A person who is seriously interested in games, game studies, and game design should play a lot of games.
To the right you will see the latest GameLog (diary)
entries I have recorded for the games I'm currently playing and my thought and feelings on the game, the experience of playing it, and so on.
If you want to see all the games I'm playing, or the ones
I'm no longer playing you can follow the "List of Games I'm Currently Playing" and the "
List of Games I've Finished Playing".
During the summer of 2003 I started a little project to keep track of the videogames I had been playing. I also wanted to keep track of my thoughts as I played them.
Thus, GameLog was born as a blogging tool for gamers. If you are interested you can hop on over and register. I personally enjoy reading about other people's thoughts
on the games they play and the more the merrier! www.gamelog.cl
I'm about 12 hours in and I've decidedly reached a turning point in the game. After playing with a bunch of different characters at different times, I've now gone back to my starting character (i.e. "Me") and need to gather up the rest of the party. I'm surprised by how well the transition worked in that, I guess because I've played the other characters and have a vague sense of what's going on, I cared a little bit more when my home town was razed and when I found out that they had been protecting me all those years. Most games would have started with that and attained a much lower level of emotional impact. I'm not saying that I broke up and cried, but it definitely mattered more.
The combat system also apparently changed once I met my first set of teammates. For some reason, they now acted by themselves and I could only give them "general" orders like "No magic" or "Watch my back". I must have played a few hours before I realized that I could actually step in and given them detailed (micro managed) instructions all the time like I had done before (when I controlled them). I was definitely surprised by this because the change seemed so sudden and also because there is a hardly a tutorial at all. Since I'm generally reluctant to explore menus and whatnot when I feel I know what to do, I missed these options entirely. I guess this is where the game shows how it is actually pretty old school. (and no, I haven't looked at the game's manual either, I'm sure there's info in there as well).
More generally, having now played many of the JRPG classics, I do get a sense of why some of them are so well-loved and how they are subtly different from their western counterparts. The emphasis on narrative, character and polish is remarkable. They were quite willing to experiment with different stories, settings, and what not.
I guess it was about time I played ONE of the games in this insanely popular series. Well, insanely popular in Japan at least. To be honest, I had the impression that part of Dragon Quest's popularity had to do with Akira Toriyama's involvement in designing the characters. Having played Chrono Trigger, also with Toriyama's involvement, I guess I should have known better. Well, I guess it's still a bit early to tell...
Anyways, so far I've found that, the combat system and mechanics are completely uninteresting to me. Combat has very little tactical (or strategic) depth. I really wish there was a button to simply "resolve fight" and move on. Yes, the monster names are fun, and they're interesting to look at and all that...but it gets old pretty quickly.
The enjoyment I've been getting out of the game, so far, is from the story and characters. As far as I can tell the game is structure in chapters. I've just started the 3rd one, with, as in the earlier chapters, an entirely new character. So far it seems like I've been playing episodes from different games, but I'm sure that they will all tie in together in some clever way. I hope that I still remember what's going on by the time I get there! This makes the game surprisingly refreshing. Your goals are limited (ie, no really long term goals you'll easily forget after 4 hours of play), you get to try out different characters (spell, equipment, and stuff like that), you get to see different locations and different monsters, etc. It's sort of like an RPG 12-course dinner experience. Each course is large enough to whet your appetite, but short enough that you're not stuffed before the next one comes along. The localization also seems fantastic and I'm VERY curious as to how the original text was written in Japanese...
The first chapter takes place in what sounds (reads) like a Scottish town. Anyways, all the characters talk in a thick accent. It's actually a wee bit tricky to figure out what they're talking about at times. I was surprised by how "thick" the accent was...and the fact that I had to read it that way. (What was it like in the original Japanese version?)
The second chapter is in a Russian area. Well, the accent is Russian...Again, new set of characters, new location, and NEW tricky accent to read.
I though this was SO cool! First of all, it's different. I guess most games either have no accent or an olde english accent, that by now is just tired, trite, cliched, and all that. Games with different accents ALSO tend to play on (what are now) tired stereotypes. For example, all dwarves have scottish accents, and that sort of thing.
The third chapter I've only just started. Again it's something different. I'm playing a shopkeeper. So far I spent a whole day behind a counter selling weapons to random people who walked in... Why? I'm not sure yet. I guess I have to save money before I can set up my own shop? That sounds so cool!
I'm surprised that no one has come up with a fantasy shopkeeper game...
The difficulty didn't abate and I've given up hope after having cleared 4 of the worlds and made my way through half of the fifth. Curiously, the main challenge I found this game provided wasn't so much from the puzzle+platformer combo, rather it was from what I would call "unfair platforming". I've played (and finished) some pretty tough platforming games (hello Maximo!) that while clearly frustrating, at least kept me going because ultimately it was always my fault. This was often the case in Hatsworth, but not always, which is why I decided I had enough.
Here's my "working" definition of "unfair platforming": You die due to something you couldn't anticipate or prepare for.
Exhibit A:
A few of the levels have elements that suddenly appear/disappear. If you happen to be in the same location as an appearing element. You die. Elements appear suddenly with no warning (ie, warning sound, signal, etc.)
Exhibit B:
Sometimes, when an enemy hits you you get bounced back AND you lose control of the character. If you fall down a hole as a result of that...tough! The main issue is that the bounceback is inconsistent (at least it feels like that) in that sometimes you bounce back and other times you don't. The loss of control just makes it all worse.
Exhibit C:
When in super-mode it is really easy to die in the jumping/platforming parts since (apparently?) the robot suit doesn't jump as far or as well. If you're in mid-jump and super mode runs out, good luck not falling down a hole...
All these frustrations aside, the puzzling element and how it combines with the platform is surprisingly deep and rich in possibilities. It took me a while before I realized that:
(a) If you fire a missile and then enter the puzzle mode, every combo you make in puzzle mode makes your missile larger and more damaging. This is VERY helpful in the boss fights and I really wish I had realized this sooner!
(b) When in "super mode" you can enter puzzle mode to replenish the energy bar, thus prolonging the duration (in platform mode) of the "super mode". Also pretty useful! (though super mode is for the most part not THAT useful)
I guess the strangest part of my experience so far has more to do with how quickly time flies while I play it rather than it's charm, gameplay, or anything else really. One of the things I'm most excited about as I write this is that I've just remembered reading somewhere that the soundtrack was released for free. It's that infectious.
I knew beforehand that I would have to divide my attention between two screens. However, that hasn't been hard at all. For the most part the audio cues are strong and clear enough that whenever there is trouble brewing in the bottom, I can quickly switch over. I thought that I would have to then pay attention to the top, but it turns out not to be necessary. The hardest part so far is dealing with the subtleties (read, challenge) of some of the platforming parts. Having to re-start an area is actually MORE painful than usual because it basically takes twice as long to get back to where you died. Not only do you have to platform your way there, but you'll also need to stop and deal with the puzzle as well.
At this point (World 3-3), I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it all the way to the end. I think I'm roughly halfway there.
I have been keeping track of this information for the past 6 year(s), 8 month(s) and 7 day(s).
