Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=562https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3061Gamelog # 2 for 3/5/08: Gameplay: This time around I had more fun and got into the game more because I went farther in the game and found that there was much more action and tasks for me to do. When I first played I wasn't really moving the Wii controls a lot, but as I got further in the game I found myself swaying my hand back and forth as if I was the one with the sword. It was more interactive and made it more enjoyable for me., as well as for the people around me who saw me swinging at the air. The problem then became my interaction with those around me. My housemates would come in and try to talk to me during my game play experience but I found myself not paying attention to them because it was too hard for me to carry a conversation and swing at the screen trying to defeat the enemies that appeared. As I progressed in the game narrative, I found that it was never really a dull moment. The game always kept me busy trying to figure out tasks, or a new part of the story would reveal itself. The narrative of the story was very compelling because it was one huge narrative, with small stories in between. Each city or village you went into, you heard character stories or perspectives, and thats one thing I really enjoyed about this game: the story elements, as well as the fact that you kind of had to figure things out on your own to complete a task. Game Design: I like that this game posed a challenge for me, unlike a lot of other action adventure games I have previously played. Zelda games are known for their puzzle like elements that appear in the game world. I liked that aspect because it allowed me as a player to really look at my surrounding and pay attention to it. Every object or monster is in a specific place for a specific reason, it was very enjoyable trying to figure out how to get a certain wall open, defeat a certain monster, etc etc. This game allowed me to think, and I liked that. Another aspect that was good about this game were the enemies. there were quite a few thatwere hidden and so you weren't able to see them until they popped up right in front of you. This also brings back the idea that this game is very innovative because it makes you aware of the surroundings. Enemies are hidden behind tall grass, and others can be used as items to throw at other enemies, you as the player just have to figure it out on your own even if at times it would get a little frustrating. There was a good sense of a reward structure in this game, because when you killed an enemy or monster you would get a heart or a rupee ( a form of currency). But also when you would defeat a boss, you would get pieces of items that become important in the larger narrative of the game. Because rewards were given so often it kept the player participating. This game kept me entertained because of the rewards, characters, story and puzzles. So overall it was a great game, entertaining and smart. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:40:46 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3061&iddiary=5758https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3061Gamelog Entry #1 for 3/5/08: Summary: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an action adventure game in which you are the character Link. The world has turned into darkness and you run around as person and wolf (switching back and forth) changing the lands back into light. You complete tasks along the way, collect rupees, and weapons all while saving those who depend solely on you. In this game, as the character Link, you can run, jump, fight, and ride a horse through your quest to save Hyrule. Gameplay: At first this game was not as entertaining as I had hoped it to be. But that was solely because most of the beginning of the game was story, and trying to teach you how to do what with the controllers. I am a big Legend of Zelda fan so this game still was exciting for me to play, because it was the first time I was playing it on the Wii. I guess that is why I expected more, because I thought I would be doing more movement with my hands. I really enjoyed the new characters in this series of Zelda games. I especially liked Midna from the realm of twilight. She guided my character when he turned into a wolf. She was an interesting character because you never really find out everything about her in the beginning but you are forced to do what she says, which makes it interesting because I found myself really wanting to find out her back story instantly. She's just one of those character: you think she is evil but at the same time she does nice things. I really enjoyed every-time she would come on screen and I would get to find out more about her. I'm a big fan of Epona: the horse. And I was so glad when I got to ride the horse, because in all seriousness if was able to take Epona into places of the gameworld I wasn't allowed to, I would because I just love the horse. To me it was just one of those characters that would be useful in a lot of situations of the game. It's just one of those things that will always bring me back to playing this Zelda game.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:31:22 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3061&iddiary=5726https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2681Gamelog Entry # 2 for 2/20/08: Gameplay: I found it really hard to get a hang of the controller at first, but then I got the hang of it as I played more in this round. However I had played this Raving Rabbids game with the gamecube console and found it easier because I passed the story in one night. In the Wii however, the way the mini games were set up with the movement of the controller made it harder for me, so at times my arms got tired or I got frustrated so I had to take a break, and then come back to it later. Every time I won a mini-game I got more excited to play and wanted to beat those little rabbits. The “freakin’ bunnies” as my sister calls them, are what I really enjoyed. They would always be yelling which began to scare me at times, and got me more nervous. One mini game in particular, in which you had to drown the bunnies in carrot juice was extremely complicated for me at first because it was hard for me to aim just right, while shaking the controller. As they got closer to the screen they started yelling as if they were going slam into me. The story was basic, the mini-games were random yet hilarious because you got attack theses characters that look like cute little rabbits, but are really out to get you. I did experience flow in the game because even though most of the mini games were random, they would come back to the same concept of some minigames, but with harder levels which made it harder for the player. Design: The character of the Rabbids made this game awesome to play! Each little Rabbid had a stupid looking face, yet at the same time they looked really cute. It was quite entertaining when they would come on the screen and dance. You didn’t even have to be pressing a button, just watching these Rabbids was entertaining enough. And in this game, you can actually watch video clips that the creators made of the Rabbids. Most of them are short clips showing what these bunny-like-characters like and don’t like, and they’re doing the strangest things. Their physical appearance makes you think they’re cute but when you hear the sound that comes out of them, you can’t help but laugh. Even though I enjoyed this game, I do have to admit that some mini-games were too complicated to get the hang of on the Wii controller, or I wasn’t really sure how it worked. I didn’t like that in one minigame where you had to get a pig to the other side I kept blowing up not knowing what I was doing wrong. Apparently there was a sound I was supposed to hear that I was listening for. Maybe it was just the console I was playing on, but I didn’t hear anything. The controls on this console made this game more interactive and harder to accomplish. But the idea that you were attacking these bunnies in different ways made me want to keep playing, because I wanted to see what crazy stunt they would make Rayman do with these Rabbids. An incentive or reward to the game in story mode was that you got to change Rayman’s wardrobe. And that wardrobe was also pretty funny because you can actually dress up in a big Rabbid suit. There wasn’t really any emergent quality to the narrative, all you did was play these mini games in which you got to throw, slap, kick and complete other weird tasks with the bunnies which kept me as a player entertained and continuing to play. The ideas were innovative and funny, and these Rabbid characters were the life of the game. I think with out it I wouldn’t have been all that amused.Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:22:44 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2681&iddiary=5261https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2681Gamelog Entry # 1 for 2/20/08: Summary: Rayman Raving Rabbids is composed of a bunch of mini games. From shooting bunnies to racing against them, to dancing as part of the bunnies, to slapping bunnies who can't sing well. The object of the game in story mode is to pass these mini games in order for your character as Rayman to escape his jail cell. Gameplay: Having this been my first experience playing the Wii, I was really excited about it. There wasn’t a real great story to the game, but it didn’t matter because the games were entertaining and funny through the scenarios and the characters of the Raving Rabbids. I liked that there was an interaction with the control with what you were doing, so if you were swinging something, your movement would be based on the movement of controller. It was more interactive this way, and I really enjoyed playing it. I started with the story mode, but it was the same games you could play if you just chose to go to the games section. It was really entertaining because I could play two players, and me and my friend’s little brother took turns trying to beat each others score. The thing is while I was playing I had to be concentrating on the screen. But while we were playing the game, the people who were watching us were actually more involved then any other game I had played these past months. They got into just watching us that they wanted to play after our turns. I think that had to do with the Wii as an interactive console, but also with the game itself because the characters of the Rabbids are what make the mini games fun.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:21:34 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2681&iddiary=5067https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2452Gamelog Entry # 2 for 2/8/08: Gameplay: At first I was getting really frustrated because I was having some difficulties with the game. And it wasn't that I couldn't pass a level with my gaming skills, it was that it didn't let me. The game kept doing weird things. My character Niobe would be in the air frozen in jump motion and I was not able to get her to go back to the ground. The only thing I was able to move was the camera, and that was where I actually saw her just floating there. My friend who was with me was laughing, because she had thought that it was an actual part of the game she thought she was doing as she called it "that matrix motion thingy." However this was not the only time I became frustrated with the game. Another time I had to restart the console was when as I was shooting my enemies in the game-world, getting really pumped up, then the screens upper portion turned black and on it was some kind of code. At first I thought was part of the matrix game, because it had zeroes and ones, but then a high-pitched sound followed that woke up my housemates. And I wasn't able to move my character. With these disruptions however I found out that I wasn't paying attention to the people around me because I was into the game, immersed in the game-world actions. Even these two disruptions made me think I was still playing the game, until I realized I didn't have control and therefore disrupting my game flow. The story got more interesting, and overall I was entertained but I just felt that there were too many clips from the movie that were supposed to help set up the story and further the narrative, but a lot of the times I caught myself just wanting to continue playing. When I did play I was fairly entertained; the character herself (Niobe) was what kept me most involved in the game. Design: I thought the levels gave me a good amount of space to wander if I wanted, and at times an arrow appeared on screen to tell you which direction you needed to go. That was very helpful at times but wasn’t necessary all the time so I liked that aspect that the arrow wasn’t around all the time, so that you as the player were free to decide where you wanted to go first. At first I liked that after you passed a certain section of the narrative it allowed you save, but sometimes I felt that the save points were happening too frequently and it became that it would disrupt the game flow as it saved too often. The main thing that attracted my attention to this game was the ability to slow down time, which did entertain me at the beginning, but then I found out you could also speed up time, and learn new moves as you progress through the game. These forms of rewards kept me wanting to play because I looked forward to learning a new move or finding a new weapon. For me there wasn’t much social interaction in this game with other people around me, or with other players because it is a one player, and I guess because in the beginning of the game you can choose which level (easy, medium, hard) that you would like to play at. But it left me no room to interact with others because I chose “hard” and more and more enemies would re-appear. But I liked that aspect of the game design because there was always someone for me to fight, but at the same time, I would forget what was the actual task at hand, so I guess it could both ways. The levels of this game were varied so you weren’t just shooting and fighting, but there were also times where you drove the car if you were Niobe or rode shotgun and shot outside the window if you choose to be Ghost. I played with both characters, but I think personally I like the character of Niobe better, because I felt her story was much more interesting and she was just plain awesome. Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:40:58 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2452&iddiary=4761https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2452Gamelog Entry for 2/8/08: Summary: Enter the Matrix is an action type game with first person shooter elements. It is based on the Matrix movies, and in this specific game you get to choose whether to play Niobe or Ghost. You follow the narrative and basically beat up or shoot anyone in your path. There are sequences where you go from fighting to driving but the only thing significantly different about this game is the aspect of freezing/ slowing down time which is helpful in defeating those trying to prevent your character from furthering the narrative. Gameplay: So I will admit to never having seen the movies of the Matrix trilogy, yet still wanted to play this game. Maybe because it was all that hype that was brought about with the Matrix movies, and I just wanted to see what it was all about. Anyways, one thing I liked about this game was that you can choose to be the non major characters from the movie, instead of being Neo or Trinity, you could choose to be Ghost or Niobe. Maybe its because in reality I did NOT want to be a character that looked like Keanu Reeves, So it just so happened that I was excited to be Niobe, because she's short but she kicks butt, and I'm always glad to play a game with a strong female character in the lead. Another thing that I was really excited about was the major concept of the matrix aspect, which was to do the whole slow motion thing with your character, dodging bullets and all that. And that was exciting for about the first 5 minutes, where I could see my character do crazy flips and kick people and throw them really far before they actually knew my character had hit them. But then I got bored really quickly with all the movie clips integrated within the game. I just wanted them to stop talking already and let me shoot something or punch someone, only it didn't let me. I wasn't really happy about my first time experience with this game, maybe I'll have more fun the next time around. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:45:41 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2452&iddiary=4650https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1731Game log Entry # 2: Jak and Daxter Game play: As I played longer the game got a little more difficult, through the new places I explored. I continued to speak with people around me, and was still able to maintain focus on the game. I think this was because I was able to stop my character from moving if I wanted to so, and because I had that complete control of my character was able to feel comfortable to carry out a conversation at the same time. The game was still enjoyable, but not as much as it was in the beginning. I think this was because I felt I was doing the same thing over and over, like continually getting the orb like items and trying to find more of the same objects. At times I would become frustrated because I was not able to reach a certain item, or I had not yet figured out how to get to a certain location where the item was found. So in this way it made me enjoy my game-play a little less. Design: The fact that the area in which my character can move in is pretty big and visually creative (because i was able to see landscape at a distance) makes this a great game for me, but there were limitations. Because I liked the aspect of moving anywhere I wanted to, it disappointed me when I realized that my character was only able to dive to a certain level of water depth that I found not to be deep enough. Also, at times I wished for more speed because, as the game progresses you can get more blue electrifying orb like items that will speed your character up. I really liked that my character gained speed but I didn't like that it was a limited amount of time before the speed wore out. The concept of time however was something that I did enjoy in the game design because it would turn into night and day visually on the screen through out your game-play time, even though it was done quite frequently it was an interesting aspect of the game. Another aspect I enjoyed was the different variation of location scenery, from the beach to the jungle, the location changed and yet it was still interesting to see which paths one could take to find an object. And when u did find an object, like a Power cell, the way game rewarded you visually was with the characters. Jak and Daxter would jump up and down as a little upbeat tempo would rise in a way to congratulate you for finding another object to collect. For a lot of the items you searched for, there was jumping involved, and I am not particularly a greater jumper in the game having fallen many times and having to retrace my steps, I appreciated the fact that in this game no matter how high of a distance I fell, I did not get hurt. However, when I did get attacked by a creature, it was three hits and then my character would get knocked out. Overall as the game continued I got tired of collecting objects, but maybe it was because I did not get far enough to enjoy all the aspects of the game and the different tasks I had to complete that seemed to get more difficult as the game progressed.Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:33:57 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1731&iddiary=3473https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1731Game Log Entry# 1 Summary: In the game Jak and Daxter you play the character named Jak who is followed around by a rodent-esque creature named Daxter that guides you in this one player journey. The purpose of the game is to try to find a way to change Daxter back into his normal form by going around and collecting items, and completing tasks that are given to you by people of the surrounding village, and in the process defeating some wandering creatures that get in your way. Game play: Although only having played the beginning of the game, I found this game to be enjoyable and not as difficult as I imagined. I found that I was able to play continuously while carrying on a conversation with my friends who were just sitting and watching me play, and still understand what was going on. As Jak I was able to choose where I wanted to go, and most of the time, you are following paths of objects you have to collect so it makes it easy to know where you have to go. I really enjoyed the freedom of wandering around the landscape of the game, from swimming to jumping high. Even though I was moving around as the character Jak, I felt more concerned and interested in what Daxter had to say, and in a way it overshadowed Jak as a character. It also didn't help that Jak did not speak at all and everything was either said by Daxter or another character. The game itself was fun to play because I felt that there was a lot of freedom of what and where my character could travel. And each task that Jak and Daxter had to complete involved allowing me as a player to figure out what I had to do to make my character complete the task. Even at the very beginning of the game( a lot of games give you a tutorial to tell you what each button does) this game allowed you to figure things out on your own, yet explained what important items meant. I like games that make you think for yourself, and allow you to explore your surroundings, and this game did that.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:42:24 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1731&iddiary=3463