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May 3rd, 2020 at 09:08:27 - Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) |
It is done! According to HowLongToBeat.com, this is the 9th longest game I've ever played: 67 hours and 30 minutes. That's right around average for the main story. I maintain that this game's side quests are garbage and the "social" affinity content is pointless. Apparently all that pushes the gameplay time to upwards of 100 hours. The game could have wrapped up earlier, but kudos to the writers for making a story that keeps on going deeper and deeper. There's always another bad guy after the current bad guy, and this story traces all the way to the beginning of the universe. They really covered all their bases.
In the one other angsty entry for this, I had been slogging through the biggest, worst designed town full of the most annoying creatures, and I was struggling with remembering all the combat controls (mostly when to use all the various Monado skills and getting overwhelmed by the fact that all the characters play differently). I was ready to hang it up. Then I think I played for 8 hours straight and the game was redeemed.
Regarding my previous gripes:
1. The "kid" is special, as I should have imagined. His friends, however, are another story. How they wind up strong enough to fight gods, I don't know.
4. Regarding "too many skills," it doesn't matter. I realized that there are better and worse skill and party combinations, but as long as you have some basics covered (a tank, someone who can heal), then most skill and party combinations are valid.
5. The party AI is awful through the entire game. It does an okay job with tanks, but characters with healing abilities will inexplicably not use them until someone is almost dead, and some of the characters the AI seems to not know how to control at all (looking at you Melia). In my last session tonight, as an example, I was in a banquet hall with tables and chairs. Sharla (ranged DPS and healer) was between a table and a wall. The enemy I was fighting killed me and Reyn (tank). Sharla needed to come resurrect either of us. The enemy came toward her and blocked her from one direction. Instead of turning to go around the table, I watched as she futilely ran against the monster trying to go through the way it was blocking. She ran in place until she died and we wiped. Go around the table! Actually that's not an example of the AI not knowing how to play a character. That's just an example of the AI having bad pathfinding, which is unfortunately a more general problem.
6. I never became enamored with the controls, but I got used to them. One thing that sucked is if I played for a long time, my left hand would start cramping because of constantly holding the joystick up while pressing C to rotate the camera and move at the same time. Regarding the action bar, on a PC you would have had abilities assigned to 1-8. With the Wiimote though, you scroll, constantly scroll. Left left left left A. Right Right Right Right Right A. Forever.
Those were things that stood out a month ago. After continuing, I realize that the game’s tone is really hit-or-miss. For example, when it aims for light-heartedness, it’s really cheesy. When it aims for seriousness, the feeling is evident but it’s often marred by voice acting and repetitive dialogue. The game is not funny at all, though it tries. The requisite JRPG cute comic relief character, Riki, sucks so much. Characters, while possessing plenty of backstory, typically have a single-minded reason for fighting from which they never waver. The connections between all the characters, races, worlds, and so on make the story complex, but characters themselves are simple. Over this long of a game, that gets tiring. Shulk (main character), for example, is motivated to fight for the girl in his village who he had a budding romance with. There’s love in the air. After they save the freaking universe, the two of them sit on the beach, she makes a comment about her haircut, he awkwardly compliments it and stutters over his words and they don’t bring up the fact that they like one another. The scene should have faded with them holding hands or literally anything except them social distancing in front of a beautiful sunset. Apparently even after you save the world, you aren’t mature enough to express a romantic notion.
The environments in this game are top notch. I was left with my jaw on the floor many times, and this is a 2010 Wii game. They’re fun to run through and have branching paths, optional areas, mini-bosses, (shitty) side quests, and more. One of the final areas had me pulling my hair out though. You have to go inside the Bionis (old god) and reach its heart. It’s a vertical level so you’re walking up narrow paths. The problem is that there are a lot of enemies with knockback who will shove you off the path to the poison water far below. There’s no way to get up from the poison water, so you die. This happened to me about 20 times. If your NPC allies get knocked off, they materialize back at you and continue fighting, but if you get knocked off, it’s a wipe. The paths are so narrow that it’s really hard to avoid being knocked off. You just have to do your best to avoid engaging enemies on the paths. The level boss did the same thing. You fight her in a room with these poison pools, and she had an awful tendency to shove my tank into the pools. After a few tries at this though, I realized I could make smart use of the “focus attack” and “come to me!” commands. If my NPC allies got shoved into the poison pools, I’d run to the center of the room and use “come to me!” Sometimes it would take them a minute and they might still die (see “bad pathfinding” above), but it did the job.
That boss fight and numerous others (including minibosses and even regular enemies in the world, especially if you pull a lot of them) are tough and can last a long time (~10-15 minutes). Sometimes, boss fights just last until you realize you’re woefully under-leveled. After playing a while, I learned that this is 5 levels under the boss. In MMO fashion, if the enemy’s name icon is gray, they are too easy; blue = easy; white = about your level; yellow = 3-4 levels above you; red = 5+ levels above you and certain doom). Especially toward the end of the game, you will have to grind. Out of the 67 hours, I bet 7 were grinding, roughly 10% of my play time. Even if you explore everywhere, you’ll still have to grind. Take the Bionis level I mentioned. I entered there at level 69. Enemies in the previous area were in the high 60s and low 70s. Enemies in this area were 72-76, and I saw some minibosses wandering up to 78. I gained a level on the way to the boss, but she was red. Great. Even her little trash mobs were yellow, level 73. She was probably 75 or 76. So back I went to grind out, at minimum, 2 levels. I got up to 73 and tried again. Still a challenging fight, but I beat her at that level. This kind of thing happened several times in the latter half of the game. I wound up just muting the volume and putting headphones on to listen to music.
That is it! The last Wii game I own too. I have a few more Wii U games to play and then I can sell it all (but these are shelved until I exhaust the Microsoft Game Pass). I’m glad to have played this epic JRPG. It’s been a while since I’ve played one. It was long and it has its faults, but it was endearing, the combat was sublime, music and environments were stunning, and it pushed my RPG progression and loot buttons. I wouldn’t play it again, but I’d recommend it if you’re hankering for something in the genre. I’m also not sure I would call it one of the greatest RPGs ever—the thing got rave reviews—but I could just be playing too late to be as impressed. I have the sequel sitting here and suppose I’ll delve into it with some idea of what to expect in the future!
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May 1st, 2020 at 19:21:07 - Ori and the Blind Forest (PC) |
Wow, worth the wait! I should mention, I'm in gaming heaven now, not only because I have more free time and the semester is almost over, but because Microsoft has a deal on their XBox Game Pass for PC (which is in beta). It's $1 for a month, and only $4.99 monthly after that. Holy crap. I went through the 200 games in the catalog and found 16 that are on my wishlist. 16 games for $1? Or $5.99 for two months? Or $11.99 if it takes me three months? YES PLEASE.
Ori and the Blind Forest is the first thing I downloaded to play (sequel, coming soon!). I always remember the first time I heard the game's title. I was teaching Sociology of Disability, and I was talking to someone from an organization serving people who are visually impaired. I mentioned that I had students play video games about disability and she said, "Oh like Ori and the Blind Forest?" I was like, "noted, a game about something to do with blindness." I read about it soon thereafter in PC Gamer or somewhere and that is NOT what this game is about!
Ori and the Blind Forest is a challenging 2d platformer about restoring a "blind" (dead) natural world. It's enchanting in a Studio Ghibli way. The presentation is immaculate in every way. It's claim to fame for me will be that I had fun hunting for extra power-ups. I usually hate doing that, but traversing the world was a blast. I spent my ability points in the exploration-type skill tree branch first, which is also unusual. It's because toward the end, experience you pick up is increased. I thought, "well if I can get that quickly, then I can unlock even more skills." Sure enough, I had two of three trees maxed out by the end and the other halfway there.
The odd thing is you don't really need many of the abilities in the skill tree. They enhance damage, or give you extra life for creating a save point--all nice things--but the abilities you need are the ones you find in the world. Even then, I didn't unlock them all. I think I was missing something called "light burst" and something that would let me activate chains that lower barriers. I did notice a chunk of the world (one area maybe) that I didn't explore, so I'm sure something useful was down there.
So the coolest ability by far lets you propel yourself off of enemies or projectiles in the air. You can use it to get into all sorts of nooks and crannies in the map. Say a spider shoots an energy orb at you. You jump and press triangle when you're near it. An arrow appears. Ori will fly in the direction of the arrow and the energy orb will fly in the direction opposite the arrow. This means you can redirect projectiles with the move too. All the movement abilities work in conjunction; the synergy is smooth. If you're trying to reach a height, you can use this arrow move to chain propel higher. Often, you will need to slow your fall after a boost while you wait for another projectile to be shot at you so you can propel off it. So, press LT and float with your leaf as you wait to be shot at.
There is a variety of platforming on display. Some sections focus on killing enemies, some are "outrun the water/lava/wind," some are slow and thoughtful puzzles to traverse. By far the most impressive thing about some of these platforming segments are the "single-shot" ones. Like a long scene in a movie shot in one take, these see you going from the beginning of, say, a chase sequence (the final battle with the bird is the standout) to the end in one beautiful fluid performance. You will die in this game A LOT. Death in these sequences means you've learned something to go farther next time. "Okay, next time I need to float on the wind to the right and hide under this rock while the bird swoops past." Then you die 10 seconds after that on the next attempt. "Okay, hide under the rock, then I've got to quickly propel myself up the abyss on the plants; if I go too slow, the fire spreads and kills me. Just go fast, straight up!" Repeat 20 times to beat the encounter. I loved it.
I hope my computer will run the sequel. A lot of these Microsoft developed or published games that I can play with Game Pass are newer (Ori and the Will of the Wisps was just a month or two ago!). I'm usually playing something a few years old, so it'll be weird to play new things...if I can run them. New computer? Hopefully not yet...but I'll have Game Pass games on hold for that time if the ole' Alienware isn't up to par any time soon.
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May 1st, 2020 at 18:51:26 - Finding Paradise (PC) |
This was really similar to the first game. You play as the same (I think) two doctors who delve into a dying person's memories to fulfill a wish. You overhear conversations, find mementos, and use the mementos to link and travel between memories. At the end of each memory, there is a simple "match three" puzzle to progress.
The story didn't make me feel as much as the first one, at least not until the end when you come to empathize with the antagonist and see the dying patient and his life in a new way. There's a clever twist. The story strings you along thinking one thing, which would have been a good story anyway, but then changes something so you see everything differently.
The two doctors banter back and forth, and the game's dialogue is well written and light-hearted. It's often funny, but just as often cheesy. The one thing I realized though is that most of the characters possess the same sense of humor, which makes them all feel one-dimensional and unbelievable.
So, this was an interesting, thoughtful game, not as impressive as the first, though perhaps if I'd played the middle one I would think differently. The hype train was also missing on this one. To the Moon I recall was lauded, but this one, I heard almost nothing. If there's another afterward, I'll be less excited.
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Apr 21st, 2020 at 13:10:32 - Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC) |
Wolfenstein 3D was a game heavy in my rotation as a kid. And the game is nestled inside The New Order. It's a "nightmare" that you have while you sleep. That attention to detail is one thing I loved about The New Order. The game is slick as hell and they nailed the tone. It's dark, moody, emotional, and oddly funny at times. The story is an alternate history where the Nazis won WWII and dominate the world. Resistance cells have been squashed...well, almost. BJ Blazkowicz has a backstory setting him up for love, hate, and revenge. But mostly, he just wants to do what he's best at: killing Nazis. You kill hundreds of them, but some of the good guys die too. I actually teared up during one moment. A couple that I had saved earlier in the game was killed. This wasn't shown during a cut scene or anything. It's something the player finds through exploring the resistance base (which is really well fleshed out with characters and environmental storytelling), the couple embracing on a bed and shot to death. It was really sad. I think part of the emotional response to the game is negative attitudes toward Nazis, eugenics, white supremacy, and the like. I hated all the bad guys more so than in other video games because Nazis are real.
The combat is fast-paced and feels great. I haven't played a quick FPS in a long time, so I had to adjust to the speed of it. Enemies don't stay in one place for long, and you will constantly switch weapons to defend yourself against various enemy types. You will also die a lot, which forced me to develop strategy and was much appreciated. Many weapons have alternative fire modes, and you can dual wield most anything. It's excessive being a whirlwind of destruction. And for some reason the assault rifle gets a rocket launcher attachment. Because why not? I think you get that attachment on the moon. The Nazis have a moon base. I love this game.
Even though the game is generally fast-paced, some levels slow it down to a stealthier approach, or at least give you the option. You get a metal cutting tool that allows you to enter air ducts, and there are some incentives for being stealthy. Most notable is not alerting commanders. Commanders are special enemies with headsets who can call for reinforcements if they detect you. Best to sneak around and put a knife in their backs before opening fire on anyone.
Another incentive for stealth--for varied playstyles really--are the perks. These offer mini-goals and I had a lot of fun trying to unlock as many as I could (and I got almost all of them!). One perk tree rewards you for doing things like racking up stealth kills or killing commanders with throwing knives; a gun-oriented perk tree gives you ammo and reload upgrades for killing enemies from cover or getting so many headshots. Other perk trees encourage the use of explosives and heavy weapons. I liked that Steam achievements were tied to each perk, so an unlock in the game was also a reward on Steam.
The one thing I found a little disappointing was the lack of really interesting boss battles. I can remember two noteworthy ones (London Monitor, General Deathshead). Usually, another character talks in your ear telling you how to defeat the enemy. The hints made the fights too easy. But, in a cruel/wonderful twist of game design, there are no such hints with either phase of the final boss. You have to figure it out. The boss is hard anyway, but having help removed was disorienting! I wasn't sure if I was progressing the fight because there was little feedback. All of a sudden, phase one was over. And on like the 15th attempt at phase two, as I chanced standing in front of him emptying all of my ammo in a fury, the boss died. Granted, it was hard to see him potentially displaying injury through all the jets of flame.
I knew I would like the game, but was surprised by how good it was. Part of me expected a cheese fest. As soon as I get the 35GB expansion downloaded, I'll dive right back in to shooting Nazis.
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