Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=680https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3064Game Log Entry #2: Game Play 2: After another two hours of playing this game, I couldn’t help but obtain a slight addiction to the game. Getting Mario through the levels over and over again, sometimes performing better, sometimes worse, and sometimes even discovering new rooms within a specific level is really exciting. There’s also the cute graphic and music to motivate me on too. I have finally reached the big castle in the first map and have even unlocked a few of what I call “Mushroom Toad Super Houses” to play the little side games and gain rewards of sustenance to aid me through the levels. Having introduced my roommate, who has pretty little background with videogames, to the original Super Mario Brothers before, I was curious to see what she thought of the New Super Mario Brothers game for DS. We’ve developed a weird social interaction with the game where we both related to the frustrations of completing each level. We also found enjoyment though our verbal outcries and descriptions during the game. One of the comments she made about one of the levels that got me laughing was, “Whoa…colorful mushrooms! This is LSD land!” when Mario got to a level that involved giant mushrooms and brightly colored backgrounds, then pondered on what type of person could come up with such…bright colored mushroom-filled fantasies. I found it particularly amusing how when we encountered a swimming level where the screen scrolls, she exclaimed, “Nooo! How can that be possible?! He died being pressed against the screen! This is illogical! On top of that, how come he falls off the screen every time he dies?” In a way, we have developed an odd social connection and amusement with Mario through the lack of logic and the weird oddities the game has. I cannot wait until we play Katamari Damacy and hear her comments about it as well. Design: There are certainly new designs and featured innovated from the original that I enjoyed immensely in this game. My favorite thus far is the introduction of new power ups. I grew a personal fondness to the blue turtle shell that Mario is able to slip himself into and spin around furiously, annihilating all enemies in the way. There’s also the impenetrable and protective use of the shell that adds as a definitely plus. Despite which, the game doesn’t fail to create a challenge by giving that wonderful blue shell the horrible flaw of incontrollable spins, where Mario is immediately deflected from bumping into solid objects that are not enemies, like walls and pipes, making it easy to go off track and fall off a cliff. Mario also walks slower with the shell on, which only makes sense, and is limited a little bit in his jumping abilities. Another aesthetically pleasing power up that I enjoy is the giant yellow mushroom, where it makes Mario into a GIGANTIC Super Mario, walking through and crushing everything in his path. Like all good things, good things never last where the mushroom has a limited time use, which stinks, but hey, there's that aspect of challenge that can't be neglected in game design. Another addition to this Mario game is the feature of what I call the “butt slam” (sorry) that Mario is able to perform. Rather than always going under platforms to jump and collide with the bricks or boxes, Mario can also just jump on top of it to trigger the same thing! There's definitely more flexibility enabled in the game, Mario can also jump off walls too, which gives the player a lot more freedom to reach higher places. The new designs and features were very pleasing to play with. The visual image of the game was also fantastic. Though the artwork is 3D and definitely has higher quality graphical imagery than the past 2D Mario, overall the game works in very similar ways with a 2D path of right, left, and jump. It’s a new and improved version of Mario that still retains its classical feel. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:19:53.)Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:09:35 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3064&iddiary=5766https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3064Game Log Entry #1 Summary: The New Super Mario Bros for Nintendo DS is a platformer game that takes the original Super Mario Bros to a new level with 3D graphic art that features new level and gameplay designs. Play as either Mario or Luigi in their classic venture to rescue the princess Peach from Bowser and his gang! Gameplay: Having played the classic 2D versions of Super Mario Brothers 1, 2, 3, and even Super Mario World, I was quite ecstatic to finally try out the New Super Mario Brothers. It's been years since I've last touch a platform game (aside from the last "Blast to the past" Super Mario Brothers gamelog submission), and it's really surprising how similar, yet different the new game is. One of the new features I particularly enjoyed was how Mario remained to retain his familiar happy-go-lucky characteristics. Even better is that since the graphics have gotten better, Mario has become a lot more expressive and became even more enjoyable to play. The game was definitely interesting to play. I noticed that, as far as game realism goes, the game physics in Mario has gotten a little more sophisticated. Now it is actually harder to maneuver Mario around the platform and at certain times I noticed that he even seemed a little clumsier to control. It was definitely different from the original game of Mario, and I couldn't help but feel that pace of the game play has actually gotten a little slower because of which. I found the first hour of the overall gameplay to be fairly enjoyable, despite the fact that I had to redo a lot levels as I was getting used to the game controls. After a whole lot of cursing at the cute little turtle monsters, I've gotten through the first half of the field, to only find that Princess Peach gets dragged off to another castle. I actually mused myself at the funny way of how she just stood there at the end of the boss castle battle to only let one of Bowser's minions grab and take her away again. It was the epiphany of stereotypical female damsel in distress and vulnerability, with added sound effects and clear graphical imagery this time. In a way, by actually being able to see Peach at the end of each castle battle, it actually gives me more motivation to go on because of a false hope that I am so close to rescuing her, rather than receive a "Thank you Mario, but our princess is in another castle!" notice. That's just depressing. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:10:54.)Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:26:07 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3064&iddiary=5751https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2711Gamelog Entry #2 Gameplay: This game is so fun! I have only finally begun to enjoy the true essence of Chrono Trigger’s unique battle system. It is definitely different from your standard RPG games where you have tiny animated sprites all stand neatly in line in one place, and then wait to attack, cast magic, or use items in a turn-based style. Chrono Trigger happened to be different in a sense that you have no idea where your party members will spread to during an encounter, and your position also determines what strategy should be used during the fight. It gave the gameplay something different and innovative, and it also drew me out of my boredom of only “click, click, click”-ing through the long narrations and scenes. There didn’t exist a “skip” option back then, sadly. At certain times I noticed I selected horrible decisions and methods as to how to go about the battle. Crono has this one move, called “Cyclone”, where at most I could have slashed four enemies at once within a circular field, given if they were in a favorable and close knit position. Instead, I accidentally selected the enemy furthest away from the group, allowing me to only attack one. I was happy when I found the unique skills of the fighters as well. Since I am quite a fan on collaborative special moves, I had to refrain myself from screaming with joy when I not only saw duo combos, but triple combos as well. It is amazingly cool. Despite the wonder battle style and skills the game gave me, I wasn’t too happy with how stereotype seems to follow us everywhere. The two girls who were in my party are, at the moment, HORRIBLE long range, close range, any range fighters. I have actually not found any good use of them except for maybe a certain fire spell or two, but even so, HORRIBLE. What is truly interesting is the fact that a frog, by the name “Frog”, who just happened to have wandered into my party was much better a fighter than those two COMBINED. I don’t want to sound like I’m exaggerating or anything, but it is interesting. The females have very low physical strength, whereas Frog, a frog, just happened to be able to kick butt. Interesting…Frog is cool though. Design: One of the oddities I noticed about the game was the map, where I move from place to place. It is fairly different from most other RPGs in a sense that there doesn’t really exists a town map or area map within the giant world map. I was fairly disappointed when I select a town and only find myself inside a room. One of the most enjoyable parts about a game is giving the player a large field to explore, but if I’m only limited to the world map and room or field, then it takes the fun out of exploring the area around that room or field. When I walk in near what I see is a town on the map, BOOM! I’m inside a bar, or inn, or mayor’s house. There’s no actual town. I want to see the other settings that surround that “event place” or important place that I have to go to in order for progression and events to occur. I felt that the game world was very small and unable to expand itself. But then again, the plot of Chrono Trigger is about time travel and the makers have to make dramatically different fields to match the time I’m in, even if I am in the same area. I think the game did a very good job in presenting humor and expression to the 8-bit sprites. For instance, during the cut scenes, depending on whichever situations, Crono would be able to look surprised, triumphant, shocked, hurt, etc. It’s actually interesting to see visual sprite expressions in comparison to most others where they’re only able to walk and talk. The art design for the game (of which I am sure the artist is Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragonball, DragonballZ, etc…) was simply superb. I was sure that I recognized the Toriyama’s artwork style once I saw the cover of the game. Although technically the world field is pretty small, the game field is not. There is time skip to consider, so the artist literally has to redesign each place and setting to correlate with the time skips. The result was beautiful as I travelled between Dark Ages 600 A.D. to Present 1000 A.D. and Future 2300 A.D. The contrast between the world’s geography and atmosphere was simply amazing, from bright, happy present to dark, industrial future. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:02:42.)Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:01:59 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2711&iddiary=5173https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2711Gamelog Entry #1 Summary : Chrono Trigger is an innovative RPG narrative game where you play as Crono, a young man who ventures through mysterious time warps with his friends Lucca and Marle in an adventure to prevent a catastrophic future. GamePlay: Chrono Trigger has actually been on one of my “Must Play” list for the past several years after hearing so much praise about it. I was delighted to have found that it was on the Classics lists, giving me a reason to finally play it. The game started out with a stereotypical beginning, where you find yourself in your room, head downstairs, and talk to your mom for the story to begin, very pokemonesque. After playing for around say fifteen minutes, I realized that my character doesn’t have a voice in the game. When interacting with other characters in the game, it is always them who talks, and my character either just listen, or an option bar shows up for me to make decisions for him. I actually enjoyed this style of narration because it allows more openness or room for me to view myself as the main character of the game and give my own perception of the story. I found the overall gameplay to be very typical, where I just navigate my avatar around until I find something interesting to progress through. It's actually slightly boring and tedious because I don't feel like the game's really letting me interact with it. Then again, it is an RPG where story is everything. I don't exactly know exactly what my objective is in the game yet, but the story so far is interesting. I've obtained two party members so far, one of which disappeared through a time warp due to a teleportation machine malfunctioning. Naturally, I jump through the portal to save my damsel in distress, and WOW. The whole map almost completely changed when I traveled back in time. I notice the interesting things about games. They either have to have really good gameplay, or really good plot. It has to be one or the other, or both! Game plot at the moment just got interesting, and we'll see how much more interesting and intricate it can be. (This entry has been edited3 times. It was last edited on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:03:58.)Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:04:25 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2711&iddiary=5101https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2535Game Log Entry #2 Gameplay: I was actually not paying attention to the time, and went three hours overboard for the game, but that shouldn't be too important. I noticed after taking my break that the second round of tackling the case really didn't have any actual detective work at all! A lot of the game is sequence based, where I just run around, doing odd tasks such as delivering mail and running errands by driving around the whole town. It isn't until after I finish such tasks that I actually do get somewhat of a continuation into the story or have a new event open up for me to do. Despite the major annoyance, it was hilariously fun listening to the different voices and personalities of the townsfolk who actually do depict a very good 1920s/30s impression. Solving puzzles became tiring and I actually found one of the obstacles that I had to go through in order to receive a toy that gives me the word "pony" to be ridiculous. I had to go through a golf course and win with the least par. Personally, I found a lack of actual detective work and its actually quite irksome in comparison to the past Nancy Drew games that I have played before. Somehow, overtime, the games went from actual sleuthing, where Nancy waits till nighttime to look scavenge through her suspects belongings with the intimidating feature that they'd be back any moment, to just regular puzzle solving and sequence of story. The thrill is gone when the idea of the game just goes off track like this. DESIGN: Overall, the graphics design of the game is beautiful. The art and 3D graphics is artistic in a sense that it is not active, but still. The game bases itself on moving by using screen to screen images, making it seem like you're psuedo-moving. You click either right or left and a new image shows up to show you what's on your right and what's on your left. It's not very complicated because there's not a lot of animation with exception of the characters and certain background props (clock, steam, etc.) The cut scenes during events were actually quite disappointing because of all the parts where you actually get to see some bit of animation in the game, it's short, stiff, and choppy. For example, a quick cut scene where you're actually not controlling the character is when Nancy runs up the stairs to address the scream she heard. You see the bottom of the stairs shift to the top of the stairs, to the bedroom, and that's it. It's back to game play. The game runs on a simplistic click-based type of style where you just click around to navigate, and pick up stuff. There is a very limited amount of space where you can explore the world. You're only allowed to go where the arrows on your mouse allows you to go, which is usually right, left, forward, or back to a new screen. You're also very limited as to what you can pick up when facing a certain part of the room and it's actually quite frustrating to me because sometimes you see very cool things in the background such as an instrument or a bright orange bouncy ball that you'd just have the urge to pick up if it was real life. Unfortunately , the game would only allow your mouse to glow red when you're over a magazine or tool that will assist you. Sometimes it's fun to explore the random parts of a game and I think that'd be an awesome feature to include, where not every clue is helpful. It'd definitely make the game more challenging aside from the sequences and sequences or puzzles that have nothing to do with detective work in which they just love to throw at you. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:39:55.)Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:33:20 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2535&iddiary=4859https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2535Game Log entry #1 Summary: In Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old clock, you play as the spunky teen detective, Nancy Drew, to battle her first case in solving a new mystery that involves her friend's mysterious jewel disappearance and find a secret will left by an eccentric man of eccentric interests. Gameplay #1: Having played the past Nancy Drew series games before, I was a little surprised as to how the Dream Capture company has improved their graphics so dramatically in comparison to the first game, Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill. The game setting takes place in roughly the early 1900s. I actually quite like how the atmosphere of the early 20th century was portrayed through the various character's way of speech. I wonder when was the last time I heard the word, "chip off the old block" and "don't take any wooden nickels!" Anyhow, a problem that I've encountered while playing the game was how subtly feminine the game is. Usually, playing as a female character is fine in a game is fine, but in Nancy Drew, you are literally playing through the eyes of Nancy. In other words, what you see is what she sees. You feel as if you are her, and when she picks up the phone to whine to her father, it is easy for girls to sympathize, but a little more difficult for males to due to the tone of her voice and the way she acts. The game has a major lack of action and is based purely on how well you observe your background and gather useful information. I was a little annoyed at the puzzles I had to solve in the Lilac Inn waiting room in order to obtain a mirror clue. Interrogating people was actually enjoyable because I was given a choice as to how I should respond to people. The choices are pretty limited, and I noticed that it doesn't affect the story much, but at least I was given a choice as to how to approach the interrogation. Overall at the moment, the game is very intriguing and I have a bunch of notebook paper ready to jot down the puzzles, clues, and other oddities I find. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:36:13.)Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:09:39 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2535&iddiary=4832https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2193Gamelog entry #2: GAME PLAY- Yes!!! After another 45-minutes of frustration and lava burns, I have defeated Iggy Koopa and blew up his castle and moved on to Donut Plains, or the second Island stage. Apparently, to my surprise, there is a little bit of storyline to the game, so far at least. I wasn't able to read when I first played the game, being four at the time, so it's actually interesting to know that I was actually rescuing one of Yoshi's friends who was trapped in an egg. As a kid, I always thought that the egg was just some kind of food or power up that Mario got as a prize. Go figure. So now I'm finally on donut island, where I get to obtain those cool feather magic capes that allow me to fly. I was a little moody after playing the game for a while, needing to run back to the first island several times to obtain more green mushroom life ups in order to move on in the game. There was one trivial thing that frustrated me throughout the game which never really bothered me before as a kid, and it's that Mario's abuse of Yoshi. I know it's silly, but the idea of Mario bonking Yoshi on the head in order for the dinosaur to stick its tongue out just seems slightly barbaric to me now. There are also, as I've noticed, certain times in the game where it is actually helpful to jump higher across ledges and "save yourself" by getting that extra momentum off of Yoshi and abandoning him to fall into his pit of doom. Of course, the game is very cute, and meant for an audience of all ages. I just couldn't help to think that the idea of doing such a thing to be a little hilarious, yet sad, at the same time. DESIGN- I was slightly surprised when I came across the second level of Donut plains to find a pan-scrolling level where the screen would just not stop scrolling, forcing you to move to the right whether you like it or not. The style change caught me off guard, and since the setting was underground, there isn't much room to navigate the little sprite, placing you at risk of getting caught between the wall, and the magical moving screen. Logically, you can't die from being squished along the side of a TV screen, but not in the case of Mario! Invisible moving screens that push you against the side can kill you too, apparently. I actually forgot all about that kind of style play, and it actually gave me a surprise because I canno take my time leisurely (within the time limit) on the level. It's actually good that Super Mario World is different from the other past Mario games in that it actually allows the player to replay levels, a luxury that mustn't be taken for granted. Now we can actually explore and go about the individual levels for "completeness." As a gamer, it's always exciting when new secrets are revealed, such as a hidden path, a warp pipe, or an extra cloud surprise in the sky. It actually does keep a player interested. Mario has also dug itself deep into my heart again with their vibrant colors. The style of the artwork is very cartoony and inviting to make it as universal for a s broad a range of audience as possible. Although generally a 2D game, Super Mario World gave a somewhat pseudo-3D feel to the game with adding a map to portray the Mario World. Different from the map in Super Mario Bros. 3, where the map is basically laid out in boxes and straight lines, Super Mario World portrayed the map in a more pseudo-realistic sense by adding actual curves and depths in the style. It not only involves islands, but allows you to enter caves and underwater worlds as well. The game certainly added a lot more detail and features. (This entry has been edited3 times. It was last edited on Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:34:19.)Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:17:05 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2193&iddiary=4178https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2193Gamelog entry #1: SUMMARY - Super Mario World is a one or two person game where you get to play as Mario or Mario and Luigi. You are given the aid of Yoshi, your dinosaur companion, along your journey, to cross the levels on the map and save the Princess who was captured by Bowser. GAMEPLAY - I remember first encountering this game when I was four. I was literally obsessed with it, frustrated at my lack of coordination, and determined to cross each level in the best way possible. Playing Super Mario World again gave me a big flash shock to see how rusty I have gotten at maneuvering the tiny little Mario sprite. It's actually quite cute when he's in his pre-mushroom state, very unproportionally tiny. I actually do really miss the old, simple style of the game, along with it's simple upbeat midi music. It really does remind me of the good ole days before homework, before tests, quizzes, and where I just play as Mario, jumping on Yoshi and bonking on his head to eat those bush apples. It's typically a very carefree game, where the objective is to just cross the stages within the time limit, and where the only thing to worry about are the boss battles that occur at the end of each island you complete on a map. The game at the moment has a good impression on those who play around me. It's not a cinematic game, and lacks an overall storyline, so all there is is basically game play. Those who are standing around me can easily relate to the game. There's only two simple buttons along with the directional pad to guide you, and after that, you're all set. Being a platform game, it definitely allows players to be able to watch and cheer or groan as you play, struggling and trying to cross those increasingly hard/absurd levels. So far, I've only reached the third water level on the first Island, which is pretty sad after playing for 45 minutes. Again, I will admit that my "skills" have definitely gotten worse for platform games over the years, but Super Mario World is, overall, great. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:33:05.)Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:46:04 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2193&iddiary=4161https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1898Gameplay #2: I'm starting to get the hang of controlling the pen in the DS console. At times I get a little annoyed, wishing the game would give me more time to finish the stages. It never fails to shock me every time something new, such as more hidden glass shards are "surprising discovered" when I thought I was just about done. Usually this occurs with me having only 30 or so seconds left on the clock. Not amusing, considering I'm still quite a beginner. I was initially annoyed at the replacement nurse, Angie Thompson, for a while, finding her constant scolding to be insulting to me (Dr. Stile) whenever I make a fault. A lot is because I can relate to Dr. Stiles, who is new into the full-career field as a doctor, and generally hasn't gotten used to the pressure and responsibilities yet. Despite his very apparent dorkiness, I couldn't help but admire the potential that is foreseen within him when one of the veteran doctors revealed Stile's "Healing Touch" gift, enabling him to have concentration so great, that time seems to stop. Design: I definitely enjoy the art style of Trauma Center. Whoever designed the characters deserves a high-five. It's drawn in my favorite anime-esque style. The colors are vibrant, giving an exciting mood to the overall environment of the game. Sometimes during the operations, the game would demand me to make very precise cuts along the dot. I find the gameplay frustrating at times because it'll take me several attempts to get what I initially thought was a fine incision, to turn out into a "miss" and ends with me sucking up a bloody mess with not much time left. It also doesn't help, but is a really good added effect, when the nurse occasionally cries of "DOCTOR!!!" or "WHAT IS THAT!" to freak me out and drop my DS pen. But whenever I succeed an operation, there is a nice sense of accomplishment, considering that I am technically saving people's lives. Usually, after I barely pass a stage in the operating room, there comes a breather for a cut scene in the story. Those are the moments I await for, being more of a person who plays games for the story and art rather than the action. The storyline at the moment is probably also the only drive that's keeping me going through the exponentially hard levels. Each cut scene adds another drama and twist into the characters and their personal stories, making you more curious to find out more. Oh...they are smart for making the story exciting. You have to play to find out.Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:29:52 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1898&iddiary=3747https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1898Summary: In Trauma Center: Under the Knife, you play as Dr. Derek Stiles, a young upcoming surgeon who has just completed his residency training at Hope Hospital. Enter the operation room, with the new young and beautiful nurse, Angie Thompson, to face precision-based operations where your DS pen will determine the fate of life and death to your patients. Gameplay: Having only sampled a little bit of the Wii version of Trauma Center (Trauma Center: New Blood), I was a bit surprised as to how the game was still able to keep up its enthralling entertainment and dramatic, yet upbeat story-line. The game runs on still pictures to portray their story-line, but it is made up with detailed artwork and character designs. I also couldn't help but notice the upbeat and hip background music that slightly reminded me of music that's commonly heard in a small casual coffee shop. Trauma Center starts off with Derek Stiles newly emerging into a full-time doctor. The first two or three stages were basically tutorials set within the game to teach you the tools within the operation room. You are guided by Mary Fulton, an old-time nurse who has basically acted as a guiding mother-figure to the hospital. She basically teaches you the jist of the sequence of what to do with the appropriate tools. It's NOT good to cut through the patient with the knife BEFORE disinfecting the patient. I have learned the hard way. So PAY ATTENTION! I did feel abandoned, sympathizing with Stile's reaction when she transferred to another hospital. What has happened to my guiding angel? Although the first two tutorial stages were, dare I say, easy, it was still frustrating that for an hour of game play, I never achieved anything higher than "Rank C" through the past eight stages so far. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:30:19.)Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:48:02 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1898&iddiary=3714