Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=126https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1334Okay, second round of playing solid, and I had forgotten how much fun this game is. Perhaps with a full set of players, I was right when I said that it is easily some of the most fun you can have with a party game, at least in the realm of videogames. I feel like I'm repeating myself on a lot of the elements as to why this game deserves the title of "classic" but those are truly its shining elements in the game. An easy interface and overall simple design allows for a wide variety of gamer demographics to pick it up and play it within minutes of slapping the cartridge into the system. That is perhaps the single most powerful reason to call this a classic game because it has NO learning curve, just like a good party game. The rules are pretty obvious, the controls are beautifully simple, and the game naturally focuses itself on the interactions between the players and the frenetic pleasure of the minigames therein. There is no storyline, there are no complex characters, and there is no angst. This is not your story-driven epic game; this is a boardgame like Candyland, only without the creepy characters that you only find funny as a kid. This is a game that is meant to be played with a huge group and with tons of player interaction, and this game ROCKS. I think that's all I really CAN say..Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:28:47 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1334&iddiary=2866https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1334I started playing with my friend and roommate on this game today, and unfortunately because there weren't four players, things got...frustrating. But what makes this classic is a topic of heavy discussion. There are many elements that offered gamers a radically new element to gameplay, especially in the realm of multiplayer. This is absolutely the most multiplayer-oriented game on the Nintendo 64 gameset aside from Super Smash Bros. and for a reason--you can't play this sucker without someone else, otherwise you will throw this game away and quickly. I digress--it fuses the "fun" elements and immediate gratification of a boardgame with the wild fun and cartoon-like graphics power and extra-physical capabilities of a videogaming system like the N64. It is a true testament to Nintendo's tendency to think outside the box and provide gamers with an instant classic. This was the intro for many gamers into the multiplayer set on a 3-D console, and thus it had to be easy to pick up--the controls were almost too simple: press A to hit your diceblock and use yo control stick to determine direction at crossroads on the gameboard, while using B occasionally in the minigames. The only game I can think of that has more intuitive and simplistic controls is Katamari Damacy. Because it is so easy to pick up, it offered gamers an entry into a multiplayer game that offers so much fun for friends to go head-to-head in healthy competition and is, as the title suggests, a great party game. The fact you are playing what is, in essence, a virtual board game, you have many elements of fun with multiple players, such as the frenetic minigames, the strategic ways of dealing with bad dice rolls (which happen frequently) and moment after moment where players can converse and admittedly trash talk quite a bit. The problem with the game is that unless you have 4 people to play with, you are stuck with the badly programmed CPU-controlled characters who seem to conveniently win every minigame and get ALL of the good rolls. This is a side-effect of a multiplayer game such as this, because all of the focus is on actual multiplayer gameplay as opposed to single-player. Really, that is all I have to say right now...in a few hours, my views should solidify more on this classic.Wed, 21 Feb 2007 01:14:18 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1334&iddiary=2848https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1203Okay, finished playing a bunchload more of this game, and here's my promised analysis of the atmosphere. I don't advocate use of controlled substances, but lemme tell you--this is one of those games that just seems like it was meant to be played under the influence of cannabis or LSD...it's THAT psychedelic. With "royal" rainbows transporting you to areas where dogs wear t-shirts and you roll up a sumo wrestler so he gets fat, this game is not your normal game at all. I found myself asking "Why is that.....oh bloody it all, I won't question this." when it came to the various elements of the levels, or the way the King of All Cosmos speaks in a collective reference or recounts his journey to becoming King, or why he loves his chin. It's just FUN. I love this game for that reason--it's just plain fun, and it has something resembling a storyline this time--how the King of All Cosmos went from a half-pint Prince who couldn't do anything right into the flamboyant, cryptically talkative, star-creating-and-destroying King that we have grown to, er, love(?) Oh, another thing--the multiplayer was fun (We spent awhile figuring it out) but it got old rather quickly--the objective system reduced the crazy fun of just collecting more stuff than your opponent. Really, I think this is all I can really say about it...if anyone wants me to say anything else, just say so in a comment.Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:03:35 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1203&iddiary=2663https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1203Well, in hindsight, I should have taken more breaks in the middle of this game than playing it for an hour solid. BAAAAD idea... The psychedelic masterpiece that was Katamari Damacy got its rebirth in We Love Katamari, and true to the title, I love the game because of its gameplay elements. Normally, I am one of those gamers who would be content to watching an "interactive movie" style game with in-depth story, beautifully designed and multi-dimensional characters, etc, with very little real gameplay. Games like We Love Katamari challenge me to break out of that norm with its quirky, challenging and horribly addicting gameplay. It's amazing that such a simple and unassuming concept--roll around stuff into a growing ball in a time limit--could grow into such a phenomenon. I'm not done with the game, but I'll attempt to relate what I've played so far, and look at it from a more professionally-oriented standpoint. The level design is perhaps one of my more favorite element of the game. The atmosphere of the game is quirky, funny, seemingly random, and psychedelic at times, so it catches you off-guard at how carefully designed each level was. The people who made the game really knew what they were doing by way of placing the right object in the right place at the right time to maximize challenge and minimizing frustration. This allows the gamer to think of multiple ways of achieving the goal of the level and maximizing replayability. The controls for We Love Katamari are much more forgiving than KD, and for that I am thankful--or maybe it's because I've finally risen above the learning curve of how to accurately and effectively manipulate the dual analog sticks. It's made it less frustrating than its predecessor and thus successful from a designer's standpoint. I'll talk about the tone, mood, and atmosphere of the game next post--it deserves its own post...Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:08:06 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1203&iddiary=2558https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1063Wow...I'm gonna split this gamelog in half because I have a few things to talk about this game. First, my official, detailed analysis of this game--I have very mixed feelings about this game because of my gameplay experience with it. I was easily frustrated by the difficulty of defeating the massive colossi, and was ready to literally throw the controller at the screen at many moments (especially with number 16....ugh). The look and feel of the game is second-to-none, especially in the immersive nature of the massive environment and how it quite literally makes you feel miniscule in comparison with the mammoth doors, ruins, mountains and, well, collosi themselves! I think the game is considered a classic because it is an excellent example of innovative use of bosses as the ONLY enemies. There is no leveling, no collecting, and the only weapons you get are the ones you came with--a sword, a bow, and your massive (and very temperamental) horse. It takes away the traditional hack and slash and turns enemies into levels in and of themselves. I think they could have taken more time with the camera, as it turned out to be the 17th colossus (I lost count how many times I've died or got taken back because of a crazy camera angle...) and from a developer's perspective, with the engine found on the PS2 hardware, you could have very well been able to make fewer "invisible wall" style camera switches, and left a lock-on for the bosses in order to enable the player to have a fairer camera while preserving the challenge. A classic-defining feature of this game is that it turns what would have been a straight adventure game into a platformer, adventure game, and a strategy game all at once--the fusion of the genre would have made it a spectacular game had they made it less frustrating thanks to the camera. I'll talk about the rest later...I should think about how to describe the colossi and the storyline...those deserve their own time.Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:16:26 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1063&iddiary=2275https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=708Well, this is roughly my 58th time playing OoT, although this has been the longest time I've been without it. This DEFINES classic gaming, and the mere fact I've played it so often for so long proves a point--infinite replay value. I feel that this earns the label of classic game because of many reasons, but one of the main facts about it, from both a player and budding designer's standpoint, is its excellent structure--the world itself is superbly designed, as to minimize frustration while maximizing difficulty, even after 50+ game runs. Although there is a certain aquatic dungeon that earns my extreme annoyance, its level design was perfectly done...I suppose I should give the Water Temple a little love later, but for now, the generics. Level design has always been a Miyamoto priority since the first Zelda title, and Ocarina of Time has taken the puzzle/structure rules of old dungeon crawlers and taken the fact that it is the first Zelda title to utilize the N64's 3D capabilities while enabling such a revolutionary change to the rules environment in gaming to be a part of the game rather than a "Oh my God, we can make the same game...in 3D!" like in Nights into Dreams or Sonic 3D Blast. I remember all of the intricacies involving the right camera angle and attack perspective to solve a puzzle or defeat a boss. An example of good level design is found, ironically enough, in my least favorite dungeon of the game: The Water Temple. Yes, the dungeon that has earned the title of "Most confusing dungeon. EVER." has some of the best level design in the whole game for a few reasons. It is more than challenging for a gamer of any level, but it always has a solution (or solutions, depending on how you view it) to every obstacle, whether it is finding the keys, or beating Dark Link, and any mistake is always rectifiable, unlike certain Mario games *cough64cough* and although it annoys me, it feels so amazingly rewarding when you *finally* get to the boss and beat it. There's also a steadily rising level of difficulty in each progressive dungeon, with more complicated puzzles, more difficult-to-beat enemies, and overall a more difficult feel to it. The amazing part is that it FEELS like it's natural, and you don't feel like you're in level-by-level in how hard it gets. I'll talk about more when I finish other parts of the game...Fri, 19 Jan 2007 03:21:27 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=708&iddiary=1710https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=356Remember what I said about posting once I got Final Form? Well, here I am posting...in commemoration of my acquisition of perhaps the most beautifully kill-tastic form Sora possesses in his enchanted clothing, I'll focus my attention on Drive Forms, not necessarily a critical element of the plot of the game, but a shining hallmark of the newly revamped battle engine. In a nutshell, the Drive forms, special states of being Sora enters once his drive gauge has maxed out (and I'll talk about the cheater's way to do that darn quickly) where he sacrifices (thank GOD!) either Donald, Goofy, or both, and instantly acquires a new ability list and increased stats based on which character was sacrificed (Valor Form, a melee-based form with combo and strength as its focus, sacrifices Goofy, for example). Now that I've summarize essentially what it is, allow me to recount to you my experience with its effect on my gameplay experience. The reason I attempt to level up Drive forms in the first place is NOT to just experience the kill-fest when I "kick into" a form--there is an associating skill that the normal Sora obtains that ends up making the Organization XIII battles a great deal easier. High Jump, Quick Run, Aerial Dodge and Glide are all incredibly useful functions (and they end up being practically required to beat the newly strengthened Sephiroth, whom I am working on as we speak) and I had to go through the rule-specific means of leveling each form to acquire them... It's annoying, to say the least, and as much as I love the sense of accomplishment of getting these leveled up, I think the leveling system was too annoying to register as "fun"...it was a chore, to be honest. The most fun I had while leveling was getting Final Form in the first place. For those of you who have not yet gotten this form, here's what you do--during the Xigbar fight, whittle down 2.5 health bars (at least 2, preferably halfway down the 3rd) and make sure you have disabled Donald's Cure abilities and equipped auto-Master...let him kick your butt to the point where you have the option of auto-master as a reaction command...USE IT. Instead of going into Master Form, you'll flash for longer and voila! You are the proud owner of the coveted Final Form! That was a genius move, making it nearly hidden in the game, giving a definitely pleasant surprise for using different strategies than one would normally use in a game. It also unlocks 2 more drive gauges in each of the other forms, and best yet, NO ANTI FORM PENALTY!!!!!! That is perhaps the dumbest move Squenix made in the Forms--adding the Anti-Form. It is a death sentence in most boss battles, and is nothing more than fanservice for those who remember Shadow-Sora from the first game. It is triggered by overusing a single drive form (can we say "leveling"?) and will waste your much-needed drive gauge. Perhaps vets of the game enjoy the surprise, but when I am attempting to max out High Jump, I don't want to have to re-collect Drive Orbs because Sora decided to go all wannabe-Heartless on me. I really hope the other drive forms stay in KHIII but anti-form gets left in the dust. There, enough said about my hatred of anti-form. On to the storyline. In a word--AWESOME. The storyline is the major draw for writers like myself in a videogame, and if the storyline stinks, I'll more often than not throw the game to the wayside, no matter how incredible the gameplay is. I like a conflict with richness and surprise, and KHII gave me just that. The implementation of the Nobody into the Heartless Saga makes logical sense, and gives a heartstring pull or 2...hundred when one realizes that the "enemies" in the game, with the exception of Manse---not gonna bring up THAT anagram of Xemnas' name... Yes, each character had a role to play in the game (though most were killed off in KH: Chain of Memories for the GBA) in underscoring the nature of the "Heart" and its importance to a being's means to existing. It explores the true nature of the Light/Dark complex and proves that Black and White are rarely absolute...there's a heckuvalot of gray area. As an element in the game, it provides with more enemies to fight and more skilled/powerful/interesting bosses...c'mon, Demyx, despite the timed doppelgangers, was just plain fun to fight...I was humming "Mullet Maaaaaan" the whole battle! It also provides a glimpse into Sora's true nature, as HIS Nobody (as a result of his decision to release his and Kairi's heart in KH) Roxas acts as a second protagonist and his search to exist completely, and the fact that he is a part of Sora...big points to Squenix for providing another interesting element, if a bit overblown (We did NOT need 6 days of tutorial!!!) of the story...it was what counteracted the Disneyland (pardon the pun) feel of the worlds. It drove the conflict and provided emotional attachment to the characters and made me WANT to continue playing the game. Still haven't finished the game completely, so I'll save more of my worthless ranting (and analysis of Reaction commands) until I beat Xemnas, at least. I mean, right now I'm just leveling.Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:39:04 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=356&iddiary=1172https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=356I just entered the 30-hour mark for playing this game (which, incidentally, I started 2 days ago...do the math people) and to be honest, I was not expecting the level of refinement this game had. I had played Kingdom Hearts 1 for the express purpose of being able to understand this one, at the behest of my good friend. (and she is one of those people who enjoys watching Axel and Roxas do fun stuff in the back room) I'm going to quote her on this one and say "Imagine all of the problems of KHI fixed and all the good parts of it added onto" but with an adjustment: to be honest, the role of the worlds, at least so far, is underwhelming. It really does give an amusement park feel in spots, as other bloggers on here have mentioned, but it is an easily ignorable flaw, as the sheer size and interactivity of the worlds ballooned in comparison. A good example of this, is by far Halloween Town. As a fan of the Nightmare Before Christmas, I am a harsh critic of the world when used in other things, and in KHI, I was angered by how pathetically developed it was in it. Someone in Squenix must have felt the same, because the design has improved, with a few annoyances (Why couldn't they have improved the soundtrack for the world? They were playing "This is Halloween" in Christmas Town!)but otherwise, it was so much better and thus more enjoyable for a fan. The crowning glory for this game is the battle system...I'd like to say this to Squenix--THANK YOU! Going from the claustrophobic camera and the insufferably annoying obstacles that were Goofy and Donald in KHI, they now have a comfortably airy camera enabling more intelligent decisions mid-battle to -gasp- intelligent comrades-in-arms...Goofy will do his decent techniques mroe often and Donald will actually heal you without you begging the screen while fighting Ansem! My favorite element of the new battle system were the drive forms...that was definitely a creative way to add spice to fighting and leveling, and it is a much better goal to achieve than a certain cricket's journal....... I'll add to all of this, plus a few other elements later...I haven't unlocked the fabled Final Form yet, and once I do, I think that'll be when I think I'll post as well...the storyline deserves its own entry.Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:05:46 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=356&iddiary=1040