32 posts tagged “video games”
From childhood 'til now... What's the best Christmas present you've ever received?
Another three-way tie this one.
1983 (I think): Castle Greyskull from Father Christmas
1993 (I think): me and my siblings pooled Christmas money for a Super Nintendo
2007: an electro-acoustic guitar from Jess
Winner: Tales Of Vesperia
For: Xbox 360
Fifty hours. That's how much time it took me to get through this game from start to finish, an epic journey that took me all over a fictional world called Terca Lumireis, fighting everything from bouncing frog-things to shark pirates to rock giants to daft-looking dragon/fox hybrids with my team of typically gender-dubious misfits.
The story is the typical JRPG gibberish, recanted with twee abandon using regular animated cutscenes, in-engine sequences and bizarre headshot panel sequences. Blah blah blah, evil dudes plot to take over the world, accidentally unleash catastrophic intergalactic space squid thing, references to a great war and some entirely baffling pseudo-science about dragons that turn into glowy battery things. While the story is a potential turn off (especially when they keep repeating annoying things like one character being undecided about continuing the adventure after every bloody boss), it's at least well presented.
So why then is this my game of the year? It's simple: while it suffers the usual pre-boss grinding and some of the typical RPG quirks, this is the most perfectly balanced, beautiful, fun game I have played all year. The cel-shaded graphics are nothing short of jaw-dropping, the combat system is a pleasure, and the game - while a little linear - really makes you feel like you're making progress on your own merit.
And I really do want to single out combat. Battles aren't random like other examples of the genre: you can see enemies on the world map and avoid them if you want to (although some are hard to pass). When you do initiate a battle, your primary character is under your control while everyone else follows a strategy you had set in the menu system. The AI is a little clunky sometimes (once or twice, I found my mages wading into melee combat when I specifically told them to stay back), but generally they will play an important role in how you do.
The strategy system allows you to control what each party member does individually - with details like item use, spellcasting and the like - and as your party is made up of the usual mix of strong warriors, fast warriors, hunters, attacking mages and healing mages, you can tailor the game to how you want to play.
Runner-Up: Fallout 3
For: Xbox 360
Fallout 3 is practically the opposite of Tales Of Vesperia. On a visual level, while Tales douses your eyes in bright pastel hues, F3's desolate post-apocalyptic Washington, DC has a very flat grey/brown palette... and that isn't even the start of it. Tales' Yuri Lowell is a very well defined character for whom you just provide the input, F3's Vault Dweller is almost devoid of personality and story - the choices you make as a player define them, from the haircut to moral compass. And Yuri had friends on his journey, the Vault Dweller is very much alone.
With a very clever setup (where sequences showing your character's birth and adolescence cleverly mask the customisation options), the game introduces you to your father, James, who has raised you alone in a nuclear bunker called Vault 101 since your mother died during child birth. One day, your father disappears, his best friend is dead and you are urged to escape the Vault to go find him.
This is where the story picks up, with a hurried escape into the wastelands where your character sees sunlight for the first time in their life.
Although designed to operate more like a first person shooter with RPG elements, I have been playing the game almost entirely in the third person view. This would make combat (with the game's assortment of oversized bugs, stray irradiated mammals, mutants, ghouls and opportunist survivors) difficult were it not for the VATS system. Tap a button and the action pauses, with your character zooming in on the nearest enemy. You have a regenerating pool of action points which you can use to fire off shots at specific parts of the enemy's body. It makes combat less frenzied and more strategic, and I love it.
As well as shooting things, you have to complete numerous quests that take you around the vast expanses of desolate wasteland as well as the remains of the city of DC itself, quests for which you will have to chat, explore, fight, hack, lockpick and sneak in various amounts. All of this earns you experience, and at each level, you can assign points to yor various skill categories (for example, if you prefer combat, you can focus on being better with different types of guns) as well as choosing a perk. Perks run the gamut of allowing you to carry more items to making animals like you - a good thing with nasties like the mutated bear-things called Yao Guai roaming the wastes.
The game is a bit of a slow burner, but still great fun. Its quests try to give you moral dilemmas which, in the now-standard video game fashion, are still very much black and white issues with no room for blurring. The result is that you often gain or lose karma, with minimal benefit or penalty bar slighty different responses from characters. Depending on where you fall on the scale, you will earn a specific achievement when you reach level 8, 14 and 20 (the maximum level in the game), and later on, you will be targeted: I've been playing as a goody two shoes, so there is now a contract out on me, with the odd random encounter with mercenaries to deal with.
* * * * *
I would strongly recommend both of these games, although I can see how either might not be to everyone's tastes.
Show us your favorite piece of athletic equipment.
Seriously, didn't you get the memo?
I wish I *could* feel better, Tylenol Sinus, believe me.
I have a cold. I'm not one of those men who somehow turn into the walking wounded when they get a minor sniffle. More than anything, being ill just pisses me off. I can barely breathe properly at the best of times with my stupid allergies, but this just exacerbates the problem and makes me snippy. And tired.
Then to make matters worse, I had to wear a scarf to combat the cold weather this morning. While in the summer, buses are air conditioned to freezing point here in Chicago, in the winter, the heat is full blast and you're too packed in to successfully remove and replace clothing. Scarf plus cold plus heat... ugh. Hate, hate, hate.
Other than my immune system coming under fire, this weekend was quiet. We spent most of it packing things up ready for our move (if it ever happens, we're still waiting for our mortgage nonsense to be signed off); I finally completed Tales Of Vesperia - an effort that took over 50 hours of play time, all in; and Josie came to see as us it's been a billion years.
After my last move (across an ocean, no less) I have definitely gotten more ruthless about throwing things I don't need away. Not that my brother Ricci can agree with this, seeing as his attic is half full of guitars and CDs and books.
Anyway, this week, we are crossing things that our mortgage and all that come through so we can just worry about being ready to move on 22 November. Yes please.
UPDATE: We are clear to close, we are definitely moving!
Why do you make some purchases online and others in-store? What ultimately prompts you to go in-store?
Sponsored by Best Buy.
I buy in store when I...
- Have things to trade in (video games)
- Have vouchers
- Want something in a hurry
- Am buying clothes
I pre-order a lot of music and video games, and for that, I prefer to go online as you get better deals and sometimes little extras (he says, looking at the plush chicken that came with one of the Harvest Moon games).
Show us your latest purchase.
It's alright... but considering it's been in the making for 10+ years, I expected more. As it is, it's just a slightly prettier take on Marvel Ultimate Alliance, replacing comic book heroes with Norse mythology. Lots of random mashing of buttons.
Show us an antique.
Submitted by jacolily.
Excuse the crappy picture...
... this relic from a bygone age is a Game Boy. An actual Game Boy - there is no suffix, whether we're talking Light, Color, Advance, Micro or what have you. No, this is a 1989 original.
Among the many other ways you can tell you were meant to be with someone, their owning an original Game Boy is up there. Jess also owns an original NES. Tru luv!
After saying goodbye to my parents and having a two-day work week, I didn't expect to have the energy to do much this weekend. Somehow, though, we did a fair amount.
I had to get up really early on Saturday morning as I had a biometrics appointment with US Immigration. Unlike the last time, where they fingerprinted every single digit and took multiple photos, I was in and out. One fingerprint, a signature and a photo. Done and done. Exactly two years before, I had proposed to Jess in Paris, so it was pretty surreal to be living in the same country.
During the day, we got lunch, did some shopping, talked to AT&T about our pending migration from T-Mobile, then Jess had a nap. She then made a very healthy dinner before we went out drinking with co-workers. Mike, the guy who started the exact same day as me, was turning the exact same age as me - 28 - so we were going to surprise him. We left at midnight, everyone else kept drinking. It was a fun night.
Our plan for Sunday was simple:
- Do laundry
- Get brunch
- Head to Best Buy when it opened to get Wii Fit and/or Guitar Hero On Tour for DS
- Go home and bum around
Best Buy hadn't received any copies of Wii Fit (meaning, basically, the game Nintendo have spent fucktons marketing hasn't been available for purchase since its release date). I'm pretty much resigned to the fact we're not getting it. Instead, we both picked up a copy of Guitar Hero On Tour with the free stickers, and then noticed that they had the standalone Rock Band drum kits.
I've been hemming and hawing about the game for a while. We have Guitar Hero II and III and thus two compatible guitars, and neither of us would want to sing. That ruled out the big bundle. Then there's the pending release of Guitar Hero IV with its own snazzier drum kit. I decided to go for it, though, as the drums looked very appealing to play. So we went home with the disc-only Rock Band game, the drum kit and two copies of GHOT.
We spent a lot of time playing Rock Band, in which time I realised how much fun drumming is. After that, Jess tried the drums while I opened my copy of Guitar Hero. Due to the high potential for hand cramping, the shitty list of songs, and the fact we would likely never play the multiplayer modes, we decided to take the second copy straight back for a refund. It's fun, but not twice the price fun.
And that was our little indulgence.
We have an interesting few weeks coming up.
- We're about to receive our economic stimulus cheque from the government. We're splitting it between four charities - one of which is our savings account, the other three are actual good causes.
- I supposedly get a bonus I've been promised for a few months next week, so that has been earmarked for a new iPhone each (hence the aforementioned AT&T migration) and more savings.
- There's some little thing called the fourth of July.
- We're seeing the excellent Wolf Parade at House Of Blues (having seen the also brilliant Dethklok there last week).
- I have my interview for my green card application.
It's all go, go, go.
Oh white rabbit.
I've not updated properly in a few days. To be honest, I've been lazy. There's a lot going on this month so it's been nice to just do nothing at all.
I suppose you want the good news first. Well, on the immigration front, we have our interview appointment. While it's not good news that we even need an interview, and I am concerned about one of the items I have to take to it, it does mean I am closer to getting my green card.
I also have a biometrics appointment for my renewal EAD in between, so I should get that not long before my green card, rendering it almost completely useless.
Oh well.
The weather in Chicago is being a little schizophrenic right now, but the general warmth has allowed us to do more than just sit in front of the TV. We were out and about over the weekend, and tonight we went to watch my co-workers play their first softball game in a local league. That's right, I didn't play. I wanted to gauge the general skill level before making a tit of myself.
As well as softball season, crazy season has started. Over the next few weeks, we...
- See Death Cab For Cutie with Rogue Wave
- See REM with The National and Modest Mouse
- Go to Butterfest, a festival in Jess' hometown, with the in-laws
- Get to spend time with my parents, who are over for a week
- See Dethklok with some real metal bands
And now it's time for bed, if I can prise Jess off of Dr Mario: Online Rx, a Nintendo Wii sequel to the classic puzzle game. It's awesome.
What did you do for fun when you were a kid? How is it different from what you see kids doing now?
Submitted by jaklumen.
Mostly play with action figures, or play video games, or watch cartoons. I was always a bit of a loner, but I see it as a good thing - I can entertain myself for hours and don't rely on human company.
I don't see much difference with kids now, except kids' cartoons these days suck a dick. They're either really ropey CGI, or really ropey animé-style animation. Too much of this Pokémon/Yu-Gi-Oh/Dragonball Z-style bullshit.
