Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=556https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3033GAMEPLAY This time around I unlocked another VFX move, instead of changing the speed of the game, it makes the camera zoom in on the character. In this mode, you can do cool movie martial arts moves like backflip kicks (which attack enemies in front, above, and behind you) and punches with different, stylish camera angles (which maybe do more damage, I don’t know). You can also use this in conjunction with the slow-mo or match speed VFX, which has allowed for some more interesting combat. I did get a bit frustrated at one point though. I had gotten quite a bit into the second episode (the main sections of the game’s story) before I got a game over for the first time. When I had died before, I had begun at the last checkpoint (usually where the player enters a room, or new section of the level). However, unexpectedly, when you get a game over, you must start from the begging of the episode again. This makes sense, but I wasn’t expecting it and lead to a bit of frustration when I had to do everything over again (including unlocking the new VFX move). Maybe the game could use more save points, I’m not sure as this hasn’t really been that big of a problem so far. It does raise the stakes a bit though. DESIGN So far, Viewtiful Joe has been one of the most entertaining games I’ve played, which I would have to credit to its game design. In particular, the way combat is set up keeps the game interesting at all times. You effectively have 4 different modes of combat with the different VFX moves, allowing for different play styles and strategies. In addition there are many combos, each VFX having different ones and others unlockable in a store after levels. The combat is set up to be quick and simple, like a proper beat ‘em up should be, but by using the VFX moves, the gameplay never gets dull. The reward system is also quite good. There are multiple types of rewards throughout each level. There are points, which can be spent between stages at the power-up shop. There are items in chests throughout that can boost your health, give you an extra life, or replenish some of your VFX meter (a meter depletes as you use VFX and regenerates when you don’t use it). There are also items, which can temporarily increase the size of your VFX meter, allowing for more damage to be done. I also think that the VFX system is really useful not only in the way it affects combat, but how it is used in level design. The VFX effects don’t affect your character, but the actual gameworld. Your character doesn’t just speed up or or slow down, the entire world does. This allows for some interesting puzzles to stop you from tearing through a level in a few minutes. There can be puzzles where you have to speed up the world so fans blow harder or so that water can flow faster (admittedly these are the only real examples I have so far). This is a sort of unique take on the traditional system of power ups, which usually only affect the player character, not the way their world works.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:24:12 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3033&iddiary=5701https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3033SUMMARY Viewtiful Joe is a side scrolling platformer with a beat ‘em up style of combat. The player plays as Joe, who has been magically pulled into the world of one of his favorite action movies. He must find his girlfriend who has been captured, while being aided by the hero of the movie, Captain Blue, who teaches Joe new moves. A unique part of the game is ability to change from normal speeds to slow-mo or sped up modes, which allow for different combos. In fighting enemies, Joe cannot block; he can only dodge attacks in quite a stylish manner. GAMEPLAY I would have to say the first thing I notice about Viewtiful Joe is how slick the combat is. When fighting enemies, warnings appear briefly to tell you to dodge, allowing you to pull of new attacks on your confused enemies. The combat all moves very fast and you have to pay attention to all the enemies surrounding you. Luckily, you have special “VFX” moves, which can slow down or speed up the gameplay. These are all quite well done, though using the slow motion move for extended periods of time can get a little tedious. The “match speed” move, which speeds up the game, is very fun to use. You seem to do a lot more on screen and kick your enemies’ butts harder, without really exerting any extra effort. One problem I’ve found so far is that sometimes the level design is a bit confusing. There were a few times where I was confused as to what I had to do to advance to the next stage. My friends who were watching were equally confused and didn’t really have any idea of what I should do. The game gives you hints, by making a watch your character wears flash and make a noise when you’re near one of the objects involved in the puzzle, a bit like Navi in Zelda. However, sometimes it’s really vague as to what you have to do. You could have to position yourself in a certain area to fight someone, punch an object to set off some sort of “switch,” or any other sort of puzzle related tasks found in games like Zelda. I wouldn’t say that this detracts from the game, it keeps it interesting, making it not all entirely just about beating up enemies. It actually shows some pretty unique and thoughtful level design for a side scrolling platform game.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:37:02 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3033&iddiary=5681https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2617GAMEPLAY This time I was only able to take out two colossi. I was actually a bit nervous going in to find the first colossus as I had been told that it was strong and “not fearful.” Additionally, while trying to find the colossus, the atmosphere was very unsettling as I moved through thick fog and trod along steep cliffs to finally find the colossus. It was a giraffe looking one and to beat it, I had to hide in some underground tunnels and sneak up behind it as it peered into tunnel entrances. I did have to use GameFAQs for this colossus as it was pretty confusing as to what I had to do to beat the boss. Of course, that is what the game is all about. In the end, I killed the colossus quickly as I already knew what I had to do and it wasn’t really fun at all! The second colossus was difficult to find, almost frustratingly so. Until I finally found out where I had to go to progress to actually find the colossus. After finding the colossus, I was at a loss as to what to do and the hints didn’t really seem to help all that much. They weren’t that clear in this instance as they said to stand on a platform at surface level on the lake where the battle was set. But there were several different platforms and at first I was just confused. Eventually it was a pretty easy battle, not really warranting all the build up I had experienced. DESIGN I think the design of the game is great. The tone of the narrative and enemies being limited to only 16 in the game give it a great epic feel. This is aided by the game’s beautiful visuals, both in landscape and character/enemy design. Only having a handful of enemies in the game cuts out the meaningless hack and slash of games like Zelda, while making it seem like a much greater story unfolding, if not only because the enemies themselves are giants, but because the battles can take over a half an hour each. The simplicity of the game’s system of enemies is also reflected in its combat set up. Though the game is focused on fighting these giant creatures, you only really have 3 attacks (slash, stab, and using the bow). There are no combos or spells. This makes the battles focus less on staying alive and just defeating the boss to how specifically do you defeat the boss, making it almost like a puzzle. This is a pretty original concept and so far has been very successful in the game.Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:28:17 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2617&iddiary=4967https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2617SUMMARY In the action-adventure game Shadow of the Colossus, the player takes on the role of Wander, a man who must defeat the colossi that roam the world in order to restore the life of a young woman. The game centers around finding the next colossus (of which there are 16) and defeating it until the player has defeated them all, other than that there are no other enemies or NPCs. GAMEPLAY I really enjoyed this game’s art direction and visuals. Like Ico, the play of light and pre-defined camera angles (which can still be moved by the player) creates almost a cinematic experience. The visuals of the game were definitely one of its strong points. However, it seemed as if they were a bit too heavy for the PS2 to handle, as I experienced some low framerates which really cut into the experience of cut-scenes and gameplay. I did find the game to be somewhat frustrating at times. As there are only 16 enemies, it is important that each one be complex and difficult to take down. This makes each enemy almost like a puzzle, as you need to figure out what steps must be taken to take them down. This creates some great gameplay as you are focused on this one complex task, rather than just hack ‘n’ slashing through a dungeon. However, I found great difficulty in the third colossus I faced. The controls are sometimes awkward and it made it difficult to stay atop the colossus as it moved around. The battle with that colossus took at least a half an hour to finally finish, and I thought about giving up a few times, but I didn’t. There wasn’t really a great sense of accomplishment after taking it down, however (especially because you don’t even get an in-game reward after killing each colossus...). I was just glad that the frustration of it all was gone. So far, my only problems with the game have been its controls, which may just take some getting used to, and the story. As of this point, I don’t know why I must destroy the colossi. I was told by some entity or spirit that if I destroy them, the girl will be brought back to life, but not why the colossi have to be destroyed to do that. Hopefully it will be explained at some point, because as the game centers around killing these giants, there had better be a better explanation than just “do it because I said so.”Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:38:17 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2617&iddiary=4963https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2485GAMEPLAY This time around my missions were all involving protecting either a bridge or a stage coach from attacking Apache tribesmen. I died several times while attempting separate parts of the mission, leading to quite a bit of frustration. The main problem is that I was to protect a bridge from being blown up by the Indians (as they had placed TNT on it). However, due to my own clumsiness I continually shot the TNT, failing the mission. It was pretty frustrating and I was pretty close to just stopping the game right then. Instead, I kept trying and when I eventually won, there was a great sense of satisfaction of having beaten this difficult little mission. Also, I got a tomahawk to replace my knife! Also this time while playing I accidentally started a gunfight in town. I was testing out a new gun I had just acquired by firing it randomly into the street in a circle. I figured I wouldn’t hit anything, and if I did, nothing would happen. Turns out someone started shooting back and as the fight drew on a meter appeared titled “Town Patience.” I suppose this is an example of Gun’s more sandbox type of qualities. You can kill random people and possibly benefit, but must skirt the law as you do so. DESIGN Overall, I’d have to say that Gun has some pretty good design. As an action game, it’s pretty easy for it to set up conflict and challenges. However, the rate at which the missions come at you is quite rapid; you’re always facing a new group of enemies. It gives the game a great sense of tension that really adds to the feeling of the game’s environment and narrative. The narrative is also well presented through voice-acted dialog in most, if not every, interaction between the player and NPCs. So far the level design has been pretty good and varied. Though I’ve only played for a short time, I’ve already had several fights on horseback, shot down enemy ships with a cannon on a steamboat, escorted a stage coach, and other varied combat situations. Aside from just fighting off enemies, so far there has also pretty much always been a second aspect to keep in mind, such as protecting your friend Jenny, being careful not to shoot barrels of TNT, etc. This can lead to quite a bit of frustration though, because it usually requires a bit more thought than just “kill all enemies.” You have to pay more attention to which enemies need more attention and plan strategies around it.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:31:28 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2485&iddiary=4798https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2485SUMMARY Gun is a third person shooter set in the American old west in the year 1880. The player controls Colton, a hunter who is on a mission as instructed in the dying words of his non-biological father, Ned. The game is set in a free-roaming environment following a linear story line, but with the addition of side missions which reward the player with stat boosts and money to buy items. GAMEPLAY So far the game hasn’t been too hard. I died a few times when finishing the last mission in the first city, but once I figured out how to more easily avoid fire from the surrounding enemies, it was fairly easy. The aiming so far is pretty good, even better in quickdraw mode. In quickdraw mode the game shifts to a first person perspective and slows down, allowing you to pick off the often large groups of enemies with precision. This is a nice feature and helps make combat more interesting. I’ve only unlocked two guns so far and only used one of them. They definitely have some sort of difference between them, like loading times, but so far there doesn’t seem to be any reason to chose one pistol over another or to choose the rifle rather than a pistol. They all seem to do nearly the same amount of damage, but maybe I haven’t been paying enough attention. Also, in the intro sequence to the game, there is a somewhat offensive scene wherein a group of Native Americans attack a group of Spanish conquistadors. The models for the attacking natives feature very scary, almost demonic faces and are shown as merciless killers. I understand the historical context and realize that attacks like this happened, but the models for the Native Americans themselves looked outright evil in appearance.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:24:15 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2485&iddiary=4679https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2044GAMEPLAY This time around I played with my friend who had played the Wii and Wii Play before. I think I found this time that billiards is my favorite game on Wii Play. It adapts well to the Wii and recreated that same sense of standing around playing pool in your friend’s basement. Although my friend had played before, he didn’t know that you are able to change the angle of the ball with the d-pad. Despite this, he has able to beat me in at least one of the games we played. However, I don’t know if this is a comment against Wii Play’s billiard physics or my own inability at all billiards, virtual or real. My friend seemed to really like the game where the player plays as a cow racer. As I said in the previous entry, you have to hold the Wiimote differently than normal for this particular game. Although I knew how to hold the controller, unlike whom I played with last time, it was just hard to accurately turn and jumping is very awkward. I ended up winning the race (by knocking down the most scarecrows and having the largest score), and although my friend wanted to play again, I just found it frustratingly awkward and not fun. DESIGN First off, when I think of Wii Play’s design, I think of what’s wrong. The game could benefit greatly from increased multiplayer play. As it is, only two players can play at once. The game, while boasting nine complete minigames, could also use much more minigames! Wii Sports got by on three games, but I think they were more involving and thus lead to a much different play experience. Wii Play is just almost just rehashing countless, nameless computer games. Also, the selection of the next minigame could use a random mode for when you don’t feel like picking the next mind-numbing game. I guess the game’s good design lies in the Wii’s unique controller. Although most of these games have been seen before, they’re at least somewhat interesting to play due to the unique challenges the Wiimote brings. The game is also one of the few to use the Wii’s collection of Miis, characters players can create to represent them in games or as gave save icons (e.g. Super Mario Galaxy). The Miis appear as either your selected character, in the background as spectators, or as part of a game as in the “find the Mii” minigame. Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:43:55 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2044&iddiary=4279https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2044SUMMARY Wii Play is a collection of nine minigames ranging from shooting tanks to play billiards. Packaged with a Wii Remote for only about $10 more, the game is mostly designed as a party game aimed to show the novelty of the Wii’s unique controller set-up. The game supports two-player multiplayer mode and features a system of winning medals once all levels are unlocked. GAMEPLAY I was playing with a relative Wii newb. I figured that Wii Play would be easy enough for him to play, but when he didn’t even hold the Wiimote correctly, I got a little worried. We played through the games sequentially, unlocking the next one each time. All seemed to be going well until the horse racing minigame. My friend couldn’t seem to figure out the control set up properly from the little instructions shown before the game. To play this game, you need to hold each end of the Wii so it is parallel with the TV. He was still holding it like a remote the entire time. There was one game that I actually lost in. It was like a variant of pong, only you can move your paddle up the half-way line in the court and turn according to the twist of your wrist. This was the only game that I actually ended up losing in, but that’s only because I kept accidentally knocking the ball into my own goal. Even as I’m writing this and my friends play the same game on the TV, they’re making the same mistake. It’s quite frustrating, but adds more difficulty to this otherwise simple game.Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:33:29 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2044&iddiary=3948https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1676GAMEPLAY Gameplay got noticeably better the second time around. New types of enemies were introduced that require new attention to evasion and using combos. Also, combos were introduced along with a new spell that allows you to freeze your enemies (before I only had a spell to do damage in a circle around my character). The combos are a bit hard to remember, but so far they greatly add to the game. The hack and slash nature of the game has started become more prevalent with stronger enemies that continually respawn until either they are all defeated or a certain puzzle is solved. This isn’t so bad, but in the case of respawning minotaurs who must be executed in a certain manner, the death sequences can become repetitive and lose their original zeal. These instances are also quite tolerable because you continually get magic and health orbs upon defeating enemies. The game’s visuals are really quite interesting. As I progress, I have been gaining new combos that provide new ways to destroy the enemies. Each one gorier than the last, they provide quite a bit of entertainment to the hack and slash repetition. The levels have also been providing a new level of interest as I noticed more and more secret item and orb chests hidden throughout the game. And again, there is more unnecessary female nudity. DESIGN I don’t think God of War has any unique game mechanic to it, so far at least. Mostly, it seems to generate interest from its fluid combat. As I said, the combos become increasingly gruesome and fun to watch (as long as you thinking tearing apart undead warrior enemies is cool). Collecting the orbs necessary to buy new combos also helps to provide a goal and motivation to explore the levels more thoroughly. Also, as stated before, combat isn’t really too much of a nuisance as defeating enemies provides more health and other status boosts. The new variety of characters in the second session also proves promising as the new enemies present the player with different styles of combat to be used. So far I think the game only really needs to have a stronger storyline. I know generally what my goal is (kill Ares, the god of war), but there isn’t any real depth or interest in the story itself, all interest has been generated by gameplay (for me, at least). The cutscenes so far have seemed good enough, with decent graphics and voice acting. I think the game could benefit from stronger cutscenes, maybe more or longer ones, with more storytelling being done in them. Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:11:31 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1676&iddiary=3430https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1676SUMMARY In God of War, the player controls the character of Kratos, a Spartan warrior of great strength and skill. The game’s plot line centers itself around Kratos and his battles for and against the gods, especially Ares. (Throughout the game there are many references to Greek mythology.) Game play is a combat-based action-adventure game that also features many challenging puzzles. GAMEPLAY This was not my first time playing God of War. I had played it when it came out, but only for a few minutes. I couldn’t quite remember what had turned me away from the game, but I quickly remembered exactly what the problem was; God of War is pretty difficult. There were numerous instances in only the first 45 minutes of the game that required reloading from the last savepoint an absurd amount of times. There was a specific instance of intense frustration wherein I had to push a box towards a set of enemy archers in order to jump up to them to kill them. Unfortunately, the box explodes into a million splintered pieces if it gets hit by about four or so arrows. This is made all the more difficult by the fact that it is incredibly difficult to detect if the box has been hit or not. I frustratingly pushed the box about halfway over and over again only to have it shatter right in front of me. However, there was a special sense of satisfaction after I finally cleared this area. After yelling many expletives and telling my friend watching me play that I was just about ready to try a new game out of frustration, he told me that God of War’s puzzles were probably the hardest part of the game. Such was even more apparent in the first boss showdown. In order to beat the boss, who is three different hydras you have to fight. You must take out the two smaller ones before you can touch the boss. It took me awhile to figure out how to permanently incapacitate the smaller hydra, but it wasn’t quite as annoying of a process as the box situation earlier. My repeated attempts at killing these hydra was even less of a nuisance because of the game’s system of giving health orbs and magic orbs when you attack your enemies. This allows you to hack and slash to your heart’s content and get health back in the process. Aside from any frustrations, my first experience playing the game was quite enjoyable. The controls are very simple making combat very intuitive and fun, while the graphics are quite slick for a PS2 game. The entire environment of the experience could probably be described as epic, the game does well to set up the tone of the world you live in where gods and monsters are real beings. The levels so far seem to be well designed with plenty of detail and background action/visuals that help set a great mood full of tension. Also, female nudity less than an hour into a game, though unnecessary, was appreciated.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:13:49 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1676&iddiary=3400