You can find Part 1 here.
You can find Part 2 here.
Ok, just so we’re clear, this isn’t the final part of my ME2 review. I was just listening to the latest episode of Podtoid where they discuss the latest Mass Effect and had a few things I wanted to mention before they escaped my notice, a few shortfalls to be precise. Just think of this as part 1.5 as it deals heavily with the story aspect of Mass Effect 2.
One of the biggest problems that this game has is a problem inherent to narrative game play of any sort, that being the player’s tendency to meta-game or use outside knowledge (or tools) in order to further themselves in game. At its most basic level this can be simple foreknowledge that a character in the game world would not rightly have access to though it can also present itself in the form of meticulous stat tracking (and by stat tracking I’m speaking more along the lines of statistics that are hidden from the player for the most part that can determine the likely outcome of certain scenarios in-game) or by reloading your game in the case of an unfortunate turn of events (not a series of events though, that’s under copyright). You get the basic idea.
My positive reaction to the game’s ending would have been greatly diminished had I meta-gamed (well, meta-gamed more than I had up until that point, some habits are hard to kick) and reloaded my save when Tali fell to enemy fire. Sure, I could have gone back in there and done things right gosh darnit, but then the ending wouldn’t have had quite the impact that I ultimately felt it did. The temptation was there, don’t get me wrong, but I knew (despite all my years of gaming training telling me otherwise) that doing so would have been a cop out and disrespectful to the story as a whole. But that isn’t what I’m going to nitpick; this problem of reloading saves is a very difficult problem to solve without removing a lot of player control and doing so tends to foment resentment.
Continue reading ‘Mass Effect 2 Review Supplement: Meta-Gaming’
So I’ve had a chance to play Mass Effect 2 for a few hours now and so far I’m loving it. The opening sequence really blew me away and though it sort of stumbled a bit after your initial combat engagement it has quickly recovered and has me wishing that I was a Salarian and didn’t need 6 hours of sleep every day. It definitely takes a bit of getting used to the modified control scheme and other changes to the game, especially considering how recently I played through the first game, but I have been able to acclimate myself to these changes with relative ease. A couple more things I wanted to mention before moving onto the main point of this post: the new hacking minigames (yes, there is more than one this time) are a huge improvement over the original, even the PC version; also, the first time I used the Vanguard class’ Biotic Charge ability to warp into an enemy cluster and lay waste to them in seconds the first thought that popped into my mind was, “That just felt right.”
Ok, so what’s the point of this post’s title? Well, I’ll tell you right now that it’s not that I’m drunk right now, but rather thanks to a very minor, but to me very noticeable detail that Bioware has paid attention to in their latest sci-fi epic. Anyone who has had any experience with cinematic games should be well aware of how silly drinking (and eating for that matter) looks in a game. One moment you see an empty glass, the next it’s completely full, then a character picks it up, holds it in the general vicinity of their time-wasting mouth, and poof! the glass is empty again. This is a really good thing to do if you’re trying to destroy your game’s immersion.
Now, I know that such a seemingly simple process as realistically pouring and draining a glass is in reality anything but simple. It is doable however, though most devs just seem to ignore it. Not Bioware though.
Continue reading ‘Here’s to Getting Happily Drunk!’
Presenting the first in what will hopefully be a long running series of me running my mouth off about “how I would do things better” in games. As an Armchair Designer I do not have access to any overall build data for the games I will be critiquing and as such anything I say should be taken with a grain of salt. Obviously there is a marked difference between musing about design in games and actually implementing those ideas and in no way do I consider myself better than the talented individuals who bring these worlds to life. Quite the opposite, in fact. Still, I do have some limited experience with game design and development and I know that it is important to be able to take a look at what others think about your work and (possibly) tweak the final design to incorporate these sometimes conflicting sentiments.
Ultimately I am doing this for my (and hopefully your) amusement and would love to hear your own ideas and critiques of my suggestions, whether you make them in the form of comments or your own blog posts. Let’s have some fun!
Now, Lord of the Rings Online holds a special place in my heart, even more so now than it had a mere month previous. A good part of that is due to my joining the Sons of Numenor, but even more integral to my renewed interest is the upcoming digital expansion, the Siege of Mirkwood. I’ve written before about the enticement of visiting Mordor and other revered locales in the long-established world that is Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, and a future Armchair Design session will involve some of these potential areas, so what better way to motivate me to continue playing than allowing me to visit Mirkwood and Dol Guldur?
Well, proposed changes to game systems that are currently somewhat maligned certainly helps as well. Turbine has had to bear the brunt of much dissatisfaction thanks to shoddy implementations of the Radiance and Legendary Item systems; systems that have had a negative impact on other established mechanics such as crafting. Turbine has heard the cries of anguish coming from their subscribers and they have some promising changes coming along with SoM, but is it enough? Obviously there’s always going to be room for improvement and so I will be taking a look at these systems and will attempt to connect them more intrinsically with the lore of the game so they no longer feel like arbitrary game mechanics. But that will be saved for a later Armchair Design session.
I will instead begin by addressing some of the little things that bother me about LotRO. Turbine has exhibited a great deal of attention directed towards what they term Quality of Life Improvements. From their major overhaul to the mount system for SoM to the impressive early zone revamps headed up by Orion all the way down to the admission in their patch notes from Book 8 that it’s the little things that count, Turbine is very much aware of how great an impact these little touches have on the way people play their game. They’re not perfect however, and most of the offending details that detract from my play time are very obvious remnants of aged MMORPG design philosophy that serve little purpose other than frustrating players. I’ll cover those next time as they mainly pertain to questing and grouping but for now I present a series of minor quibbles and little things I think the game could use.
Continue reading ‘Armchair Designer: The Little Things’
It was but a scant minute after I posted about my adoption of Twitter that my modem decided to commit harakiri (my browsing habits being less than honourable to say the least) much to my aggravation. Thanks to the BC Day long weekend I was forced to live within the void that is life without internet and was left with no other recourse than to play a single-player game. At first I entertained the notion of going through the Metal Gear series for the umpteenth time but then realized that I would be left with no ultimate payoff due to having no PS3 with which to end the marathon, mine having been stolen some time ago. It wasn’t a perusal of my library which led to my initial choice of Metal Gear however, rather I had been listening to old episodes of Destructoid’s Podtoid podcast recently and they never shut up about Metal Gear Solid, for good reason.
But then I recalled another game I hadn’t played in some time that Mr. Sterling and Co. enjoy raving about: Lost Odyssey. I’ve already played this epic RPG to completion once before, but I really couldn’t recall that much about it outside of two particular elements: it has a very traditional JRPG battle system and it caused me to openly weep on multiple occasions. Then I recalled fond memories of one the strangest game systems I have ever encountered, strange in that it is hardly a game system at all yet it wouldn’t be near so effective without the trappings of a game surrounding it.
That system? A Thousand Tears- I mean, Years of Dreams.
Alright then, I’m game! Let’s just see this poor excuse for interactive entertainment try to tug at my heart strings now that I know all of its little tricks. Do your worst!
Continue reading ‘Tears For Years’
There appears to be a bit of a shitstorm brewing along Destructoid’s shores in the wake of a Rev Rant made by the eternal Indie Fag, Reverend Anthony. Now, I mean no insult by calling him that because I am 100% on board with him most of the time, but most people certainly perceive him in that light. Now what is so special about this particular rant of his? Well, apparently David Jaffe (of God of War and Twisted Metal fame) missed his reading comprehension classes in school (I know it’s a video but the same principles apply) because he made a rebuttal wherein he completely missed Rev’s point.
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So what was Anthony’s point? The way I saw it was that he was frustrated by people who casually toss around the argument that games need to be fun whenever someone steps up to question that particular convention in the hopes that such defiance might allow for more artistic expression in this burgeoning medium. He sums it up quite well in the last statement he makes, “If you think that games should just be fun, you are a coward.”
Continue reading ‘STFU People Wot Have Thoughts!’
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