That was the year it was: 2018

And so another year comes to an end. And with the end of the year, Game Tumor goes into hibernation and I am liberated from the pressures of coming up with more posts for this corner of cyberspace (at least until next year....).

So what has 2018 has to show for itself? Well I had the pleasure of casting more games from my Hall of Shame: Homeworld and God of Thunder were both beaten at long last, Trails in the Sky SC was finally concluded and Oxenfree turned out a massive delight; I finally entered the current console generation with the purchase of an Xbox One; mini retro consoles are proving to be a huge success; and Blizzard has made a major mistep that has thrown the internet into all sorts of chaos.

But whatever.
You may have noticed that this post marks the 900th post to this blog. Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself. So after nine years and 900 posts this blog is still going.
It just refuses to die!
One would think that I would eventually run out of things to say (especially considering that I'm shooting out fewer posts annually than previously) but apparently not. One would think that, seeing as this blog has lasted longer than the usual internet time span, that it's time has well and truly gone but no. I suppose as the wonderful world of gaming keeps trucking on, i will have things to say. And as long as I keep having games left unplayed, this blog will keep on going.

So here's the future and I hope to speak you all again when the curtain rises on 2019.

This was a triumph

Here's something that caught me completely by surprise. Someone redid Portal as a C64 game!:

Original video located here. Accessed 9th November 2018

I tend to view demakes with a conflicting eye: On one hand it's impressive that someone went to so much trouble but on the other hand I am left wondering what the point of it all was.

But who am I kidding? This is nothing short of impressive. It's astonishing that someone managed to get something of this quality out of an ancient hardware. Okay sure the ratio of time spent in the rooms to the time spent listening to GlaDOS' dialogue is off but I still take my aht off to the man who came up with this.

A small addition

It would seem that this whole 'mini-retro-console' sensation is one that can't be under-estimated. Never mind the huge sales, it would seem that someone was busted for hacking into a Mini-SNES and added some more games to it.

Clearly the line up of games that came with it wasn't strong enough.

I suppose in this day and age it shouldn't come as a surprise that someone manged to hack a mini console (although I personally have never heard of anyone hacking a console that wasn't a Dreamcast) but I am surprised that someone felt that the games offered on the console mini needed some improvements (if any).

Caving into the Dutch

So this is Dutch in his Red Dead Redemption 2 incarnation:

Original image located here. Accessed 14th November 2018

Funny thing, the first time i saw this artwork I couldn't help but think he had some sort of Nick Cave vibe going....

World's Greatest Detective

So this is a thing apparently:

Original video located here. Accessed 16th November 2018

Ermmm................what?
I myself have no attachment to Pokemon but this is still perplexing to say the least.  I suppose the crazy success of the Dead Pool movies has given Ryan Reynolds a free reign to do whatever he wants but it is odd to see Nintendo use one of their recognizable brands in such a manner.

Still, we can only wait and see....

R.I.P. Stan Lee

R.I.P. Stan Lee

Colder than the coldest Blizzard was cold

I think it's fair to say that this moment  is well and truly on it's way to gaming infamy:

Original video located here. Accessed 12th November 2018

Who would've guessed that silence could be so deafening?
Still, it is rare to see a big name, let alone Blizzard, make such a misstep. So it would be interesting to see how they will recover.

Take the Pressure Down

What is the worst game I have ever played?

Everyone has one but for me, it's not a subject to dwell on. I've played a lot of games over the years across many systems. And I've found, with my experience, that the good ones stick in the mind whereas the bad ones tend to fade into the ether.

However I do make an exception: A game that came out on the Commodore Amiga by the name of Under Pressure.

So why does this game stand out? I guess it's largely because it was due to my collection of games on the Amiga: Abundant in one level demos but short in actual games.

Still, in order to talk about this game, may I direct your attention to the following play-through:

Original video located here. Accessed 9th November 2018

The first thing you'll notice is that the PC sprite is huge (yes that big ED-209 lookalike is the PC). And the publishers must've thought so too because they put the large sprite forward as a selling point. This, in turn, may account for what drew me to this game.

But watching that play-through, and thereby revisiting this game for the first time in over two decades, I am reminded of what worked against the game. Namely:

• The sprite may be big but it moves slowly and in a ponderous fashion, making the game's progression a monotonous experience.
• The size of the PC spite also makes quick actions and jumping horrendously difficult. 
• Again, the size of PC sprite restricts the playing area which, most often than not, results in both unwittingly heading into danger and 'leap of faith' gameplay
• This game is difficult - difficult to the point of being unfair. I especially hated those 'drills' that appeared out of the ground and without warning.

Funny that the main selling point is also the game's Achilles' heel.
I mean, i can understand the desire to do something different from the norm and the potential of a big guy fighting little guys (thus reversing a usual shooter trope) but here, the execution leads a lot to be desired.

Watching the video however, one thing that strikes me is just how unfinished the game comes across. The first level has some degree of cohesion but ever level following it has a decline in level design. The fourth level (which i never progressed from) in particular has no sense of direction with dead ends and no proper direction in which to properly progress. Which in turn, gives off the impression that after the first level, the designers lost interest before ending on a half-arsed note.
Is that the reason for the tough difficulty? To hid the fact that wasn't a lot of game to speak of? (note the person behind the play-through was relying on cheats).
But the real slap in the face is the final level: After going through baddies (some of which look like they came from a completely different game), after traversing through dull levels of monstrous difficulty, you fight a boring boss and then the game ends with a 'To be Continued' message.

Just in case you need further convincing that the makers of this game gave up after the first level.

Still, it's just as well the music accompanying said message was kinda rockin; otherwise one would've thrown a controller through the screen.

It has been, at time of writing, twenty seven years and no sequel has shown itself.
It most likely will never show but here's hoping. After all, you can't be too careful...

Saturn mini

More adventures in revisionist history:

Sega CD Mini

And now, an exercise in revisionist history:

Getting the band back together

Lately I've been having a bash at the latest iteration of the Rock Band Franchise. Rock Band 4.

I will maintain that the second game in the franchise is the best. Oh sure, RB3 introduced the Music Library but it lacked the spark that made RB2 so special. matters aren't helped with the difficulty and the ugly character models.
So does RB4 bring anything new to the table?

So far i am liking the RPG-nature of the main campaign. I really like the choices one has to make - opting for either song selections or something random for the sake of cosmetic differences. Naturally, I gravitated towards the former option - there's no way I was going to play against something unfamiliar. Or lousy. Or hard. Clearly this game is built around having a substantial music library - perhaps more than ever before.

On the downside, the in-game store store seems limiting. The selection of guitars on sale seem smaller and the clothes on offer seem scant on 'sensible' options - but wide on the 'sillier' options. Mean if you, like me, want your band not looking like a bunch of idiots then you're out of luck.
Also, it seems the numbers of selections are restricted to the point of horrendous: I can't choose individual things for my band members, like shoes, earrings, t-shirt designs, and gloves. Instead a lot of these are lumped in together as accessories. And even the options that are already available seem paltry compared to previous Rock Band games. One would think that the more powerful hardware would lead to more customizing options but, strangely enough, the opposite is true.
I did like how the same cosmetic options were carried over from RB2 to RB3 - meaning that it was possible to recreate the same band members (even if the results weren't entirely successful). But to see such limiting cosmetic options in RB4 is disheartening at least. I suppose there is something to be said of making a new band instead of replicating previous members but that doesn't change the feeling of being, as a creator, hamstrung.

Still, it would be interesting to see what waits once the campaign is done....

One more for the Road

Yesterday the announcement was made that a new-mini console will be rearing it's head: A Mini-PlayStation will be coming out loaded with games.

I suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise as clearly people will buy things that are already easily available elsewhere Nostalgia sells. What is equally unsurprising is that Final Fantasy 7 and Metal Gear Solid are present and accounted for.
The real surprises however are a) the third of the 'Big Three', Castlevania Symphony of the Night is absent and b) there were actually enough PS1 games to fill out the rest of the console beyond the 'Big Three'.

Okay, okay, sarcasm aside, Having the PS1 re-released as mini-console shouldn't come as a surprise considering the success of the mini-SNES, Megadrive/Genesis and NES but exactly what does a new Mini-console bring to the table? Okay so not all of these games listed are available on the PSN but, lest we forget, this is a field that is advancing at a rate that is so rapid, it's alarming. Subsequently, many old games can get lost by the wayside and, unfortunately, claimed by the ravager that is time.
People lament about games you can no longer play. Games that, even not reaching enough people, presented new ideas that drew some attention. So why leave such iterations forgotten and unplayed? Why abandon such historical documents?

Of course, even as I type these words, i already know the answer: The four consoles that did get the mini-console treatment were all big sellers. Proof that, if anything, history is written by the winners.
Eventually however, the mini-consoles will run out of winners to rehash so what will happen next? Will they start focusing on the losers of the console war? Will we see rehashes of the Mega CD? Or the Saturn? Or worse?

It may not happen which is a shame: The above mentioned consoles may be mocked as failures but it does have it;s supporters that contend that both consoles had some diamonds in the rough. And I would like to see those diamonds given new light and show current gamers some noteworthy titles that they may not have been aware of.
I mean, you don't want the pirates to win, right?

Lost Weekend

This weekend I've spent a large amount of time on the Xbox One Scorpio (and yes I will keep referring to it as Scorpio).

A lot of it has been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and...

.....ha ha, just messing with you. I've been using it to revisit games I'd got off of XBLA.

Granted this way of doing things may not be what Microsoft want me to do as a consumer but hey, I know what I want to play.

You're the One that I Want

So, this happened:

Yep, it finally happened. I shelled out for an eighth generation console having resisted for so long. I picked up an Xbox One S(corpio). One could say that is just in time for Red Dead Redemption 2 but more likely it was the necessity to keep up with a tech race that is forever ten steps ahead.

Grumbling aside, I have so far been fiddling around with the console, learning how the apps work and uploading all my saved games off the 360 and onto the cloud storage. A slow starter yes but this does begin a new chapter in my gaming history.

Whether that is a good thing or not, however, remains to be seen....

Homecoming

Another game has been cast down from my Hall of Shame. Clean out your desk Homeworld, you're outta here!

Original image located here. Accessed 24th October 2018 

Man has this been a long time coming. It was released in 1999, I got the game off the shelf in 2009 and then I complete it in 2018. Of course I could've waited out another year but why on earth would I do that?

Anywho, this game is nothing short of impressive - even with the time of nineteen years. I could say that the novelty of the 3d would be enough but the game truly excels with it's narrative, it's presentation and the music - notably the use of Barber's Adagio for Strings and Yes' The Ladder.

Indeed, this is game that has truly benefited from a revamp by Gearbox, adding to the beauty and immersion tenfold. 

Of course these words are typed through the perspective of a) having played through the revamp and b) the distance of nineteen years since it's original release. But what I find particularly fascinating is that time was not ravaged this game at all. It still has an impressiveness that a lot of modern games can only dream of and is still as compelling, and still quite capable of being heart rendering.  

In fact, one gets the feeling the destruction of Kharak is the PC's answer to the PlayStation's death of Aerith. 

For the Record

Here's something I obtained earlier this year:

Oooooooooooooooooh yes.

R.I.P. Ben Daglish

Original video located here. Accessed 5th October 2018

R.I.P. Ben Daglish

Final Fantasy anime

An inro for a hypothetical anime adaptation of Final Fantasy 6:

Original video located here. Accessed 14th September 2018

I have no idea who made this (although i recognize the music as a remix of Terra's theme) but DAYUM

Tower of Power

Computer opponents in Age of Empires 2: Their single minded commitment to destroy my towers never ceases to amaze me.
By way of example:

Needless to say, these guys aren't heading for those buildings I recently captured.....

I Was Only Nineteen

And so, after nineteen years, Sony has finally ended tech support for the PS2, thus bringing the final curtain down on the console. 

Source

Nineteen years. That is staggering to say the least - especially since this is a field that tends to move at the blink of an eye. Indeed, by the way of comparison it took nineteen years to get from Pacman to System Shock 2.
I've already made my peace with the PS2 but I still have give props to any video game tech that's lasted this long. They are nothing short of a rare thing.

E-Maul

A story:

This year makes two decades since my first year at college. At the time, Internet culture was on the rise to a point where it started to look possible that anyone could use it - and it wasn't just confined to the realm of the basement-dwelling nerd. It was during this time that I got my first email account.
And I was real excited: for I now had a power that meant I could reach so many people across the world at my fingertips.

And so I got cocky: I decided to send an email to legendary late-eighties/early-nineties game developers the Bitmap Brothers. Through their website, i found their email address and sent an email asking if they had plans for any future Amiga releases.

In retrospect I'm not sure what possessed me to send such an email: Was I feeling adventurous with this new tech called email? Was I doing it just to get a reaction? Was I refusing to admit the Amiga's time was finished?
But in any case: i did indeed get a reply. One of only five words: 'Sure watch out for Z...'
At the time it was exciting that I got a reply but, now that i look back on it, I can wonder how seriously the Bitmap Brothers were taking my email. Were they dutifully answering a fan query? Or did I look naive to the point of laughable?

Thing is, in recent years, I obtained the Bitmap Brothers Universe book through a Kickstarter campaign, which provided a detailed history on the Bitmaps themselves.
What is of particular interest is part of the book that describes the period of the mid-to-late nineties: where many software houses were making the transition to 3D gaming. Some managed to pull it off and survive but many, many others, including the Bitmap Brothers collapsed (although in some cases not for the lack of trying).
That part of the book paints a picture where the Bitmaps are struggling to get their heads around the new tech of 3D; struggling to keep up with the growing trends of larger development crews, bigger budgets and the integration of FMV; butting heads with publishers and a prototype of Z on the Amiga that was never finished.

Funny how things turn out

Soul'd off

This is a worry....
 

Sky High

Another game has been struck down from my Hall of Shane. Goodbye Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter!

Original image located here. Accessed 15th July 2018

Clearly I liked the first one enough to find out what happens next.

Well what can i say about this one? There's a lot of charm to it, the dialogue is hilarious, the plot has some great twists and the boss battles are nothing short of epic. Funnily enough, I've often found with RPGs that I spend more time grinding to a point where the final boss seems like a pushover when compared to their predecessors - but this one was a rare exception. The end boss was just as challenging as some of the previous bosses that, somehow, the grinding didn't really feel like I was levelling the playing field.
Which is fine by me as I enjoy a challenge and appreciate the fact that the game was keeping me on my toes.

Ultimately though, this game has had an interesting localization history: It came out eight years after it's initial release, and the localization team, XSeed, had a series of well-documented troubles of their own to deal with. You often hear about how fans are left hanging when their favorite series comes to an abrupt end (Firefly anyone?) but you never hear (as much) about how fans are grateful when their favorite series has a proper follow-up let alone one that resolves everything.

So while I have no idea if anyone within XSeed would bother with this corner of cyberspace, may I say the following regardless:

You did good.

You put yourselves through a lot to get this game to the eager punters who have been left hanging.
You went out of your way to make sure the cliffhanger in the first game was properly resolved.
You did a Herculean task in translating a game with  a monumentally large amount of dialogue
And I, along with so many gamers, are grateful for the effort.
And you have certainly earned those big sales.

You did good.

Six Shooter

I got bored so I made a got a whole bunch of ESO screen caps and came up with this:

Yep, these are all my guys fashioned in a homage to the boxart to The Chaos Engine.

Erm......"Wayshrine Activated"?

Stationary position

Last week i was grumbling about Sony's refusal to partake in backwards compatibility. Well, a thought van must've been driving by my house as rumors have been floating around recently about Sony dusting off the PS1 and making it available to the retro market.

Source

Still not sold. Sure the NES mini may have been massive sellers but I do not see Sony falling over backwards to resurrect backwards compatibility having ditched it long ago. A quick look at the PlayStation services offered online and whilst there is plenty of support for the PS3 onward, the list of PS2 games is small and the list of PS1 games is non-existent.

Come on Sony, you can do better than this.
You have to if you want to bring me back from the Valve pool

Mass Effort

One can only wonder.

Jump in my car

So there's a game doing the rounds on the PS4 called Detroit: Becoming Human.

Thing is everyone's calling Detroit - which is funny to me because I recall in 1994, a game called Detroit on the Commodore Amiga. It was a management sim where the player ran a car-manufacturing business.

I assume this....Detroit: Becoming Human has nothing to do with cars?

Sunset on the Eighth Age

Perhaps the most significant news for this week was the announcement from Sony that the PlayStation 4 is nearing the end of it's life cycle.

Source 

In a way perhaps this should not come as a surprise. The current console generation (eighth) started in 2013 and it's been five years - the usual amount of time for any console generation. So does this mean the ninth console generation is just around the corner....?
Or most likely it is already underway with the release of the Nintendo Switch.

In any case, the news of the PS4's march off of stage is meaningless to me. Ever since the PS3 callously ditched backwards compatibility, I divorced the PlayStation and have never really looked back. No doubt Sony will repeat their familiar tactic of offering some new tech with their new console (ie PS2 = DVD, PS3 = Blu-Ray, PS4 = 4K UHD....kinda) but Sony's cavalier attitude to their history still doesn't sit well with me.
A wise man once said: you can't scrap a library's worth of gaming from the outgoing console and call it an improvement. For Sony to increasingly move away from backwards compatibility, when they originally introduced it with the PS2, is mind-boggling to say the least.
I am open to the potential PS5 being completely backwards compatible but, what are the odds of that happening?

We like the Moon

Apparently there's an anime movie in the works based on indie darling To the Moon.

Source

Seems Grave of the Fireflies has some competition for 'biggest tear-jerker'

Falcon Around

Ya gotta love Sieg.
He's the only sane one in the entire party

Who ya Gonna Call?

Hey Estelle, does a trip to New York appeal to you?!

Reach for the Sky

Lately I've been playing Legend of the Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter.

Man, has this has been a long time coming. I enjoyed the first game but, to be honest, I came away from it flat out drained: It was a very demanding game with tough boss battles and a very strict linearity (which made achievement hunting challenging as there was little to no room for error). Needless to say, it would have to be while before I took up the sequel.

But that time has now come. Maybe it was the fact this was a Steam game going unplayed, maybe it was the well documented trials and tribulations the localization team had to go through, maybe it was wanting to know what would happen next or maybe it was me being put off by the linearity of Final Fantasy X. Whatever the case, here I am.

So far, I'm enjoying this game a lot. I'm seeing some familiar faces, I'm finding the dialogue constantly amusing and the cooking mechanic is still unmatched. However the linearity is still creeping in, with the aforementioned demands and little room for error. Never in such a game have I seen such a rigid approach to game design: There's so many things that can be missed, whether they be items, recipes, sidequests or treasure chests. There's no room for deviation and is indeed frustrating. It certainly makes my grumbling about the linear nature of FFX look feeble by comparison.

Still, it would be interesting to see where this goes....

Shadow dancer

Well a new Tomb Raider game is now on the horizon, going by the name of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Meaning Lara Croft will be rubbing shoulders with a Beast and a Colossus.

Joking aside, the Tomb Raider series has a nasty reputation for being formulaic - even for outsiders like myself. I only hope that this new game does something new with Lara as opposed to retreading the ground made by the reboot.

But therein lies the dread that such a statement may turn out to be wishful thinking....

Voices from the Wilderness

Here's something that caught my eye recently: With this year being the twentieth anniversary of Panzer Dragoon Saga's (limited) release in the U.S., someone tracked down various figures of developer Team Andromeda and got their recollections on making the game.

This was a fascinating read to me. The trials and tribulations the development team is an engaging read on it's own. But what makes it for me is that these people finally have their voice. They finally have a platform to talk about the experience - moreso when one considers that hearing the people behind Final Fantasy VII talk about their experiences would certainly generate a lot more interest.
Of course, Panzer Dragoon Saga was a game that was crushed by the runaway success of FFVII but i find this article for more interesting: they are talking about a game that was cobbled together, on a system that was a nightmare to work for, to challenge the opposition but ultimately crashed and burned in spectacular fashion - leaving only a game that has reached legendary status as a true lost gem.
Sometimes it's the losers who have the more interesting stories to tell.

I Want to Break Free

Progress on FFX:

At time of writing, I am working my way through the 'post-game' phase of the game. I call it 'post-phase' because, in current terms, this would be the point where the narrative's done (more or less) and I have the freedom to do what I want ie, the Monster hunting, unlocking all the Aeons and finding secrets among others.

My play time is at 50 hours.

Deduct the 19 hours of being confined to the demands of the narrative and that's 31 hours.
Well, the gaming time has surpassed the story time - as it should have - but i admit it: The adore-mentioned demands wore me down. I finally have the freedom to do what I want but somehow, it doesn't seem that great.
Did I feel the same way when i originally played this game? Of course not. But now, take away the rose-colored glasses and add in years of experience, and the problems of FFX are more obvious.
And can't be ignored.
Especially when this type of thing has been resolved before and since.

Oh well......

Balancing act

Still trucking through Final Fantasy X.

With each post on my progress through this game, I have been taking notes, in the name of assessing the difference between game time and story time. At time of writing I have defeated Yunalesca. This is significant as this boss marks the point where the game opens up: From here, the player has access to the airship and can revisit previous locations in the game. From here, it's just one step away from the final dungeon and a real opportunity for the player to do anything, from sidequests to exploring.

You know, like a significantly non-linear game.

And just how long did it take for me to get there? 32 hours. A reasonable amount you may think but 13 of those hours was spent grinding playing the game the way I wanted to. This means that I had to spend 19 hours going along with the demands of the narrative.

Whether I liked it or not.

This playthrough of Final Fantasy X is one borne through playing some of the other titles in this series. And by playing I, IV, V, VI, VII and IX, I got the sense that I had a lot more freedom: I could go anywhere I wanted to and the game didn't resent me for it. True X may have been my first but it can't really use that excuse when compared to it's brethren. Makes me wonder: is the linear nature of the game the reason why many Final Fantasy fans hate X?

Still, having the game opened up before me, presents an opportunity to readdress the balance.
And having the control being taken from me so many times, six hours (minimum) of messing around in Spira looks good to me.

Resurrection

Recently it was announced that Sega is going to re-release Shenmue 1 and 2 for the current console generation and the PC.

One gets the feeling this is drum up interest for the upcoming Shenmue 3 but it's nice to know that Sega is dusting off a series that appeared on a Sega console that isn't the Megadrive/Genesis.

So tell me Sega: can we have some more Moments-from-your-history-that-only-you-seem-to-be-ashamed-of?

Say that again

Recently, Sega announced a mini-Megadrive. It's a commemoration of the console's 30th anniversary and contains 85 games built in.

Well here we are again: yet another iteration of Sega's greatest achievement. I won't deny that the Megadrive/Genesis was a major game-changer (so to speak) in the early nineties but do we really need to be informed of it over and over again?
Furthermore, yet another iteration of the Megadrive's success highlights, for me, the apathy and downright hostility towards the Mega CD and the Saturn. Okay, so maybe unsuccessful consoles may not sit well with their creators (Virtual Boy anyone?), but both consoles had some diamonds in the rough and it be a shame for them to be forgotten and left by the wayside as history continues to march unabated. Perhaps moreso considering Sega's 'scorched earth' approach to the (now non-existent) preservation of the Saturn.
If the success of Online Distribution had proved anything, people will gladly pay to play something legally. And I know for a fact that I will pay to play some decent Saturn games in a legal format.
I mean, there were other decent games that weren't Nights

Lets be honest here Sega: Do you really want the pirates to win?

Hours ticking away

Still trucking through Final Fantasy X.

At time of writing, I am girding my way through Macalania Woods.
The ratio of gameplay to story now stands at 10 hours of gameply out of 18 hours overall.

This is the first time the balance is out of order but in my defence:

• I want to level up Kimahri to have Dispel (because I'll be needing it when I face Evrare).
• Macalania Woods is a really useful place for Leveling up
• This is a game after all and not some movie
• After putting up with so many times the game has taken control out of my hands, I feel I'm entitled to play the game the way I want to play it

Imbalance

Currently ploughing through FFX again.

Previously, I mentioned the imbalance between the narrative and the gameplay. Well, at time of writing, I am currently in in the middle of the High Road and doing some Level grinding.

What this means is that I've achieved five hours of gameplay next to five hours of story.

Gotta maintain balance...

X marks the spot

Recently, I've been having a crack at Final Fantasy X (the HD Remaster).

FFX and I have a fascinating history: It was the first game I got for my PS2. It was the first game I played after some time away from modern gaming, it was my first JRPG and it was my first Final Fantasy game.
Of course in the time since, I've played more games and more Final Fantasy games - subsequently FFX may have been left by the wayside. So why not have a revisit?

Well the HD looks real nice - especially seeing favorite locations looking better than ever (Besaid anyone?). However replaying the game now, I realize something. Something that never bothered me when I originally played this game:

There is a lot of story.

Now I like a good story in my game as much as the next person but in FFX, both the story and game are treated as separate entities, separated by a wall five feet thick.
Indeed, it's only playing FFX now I realize: for the first three hours I was doing very little actual...playing. Instead, I realized that I was watching Tidus' journey play out but as an audience rather than a participant - which is the point of gaming.
True the set up had to be established, explaining the characters the world they live in and the situation that requires my involvement - but at the same time, i felt there ratio between cutscene and actual-gaming-portion was way off.
At time of writing, I have reached the Kilika Woods - where I'm actually feel like I'm playing a game: I'm wandering the woods, bashing heads, scoring gold, grinding and abusing the Sphere Grid. I've spent three hours trudging through cutscene after cutscene and now I'm at a point where I feel I'm actually playing, and enjoying, the game. I could call it a shot of revenge after those three hours doing what the game wants me to do, but really, I know what I want these characters to do and I will make sure they do it (have I mentioned how much I loved messing around in the Sphere Grid?).

That being said I realise: I'm Grinding but in this instance the Grinding fells like.......well.......fun. Call it a relief after three hours of having control of the game taken from me, but this is a rare instance when the Grinding doesn't feel like a chore. Matters are helped with the Remaster's option of having increased random encounters, meaning more xp and setting paths in the Sphere Grid.

So to summarise: After being dragged through three hours of cut-scenes, I am ceasing advancing the game's plot in favor of finding of finding enjoyment in Grinding.
What can I say except Revenge is indeed sweet.

Hottest 100 Redux

It seems IGN have released another list of 100 Greatest Games of all time.

Regular readers to this blog would know that my journey into game truly began when I stumbled across IGN's 2005 list of 100 Greatest games of all time.  What it meant for me that after so long away from gaming, I realized that this was an attempt to come up with a definitive list and chart gaming's progress over the years. The pioneers and game-changers were given proper dues and it became clear which games had endured the test of time.

However time is indeed a ravager: Looking at this new list, it seems that many of the classics have been ditched. Granted, old games can date and newer games can be game-changers in their own right but I am interested in seeing which games from the 2005 list are still present in the 2018 list.

Thirty Nine apparently.

Not a bad showing but it does raises the issue of what makes a game...well...time resistant.
What is it makes a game like, say, Super Mario Bros an enduring game that is recognized as an undisputed classic and still enjoyed by gamers over three decades on?

There's no way around it: This is an industry that moves remarkably fast. And in some cases, too fast for anything to withstand the test of time. Consider: 2018 marks forty six years since the beginning of the First Console generation with Pong and the Magnavox Odyssey.
By comparison, with movies, it took forty six years to get from, say, Frankenstein to Star Wars - two movies that are undisputed classics in their own right and look set to endure for decades to come.
Watching both movies will reveal considerable differences in forty six years of movie-making techniques - but such differences will mean little when comparing Pong to the likes of Far Cry 5.

Still, it would be interesting to see if people will still be playing The Last of Us, let alone praising it, in 2025.....

Good Dog

Here's something I came across: A Mod of Wolf3d where you pat the German Shepards.

Obviously it's someone having a bit of a laugh, but I have to wonder: Is this an attempt to try and silence the Jack Thompsons of the world in having a First Person Shooter without any violence?
It may not be an effective one but it's an attempt...

You've been.......Thunderstruck!

On the weekend, I had the satisfaction of casting another game from my Hall of Shame: Goodbye God of Thunder!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd February 2018

This game and myself have had an interesting history: I played the first episode when I was in High School on the IT computers but I never got to beat it. Fast forward a decade later and I rediscover the game in it's complete form but I've never been able to beat the final boss. And a decade after that, I find the game available for free on Steam. Time to settle some unfinished business, no?

Looking back at this game, I can understand what this game was trying to do: It was an attempt to bring a Legend of Zelda-esque game to mid-nineties PC gaming. It's a decent stab I will admit, what with interesting puzzles, and a RPG-like path of progression. What makes God of Thunder somewhat different is that there is basis of Norse mythology with the PC being Thor, the PC's main weapon being Mjolnir and the Big Bad being Loki (figures a trickster god would be so difficult to defeat). Having said that however this game's grasp of Norse mythology has more to do with the Marvel comic character than the actual mythos.
Also, it has to be said that the only major difference is that the humor in Legend of Zelda is significantly less corny than that of God of Thunder (at one one point an NPC says that the PC, Thor, should have his own comic book......
Finally, I'd forgotten how tough the boss battles are. So it may not come to a surprise to you, the reader, that a lot of cursing and keyboard pounding was required to defeat the Big Bads at the end of each chapter. I could say that challenge of all three was me getting my money's worth but this was a game I got for free.....

So in the end, I did enjoy this game and experiencing it now was no different than when I enjoyed it twenty-odd years ago.

This Ain't No Game

So we have a new Mario movie in the works eh? And it's an animated one?

I'm actually surprised that this is happening because, as is my understanding, seeing as the notorious Live Action Mario movie was a flop, Nintendo has kept a tight grip on their IP. But then again, Nintendo has achieved massive success with a smartphone app called Pokemon Go.

My only hope is that this new movie is better than the previous efforts at having an animated Mario...

History is Written

Here's something that caught my eye recently: A fan-made book chronicling the history of CRPGs.

It's an impressive feat: 528 pages and over a hundred contributors. But I'm just glad that CRPG's are getting a proper history. Maybe it;s just me, whenever RPG's are brought up, everyone falls onto the console RPGs, like Final Fantasy - so it;s welcoming that, through this book, some lesser known RPGs are given a time to shine.

A Walk Through Cyrodril

Recently I had a crack at the PvP portion of ESO. This wasn't something I had planned on when i started playing ESO but I thought i would at least give it a show. Plus the skillset offered on PvP looked quite tempting.
It should be noted that I never tried PvP when I played WoW so I had no idea what to expect (beyond the possibility of being ganged up on by people who knew what they were doing were of a higher level). Still fortune favours the brave....

So what i could gather, Cyrodril is a location wherein the three major factions are in a never-ending cycle of war to claim dominance. This is new to me as someone who has been doing PvE. However there are some quests that can be achieved by a single player so at least there is some degree of familiarity. But ultimately, my experience with Cyrodril is going around the area to be where I need to be. The absence of wayshrines is noticeably absent and reduces traveling as roaming around the area. An area that turns out to be very vacant.  Okay there is the occasional raid but I found that when you die, you are cast back to your starting area and have to start the long and arduous journey back to where you were. if anything i found I spent more time journeying than i did in combat.

Matters aren't helped with the combat being stupidly tough. Granted I may be approaching this as a lower-level character punching above his weight, but there is no fun value whatsoever by being decimated by a higher level character before you have a chance to start.
And then there's the Imperial city: loaded with baddies that I can barely scratch let, alone defeat. As such i found myself going through soul gems at a crazy rate.

Granted this through the perspective of a lower-level character but I think I'll stick to the PvE in future...

Freedom isn't Free

Another game has been struck down from my Hall of Shame. Clean out your desk Oxenfree, you're outta here!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd February 2018 

Of course, saying I've completed this game is somewhat meaningless - and people who have played this game will know why. For now, however I have beaten this game but only for the first time. Needless to say, I will return to Oxenfree sometime in the near future. 

In the meantime however, I did enjoy this game a lot. I've played a lot of adventure games and have found their strengths lie in the writing. And this is what Oxenfree understands and accomplishes in flying colors: The characters are well-written and believable, the dialogue is natural and delivered with superb acting and we have a game wherein we have teenagers acting ....well...like teenagers.

In fact, that last point really says a lot about the game,. Sure the mystery surrounding the setting was engaging, the supernatural parts were freaky, the atmosphere was abundant and the music was stunning. But at the end of the day, the MVP is the best portrayal of teenagers I have ever seen - perhaps moreso than any other game, movie or TV series.

In fact, replaying this game now suddenly feels like a substantial enticement - a sign that this game must've done something right

R.I.P. Bob Wakelin

R.I.P. gaming box artist Bob Wakelin

Tis' a lost art, the game box cover art....

Toren Apart

Happy New Year everybody! And what better way to kick start a new year of Game Tumour than to strike another game from my Hall of Shame. Goodbye Toren!

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd January 2018

I was keen on this because the previews painted an interesting picture. Atmospheric setting? I'm in. A game that clearly draws inspiration from Ico? Keep going. A first effort from a small Brazilian studio? Hey, maybe there's something from there beyond the veneration of the Sega Master System.

So playing Toren two things become apparent: First, this game is is clearly about a girl, Moonchild, ascending a tower to defeat a dragon. But time is flowing differently and the girl is aging as she ascends.
The Second thing is that the controls are rubbish. Yes, it's great that Moonchild is going to fight a dragon but somehow she has a fight a greater battle with the controls, as she goes in places I didn't want her to go and does things i didn't want her to do.

The comparisons to Ico are evident with the setting: The ruins looks similar and the ambience is the same. Throw in a whole lot of symbolism and this game is clearly aiming for the 'arty' crowd. But at the same time, it may prove to be it's Achilles heel: I played through the game wanting to know about the character and the setting but no such details came. How is Time flowing in this game? Why is it flowing in such an erratic manner? What is Moonchild's relationship with her guide? What was with that ending? How does Moonchild's memories fit in with the legend she's been following? This game may be arty but it may be hiding behind it. So let me say this up front: Just because you're making an arty game does not give you a license to be obtuse.

I can understand that being arty and making a game can be a tricky balance to pull off. But despite Toren's best efforts, it did not pull it off. Still, as a first effort it's a decent stab and I would be interested to see what this studio cames up with next.