Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=507https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2976Final Fantasy 10 Second Hour GAMEPLAY Another hour into the game and the story is starting to pick up the pace. Square is known for detail. I have heard from many friends that they find Tidus whinny and annoying. I have to disagree there. When comparing Tidus to the Tidus that narrates, the tone is completely different. The Tidus that narrates the events sounds more mature than the one that the player plays as. Therefore it is part of character development. Every character has their own past and secrets because each character seems bitter on certain topics. I find it funny that Auron told Tidus that it was his story when I really think it is equally Yuna’s story as it is Tidus’. It is her pilgrimage afterall and Tidus is just apart of her journey. Like what all RPG’s are suppose to do to players, I was wrapped into the game’s plot. I just wanted to keep on playing to see the next cut scene because they are so beautifully done. The game felt more like progressing movie than just a game itself. I think it is because of the many stops in gameplay where the characters talks as an event. I think Square is very innovative for FF10 since it was the first of it’s kind. Compared to other titles under Square, such as Kingdom Hearts series and Final Fantasy Series, they seemed to cut out all animated cut-scenes to tell the story. They just used an event with regular gameplay graphics for conversations. DESIGN For a first in it’s family to go onto the Playstation 2, Square definitely exploited the console. There was a lot of talking in the game compared to the others under Square. My friend was watching me play and he was complaining that it was dragged on to long and one cut scene to many. I, however, loved how FF10 decided to tell it’s story. Everything else was pretty much the same. They still kept to their roots for most aspects of the game. Only a few things were changed and that was the battle system and leveling system, but even then it didn’t get a drastic make over. The tone of the gameworld is suppose to be serious but so far it is more on the lighter happy side. Tidus and Wakka are used to break the sadness that Sin causes Spira. The game explains how Blitzball is the people’s distraction from Sin. Blitzball is basically the only thing that people can enjoy/focus on and not think about the next town that Sin will destroy. However, once the player passes the blitzball tournament, like Wakka said, everything will become serious. The game doesn’t exactly have a level design. Like most RPGs you level up and fight bosses in order to advance the story. It is like an implicit rule. The reward structure in this game is to be able to defeat bosses without much difficulty when you learn new skills on the sphere grid. Overdrives, a finishing blow or a characters special, is different for each character. Some requires you to push buttons while others require you to spin the analog stick. This is something new that Final Fantasy brings to the table using the PS2’s new controller. I would recommend this game to someone who has the patience to sit through the story because it is worth it. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:06:22.)Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:14:20 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2976&iddiary=5592https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2976Final Fantasy 10 First Hour SUMMARY In Final Fantasy 10 you play as Tidus, a boy who claims he’s from Zanarkand, a place that has been destroyed 1,000 years ago in a world called Spira. The goal of the game is to travel across Spira, helping Yuna, a summoner, defeat Sin. GAMEPLAY Amazingly, I am still not done with the tutorials in this game. Since this was the first Final Fantasy ever to have voice overs and better cut-scenes, square used it to their full advantage. The results: a dragged out introduction that took forever before the game would pick up the pace. However, because of this the players are given more insight on the fictional. I think the game has an emergent narrative because the player learn things as they go, just like Tidus. At the same time it can also count as having an embedded narrative because it uses cut-scenes in order to create this fictional background/story. The battle system for this game is similar to the older series. It is still turn based but the turns are already predetermined based on your stats. Equipment has also changed in this game. You are only able to two equip a weapon and a shield in this game. The game has also removed character levels. The game also changed the way you learn skills and magic. It uses something called a “Sphere Grid”. If you have played Final Fantasy 12, this is similar to it since FF12’s “License Board” derived from FF10. You basically earn experience to earn AP. You then use the AP to travel the sphere grid and use ability spheres on the nodes to learn new skills. That’s pretty much it so far. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:03:56.)Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:13:57 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2976&iddiary=5591https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2785Final Fantasy 12 Second Hour GAMEPLAY By now the characters in game have developed more than the first two hours. There are a total of six characters that the player is given. I feel that Vaan and Penelo are normal people who are caught in the fire of people with power. Balthier (my favorite) and companion Fran seem like they are just accompanying the party because it benefits them but I know that deep down they are only trying to help and treasure is not first priority. Basch and Ashe are the two that are serious about the party’s goals. They are willing to put their life down and restore order back to their homeland. This is only just the tip of the iceberg though. The characters are one of the things that keep players in the magic circle. Throughout the game I was wrapped into it. All of my attention was given to the game. I would feel bothered if someone were to talk to me or ask a favor from me. This is a game that requires you to be present throughout the whole game because if your not there you could miss a beautiful cut scene of Ivalice or an important conversation between the characters that is vital to understand the plot or simply, die from a monster. DESIGN The game is very innovative compared to its ancestors, especially the battle system. It has more of an online feel than a single player sitting at home. Although the battle system makes it easier on the player to manage, the game still possesses a challenge. From fighting regular monsters to boss battles, the system requires you to be there to watch over the characters actions if you use gambits. The game did a wonderful job of splitting the work between the player and the machine. The player still looks over the artificial intelligence instead of just having the player walk up to the monster and sit idly watching the battle. The tone of the game world is serious. Their journey start from restoring Princess Ashe to her throne to saving the world from the villain who is planning to take over the world using crystals. Because it is so serious the player becomes so focus that they do not want to miss a thing. The characters rarely talk, most of the time your out in the desert traveling huge maps to the next place. When the characters do talk though it is of most importance that you listen and understand what is going on. The game doesn’t really have a level design. It is just given that as you progress in the game the monsters become stronger, requiring you to level up in order to vanquish them. The reward structure for the game is satisfying because as you level up you become stronger and you also get to fill up the license board to be closer to your next “quickening”. The game is really enticing, I would recommend this to gamers who like a good story line with great graphics. A Final Fantasy title never fails to deliver the fun. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:41:00.)Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:39:42 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2785&iddiary=5338https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2785Final Fantasy 12 First Hour SUMMARY Final Fantasy XII takes place in Ivalice where the player plays as Vaan, a 17-year-old orphan boy who is caught in the consequences of war. The goal of the game is to restore order to the countries in Ivalice In order to do so, Vaan and entourage must help Princess Ashelia reclaim her throne. GAMEPLAY Like other Final Fantasy games before it, the game starts off the story with a tutorial. Tutorials tend to take very long in Final Fantasy games but I enjoyed it because the tutorial was incorporated into the story line, instead of having a tutorial based on something irrelevant to progressing the story. After the tutorial was over, the game itself was intriguing. Since I just started the game I can’t expand on the plot overall but the battle system doesn’t disappoint. It is still turn based with an Action Time Bar, but instead of the characters being stationary, you are free to move them around during battle. I felt like I was the only player on World of Warcraft due to the online feel it has. The player is also free to customize their character's artificial intelligence with something called "Gambits". Basically, it is like an If and Then algorithm. If party hit points are below 30%, then use Cure. If there is a monster in sight, then use fire. You are able to mix and match according to your playing style. This way instead of managing all three characters, you can just manage one and watch over everyone else’s actions. When the battle is over, instead of being credited with the money and items, you have to pick it up, like an online game (without people looting you). The plot is very confusing. In order to clarify a few things for the player, the game breaks down from time to time in order to explain the current situation. Marquis Halim Ondore is the man that narrates the “situation so far” in the game. He is yet to be seen but I can assume that he is an important character in the story. In fact, many of the featured characters haven’t showed up in the game yet. The game definitely has a flow because of the way the game is set up. It leaves the player wondering what has happened. There are many plot holes that must be resolved and this is what keeps players actively playing the game. (This entry has been edited4 times. It was last edited on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:40:07.)Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:38:12 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2785&iddiary=5277https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2569Super Mario World Second Hour GAMEPLAY Comparing Super Mario World to games today, we are so spoiled. In Super Mario World, once Mario falls off a platform or accidently runs into a monster, its not necessarily game over, but it does mean you have to start over from the beginning or from the check point. Did I also forget to mention that there is a time limit also? For players who like to take their time, the time limit will definitely not make it a fun experience. Because of these factors, players become very cautious and actually scream when they see the 1up mushroom fall off the cliff. I think players do become attached to any of the perks the game has available, such as the mushrooms, yoshi and the pipes that Mario can travel down into. Since the game is terribly hard later on due to the lack of lives, players would be glad to see anything that can help them. This has impacted culture because people do wear shirts with the 1up green mushroom on it. Still, even though the game is difficult people still love it because of how rewarded they feel once they have completed it. DESIGN The game overall was very innovative for its time. The level design kept it interesting for the player. There were different challenges every couple of stages that required a new skill from the player instead of repeating the same flat gameplay in stage one. The game provided many challenges, such as how some monsters had to be hit twice or more in order for them to go away, turtle shells can back fire and hit you, Mario could only be hit twice or three times before you have to start over, etc... What I felt was a reward in the game was seeing Mario progress to the next available stage on the map. It is a good thing because I feel like I just solved the world's hardest sudoku problem but it's bad at the same time because a harder one is coming up next. Even though the game can get frustrating to the point where I would never want to play it again, I wouldn't change anything on this game. It is because of how difficult it is that made this game memorable decades later. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 03:27:13.)Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:28:05 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2569&iddiary=4849https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2569Super Mario World First Hour SUMMARY In Super Mario World you get to play as Mario and help save Yoshi and his friends from Bowser who has trapped them inside of eggs. The object of this game is to complete various levels and progress along the map to different places to help rescue Yoshi and friends. GAMEPLAY Super Mario World is a fun game to play as an alternative to an RPG. Even though graphics are nothing compared to today's advance technology, the game play is something that every game today should emulate. Super Mario World is a fast paced game, unless you get stuck on one level! The game has every monster on screen for you to attack and run pass, making the game fast pace. This game gets frustrating later on as you progress to higher levels, but you feel rewarded for completing them at the end. The game is interesting because once every couple of stages they add something new in it, such as: moles popping out of walls, sliding platforms, cactus monsters that break apart as you attack them, etc... If the game didn't add these perks then it would be a very tedious game. I did get a chance to play with my friends for ten minutes. This game requires a lot of concentration to make it pass jumps and monsters, so the person playing wouldn't talk as much. Though once they die the room was filled with commotion, then it becomes silent and everyone watches intently. This game challenges the player's reflexes, that is why everyone is so addicted because they want to make that jump just right: or else they can't sleep at night. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:43:06.)Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:27:48 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2569&iddiary=4846https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2202Wii Sports Second Hour GAMEPLAY I have to admit that this game would only bore me if I were playing by myself for more than thirty minutes. This game kept everyone active and full of energy. If I was playing the game I was able to respond to my friends quickly, as if I wasn’t playing the game at all. If I was watching the game I didn’t feel ignored. People can bother you verbally or physically so that you lose in the game, but the consequences of losing isn’t a big deal, everyone is having fun. If you were to do that to a game that required you to win to advance, I wouldn’t suggest being the funnyman. DESIGN Wii Sports is very innovative. It took advantage of what the Wii had to offer. Back then we used to play these sports games glued to our chairs, now we are able to move around and imagine our controllers as equipment. The design of the game is kept simple. The art was very cartoonish, which made the game feel less serious and more about fun. Aside from the visual aspect, the game itself was kept very simple. The Wii mote basically does everything for you. We no longer have to press a button to make our sprite chase after or hit the tennis ball, with a simple wave of the Wiii mote, all that is done. This applies to the other games on Wii Sports. It is up to the player to keep this game interesting. The game is basically there for you to play. Whether you are having fun or not is completely up to you. Wii Sports is not a puzzle game so it doesn’t pose any challenge to the player unless you set up goals yourself. The game itself was frustrating at first but players will get the hang of the controls after two or three tries. This game is the definition of exploiting what the Wii has to offer. I remember when the Wii concept was release no one had anything positive to say about it. When it was release, people were lining up the day before and sleeping outside of best buy for it. Wii Sports has a lot of replay value and I would recommend it as a must have game at a social gathering. Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:19:42 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2202&iddiary=4263https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2202Wii Sports First Hour SUMMARY In Wii sports the player is able to play sport games by actively participating in it. You control what is called a “Mii”, a character you create on your Wii, it can resemble you or be whatever you want it to look like. In Wii Sports there are five games to choose from, they are: tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing. You pick one and watch your Mii go! GAMEPLAY Wii Sports is a great game to play with your friends because it is something anyone can pick up and enjoy. Everyone can have a turn within a short amount of time because all of the games are pretty fast paced. Even if you are waiting for a turn it isn’t boring to watch other people play, everyone gets involved socially. For example, Wii Tennis is really easy to play, and it is my favorite out of the five. Your Mii will move itself towards the ball and your job is to swing your Wii mote when the ball is close enough. Without the hassle of moving your character towards the ball, you can easily socialize with friends. Wii Bowling is my second favorite out of the five. Like other bowling games you are able to move left or right, change the angle, and adjust the speed in which you slide your ball. To hit the pins you treat your Wii mote as if it were a real bowling ball. It was tricky at first because you have to release the button behind the Wii mote the moment you swing it forward. Though after two tries it no longer became a problem. Wii baseball is a tricky one. Like tennis, it doesn’t require you to run your bases after you have hit the ball. One person can be the pitcher and the other can be the batter. As a pitcher you have to throw your Wii mote as if it were a baseball (please keep it attached to your hand!) The batter will then swing his Wii mote as if it were a bat! But it takes a little more concentration than tennis because it is hard to hit the ball. Wii Boxing definitely took a lot of energy out of me. Just watching my younger brother play it makes me scared. What if that was me he was hitting at that speed and force?! In boxing you are able to block by raising your Wii mote up to your face or by moving the Wii mote left or right to dodge. To hit your opponent just pretend your Wii mote is your boxing glove and just start punching the lights out of your opponent. Wii Golf was satisfactory. It got boring fast within my group because it felt slow compare to the other games. Like bowling you can set speed and directions in which you hit the golf ball. This game didn’t have much replay value from what I have observed in various people. Overall, who can hate Wii Sports? It is absolutely fun. Who could have thought a plastic remote could be so many different things? From a racket to a bowling ball, this game definitely has a lot of replay value.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:48:22 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2202&iddiary=4202https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1771Crono Trigger Second Hour GAMEPLAY This game keeps it interesting even after two hours. The story line continues after saving the princess by having Crono be accused of kidnapping the princess when he was the one who saved her! The trio saves Crono and escapes the castle together only to be cornered by the royal guards. Their only resort to escape the Chancellor’s clutches is by jumping into a portal, leading them yet into a different time period. Instead of going back into the past, the game keeps it fresh by taking our heroes into what looks like the future. The characters are more developed by this stage in the game. Crono is the one where everyone looks to for decisions on what the group should do. He doesn’t talk, making him become a part of us since we pick his responses. At the same time I just feel that he is the quite guy who would protect his friends. Princess Nadia is the stereotypical princess who wants to experience life beyond the royal kingdom. Her decisions are based on what would get her more “fun”. Lucca on the other hand is a foil to Nadia. DESIGN Crono Trigger is a great game. It keeps me interested because of the storyline. It is simple yet addictive. I think what keeps this game interesting is time traveling because it allows many possibilities for a story line. With time traveling, we the player, can understand the game more by understanding the past and the future. Most games would just throw a history book at you about the past, but in this game you can actually go back into the past and get a feel of it yourself, instead of having to read it. The storyline keeps it interesting by adding humor to it instead of just making it a dry battle game. By having the non-playable characters, NPCs, become comic relief it lightens the mood, keeping it fun. What I didn’t like about this game is how it is hard to find leads. After completing an arc in the story line, it just leaves you without a clue on what to do next. I felt frustrated that I had to spend time talking to non-playable characters multiple times just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. It is funny though because the solution was the simplest thing and it just went over my head. This is a game I look forward to completing because there are many things to be salvaged and learned from. This game is a great reminder that old games can easily be better than the more advance games that we have today. For my own game project I want to go back to the basics and just make things simple like the past but at the same time incorporate a modern feel to the game. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:06:10.)Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:05:40 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1771&iddiary=4172https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1771Crono Trigger First Hour SUMMARY "Crono Trigger" is a role playing game on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, SNES, where the main character, Crono, is a young teenager with flaming red hair. The adventure starts with Crono attending a fair where he meets a girl name “Marle”, who is actually Princess Nadia. Crono and Marle become testers for Lucca's new invention, the telepod. The telepod malfunctions, sending the trio back into the past where there was a war. GAMEPLAY Although the game lacks in graphics compared to today’s detailed animation, Crono Trigger makes up for that with an appealing storyline and game play. The story is the typical male hero saves the princess, yet it never fails to capture the player’s attention. Though what kept me playing this game was how the quickly everything progress. For example, the battle system, instead of encountering battles randomly then loading the battle screen, you can see the monsters on screen and you can choose to fight or avoid the battle. For a limited amount of space on the SNES, this game made it feel as if it were alive because monsters actually interact with each other. Aside from the battle system the story itself was going at a rapid pace. Which is great because games today make the dungeons long and tedious. Crono Trigger keeps it long enough to make you feel challenged but short enough that it doesn’t become a chore for a college student who doesn’t have enough time to enjoy an RPG. While playing Crono Trigger, a floor mate of mine came over. Normally a game would require your full wrapped attention. While I was playing Crono Trigger however, I was able to keep up a conversation with my floor mate as if I wasn’t playing a game at all. I felt relieved because he was also able to join in by watching me play without getting bored or angry that I was playing a game while talking to him. I feel that this is a plus for Crono Trigger because I don’t have to cut off my friends for a game. It is to early for me to decide whether this game lives up to it’s hype, but I can definitely see why this is considered a classic. (This entry has been edited3 times. It was last edited on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:05:31.)Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:16:49 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1771&iddiary=3515