Where there's smoke

Last night, a recent clutch of newly-won Steam achievements led to this:

Cause for concern, perhaps?

Bordered up

To follow up from a previous post, I did a check on my Steam account and found that yes indeed, Borderlands 2 is the most owned game by the people on my friends list.

And it would seem for very good reaosn

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.

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.

Alien Resurrection

Recently I had a go at Alien Swarm.

Anyone heard of this? It's one of those free games that have crept into Steam. I went into it with three friends as we were all after something new to play. And why, who can say no to free stuff?

Upon playing Alien Swarm, we were faced with four character options: Officer, Special Weapons, Medic and a Tech. Predictably, both Special Weapon characters were pounced on quick leaving a Tech and a Medic included as a matter of necessity. I can understand, in retrospect, that having one of each character is key to success but two Special Weapons? It's possible that it can be done but somehow I'm not sure that's what the designers of this game had in mind.

In researching this game it becomes apparent that it's a remake of the Alien Swarm mod from Unreal Tournament 2004. That means little to me as I've never played any games in the Unreal franchise. So, I approached this game as someone unaware of it's origins. After all, it may yield a different perspective, no?
So what we have here is a scenario taken from the movie Aliens: A group of human marines are going into enemy territory where the enemy in question is a swarm of ugly, alien nasties that outnumber the marines several times over. It is then up to the Marines to get through a series of missions, achieving a set task and, hopefully, surviving to the end.
In playing Alien Swarm, I found there are moments where the action is intense, being attacked from all sides. There are equally nerve-racking moments when my guy (the Tech) is trying fanatically to get into a computer system while the aliens are all around me. There's the despair when one of your team mates bites the dust (especially when you need them to complete the mission). There's the necessity of sharing ammo and health and working together to stay upright. And there's always the last minute dash to safety in order to seal the success of the mission.

So really, Alien Swarm does all the things that we expect from Aliens. It's the movie adaptation that never was. And perosnally,, is all the better for it.
Play it again? You bet!

Red Dead Redemption

And another game has been cast down from my Hall of Shame. Goodbye Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: the Sith Lords!

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd September 2017

This is a difficult game to assess: largely because so much has already been said about it: The dramas this game had during development, the cut content that were eventually restored via the Steam release, the gamers who have given this game a frosty reputation gamers and have since warmed up to, the challenges this game has put to the Star Wars universe, the philosophizing present within a series not known for its subtlety.

I however played this game off of Steam and it’s through the lens of seeing a broken game restored that I have viewed this game.
And I saw a complete game. Okay, sure the ending may have been a bit abrupt but seeing how much effort has gone into restoring the lost content and how it has been applied into the original game, it is difficult to imagine how the originally released game went without it.
The game I played certainly looked complete. It had a clear beginning, middle and end. There were interesting characters, solid writing and depth that was unusual for Star Wars. It may seem like a re-tread of the first game in some ways but there was enough new content and the provision of a much different perspective that this game succeeds as a sequel.

Other than that, there isn’t a lot else I can say about this game: The characters are all well-written and memorable (favourites being Visas and HK-47), the writing is top-notch, and it’s a lot fun to play. Funny how games can be seen in a much different light given the passage of time and the meddling of modders. A fresh perspective on Star Wars that is lost following Disney’s ditching of the Expanded Universe? Sadly yes. Better than the sequel? You know I think it may well be.
It’s just a shame that the series ended here and sequel hasn’t been seen beyond the MMORPG.

One question though: Considering that I completed the game on the Light Side path, does that mean that The Exile can now be Force buddies with Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker? (sure they will all come much later but still….)

The Right Combination

This came up as an ad for Steam sales.

 Could be a wild guess but i think this placement may have been intentional. 

Sinnertwin

Some time ago, I made a contribution to a Kickstarter campaign - a campaign to get Divinity Original Sin 2 made. And recently, the first fruits of this move have emerged with the beta access being released to backers. This means that backers like myself have access to the first area of the game.

Early impressions create a game that is showing a lot of promise. The character creation is much more diverse with races, more appearance options and, interestingly enough, back stories. The back stories are of particular interest as they can result in certain options being available in the dialogue trees. In addition, certain combinations can result in a fixed character - one that can later appear as a party member in the game itself.

As for the game itself, I'm enjoying it so far. The combat operates in similar fashion to the first Original Sin. I also see that, compared to the first game, a party is built up more quickly with characters who have their own agenda to content with the plans of the player. The settings are beautiful to behold and certainly painstaking in their detail.

Needless to say, I'm keen to see how the finished product turns out...

The Magnificent Seventeen

Following on from an earlier post where I was singing the praises of Don Bradman's Cricket 2014, it would therefore be somewhat inevitable that my attention would turn towards it's inevitable successor. It would seem a demo of Don Bradman's Cricket 2017 is available on Steam.
So may as well take a look....

So what the demo is offering is a WIP of the Academy.  This time however, there are a lot more options on offer. Any player wanting to build a new cricketer can choose their gender, team role (ie Bowler, Batsman, Wicket Keeper, Opening Batsman) and race. There is a lot more detail in assigning attributes for the player's defined roles. So generally, I've found, in comparison to Don Bradman's Cricket 2014, there's more options and more freedom with building players. Not sure i like the player likeness though. Looks too freaky to me...

With regards to the player lost it seems Red Ant are doing the same thing they did before: provide a list of generic names and invite players to replace them with genuine players. I must admit it's a bit odd seeing the list of generic names again, having grown so used to the shared players from the original Academy. Therefore, I will hold off making new players until the game's released and some familiar faces re-emerge. Apparently there will be some sort of backwards compatibility (just don't quote me on that). 
But somehow, this new list looks bigger than that in Don Bradman's Cricket 2014. It makes me wonder if Red Ant payed attention to the creations that wormed their way into the Academy the first time around - and whether they noticed my addition of some local (however not widely known) heroes.

.....probably not, but I can always dream.....

Run Out

Lately I've been playing Don Bradman's Cricket 2014. It's game I started playing some months ago and one that I've been returning to since.

This may seem like an odd choice seeing as I've had little to no interest in sport games over the years. I have played cricket games over the years but none have come across as something special. So why play this one? Firstly it's made by an Australian developer. Secondly, a lot of Don Bradman's Cricket 2014 hinges on the rather cunning way the developers worked around the licensing issues. This takes form of the the Don Bradman Academy where players wanting to include famous teams and current teams are encouraged to create them in the Academy and share them with other players. They even have soundbytes for famous names and nicknames!
As such, this cunning navigation was enough to secure my interest.

Based upon my own experience with Cricket games (ie the primitive One Day Cricket and Graham Gooch cricket on the C64) this incarnation is head and shoulders above them all. The controls are accessible and there's a decent training section. There's a lot of freedom in match customization and never once does the game seem overwhelming to a newcomer and/or someone unfamiliar with cricket. For the first time, for me at least, cricket comes across as being fun to play and never once a slog to get through. In fact, the fact that I keep coming back to this game is proof enough that this game is a bonafide success.

And as for the Academy I had some fun in building up the Tasmanian Best XI (which was announced earlier this year) and seeing them go against the other teams. And hey, where else could you have  Charles Eady getting Jack Hobbs out for four runs?

A New Quest

Recently I had the pleasure of striking another game from my Hall of Shame. Clean out your desk DLC Quest, you're outta here!

I'm not sure if this counts as a legitimate exclusion from the Hall of Shame as the game is short, cheap and doesn't even try to hide it's intent of being one colossal joke. But hey, I made it to the end and netted a whole a lot of achievements so that must account for something.

It's rare to find a game that's legitimately funny. It's rarer still to find a game that's legitimately funny which doesn't wear out it's welcome. So is DLC Quest one of these?
Well I did enjoy the jokes, I did enjoy the commentary on gaming culture and the short nature of the game means the game doesn't wear out it's welcome. But on the other hand, DLC Quest isn't something I see myself returning to. Yes DLC Quest was entertaining but once you've seen all the jokes there isn't really that much in the way of staying power.

Still DLC Quest works as an afternoon occupier. And I'll give it that much

Kiss Me You Fool

So far, this has been the only time my hapless blue knight has achieved a kiss from one of the princesses.

Still, at least I have a tonne of cash to go with it XD

The Legend Lives on

And for the first time this year, a game has been cast down from my Hall of Shame. Goodbye Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (FC)!

Original image located here. Accessed 30th March 2016

It's been awhile since I last sat down and played a JRPG. True there's no shortage of them but I don't feel that such a thing is working for the genre. Allow me to elaborate: I personally feel that, as a genre, the JRPG is in a terrible state of stagnation. Nothing has really come along that has really changed the genre dramatically. In fact, I firmly believe that the genre peaked with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 7 and everything that has followed since hasn't reached such lofty heights. Instead, the genre has been reduced to repetition and formula. Thus what we end up with is so many JRPG titles, subsequently representing quantity over quality, and the challenge of any JRPG needing to do something really special to jump out from the pack.

So in that front, how did Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky fair?

I will admit that this game certainly adheres to the familiar tropes that are so common in JRPGs: A spunky, hyperactive female lead? Check. A sullen male lead that functions as a straight man to the female lead? Check. A lot of party members including a cute kid, a martial artist, a cocky grump, a genteel type, a pretty boy and a 'big sister'? Check. Airships? Check. A sequence involving cross-dressing? Check. Ancient tech? Check. A battle system involving super moves built up by taking so many hits? Check.

So getting past the trappings of formula, is there anything left to Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky? Yes there is: Heart. It may sound corny but there is clearly a lot of love put into this game. It has a lot of charm and personality that makes Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky's adherence to JRPG formula forgivable (it should also be noted that this was the same impression I took away from Skies of Arcadia).
I really enjoy the dialogue and often found myself laughing out loud at some points. I really enjoy these characters to a point where I found myself wanting to know what happens next. In fact I think this may well be the biggest selling point for this game: It is well-written. And that's saying a lot coming from a genre that's, as stated above, stagnated badly.

All in all, I really enjoyed playing Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and I'm looking forward to the Second Chapter - which is already in my Steam account and ready to go. And considering the trials and tribulations the localization team went through, the fact that SC is here is a miracle and one to be savored.

Castle has Crashed

Lately, in between my progress through Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, I've been playing Castle Crashers.

This is not my first time playing Castle Crashers - Previously it was something I played at my friend's place on his Xbox. But now, I have Castle Crashers on Steam and I'm going all the way through it.
Currently I am playing this with the same people I played ESO with. Funny thing to say: It's like we traded well realised, immersive worlds for cartoonish graphics and general absurdity.

Of course this only solidifies Castle Crashers' reputation as being one of, if not the, best multi-player games in existence. However compared to the previous multi-player games, Castle Crashers has been something of a change of pace: Previously, in this group, I have been the lowest leveled. I've lagged behind everyone else who are well ahead of me and, despite my best efforts, I can never catch up and/or keep the pace. But with Castle Crashers, it's the exact opposite: I am well ahead of everyone else in the leveling department. I suppose this can be attributed to the fact that I was the only one who started with a controller (as opposed to to a keyboard), but it does make a welcome change that the guy who was behind everyone else suddenly came out in front (Steven Bradbury anyone?).

Only drawback is that everyone tends to gang up on me in the Princess fights, making me the first one to go down but still.....

The Sky's the Limit

As promised, I've been playing a lot of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky lately.

At time of writing, I'm eleven hours in and I've cleared the prologue.

This is going to be a long game.....

Days of the New Republic

Happy New Year everyone! And here we go again with another year of Game Tumour.
So what did I play over my Christmas/New Years break? None other than Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic!

Okay so yes I did get sucked into the hype over the new movie and yes it is in anticipation for giving the oft-maligned KOTOR 2 a look (and with the Steam release promising restored content and achievements how could I refuse?) but I made it a point to revisit KOTOR 1 due to several points of interest.

Firstly, I last played this game in 2009 on the original Xbox. This time I played it on Steam and with a better idea of what I was doing. Seeing as it's been seven years between drinks, it is interesting to see the game from such a perspective. And I can safely say that KOTOR 1 still holds up well - it's still fun and engaging and I even encountered some content I missed the first time around. And even with the knowledge of the big plot twist, it still comes across as well-orchestrated that you never really see it coming.

Secondly, I am playing this game when the ownership of Star Wars has changed hands to Disney - and subsequently slit the throat of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. This move is something I have mixed feelings about: On one hand, the EU was nothing short of huge and could be intimidating to newcomers - so scrapping the EU and starting again does invite a tightly controlled, and more coherent, continuity. But on the other hand, the end of the EU does mean that some quality material will be left by the wayside - and KOTOR being one of them.
Which is indeed a shame as KOTOR is easily one of the strongest entrants in Star Wars and could certainly show anyone working on the new continuity how it's done. It manages to achieve that difficult balancing act of being new and familiar - something that eluded the grasp of the prequels.

Thirdly, it is interesting to see this game now that Force Awakens has descended down from Heavens in a golden chariot. Much has been made that how this Star Wars has gone out of this way to have plenty of diversity in it's cast (not least Finn and Rey) but somehow that attention may have been better directed at KOTOR who did it first. There's no shortage of diversity in your companions (Bastila, Mission, Juhani and Jolee) but there is a real freedom being offered in who the PC is and how the player creates them. In fact, I find it funny how people rave about Rey being the strong female character that the Star Wars franchise needed when my character, Nicst Elhob, did it first.
In addition, the new Star Wars films have the unenviable task of being new and familiar at the same time. Whilst I did find Force awakens to be both enjoyable and an apology letter for the prequels, it still seemed to be leaning on the A New Hope a lot - at the expense of having something of it's own to say (hopefully Episode VIII doesn't fall into the same trap and be a retread of Empire Strikes back)- unlike KOTOR who again, certainly had something to say and within the context of the Star Wars universe.

And finally, KOTOR still represents the prequels that should've been. It's been said that there was a germ of an idea in them that sadly got overlooked. But that wasn't a problem with KOTOR: So Anakin Skywalker was truly The Chosen One who was meant to bring balance to the Force? So what - Nicst Elhob did just that. Yep, within the field of a RPG, I had the freedom to be precisely the Jedi I wanted to be. I got to make decisions that swung in the directions both good and bad. An why wouldn't I? This is an RPG, where the players are free to mould their character in the way they seem fit. Furthermore, the lack of a Mass Effect conversation reel yields no indication of how certain conversation responses will go over - therefore it becomes impossible to do a 'pure' light side character and, to me, makes the game better for it.

Personally, if I was charged with making a new Star Wars movie, or even a reboot of the prequels, I would look to KOTOR - because it got so much right it wasn't funny.

Die For Your Queen

Over the past few weeks I've been playing a lot of Long Live the Queen.

This is certainly an entertaining game. I've seen plenty of anime to pick up all the jokes and references and there certifiably is suspense in seeing how the choices the player makes effects the hapless Elodie. Indeed, it says a lot when a small Steam game is more engaging than some huge twenty-gig-size monstrosity.

It's an entertaining game to be sure but so far I've achieved more successful coronations than I have deaths
And I can't shake the feeling that I'm playing this game wrong.

System of a Down

Another game has been cast down from my Hall of Shame (and the first for 2015 too!). Goodbye System Shock 2!

Man oh man, has this game got a reputation and a half: the father of Bioshock, a complete reinvention (alongside Deus Ex) of the First Person Shooter genre, one of the scariest games ever made, one of the greatest villains ever conceived in gaming history.

And you know what? In this case the reputation is justified.

Okay so I may have been using a heavily modded version of the game, that resulted in updated graphics, reworked environments and high level textures but even such modifications can;t take away that this is a game dripping in atmosphere. There is real tension with danger lurking around every corner, there is dread invoked with the sound design and there is a real sense that this is survival horror done right (ie you're all alone and no one else can jump you & nick your gear).

However whilst System Shock 2 may be pushing sixteen years, it still stands as one of the toughest games I've played. Never mind the careful selection of skill allotment (it's been well-established that this game is unforgiving to a point that if you chose the wrong skills, you may find yourself unable to complete the game), I had to contend with weapon degradation, constant threats, never having enough ammo, and dying over and over again. Even the boss fight with the Many was a real nightmare - one that somehow made the eventual confrontation with SHODAN seem tame by comparison. That being said, I think I can now understand why Bioshock was made easier - and may have contributed to greater sales. Still, beating any tough game is certainly an achievement and that certainly was the case here.

Not much else except to say that System Shock 2 is a great game. And it is finally great to play it when it was lost in the legal limbo for so long.
Now, about No One Lives Forever....