Rise of the Guardians

Another game has been struck from my Hall of Shame: Guardian Heroes!

It's difficult to call this one completed: I may have unlocked five of the seven endings but I've unlocked all the characters so that's close enough.

So what can I say about this game that I haven't before? Well it's interesting to see this game from the perspective of time. I didn't play this game during the Saturn era and I am only playing this game for the first time and from a modern perspective.
And the game is a lot of fun: I did enjoy brawlers back in the day and I enjoyed the art style, multiple planes, and story mode. Of particular note is how Guardian Heroes does a lot of things differently with the brawler genre that one can only wonder why it hadn't been thought of before - or how you, the player ever got by without such changes.
Okay so some of the boss fights were annoying with them laying the smackdown without giving me a chance to fight back - but it is an amusing thought to think that whilst I'm spamming attacks, the guy on the other side of the TV screen is doing the exact same thing.

Also of note is how this game's DNA has been utilized with games that have come since. I see the gorgeous anime-style artwork (which still holds up really well today mind you) and I think of the similar art style in Guilty Gear. I see the then innovative use of branching paths and RPG elements and I think of Castle Crashers (I wonder of the makers of Castle Crashers made their game based on the annoyance of not having Guardian Heroes readily available?).

All in all, Guardian heroes was a lot of fun and I sincerely hope Sega take notice to a point where they make more games from their catalog readily available.

Dragon Aged

A new Dragon Age game is on the horizon but I'm not exactly thrilled. This may be a far cry from previous posts on this blog when I was excited about Origins and no.2 but I am older, wiser and wary of EA's handling of Bioware's IP.

The string of announcements that have come about Dragon Age Inquisition seems that somewhat desperate, as if someone looked at bigger games and are trying to replicate their successes. An open world with detailed environments - because Skyrim wasn't enough. And now it has multiplayer - even though Divine Divinity Original Sin proved how it could be done within an RPG environment.

These changes do not sit well for me: With these changes to Dragon Age will there be anything left of the original game? Because I felt Origins did indeed have a personality and identity of it's own - therefore this radical changes that are being promised seem more like a dilution - it makes me wonder what will be left of that original identity when the next game comes around.

Still at least Dragon Age Inquisition makes a a welcome return to the subtitle....

Heroes of a new world

Recently I've been playing a lot of Guardian Heroes.

This is one of the many games that was ported to the XBLA from the Sega Saturn. It is my belief that buying such games will prompt more conversions of some of the other lost gems that were on the Saturn - a misguided belief to be sure but you never know...
What is particularly impressive that this is a conversion that actually enhances the original: Aside from the inevitable graphical update and the inclusion of achievements, the game keeps track of the branching paths that have already been visited, cutscenes are skippable, there's a better translation and the Versus multiplayer has been increased from six to twelve. Truly a shining example of how to make a game from the mid-nineties and making it better whilst staying true to the original (it makes one wonder how numerous other such games got it so wrong).

As for the game itself, this is one game I've come into completely blind - The only thing I knew was that was a Saturn game and one of the best games on the system (and considering the amount of trash that was on the system that's saying a lot). What I wasn't expecting was to seeing some superb anime-esque art - much of which still looks great eighteen years later. Nor was I expecting to a real entertaining brawler with RPG elements and branching paths - granted this is a common sight for brawlers today (Castle Crashers anyone?) but to see it being down in a game from 1996 was a revelation indeed. 

Not much else I can say except that has, so far, been something of a surprise package. I can't say that I'm one to go into a game completely in the dark but in this time I think it has paid off. How fitting it is then that finding a diamond in the rough should be a Saturn game.

How Divine

The recently released Divine Divinity: Original Sin is a game that intrigues me - chiefly because it is an RPG that actually accommodates for two players.

As any RPG connoisseur will tell you, RPGs are strictly a one player genre - it's hard to incorporate a second player when it is one player who builds a character and takes them all the way through the game, killing dudes and making vital decisions. How do you fit in a second player? Granted there have some attempts that have a second player but they are just confined to going along with whatever the first player does. And whilst that may work in some places it is dull in others. It may work from a narrative perspective (Final Fantasy X anyone?) but it must fell restrictive to play an RPG, a genre known for making decisions count, and not have a say in how things go.

Original Sin solves this problem in a clever way: It would seem that the narrative is shared between two players - when they have to make a decision the players are allowed to argue about it before coming to a conclusion through a minigame. That's actually really clever and proof that an RPG can work for two. Throw in the usual RPG conventions of killing monsters for loot and experience - only this time with someone else to back you up - and you have proof that an RPG can work for two. So much so, you wonder why no one's tried it before.

Now if only I had a cool forty bucks lying around....

Kick Start This

Lets talk Kickstarter: It seems that anyone can resurrect a long-forgotten franchise and give it a new lease of life through the backing of an enthusiastic audience. It seems that if anyone can update abominations like Shaq-Fu and Night Trap, then it seems anything is possible.

So why isn't there a kickstarter for Panzer Dragoon Saga?

True Sega are known for hanging onto their trademarks like any other company, true Panzer Dragoon Saga was a poor seller and true it was on a system that crashed and burned in spectacular fashion, but why not? If we are so intent on preserving games for future generations then this may be the way to go. Furthermore, one can;t deny that "the rarest and most valuable game of all time!" would make a decent selling pitch.
Come on, if there is a audience for Shaq-Fu and Night Trap then we can at least Kick-Start a resurrection of something...you know...good

Honour Among Thieves

I recently saw the trailer to the new Tomb Raider game (Rise of) and I still have no idea what the people behind the game are going to do with this game. Did they realize that having Lara constantly have the shit kicked out of her doesn't really present any long term franchise plans? Also, somehow the image of having Lara visiting a psychiatrist seems to be leaning on a parody direction.

And in addition, I see the trailer and, somehow, this comes to mind:

In fact why can't Kasumi have her own game?! I'll play the hell out of that!

Do the Evolution

Not much to say but I would like to draw attention to a new page I've created for this blog.
May I present: the Hall of Fame

This function of this new page is to home to a list of games I consider personal favorites.
But this list however is by no means set in stone: With the progression of time and more games being beaten, the list is liable to change and evolve with each passing year.
And for the sake of historical documentation, I will, at certain times, collect the data as it currently stands and preserve it in a new post. This will effectively replace the Hundred Post milestones I've done in the past (and save me coming up with new ides as to what to do for the occasion in future).
Needless to say, it will be interesting to mark a progression of taste with the passing of time.

A Few Good Games

And so, on last night's screening of Good Game, the list of 100 Best Games, as voted by the Australian public was released. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, Skyrim ended up on top. 

Sarcasm aside, two of the three games I voted for made the list (Metal Gear Solid at 52 and Baldur's Gate 2 at 46) so that's not a bad effort.
What is worthy of note though is that, looking at the list, it is dominated by 7th generation and 6th generation games. Granted that may be a product of a large number of gamers younger than me casting their vote but it is kind of interesting that Skyrim comes out on top whilst Super Mario Bros, without question one of the most important games ever made, is relegated to the opposite end of the list.
No doubt about it: Gaming is a platform that is continually advancing at an incredible rate - thus there is something to said about a game having staying power. True Ocarina of Time may exemplify that notion through being at no.3, but many games of the previous generation have been relegated to the first half of the list.
Indeed, one can only wonder if a similar list is done up in thirty years from now - and whether or not Skyrim will still be the king. ......

Fez the Music

And yet another game has been struck down from the Hall of Shame - this time, it is Fez!

The problem with assessing Fez is that one can't really escape the controversy drummed up by the game's creator Phil Fish. Personally, I'm sitting on the fence for this one: I've Seen Indie Game: The Movie and I can't deny the blood, sweat and tears Phil put into his game - but on the other hand, I can't deny that his use of Twitter has...not turned out too well.
Still I think now would be a good time to look at Fez and see if this game can stand up on it's own two feet. And much like Duke Nukem Forever, we should at least appreciate  that this game has seen the light of day after years spent in development hell.

Unlike Duke Nukem Forever, Fez is actually a good game.
I find there is a lot going for this game. I like the mechanic based around rotating the scenery. I like the environments and the moody music.I also enjoyed the retro styling and didn't find it intrusive at all - even to the point I actually found the graphics and sounds had more personality and variety than a lot of Triple-A games. I also really enjoyed the exploration element finding this the type of game one can divert from their original course and go in another direction - exactly the sign one is playing a compelling game.

I thought the ending was a bit weird though. That's the thing with these 'arty' games: They seem to have this need to lay on multiple depths and hidden meanings - as if in the hope that doing so would score big with the critics. But there is a fine line between the player being intrigued and the player being confused & subsequently frustrated.

Nevertheless, Fez is awesome and I hope it manages to have plenty of staying power in the years to come (although the difficulty in finding the anti-cubes may do just that).

Not so Keen

Another game has been cast down from my Hall of Shame - Funny how completing one game inspires you to beat some more.
Anywho, this time it's the Steam release of the Commander Keen Complete pack!

I remember the Commander Keen games when I was a kid - Somehow if you had a PC you had this game (as in at least one of the installments of Invasion of Vorticons). Indeed, I recall being impressed that everyone had this game in one form or another.
It has to be said though that this game has not aged well: I recall the Commander Keen being a big deal because it provided platform action on the PC at a time when the PC was not known for such games - however more importantly, at least for me, was that the game had a sense of personality.
Years later, I see more than a few problems. The difficulty is tough, even to the point where the games commit the ultimate sin of bullshit deaths. Still the games are short and there are plenty of goodies to collect for points and build up many lives - maybe that's why the difficulty is tough but you never know...

Strangely though, I recall enjoying Keen 1-3 but never 4. Maybe there was something about the art direction that I found somewhat hideous. Did I find it glaring when I was used to something more simplistic? Perhaps - but it is funny that whilst I hated the graphics in 4 I did enjoy the similar graphics in Keen Dreams. Work that one out...

And speaking of which, where is Keen Dreams? And Keen 6 (Aliens Ate My Babysitter)? You call yourself a Complete Pack?!

I wanna hold your hand

Some time ago, I wrote a poem about Ico. I liked it enough to do a little video about it:

(all words and original imagery done by me)

Since making this video, it has been submitted to the Good Game Top 100 special.
Don't know if it'll make the show but one can always try...

Sour Grapes

On the weekend, i had the pleasure of striking another game from my Hall of Shame: Simon the Sorcerer 2!

 I have an odd history with the Simon the Sorcerer series: I first became aware of it during the bleak period between the end of the 4th generation and the dawn of the 5th (for me this was 1993-1996). As established before I had an Amiga during this period and found myself with little choice for games - thus leaving me unable to do much bar read the magazines and look lovingly at screenshots of games I could never hope to possess
This is how I became aware of the Simon the Sorcerer. It was a talked up a lot in the gaming press and one particular article revealed a sequel to be in the making. I never knew if this was sequel was eventually completed but apparently it was. And so, I got to play through a game I'd originally heard about twenty years earlier(!).

Unfortunately, as is often the case with sequels, this game seems to be something of a let down. First up Chris Barrie is absent and it is drastically felt - subsequently, Simon has a different voice and less charm. Matter aren't helped with the writing making Simon even more sarcastic than before and thus come across as being more of a complete douche.

Still there is much to admire in the game itself: The jokes are great, the writing is superb and, once again, it is the people that populate the world that makes the game. The backdrops are as gorgeous as ever and the quicker travel method is a welcome change - and one for the better.

But the ending was annoying: A cliffhanger ending? That (eventually) spawned sequels that were pale shadows of the original? And a breaking of the fourth wall that did nothing more than add nightmare fuel? Whoopeee. And considering that games are still doing this - even when there's no guarantee there will be a sequel, you'd think the lesson was already well-learned - but noooo....
Mind you, seeing the credits that followed, I couldn't help but think they came across as being half-arsed in their approach - which in turn adds to the rushed nature of the game's conclusion.

Ultimately, Simon the Sorcerer 2 had it's moments but I've always wondered why it isn't as fondly remembered as it's predecessor. Now however I think I know why...

A Space Big Enough For Any Criminal to Hide In

Lets not beat around the bush: I'm excited for Elite Dangerous and am looking forward to getting my claws on it.

One thing though: It's taken the form of an MMO - meaning I'll be sharing playing space with a whole lot of other players.
What I find particularly interesting about this is based on my experiences with the original Elite: As I recall, the player could build up a criminal record through trading illegal materials (ie slaves and firearms). And at the same time, the player could also make some money through hunting down criminals and claiming a bounty.

So thus lies in the potential for MMO players to engage criminal activities and build up a bounty big enough to gain attention from other players. It sounds like a clever idea to deal with troublemakers that MMOs always attract but then again, if you have a bounty then one would need the biggest, most powerful ship they can acquire (a challenge most people would see as one worth rising up to).

Of course, all this is just speculative so it would be interesting to see how it comes about in the finished product.