Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=580https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3015GAMEPLAY Oblivions quest system allows lots of optionality: a new character can join the fighters guild, the mages guild, the arena, or even a secret assassin's guild. Following certain quest lines makes changes to the world irrevocably: Murdering someone for the Dark Brotherhood that gives you a fighter's guild quest seriously inhibits your ability to do Fighter's Guild quests, even if you are not caught, because that person is never around to grant you Fighter's Guild advancement. Or you can perform unaligned quests for random people you meet exploring the world, or for Gods who's favor you earn, in exchange for currency, favor, and artifacts. This open world game play allows you to play the game for any end you like: bettering yourself, helping others, making or destroying things, and much more. DESIGN Oblivion's realistic graphics are one of the main elements of the game, because it makes you feel like you're actually in the game (except that you don't have a cross hairs in real life). When I made too large of a jump I felt like I was falling, like in those dreams you have where you jolt awake right before the ground gives you a hug. The graphics also make the game world nice to explore, to see all of it because it is worth seeing. The combat system, although more expansive than most games on the market, leaves a little to be desired. There are only four attacks you can make (not including powered up versions of those attacks) forward, right, left, and back. Only the backwards attack takes skill to pull off, and none can be guided all that well around defenses like shields or staffs that would be interesting to try and attack past. I realise this expectation is unfair, but it feels that with the other aspects of the game, that kind of combat system is the only way to play. Interactivity with the world makes certain quests in this game interesting, like in the Dark Brotherhood where you get an extra bonus in the quest for making the death look accidental by causing a Trophy to fall on the target rather than murdering him outright. If only all kills could be made this way, rather than just having some of them scripted. It would have been interesting to see multiple ways of completing objectives that were less straightforward, like this one.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:48:50 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3015&iddiary=5683https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3015SUMMARY Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, the player takes the role of (Player Created Character), a criminal in the right place at the right time to be freed and earn the trust of the emperor's bodyguards, allowing him the freedom to move about the country and aid or ignore the plight of the guards after the emperor's assassination. It is a massive ORPG, allowing you to decide when and if you want to complete quests, or explore the world for possible dungeons in the froms of caves, castles, and whether or not you want to involve yourself in the main story, or any of multiple side stories. GAMEPLAY The gameplay is either first or third person, allowing you to watch yourself work, or aim yourself for better precision, depending on what you prefer. As you perform actions(using your sword, making potions) you become better at doing those things. After improving a certain amount in your chosen main skills, you level up, increasing both your attributes and the overall difficulty of the game as a whole. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:55:42 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3015&iddiary=5664https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2672GAMEPLAY I tried the solo campaign for the second half of my game log session and I was surprised how different the experience was. For the big part, the computer doesn't get his feelings hurt when smush his face along the ground and then taunt him as he falls. But having only one enemy to focus one, no noise to ignore or challenge, and a goal other than pride change the Smash experience immensely. DESIGN The most innovative part of this game was that they took characters they knew everyone already loved and brought them together (like Mario Party) for a good oldfashioned asskicking (who doesn't like one of those every once in a while) The game appeals to pretty much anyone (except for anti-violence activists, who, consequently, are usually violent XD) The game also uses levels that everyone is familiar with, like DK's Jungle Japes, Peach's Castle, and Hyrule Castle. The main challenge the game provides is whether or not you are good enough to beat the other player(s) human or not. The reward is anything from new characters to a high score to bragging rights. This varied amount of gameplay, coupled with classic characters and beloved game worlds leaves little to be desired (and none at the time it came out) Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:37:19 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2672&iddiary=5051https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2672SUMMARY In Super Smash Brothers, the player picks from one of several popular Nintendo Characters from other nintendo titles to do battle with other of these characters. Playables include Legend of Zelda's Link, Pokemon's Pikachu and Jigglypuff, and Star Fox's Fox McCloud. The object of the game is to win, and the style of gameplay determines how that is achieved, playing by lives(last one standing) or by time (in which case the most kills wins). In single player mode, you battle a series of computer controlled enemies with the objective of reaching the final boss (The Master Hand) and defeating him, sometimes unlocking new playable characters upon doing so (Like Luigi). GAMEPLAY The gameplay is fast paced, and enjoyable, but the trash talking with your friends while playing it is definately an integral part. Half of who wins the game comes down to who talked the talked while walking the walk, even if they didn't necesarily win. There are some slight advantages to certain characters, like Pikachu, who has the most powerful grab move, or Fox, who is the fastest. But skill can overcome most of these diffentials.Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:37:12 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2672&iddiary=5047https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2389GAMEPLAY Gameplay becomes more expansive as DK and his crew unlock more weapons and abilities. My favorite so far is Diddy Kong's Peanut Pistols, because they fire so fast. The game introduces more things to collect (to torment those poor souls that play for gameworld exhaustion and perfect scores and garbage like that). The world is still incredibly hard to explore given a camera angle that would rather look at DK's buttocks than at anything useful like whats in front of him. Overall, engaging, but not satisfying. DESIGN This game's character design is based off of it's predecessor, Donkey Kong country. The levels are varied, ranging from forest jungle aztec lands to ship graveyards (apparently K. Rool's fleet you sunk in the last game, a nice tie in). The level design is fitting, providing challenges for all the kongs to overcome (DK's gun can't open the door because only Diddy's gun can) and also character specific rewards for revisiting areas that came before the unlock of a character. The simplistic control scheme allows for easy familiarity with the controls so that the player can delve straight into the world, which is rather free motion, if devoid of anything to actually do in most of theplaces you can get to that you aren't required to. The battle schemes are basic, so if you aim and hit attack the monster is hit, if you're late, you're late in both senses of the word. The story is rather bland, being mostly vengeance and greed driven, despite being glorified as saving your home. DK is really only interested in getting his bananas back (and maybe his friends on the side, as the bird won't let him forget them). It's basically hero saves the world, with some subheros introduced to allow the overcoming of quests designed specifically to force the use of thsoe undercharacters. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:57:11 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2389&iddiary=4549https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2389SUMMARY In Donkey Kong 64, the player initially controls DK, the title Character. DK has had his hoard of golden bananas, and somewhat less importantly all of his friends, stolen by King K. Rool, a lard of a reptile with a beer belly. DK's father, Cranky, is a mad scientist who fickly awards potions of skill to Donkey whenever Donkey can bribe him with enough bananas. As the game progresses you unlock more playable characters. GAMEPLAY Gameplay in DK64 is platformer-esque with a larger cardinality of gameplay. DK can run in all directions, and jump, but still move from platform to platform, treetop to treetop , ledge to ledge. The control scheme is simple enough: Analog Stick to move, A to jump, B to attack, C-Up to Zoom etc. Combos of these controls exist (Z + C-Left Draws your gun) but are not performed as real time attacks and require no skill to pull off. DK64 is mostly an adventure game, with the quests being collecting hidden items and solving puzzles to unlock advances in the story. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:48:22 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2389&iddiary=4539https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2019Gameplay Katamari Damacy becomes less aggravating(and by aggravating, i suppose i mean challenging) as the size of things you are able to roll up gets bigger, because the world gets more expansive and there is more room to maneuver. Because the play is so lightweight, this game is excellent for relaxing, almost to the category of Heroine Hero (but you can win this, unlike in Heroine Hero, where you Never Catch the Dragon). Over all, an enjoyable experience. Design The characters still creep me out: how whimsical and seemingly blase the King of the Universe is, How submissive the Prince is to all of the king's bullshit... How the prince can put up with the king for so long is beyond me... The musical score fits well with the gameplay, its bouncy medium pace sets the stage for the game and keeps up with it well as you progress into bigger levels. The control scheme is rather basic, but makes full advantage of the two things it uses. many combos of pushing the analong sticks allow for multiple moves like speed roll, 180 direction change, and spinning. This simplicity allows for an easy to learn, but hard to master control scheme. Graphic art is low key in this, presumably to remain simple. The amount of artwork they did do was plenty to make the game world enjoyable with being a waste of time(as the player will just roll it up anyway). I particularly enjoyed the chalk drawings that could be rolled up.Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:27:06 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2019&iddiary=3922https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2019Summary Ugghh. Ok, Katamari Damacy follows the Prince of the Universe as he attempts to undo the damage his father the king did to the universe while screwing around. To earn his fathers favor, and dig the king out of a big pile of shit, the prince will roll around a gravitational ball called a katamari, which will absorb any object sufficiently smaller than the katamari, growing the size of the katamari until it is big enough to satisfy the king. Gameplay The gameplay is simplistic in a good way. Only two controls are ever used, the analog sticks. This game makes for a very uncompetitive environment, which can be relaxing for people who don't get pissed off by the fact that the camera is too far in to see anything about the world, expecially on small scale with a big katamari. I have so far found this game aggravating, because I am used to dealing with lots of info at a time, and this game restricts me to so little I feel helpless. Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:20:10 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2019&iddiary=3915https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1714Gameplay Further into the game now, I have many more skills than I used to, which allows me to make much more complex builds to accomplish more complex objectives. The expansive content of the game allows you to speed through the story for the power at the end or to collect power on your way and immerse yourself in the myriad content of the game. The newer characters i have met, like Evennia, leader of a rebel faction in Kryta, who searches for the power to liberate her people from the religious Demagogal leader they are currently oppressed by, are much more complex than the Heroic Rurik, who has left the game after being murdered by the Xenophobic Stone Summit Dwarves guild leader as we traversed through the mountains. Our new councilor, Vizier Khilbron, claims to know of such an object, and agrees to help us progress towards earning it, while hiding his objectives, other than having this piece of his home returned to him, from the player. I have joined a guild with my friend, and we are working our way up to the top, as some people don't understand the originality of this skill based fighting system as well as we do. It is nice to be able to talk to all of these people at once, both asking for and giving out help when asked, and accomplishing things as a group that would be impossible without it. Design What I really enjoyed later on in the game is how much content I had unwittingly passed over in my quest to finish the game. There were not only areas I had never been to, but cities and dungeons I didn't even know of because they were slightly off the beaten path. In almost every one of the 54 explorable areas you could find unique and mysterious objects that had no purpose and were there just to entertain people who liked to explore. In the Talmark Wilderness there is a tree that most people never find that probably hasnt existed for the last few hundred game years. It's really only the shell of a tree, a tree that by its remaining shell must have been a tree to end all trees during its time. It is covered in indecipherable runes placed by some ancient civilization that no longer exists even in the game history. I really love things like this in RPG's so that there are more objectives than simply finishing the story. The character building system was extremely complex. Although level twenty sounds limiting compared to other max levels in RPG's (like World of Warcraft's 60, and eventual 70) characters skills were not determined by their level, but by their attributes, which could be bettered or worsened by changing attributes. A player is only allowed to select 8 skills to bring at one time, and with other people that is usually limited to 7 of the players choice, as one must be a way to bring back fallen allies. Customizing this "build" is extremely important, as each area contains different enemies in ways so that one build can eliminate multiple of one race of enemies without breaking stride, and yet lose without hurting another set of enemies. Through the selecting of the proper attributes and skills, from the attributes and skills provided by your primary and secondary professions, players can easily make uniquely powerful builds that combine well or counter dangerously with both enemies and other players. This game has a rather straightforward pvp system, in which teams of different sizes compete for domination, and in larger games, for certain objectives. Maps like King of the Hill and Capture the Flag find their way into the later stages of the Hall of Heroes path, the ultimate in the pvp universe. PKing is prohibited, as players are always allied outside of towns and cannot attack anything inside town. I rather like some aspects of PKing, or at least allowing players to do so, and would have liked to see some of it in this game. Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:21:58 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1714&iddiary=3457https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1714Summary In Guild Wars (Prophecies) you select one of six professions and descend into the soldier trainee program in the City of Ascalon. It is a MMORPG, so you play alongside other people from across the world as you progress through the story and train your character to maximize its potential. Gameplay The game play is usual, utilizing both keyboard and mouse for movement direction and skill usage. Although either one can be used solely, the best players use a customized integration of both to maximize the speed with which the move, act and react. Initally, I was bored, as the game begins with you joining the Vanguard, defenders of Ascalon, to help them fight off the charr. However, as your hopes of saving Ascalon are completely and utterly destroyed, the Vanguard leader Prince Rurik of Ascalon decides you must leave the ruins to make a new life for your people. This opens up a huge amount of more gameplay (commonly referred to as Post Searing) and begins the real story of the game. Upon entering the Searing instance, players get their first taste of PvP, in an arena to determine which team will accompany Rurik on this outing. The two teams of four fight for kill points, and whichever team has the higher score wins the round when the timer runs out. The game so far has an enjoyable musical score, with a few different background peaceful settings and a battle score, which helps both alert the player to danger and simulate the adrenaline pumping musical score of tension and action movies. (This entry has been edited3 times. It was last edited on Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:29:22.)Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:39:40 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1714&iddiary=3448