Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=594https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3131Design There are different modes that a player can choose from, each with their own difficulty setting. In mono, you simply collect the colored blocks, and avoid the greys. In pointman, there are no grey blocks, and you try and line up three colors in a row. You can also pick up the colored blocks for later use. Double Vision has four lanes instead of the standard three, and two cars for multiplayer. In Vegas, you collect all the colored blocks on the road, and then shuffle the colors in hopes to get a good row of colors. Having these different modes is the way Audiosurf controls the challenge of the game. Though the difficulty of the song depends on the player, the way the game is played is controlled in this way. Furthermore, the game has the standard easy, medium, hard levels of each of these modes. One aspect of the game that I feel is the key challenge to this game is that the player decides how challenging of a level they want to play. The player can choose either a slow ambient song, and enjoy the computer generated road, or thrash out to the heaviest of music. This is one way the game keeps the player interested. As described before, the player becomes curious to see how other songs play out. This has been my experience through watching other players play the game. Furthermore, the game provides a competitive score board, as one of the points of the game is to beat other players scores. Having this in the game provides conflict, which makes these challenges more personal and interesting to play. Since I have never seen a game like this before, it has been fun to play even slow songs, just to check everything out. Even though the game is very single lined (you only do one thing, and that one thing only) it has been extremely entertaining to play. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:32:19.)Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:29:10 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3131&iddiary=5919https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3131Audiosurf is a relatively new game that allows you to ‘ride your music.’ The point of the game is to collect colored blocks, and avoid the grey ones. To determine the difficulty of the track, the game analyzes a song that the player chooses and places colored and grey blocks accordingly. The game will also bend the track either slightly or do a complete twist depending on the pace of the song. Once you beat the track, your score is calculated and you are given a few bonuses depending on how well you did. Then, your score is uploaded to a global record board, and you can see how well you placed compared to people world wide. Gameplay Audiosurf provides a new innovative video game with great gameplay for only a mere 10 dollars. I found myself scrolling through songs in my music library, and trying to find the next challenging song. I even have started to pay attention to the songs that I listen to when away from my computer and imagine how the song would be like to play. So clearly I really enjoy playing this game. The simplicity of the game is, I believe, what makes it so great. There is no tacky storyline or anything like that, you simply pick a song and play. One of the most fun aspects is the fact that the game keeps a global score. If you hold a world record, and someone beats it, the game will send you a daunting email saying someone defeated your score. As of right now I have a continuing battle for the top score of Caramba’s song Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot with another player from somewhere in the world. Furthermore, holding the top score for a song makes you feel rather awesome. But getting that email just makes you stop what you are doing and try and beat that other person’s score.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:28:56 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3131&iddiary=5918https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2802Gameplay There is just something about being a plumber adventuring in a drug inspired world that I do not like. From writing it out, it sounds like a great idea. But I cannot really get into these games. While playing the game I found myself frustrated, bored, and annoyed that I had to play so many more levels to beat the game. Now I find these ideas rather lame, as a game should have many levels to provide entertainment and I was only frustrated due to my own lack of skill. But at the same time this is how I felt while playing Mario Bros. 3, and for the most part I wanted to play something else. The storyline progression is rather weak, as its simply beat this level and rescue someone. This is standard storylines though, so it was not something that disappointed me. The levels however, I just did not like. The level progression was just the same thing over and over, and I got bored. True each new world has a different look, and I expected myself to like these aspects. Super Mario Bros. 3 has great elements of gameplay and design, its just a game I did not really have a good time playing. Design Again, the design of this game is great. There are plenty of secrets hidden in the world, which in itself acts like a reward system. A player feels good when he has discovered a secret, and this game is chock-full of them. Furthermore, at the end of each level you are rewarded with a card, which leads to items that will help you along with the game. Once you progress, you will stumble upon various levels and have the chance to gain even more items to help you later on. To create challenges, the game has a variety of enemies that do various things. But the level design itself is a challenge, which is key to a platform game. Once you progress farther and farther into the game, the levels get harder to beat. The jumps are farther apart, or there are various obstacles in your way while being chased by enemies. Furthermore, the way the world is designed creates a challenge to the player as well. You usually have the choice to go to either level A or B, but along the way you may run into the Hammer Bros, and get set back and have to start all over again. If you win however, the game provides you with items to help you, which is key in keeping the player interested in the game. It is odd because I do not really enjoy the game, but there is not much I would change. The game has a standard storyline one would expect from a game such as this, and the level designs are good. When you get to a new world, each level has a new design to it, which keeps them varied and interesting. What I do not like is the tone. It just seems to me the quirkyness of the first game is lost in this continuation. Either the hills with eyes that dance, or the odd look of the goombas overdoes the acid trip look of the first two games.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:45:09 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2802&iddiary=5230https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2802I have never played Super Mario Bros 3, so I thought I would try it out for the first time. In this game, Mario journey’s to other worlds to defeat the evil koopas and rescue various Kings and the princess. Pretty much a standard Mario Bros game with a small twist. Unfortunately my first reaction was not very good. I personally do not like the graphics at all. The level design to me just seems lacking in some way. Just so far, I simply enjoy the original layout of Super Mario Bros rather than this. The gameplay this first time around has been fun. Though the game gets a little frustrating around the second world. But I am sure this frustration is simply due to the lack of skill I have towards this game. I like the minigames that are available to play, as it provides a break from all the same gameplay that goes on.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:44:26 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2802&iddiary=5227https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2427Gameplay The game is rather light. The story is not anything complex and the level design is simple. But this does not take anything away from the gameplay. I have enjoyed myself just walking around the world and playing the various minigames that it has. What I think captured my interest the most would be the story and artwork. I myself have never played a game like this, and it feels like a simple and enjoyable fairy tale. Plus, the character designs are particularly well, as they are not your run of the mill characters. The main villain is not a man with a long sword and long silvery hair, and the hero is not a 14 year old boy. Design The controls of this game are not rather unique. It deploys similar strategies seen in all adventurous type games. Circle is jump, X is attack, and square is a quick run. However, because of the style of the gameplay, and the challenges presented, Gurumin is a rather fun game to play. Each level has a mixture between enemies to fight, and puzzles to solve. The flow of each level is basically kill the various enemies, and figure out the main puzzle to progress further in the game. The style of art of the game adds a quirky feeling to the gameplay, and always keeps me entertained. The only problem is so far it has been rather easy. The level of difficulty is not high, and should be rather quick to get through most of the game. The game is easily a game of progression, as you need to beat each level to find out more of the storyline. So far, the story is interesting, as most of it is kept from the player. The cardinality of the gameplay in Gurumin is 3d, which allows for more fun in exploring the world this game has created. I have had lots of fun looking around and checking things out, and because you can move in all directions, it makes it feel more interactive. Unfortunately, the game has standard gravity settings, so you can only jump once, which makes it harder to get to the higher areas. What I like about this game are the various items you are able to equip throughout your adventure. First, the weapon that you are given to use is a gigantic drill, with which you can learn new combos to annihilate your enemies. But you can also equip a headband, which will increase your attack damage by a certain percent. Or a ‘monkey head cap’ which will increase the amount of money. You can also equip various elements to your drill to add different effects, such as lightning and fire. The reward system of the game is what gets you the new items, so I always found myself just completing each level with a 100% to get better items to help me progress in the game. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:43:57.)Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:41:48 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2427&iddiary=4596https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2427In the game Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure, you play a little girl named Parin, whose parents left her to live with her grandfather while they go out adventuring without her. Once you acquaint yourself to your grandfather’s hometown, you are overwhelmed with sheer boredom. Since the place is a small mining town, there is not much to do. What is even worse is that there are no other children in the town. But on one faithful day, you run into Pico, a small female monster. Turns out, there is a small monster village outside the town in an alternate dimension that the grown ups were completely unaware of. A few days afterwards, the monster village is attacked by an evil group of monsters termed phantoms, who destroy the village and steal the furniture. Being the adventurous type you are, you set out in search of missing furniture pieces and to save the world from being destroyed by the gang of phantoms.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:41:30 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2427&iddiary=4595https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2178Gameplay Once I started playing Katamari Damacy, I got hooked. It was always interesting and refreshing to play since the design and gameplay are so different than any other game I have played. What appeals to me the most is its simplicity. The story line is, your dad, the King of All Cosmos, destroys the universe in a drunken frenzy, and you the prince have to fix his mistake by creating the stars and planets. To do it, you simply roll around collecting bigger and bigger items. The level progression, however, does not really change. In each level you still roll up bigger and bigger items. Though at first it may not seem like fun, it is still engaging due to the different challenges the game presents. For example, setting a time limit or only being allowed to roll certain items makes the game fun and exciting until the end. Even though the multiplayer mode is not that well developed, it still was fun to play with other people. In multiplayer mode, the players would go around collecting items in a certain level, and whoever got the biggest katamari won. However, the other player could either run into you, causing items to fall off, or roll you up if your katamari was too small. Having that aspect in the gameplay always made multiplayer a challenging and fun interaction. Design The design elements that Katamari Damacy has makes it a great game to play. First, the whole look of the game sets it apart from anything I have played. All the bright colors and quirky characters makes the game have a more happy tone. This makes the game fun to play, as you are having a good time playing around in an odd world. Furthermore, the way the levels are designed make the game feel extremely open. The only boundaries are large objects you might not be able to roll up. But once you roll up more items, you are eventually able to collect the bigger objects. This allows the game to have a sense of freedom to do anything in the sense of rolling a katamari. Furthermore, it keeps the player interested. The game is similar to a snowball effect. You start and roll a few items, and start to get a bigger katamari. But it is always fun to learn what new things the player can start to roll up. Once you get to start picking up actual buildings, it is fun to plow through the giant city that your playing in. Furthermore, the reward system allows for the players to keep being interested. Throughout the levels, you are able to roll up the main character's cousins, and random presents that The King of All Cosmos has left for you. When you achieve one of these items, you can switch between a cousin and the prince, and play as a new character. This does not change the gameplay, it just simply gives the player a new avatar. The presents that you get also let you deck out the prince or your cousin with whatever you have, like a pair of headphones or a scarf. What I would say is most frustrating is how the game creates conflict. The time limit and the limitation to rolling up certain objects are fine, but if an object is too large and you accidently run into it, items will start falling off of your katamari. At first this seems like a fair objective to put into the game. However, I found myself extremely annoyed when I couldnt pick up an object that my katamari was clearly bigger than.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:21:08 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2178&iddiary=4143https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1739Summary Azure Dreams is set in the town of Monsbaiya, with a gigantic Monster Tower looming over it. The tower holds swarms of hazardous traps and monsters, but also gold, which lures in many adventurers to the town. You play the role of a boy named Koh, whose father was the strongest monster hunter around. Unfortunately, your father mysteriously dissappeared in the tower when you were a boy, and the point of the game is to figure out what happened once you become of age. Gameplay Although this game was not a major success, I absolutely love it. Though the game is a simple dungeon crawler, it is especially item based. An entire run through the tower could be ruined if you dont get a 'wind crystal' which will warp you back to town. That may seem harsh at first, but if you get a nice supply of them during a run, you can bring one with you the next time you enter the tower. However, the game is effective on making sure one doesnt cheat their way through it. First, you start at level one everytime you enter. Second, you can only bring 5 items with you when you enter the tower. Lastly, you cannot save and exit on a level and then restart it, or else your character will die. But these characteristics is what makes the game so fun. When playing you can come up with various types of strategies needed to beat the game, but then be in major trouble if you mess up. The game is addicting, however the story is a little weak. It folds out to be the stereotypical 'guy trying to take over the world' type story. But in all honesty I could care less. The minigames, monster collecting, girl flirting randomness of the game just keeps me entertained throughout the end. This is definitely one of the best games I have ever played. Design The design of the game is unfortunately rather mediocre. The game is basically go through this dungeon to get to the top. The graphics are alright, even for its time, and the few cut scenes that the game has doesn't really play into the story that much. But the soundtrack of the game is very well composed. It fits this game perfectly, and always catches the mood that the game is trying to convey. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:33:42.)Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:27:01 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1739&iddiary=3529https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1739 (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:27:41.)Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:26:43 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1739&iddiary=3527