming experience. My experience is that the opening of portal will become a second nature to the player. Eventually, GLaDOS will try to murder me, and I was like "NO WAY." (roughly a direct quote from the game) At this point, the story gets a bit more interesting. The game takes an interesting turn because now, the test subject is not in a testing environment, and now I must try to escape on my own. I stopped here. I will continue to play. Since, I played through the whole game already, I will defeat GLaDOS again, and played from the beginning again, which will be covered at the second entry. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:45:38.)Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:41:15 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1635&iddiary=3352