Kinda snuck up on you this time, but who gives a fuck nobody reads this blog anyway.
expect a review whenever I get around to it. it's not like I have a deadline or anything.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
BioShock and Diablo 2 - Retrospective
You may feel cheated when I combine these games together into a single review, but when I stopped to think about it, they are actually very similar games. While they may follow very different control schemes, plots, storylines, are set in different fiction genres, and in fact belong to completely different game genres, the two games are actually quite similar in terms of basic thought processes.
You begin each game in a strange environment. People around you seem to have a vague idea of who you are, but you're more or less a stranger to them. However, they still need your help, and you are given a number of quests that you have to complete in order to progress.
As you play through the games, you will encounter various enemies. How you kill them is your own responsibility. The game does not discriminate against the way you choose to inflict damage, but certain enemies will be resistant or weaker to specific types of attacks. Switching methods of attack on the fly is key to defeating waves of enemies without too much headache.
When you kill enemies, they will give you loot. This loot is randomly generated and not fixed to any specific progression. Depending on what kinds of items your kills give you, you may choose to focus on a different method of attack; favor a different type of weapon. The difference between what weaponry enemies give you, what you choose to use, and what weapon is most effective against them is the general balancing act of the gameplay, mostly by choosing the most effective weapon for each situation, based on range, speed, strength, and ease of use. Necessity (or laziness), however, may tempt the player to focus on one or two main modes of attack, and only use others when absolutely necessary (or when bored).
The number of weapons you have access to in Bioshock is much, MUCH smaller than in Diablo, but the overall number of weapon types are more or less equal. Weapons can be infused with elemental properties: ice attacks will freeze enemies and make them easier targets, but fire and electrical attacks are also available. Certain enemies are much more vulnerable to particular elements, while others are resistant or even completely immune.
While Bioshock and Diablo both follow a more or less linear plot (You complete the same quests in more or less the same order in every playthrough) in Bioshock, every weapon and enemy you face appears in generally the same location every time, and in fact every map is identical to every playthrough. Every key item and weapon you find will be in the same location and found at the same point in the plot; in some cases these are even required in order to progress.
Diablo, however, gives you a wide selection of weapons. While any specific aspect of them can be simplified by attack speed, range, and whether it is used in one or both hands, these weapons are replaced with stronger varieties throughout the game, andyour choice of what you use is made more complex with the addition of magical modifiers. Magical weapons can be found that provide any number of bonuses, from increased attack rating, higher health and mana, elemental properties, and much much more.
Unfortunately, The majority of weapons you find will be completely worthless to you. Modifiers such as "low quality" "crude" "damaged" or "cracked" are just as common as an unmodified or "superior" weapon, and these weapons are generally not even worth picking up to sell back in town; they aren't even worth the space in your inventory. And even when you do find a magical item, odds are you won't be interested in the item's particular modifiers. But when you do finally get that perfect item you've been hoping for, it's one of the best endorphin rushes in gaming.
Replay value in Diablo 2 is made much higher than in Bioshock based purely on the sheer number of ways you can play through it. Every class has 30 skills, each of which has 20 levels of effectiveness. Since it's impossible to gain 600 levels, you will have to choose what skills your character will focus on for any individual playthrough. Multiply this by 5 classes (7 in the expansion) and the infinite number of maps that can be randomly generated, and Diablo 2 is a game that anybody can play through multiple times and never have the exact same experience.
But the burning question is: would you want to?
What Bioshock lacks in complexity, it makes up for in focus. While it doesn't do nearly as much as Diablo 2, what it does do is highly polished and enjoyable. It may not be as long, but the fact that it can be played through and experienced much quicker means the entire narrative arc can be enjoyed in a shorter amount of time, and gratification is easier to come across. The game is too short to become monotonous, and too focused to become diluted.
Diablo's enjoyment comes from the progression of your character and growing him/her based on your method of play. You become attached not only to your character, but even your items. You hesitate to throw away that awesome sword you found in act 1, that served you so well for two entire acts and matches your character's skills perfectly, even though it has been rendered obsolete by newer equipment and is taking up too many of your inventory slots. But eventually you bite your lip and sell it to the merchant with a heavy heart, replacing it with something that may serve you better, but has no nostalgic attachment... yet. But perhaps in time you will learn to appreciate this one just as much.
Which is a better game? Who can say. It's all a matter of how you play it.
You begin each game in a strange environment. People around you seem to have a vague idea of who you are, but you're more or less a stranger to them. However, they still need your help, and you are given a number of quests that you have to complete in order to progress.
As you play through the games, you will encounter various enemies. How you kill them is your own responsibility. The game does not discriminate against the way you choose to inflict damage, but certain enemies will be resistant or weaker to specific types of attacks. Switching methods of attack on the fly is key to defeating waves of enemies without too much headache.
When you kill enemies, they will give you loot. This loot is randomly generated and not fixed to any specific progression. Depending on what kinds of items your kills give you, you may choose to focus on a different method of attack; favor a different type of weapon. The difference between what weaponry enemies give you, what you choose to use, and what weapon is most effective against them is the general balancing act of the gameplay, mostly by choosing the most effective weapon for each situation, based on range, speed, strength, and ease of use. Necessity (or laziness), however, may tempt the player to focus on one or two main modes of attack, and only use others when absolutely necessary (or when bored).
The number of weapons you have access to in Bioshock is much, MUCH smaller than in Diablo, but the overall number of weapon types are more or less equal. Weapons can be infused with elemental properties: ice attacks will freeze enemies and make them easier targets, but fire and electrical attacks are also available. Certain enemies are much more vulnerable to particular elements, while others are resistant or even completely immune.
While Bioshock and Diablo both follow a more or less linear plot (You complete the same quests in more or less the same order in every playthrough) in Bioshock, every weapon and enemy you face appears in generally the same location every time, and in fact every map is identical to every playthrough. Every key item and weapon you find will be in the same location and found at the same point in the plot; in some cases these are even required in order to progress.
Diablo, however, gives you a wide selection of weapons. While any specific aspect of them can be simplified by attack speed, range, and whether it is used in one or both hands, these weapons are replaced with stronger varieties throughout the game, andyour choice of what you use is made more complex with the addition of magical modifiers. Magical weapons can be found that provide any number of bonuses, from increased attack rating, higher health and mana, elemental properties, and much much more.
Unfortunately, The majority of weapons you find will be completely worthless to you. Modifiers such as "low quality" "crude" "damaged" or "cracked" are just as common as an unmodified or "superior" weapon, and these weapons are generally not even worth picking up to sell back in town; they aren't even worth the space in your inventory. And even when you do find a magical item, odds are you won't be interested in the item's particular modifiers. But when you do finally get that perfect item you've been hoping for, it's one of the best endorphin rushes in gaming.
Replay value in Diablo 2 is made much higher than in Bioshock based purely on the sheer number of ways you can play through it. Every class has 30 skills, each of which has 20 levels of effectiveness. Since it's impossible to gain 600 levels, you will have to choose what skills your character will focus on for any individual playthrough. Multiply this by 5 classes (7 in the expansion) and the infinite number of maps that can be randomly generated, and Diablo 2 is a game that anybody can play through multiple times and never have the exact same experience.
But the burning question is: would you want to?
What Bioshock lacks in complexity, it makes up for in focus. While it doesn't do nearly as much as Diablo 2, what it does do is highly polished and enjoyable. It may not be as long, but the fact that it can be played through and experienced much quicker means the entire narrative arc can be enjoyed in a shorter amount of time, and gratification is easier to come across. The game is too short to become monotonous, and too focused to become diluted.
Diablo's enjoyment comes from the progression of your character and growing him/her based on your method of play. You become attached not only to your character, but even your items. You hesitate to throw away that awesome sword you found in act 1, that served you so well for two entire acts and matches your character's skills perfectly, even though it has been rendered obsolete by newer equipment and is taking up too many of your inventory slots. But eventually you bite your lip and sell it to the merchant with a heavy heart, replacing it with something that may serve you better, but has no nostalgic attachment... yet. But perhaps in time you will learn to appreciate this one just as much.
Which is a better game? Who can say. It's all a matter of how you play it.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Progress for May 1, 2010 - God of War
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FUCK
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Progress for April 27, 2010 - BioShock (Take 2) - COMPLETED!
Beat it tonight. If I'd have known I was this close to the end, I would have beaten it a long time ago. How come I always seem to beat these games near or after midnight? Never in the morning or afternoon?
Anywho. I got the good ending, but I didn't get the achievement for it because I accidentally harvested one of the last 2 little sisters. I'm not looking forward to playing through those last two levels all over again, but I'll probably do it later, since it's worth an easy 100 points.
This is going to be a tough game to review. May take a few days to get my bearings straight.
Anywho. I got the good ending, but I didn't get the achievement for it because I accidentally harvested one of the last 2 little sisters. I'm not looking forward to playing through those last two levels all over again, but I'll probably do it later, since it's worth an easy 100 points.
This is going to be a tough game to review. May take a few days to get my bearings straight.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Progress for March 28, 2010 - Final Fantasy VIII
I've been playing this one very slowly over the course of the last week or so. I'm only about 3 hours in; just finished the SeeD exam and got a rank of 8. I really don't know what to say about this game. This is one of those games that is so deep and complex that a "perfect playthrough" is almost impossible, especially the first time through. I've also found that trying to do these things perfectly really kills the fun of any game. So what if you can't get the super-awesome spell by collecting all of the randomly scattered chess pieces around the world and arranging them on the chess board in the final boss's room? Does it mean you can't beat the game? No, of course not, it's just for the insane completionist. I find it just more fun to play through based on my own mood and decisions and just let the game adapt. Unfortunately there are a good number of games that CAN be rendered unbeatable by this method; more an oversight on the part of the designers I suppose.
I am in fact having a lot of fun naming all the characters weird stuff.
Squall = Spoony
Quetzalcoatl = Lugia
Shiva = Cold Tits
Ifrit = Mr. Burns
Siren = Paris (Hilton)
This resulted in the somewhat amusing line:
Hooray for juvenile humor! ^^
Anywho.
Time: 3:01
Place: About to go down to talk to Quistis in the training area.
I am in fact having a lot of fun naming all the characters weird stuff.
Squall = Spoony
Quetzalcoatl = Lugia
Shiva = Cold Tits
Ifrit = Mr. Burns
Siren = Paris (Hilton)
This resulted in the somewhat amusing line:
Hooray for juvenile humor! ^^
Anywho.
Time: 3:01
Place: About to go down to talk to Quistis in the training area.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Clear Ring of Death
I really don't know what to say as I write this. My 360 has betrayed me. Look at what it did to my beloved Fallout 3 GOTY disc!
Earlier today, my foot caught the memory card hanging over the ledge of the entertainment center as I was moving, which caused the console to make a terrifying clattering noise as it was jolted around, but I immediately took the disk out and inspected it for problems and there weren't any scratches like this. I continued to play, but about 3 AM this morning the dreaded "Disc Read Error" message popped up. I pulled it out, fearing the worst, and absolutely wanted to murder myself when I saw those ring-shaped death-scratches.
I don't think my xbox is still under warranty, and I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix the disc, I don't know how to fix the system, I don't have the money to get a new one, and I don't trust this thing anymore to put any more of my game discs into it to test it out. So that means no BioShock, no Assassin's Creed, not even any Mass Effect, which I haven't had a chance to play yet. I'm now limited to my downloaded games, which leaves Fable as the only "full retail game" I can play on it.
FUCK!
Earlier today, my foot caught the memory card hanging over the ledge of the entertainment center as I was moving, which caused the console to make a terrifying clattering noise as it was jolted around, but I immediately took the disk out and inspected it for problems and there weren't any scratches like this. I continued to play, but about 3 AM this morning the dreaded "Disc Read Error" message popped up. I pulled it out, fearing the worst, and absolutely wanted to murder myself when I saw those ring-shaped death-scratches.
I don't think my xbox is still under warranty, and I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix the disc, I don't know how to fix the system, I don't have the money to get a new one, and I don't trust this thing anymore to put any more of my game discs into it to test it out. So that means no BioShock, no Assassin's Creed, not even any Mass Effect, which I haven't had a chance to play yet. I'm now limited to my downloaded games, which leaves Fable as the only "full retail game" I can play on it.
FUCK!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Progress for March 24, 2010 - BioShock (Take 2)
It took me a while to get back into it, but I'm glad I did. I really liked the plot twist in the middle of Hephaestus. It almost averts the idea of having objectives in a shooter. Why are you doing these things? Well, the game told you to. Okay then!
The difficulty spikes are so strange, but even when the game kills you, there are absolutely no consequences; you just revive at a vita-chamber. In a way, this keeps you playing because you WILL be able to finish the game, simply through pure perseverance, but it does cripple the immersion factor and tension of being low on life. Others have criticized the game for this design choice, but since there's an option to turn it off, you can't really fault them. Personally I prefer to have the option than to simply have it nonexistent by design; it allows more players to play through the game, even if they're not good at shooters, or just not good at console controls.
Seriously, fuck console controls in shooters.
The difficulty spikes are so strange, but even when the game kills you, there are absolutely no consequences; you just revive at a vita-chamber. In a way, this keeps you playing because you WILL be able to finish the game, simply through pure perseverance, but it does cripple the immersion factor and tension of being low on life. Others have criticized the game for this design choice, but since there's an option to turn it off, you can't really fault them. Personally I prefer to have the option than to simply have it nonexistent by design; it allows more players to play through the game, even if they're not good at shooters, or just not good at console controls.
Seriously, fuck console controls in shooters.
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