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Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (PS4) by jp (Apr 21st, 2024 at 00:26:13) |
This game is way more interesting than I initially gave it credit for (and I might even play all the cases, I'm that curious!)
There's a bunch of cases, you're Sherlock and you gather clues, investigate locations, use your special "eyesight", interrogate suspects, and more. So far, this is what you'd expect.
Some clues become more important and they show up in your "brain" where you can pair it up with another clue (if it's the correct one) to deduce something. Once you have enough of those, you can reach a conclusion. ALSO, once you've reached a conclusion you can decide how to act on it (usually it's either call the cops or call Mycroft - i think...).
What's really wild is that in the brain-connecting clues interface, you can reach lots of different conclusions! (I think it's 4 per case, at least it has been that so far and I've completed two cases). OH! And, as far as I can tell, the you can get it wrong! And, you just move on...the game calls some of them moral choices - which I'm confused by. But the idea that you could arrive at an incorrect conclusion and the game just moves on to the next case is pretty wild. So far, I've gotten both right (because there's abutton you can press that even warns you - like "spoiler alert" and it shows my result in green - which I assume is that I got it right).
Anyways, that's super cool!
Oh, and the game haslots of little mini-games that you play once, and they're part of the story (e.g. taking sherlock's pulse, or arm-wrestling with a sailor)..
The 2nd case is pretty neat - it takes place in the UK, there's a missing train...and there are rich Chilean (and Mexican) businessmen involved! Whoah.
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Fights in Tight Spaces (PC) by jp (Apr 21st, 2024 at 00:19:38) |
This one's a bit weird and I'll confess I didn't play it that much (just played one mission - which is like 1/5 of a full run?). It looks like it wants to be SuperHot, but it isn't - that's ok. But, it has a "play the movie" of what you just did in a level that you would think would play fast and smooth and super action-y. But now, it's slow and it even pauses between card plays...so it looks rather boring, which is a real shame.
As for the game, there's interesting stuff going on, but I haven't fully understood everything:
a. There's a typical energy system for casting, but a secondary system (combo) that lets you play some cards with a combo cost. If you move in your turn you lose combo so it's sometimes tricky to get everything to pull off.
b. While playing I was disappointed (because it seemed unfair) that there are objectives (bonus ones) in each level - and I wasn't getting any because I didn't know what they were! Apparently they're actually shown on screen, but in a place I did not see or notice.
c. The game seemed a bit slow - I was just moving and getting out of the way as I waited to draw into a good hand of cards. This cuts the momentum for sure and also made it hard/impossible to accidentally hit the secret (not really secret) objectives. So, I'm curious to go back and try again with awareness of the objectives. They should help a lot - in that I'm more likely to try to "solve the puzzle" of each turn and hopefully get the bonus objectives.
d. It's strange that you have to pay to heal, but I thought it was neat that you can upgrade several cards (if you have the money) and that some cards are cheap to upgrade - there's different pricing for them!
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Hadean Tactics (PC) by jp (Apr 21st, 2024 at 00:11:34) |
Ok, I've now cleared the game (not unlocked everything, of course) and it really is quite fun and interesting. The 3rd character (which I was waiting on to try out because I wanted to clear the game with the 2nd one) is pretty neat as well though as I write this all I can really remember is that it has an orb mechanic similar to one of the characters in Slay the Spire.
The harder ending is basically another 3 levels, but they get shorter! The last one, if I remember correctly, is just the boss. I don't remember what deck I was running, but it was pretty good - in the sense that I had picked up some good combos..traps and all.
I'm going to stop playing, for now, mostly because the list of games too look at keeps on growing - one a week - because of the design seminar I'm teaching.
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Before Your Eyes (PC) by dkirschner (Apr 14th, 2024 at 13:51:13) |
I've been looking forward to playing this, especially after playing One Hand Clapping, which had a singing mechanic. That game activates your mic and you use your voice, raising and lowering pitch, to interact with the game. Before Your Eyes was similar in that the game activates your webcam and uses your eye blinks as input. Before Your Eyes works WAY better than One Hand Clapping, and it's the better game all around. I figure that detecting blinks (yes/no) is easier than detecting notes along the range of human vocal pitch, so kudos to One Hand Clapping for trying.
Blinking in Before Your Eyes doesn't do anything unless you do it over a prompt (mouse over the prompt, then blink to interact) or unless you do it when the metronome icon is visible, which progresses the story to the next scene. The rules are simple, and it became a game in and of itself for me to blink strategically. I imagined that at the end of A Clockwork Orange, Alex's eyes are forced open so that he could successfully complete this game. At times, I felt like holding my eyes open with my fingers. This is because your eyes will get tired/dry/itchy while playing and you will screw up and blink when you don't mean to, skipping dialogue or ending a scene early. That's frustrating enough. Make sure you do the blink calibration, but I think that no matter how well you do it, it will still occasionally register some non-blinks as blinks. This really didn't happen much for me; through calibration, I think I turned the sensitivity way down, and I wonder what effect wearing glasses had. But like I said, it works surprisingly well.
So, the game itself is narrative-heavy. It's an obvious play on the idea that a life can pass in the "blink of an eye." You're picked up by a ferryman of souls who asks you to tell the story of your life. Back in time you go to remember it: your childhood, your parents, your career, etc., blinking your way through each scene. I won't spoil the story, but there is a twist that I absolutely did not see coming (though I should have paid more attention to the mysterious dark scenes) that changes the narrative and the tone of the game. This is one you can spend time reflecting on.
Aesthetically, it's got a simple visual presentation, sort of painterly, with some really nice piano music. The voice acting is good, with the exception of the girl-next-door (who sounds the same at 10 as she does at 40). For some reason, they also used the same voice actor for your dad and her dad, which made the one scene with her dad calling her very confusing ("Why is my dad at her house?!"). But I liked the dad and mom's performances. I was wondering through the whole game if your character was mute and/or on the spectrum because he doesn't talk--only through a typewriter later in the game--and otherwise expresses himself through his prodigious musical and artistic talents. But I think he's just a silent main character, not actually mute.
Anyway, the game won a BAFTA for a reason. It didn't blow my mind, but it's a neat experience that's worth having. It's short too, doesn't waste your time. I'm considering incorporating it into a class.
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Stray (PC) by dkirschner (Apr 13th, 2024 at 12:00:39) |
Patrick and I have been playing this together this semester, and finished it a couple weeks ago. We were talking after beating it about despite how simple and straightforward of a game this is, it manages to be something new. Playing as a cat (and being able to do cat things like curl up and sleep, scratch things, knock objects off tables, etc., so cuuuute) was novel, and the setting and story were interesting. But really, playing as a cat. I smiled a whole lot throughout the game. The lil companion robot was cute too.
On the other hand, I was often tired and bored while playing, and literally fell asleep during several sessions. Patrick would be making dinner or something in the kitchen, and I'd snap awake, cat walking into a wall, and I'd pretend I had not fallen asleep, and that I was just watching the cat walk into the wall and thinking. Like how my dad always used to claim he was "resting his eyes" when he'd fall asleep on the couch.
I would not call the game exciting. It was a lot of wandering around the city and talking to robot NPCs, fetching things for them. The city is a really good-looking dystopia, and the robots are quirky, but I wish they had more dialogue. You don't get a sense that many of them have personalities besides whatever one-note thing they do. I mean, the lack of dialogue makes sense, and it's not really "dialogue" since the cat can't talk. The fact that you are a cat adds a whole layer of silly to the game. Like, why has this lil robot befriended a cat? Why are all these robots putting all their faith in a cat to save them? Cats don't understand what we're saying to them, and cats do whatever they want! Playing as a cat in a game where you're doing fetch quests (fetching is dog stuff!) and doing things to help people is very un-cat-like.
But, you know what? The ability to play as a cat and do cat things trumps how little sense it makes, and I would play as a cat in this dystopia again. Idea for next time: more cats. And what do you think? Were there cats at the end?! Optimistically, I think so.
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2157 registered gamers and 3105 games. 7607 GameLogs with 13096 journal entries. 5074 games are currently being played.
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Mass Effect (360) by Nazoric |
| A futuristic RPG where humans are struggling to make a name for themselves in the alien community. |
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most recent entry: Monday 14 January, 2008
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SUMMERY:
Mass Effect is a futuristic space based RPG. However it has many elements which seperate it from your classic futuristic RPG. I think the key elements that make this game are its new mechanic, Mass Effect, the way it refers to you character during cinematics, the unique story it tells, and the innovation in RPG/Shooter combat.
GAMEPLAY:
I realy enjoyed playing Mass Effect throughout my game sessions. As I played I learned about the different things in the game that made it what it was, and why I enjoyed it.
To start, I will talk about the new mechanic Mass Effect has. Perhaps surprisingly, this is one of the few things I hated about the game. The idea for Mass Effect is similar magic which you may see in your standard fantasy RPG, or “The Force” in your Star Wars RPG. Even though I personally did not like this mechanic, I will talk about its good elements first. One thing that this mechanic had which I have not seen in any other RPG is the extent to which mass effect abilities can effect the environment. Its physics engine allows you to push enemies and objects as well as lift them or damage them. The problem with this mechanic however is the fact that you have to pause the game in order to use it. Though this may not seem like a problem at first, the fact is, this game plays more like your standard 3rd person shooter then an RPG as far as combat goes. Every time you have to pause the game to use your Mass Effect abilities, I feel like you lose the element of being in the moment. It feels like it disconnects you from the actual game and makes you more aware that you are the player and not the character. Thankfully both NPC allies and enemies can use this ability without pausing the game. Because of this, I simply let my allies use their Mass Effect abilities as they saw fit, rather then the option of me having to pause the game and use it for them. Meanwhile I simply played the game as an RPG shooter and ended up fully enjoying the other elements it had to offer.
One of the cool elements that this new RPG brought to the table was the incorporation of your character into cinematics. Although you get to choose your gender, appearance, and first name freely, your last name is restricted to the name “Shepard.” By doing this, the game made it so when characters refer to you, they simply call you Shepard. Though it may not seem like a big deal at first glance, it truly makes the game have a smooth flow to it. The cinematic conversations seem natural, realistic, and defiantly helped to immerse me in the story.
Though this is no doubt not the first futuristic RPG to have aliens and humans in it, I must say it has done an amazing job to make a realistic futuristic space environment. The sheer amount of detail that they put into every aspect of the game is unrivaled by any game I have ever played. I doubt I even read half the information that they put into the game in order to make sure it was realistic and understandable. As you travel through the game you can inspect different items which unlock a new option in your codex. By going to you codex you can read, and sometimes listen to a narration, about different elements of the game. This information in your codex ranges from how your weapons work and why, to the politics of alien governments. They even went to the extent of giving you information about every solar system you visit, and detailed information on every planet. Even though little of this information is useless when it comes to actual game play, I must say it made me feel like a real future they had created.
Although I started playing mass effect in the beginning of December, over our 3 week winter break I didn’t play it at all. The only reason I think this is interesting, or even relevant, is because over those 3 weeks I played both Knights of the Old Republic(KotOR) and KotOR 2. KotOR is an RPG game also made by the same company BioWare. What I found interesting about playing these games is it revealed something I had not previously known about Mass Effect. As it turns out, Mass Effect was simply a copy of the basic template used in both of the KotOR series games. What I mean by this, is you start out on your beginning planet, you run though some basic missions which essentially teach you how to play. Once you finish your basic missions on your starting planet you obtain a ship and can choose between 3 different planets to travel in order to complete other main objectives in the storyline. The order in which you complete these 3 different planet missions does not matter and is open to player discretion. I don’t think this fact interrupted or changed the game play of the game at all, I simply found it an interesting observation connecting BioWares previous titles to this one.
The last element of the game play that I want to talk about is its RPG/Shooter combat. I defiantly enjoyed this part of the game. Like some other 3rd person shooter titles, in this game you can hide behind obstacles, then pop out and shoot your enemies before quickly ducking back behind cover. You have to aim your weapons, although the corsair is big enough that you don’t need the skills of a normal shooter in order to be successful. The damage you do with your weapons is based on the weapon it self, the modifications you have added to it, and your skill with that type of weapon. The weapon skill and such adds to the RPG element of the combat system, where aiming, hiding, and sprinting at your enemies makes up the shooter elements of the game. Overall I must say it is a brilliant hybrid of shooter and RPG, forgiving the Mass Effect mechanic, and I hope to see more of its kind in the future.
DESIGN:
Thoughts on innovation:
I think the innovative elements of this game where its Mass Effect mechanic, how physics was incorporated into an RPG, and its hybrid combat system.
What makes it a good or bad game:
I think what makes the game good is its attention to the level of detail, how it immerses the player in the story, and lets the player make choices.
What are my thoughts on level design in the game:
I think the levels were fairly well designed in the game, because each main part of the story is based on a different planet, you get to explore new environments and fight different enemies. Obstacles are well placed to give you places to hide, and use its combat mechanics effectively.
What challenges does the game provide:
The game has both your standard combat, where you grind though waves of creatures attempting to reach your objective, and boss fights. Each boss fight is scripted differently making it a new and interesting experience for the player.
How does the game create conflict:
Perhaps one of the downfalls of the game is that the storyline is fairly rigid. Although at first glance it may appear that you have lots of choices to make, in the end these choices have little outcome on what happens in the game. Because of this, it is easy to just give you the bad guys, and then you have no choice but to go out and kill them. No joining the bad guys, sorry.
How does the game keep you interested:
The storyline itself is quite interesting, and it keeps you interested the same way a book does. You simply want to know what is going to happen next, and how the story is going to end. At least that’s how it worked for me.
Does the game help foster social interaction among players:
Sadly this game is only single player, I think if it didn’t have the mass effect mechanic they might have been able to add a cool co-op option to the game. But beyond talking about the game with other people who have played it, there is little to no interaction with other players.
What would you change about the game:
I would make it so you can simply have a current mass effect ability and you can execute dynamically by the press of a button without having to pause the game. This would keep a smooth and fun game play, and still allow the players to use the new mechanic.
What ideas does this game give you for your own game project:
I think the game gave me more ideas based on what it was lacking then based on what it had. Personally I want my choices in the game to make an actual difference on its outcome. Though this makes storyboarding a lot harder, because you have to make multiple paths, and possibly many of them, rather then just one with small variations.
You thoughts on the games use of cut scenes to support the narrative:
As I described in one of the paragraphs above, I think that the use of the character name in cinematics made the narrative support the game and help to tell the story. For me it defiantly helped to draw me into the story and excite me about what was to come.
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