Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=460https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3093“STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC 2” GAMELOG ENTRY #2 GAMEPLAY: Upon further investigation into KOTOR 2’s gameplay one cannot help but notice the “Party Influence System”. Sometimes, when a character is presented with a conversation or situation that is relevant to a given character’s personal beliefs or relationship with the Exile, the player is able to raise or lower the given character’s level of influence. What this means is that if you do things that your party members like, they will like you more. If you do things they don’t like, they will begin to loathe you. The influence system has very interesting effects on your characters. If you persuade them to turn to the dark side, their skin will begin to turn pale and their presence will become darker and more menacing, if you turn them onto the path of the light, their features will become angelic. Gaining influence with all the characters also allowed the player to find out more about their back stories, thus increasing the desire to replay the game and find out each character’s history. KOTOR 2’s endings were somewhat disappointing. The reason is that you are given many choices at the end of the game, but there is only one ending cinematic. This cinematic is very vague in its depiction of what is going on and leaves the player gasping for more and unfortunately does not deliver a proper amount of closure. On a brighter note, the music in KOTOR 2 sets the mood fantastically for each world you are on. MY favorite music was when you traveled to the sith home planet, Korriban. The music here was a slow retro-sounding sci-fi instrumental piece that sent shivers down my spine. I felt that the soundtrack of the game helped add to the hustle and bustle of cities Onderon and the emptiness of the barren wastes of Korriban. DESIGN: I found KOTOR 2 to be a very incomplete game. This fact is confirmed by many postings on the official obsidian website directing the PC-version owners to a site where an independent company is trying to fill in the gaps. There is evidence of the games incompleteness in many forms, one of which is a conversation option which requires a certain amount of influence for the NPC to give a satisfactory answer. No matter how much influence you have the given NPC, the game will always tell you that your influence is not high enough and to try back later. After checking on multiple forums, I found out that this was indeed a precursor to a side quest that was not added. I found this somewhat frustrating that the developers left the option in, almost as if to taunt the players. The character customization in KOTOR 2 was also somewhat disappointing. In the beginning you have a very limited number of male and female faces to choose from. You can however, customize your melee and ranged weapons with certain “upgrade items” you can find and purchase along the way. The lightsaber customization feature allows the player to customize their lightsaber to do more damage, to do certain types of extra damage, to deflect bullets, and change the color of their lightsaber. I found that the ability to “trick-out” my lightsaber added greatly to the interactivity of the game. Overall, I found KOTOR 2 to be a fun game despite the holes in the design. I feel that the game really immerses the player into the Star Wars universe and allows the player to live out their jedi fantasy and to truly feel the force.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:34:33 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3093&iddiary=5930https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3093“STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC 2” GAMELOG ENTRY #1 SUMMARY: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR 2 for short) begins aboard a battle-damaged ship called the Ebon Hawk. Aboard the ship are the main character, referred to as the Exile, an old woman named Kreia and a droid. After completing a short tutorial and repairing the Ebon Hawk, the characters find themselves aboard a mining facility. The facility is completely deserted except for one unlucky man named Atton, who was locked in a holding cell. After some investigation, the characters realize that foul play has been committed aboard the mining outpost. The characters then narrowly escape a sith lord who vows to rid the galaxy of all jedi. After a hasty exit and a heart-pounding space fight, the Exile and company blast off to find the remaining jedi in the galaxy. After confronting the remaining jedi masters, we learn more about the Exile’s spotted history and why the Exile cannot remember how to feel the force as he or she (you can choose your gender) once did. GAMEPLAY: KOTOR 2’s gameplay uses a “Final Fantasy 11-like” system of combat. You can select the moves your character will perform and when your character’s attack turn comes up, they will perform the given action. The only drawback about this style of combat is that the character’s motions seem rigid and not fluid. The combat is also highly based toward melee weapons. After playing the game through seven times I have noticed that in order to have characters that are proficient with ranged weapons such as blasters and rifles, the player needs to purposely build their character for that specific task. The additions of various energy shields which offer protection from blasters also coax the player into using melee weapons to defeat their foes. KOTOR 2 also uses a wonderful system of interacting with NPC’s via conversation trees. I found this very enjoyable because I felt I had more control over what my character said. For instance, when confronted by a thug in a cantina I was given the choice to persuade him to leave peacefully, convince him that he no match for me and scare him away, pay him the credits he wants to get him to leave, or to fight him and cut him up with my lightsaber. I felt the system of moral choices added to the interactivity of the character building in a big way. Another great addition to the game was that all dialogue (except for the Exile’s) was voiced beautifully. The non-linear play-style was also a big factor in the game’s interactivity. In KOTOR 2, you can choose which planets you want to go to first. After you complete the story on that planet you can move onto the next planet and uncover more of the KOTOR 2’s gripping story. Usually, a non-linear play style can be indicative of a poorly-structured story. Fortunately, for KOTOR 2, this was not the case. KOTOR 2’s story was very well-structured and the pieces of the story that were divided amongst the planets fit together nicely in whatever order you put them in. Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:52:01 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3093&iddiary=5852https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2693GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS GAME LOG ENTRY #2 GAMEPLAY: During my second play session, I noticed that there were very few flaws that I could find in such a large, emergent game. One thing I found somewhat annoying was the AI of the other drivers on the road. Many times was I chasing after someone for an important mission, only to be hindered by crashing into some poorly placed car. While I realize that this might be an element of challenge in the game, I still found it aggravating when I would be flung from my motorcycle and fail the mission because I lost the person I had been chasing. On a brighter note, a very nice touch to the game was the ability to listen to radio. Not only was the music from that time period (The Early 90’s), but it also made missions as well as driving long distances from place to place much easier and realistic. The implementation of a pseudo-talk radio was also very funny to listen to and helped greatly to ease the tension after the failure of a mission. The voice acting was also very convincing, the fact that they hired professional actors to work on the cast was also an interesting bit of trivia. I found that Samuel Jackson’s portrayal of Officer Tenpenny was so in depth that I found myself talking back to the game in response to some of Officer Tenpenny’s orders. All the Grand Theft Auto games have been the subjects of a lot of criticism and scrutiny. Their violent content and course language have gained them M-ratings and shunning from the parents of gamers. Truth be told: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas never makes the player commit violent acts on innocent people. I have played through the game and there was no instance where I was forced to harm a completely innocent person. While the game did let you run over innocent people in the street, it never made you run people over. However, despite the fact that the people you are made to kill are gang members or drug dealers, they are still people and I found the fact Rockstar did not put a disclaimer that violence is always wrong. DESIGN: The design of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was truly something that could have only been attained after years of experience of making games. I found the game’s ability to keep me occupied was something to truly marvel at. When I would want to do something other than the story (or was stuck on a mission) there were plenty of other things I could do instead of progressing with the story. The graphics used were also very detailed and the designs of some of the cars and bikes were very original and pleasing. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was clearly designed for extreme and casual gamers in mind. With the built-in codes that allows less patient players some “help” with difficult game obstacles. The addition of side-missions and the ability to purchase various pieces of real estate, residential and business was a great element in the game’s reality factor. The ability to pick and choose what houses and businesses to spend your “hard-earned” money on really made you fell like a full-blown gangster. Overall, I found Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to be a really well-rounded game with very few flaws or bugs that I could find. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as had many elements that appealed to gamers from nearly every category, whether it was driving, shooting or dating Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has it all.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:47:23 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2693&iddiary=5080https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2693GRAND THEFT AUTO GAMELOG ENTRY #1 SUMMARY: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas begins with the main character, CJ, returning home after many years to attend his mother’s funeral. CJ reunites with all his childhood friends and family-members and sees that things are not as he left them. CJ notices that his neighborhood is full of drug-dealers and that the gang-unit of the police, lead by a corrupt cop named Officer Tenpenny, turn a blind eye to all the gang violence in the area. The beginning of the game involves doing some missions to help clean up the surrounding neighborhoods and restore the respect of the gang that he used to run with, The Grove Street Families. The game continues on with CJ finding out that he is being betrayed by once close friends and takes action to stop them. CJ’s journey takes him through a huge map of a pseudo-California landscape where CJ meets a colorful cast of characters that in the end help him take back the city of Los Santos for the Grove Street Families and take revenge on his back-stabbing friends. GAMEPLAY: The gameplay in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is identical to is PS2 predecessors with the new swimming feature lacked by Rockstar’s previous titles. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas introduces the characters so wonderfully so that you feel sympathetic to their cause and develop an emotional connection with the characters. Not only does the swimming feature add more realism to the game, but now your main character has variable statistics that can make the game easier or more difficult depending on their level. CJ’s skill in driving cars, riding bikes and riding motorcycles will rise the more you use the certain vehicles. Adding to the driving skill feature was the ability to modify your character’s stats. By increasing your character’s strength, you could do more damage in fist fights, by making your character really fat, you could decrease your running speed. Not only did these changes have gameplay effects, but you could also see the changes in CJ’s appearance. I found the somewhat non-linear mission-based gameplay to be very efficient in telling the story. It gave the game a very real, emerssive feeling to it. I could do some missions for this person, and then some for another, then go back to the first guy and finish his missions. The only time when you were limited to one series of missions were in the parts of the game where it was crucial to the progression of the storyline that you complete the missions. There were also side-missions where you could play as an ambulance driver, fireman or vigilante cop that when completed would give your character bonuses, such as extra health or immunity to damage from fire.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:26:21 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2693&iddiary=5074https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2539DIGIMON WORLD 2 GAMELOG ENTRY #2 GAMEPLAY: After my second play session, I found myself becoming a little bored with the turn-based battle system. After finishing the fourth dungeon I found myself avoiding battles as much as possible. However, after learning how to catch digimon, I then became engrossed in expanding my digimon collection and making the best team possible. I think perhaps that this games main feature would be the plethora of digimon that were made available to the player. The only thing I found the game to be lacking in was a 2-player mode. While I understand that multiplayer functions were not common for the Playstation systems, it has been done by taking data from 2 sources and letting the players battle it out that way. I was somewhat dismayed to find out that I could not battle my fellow hall mates. I found this very strange because ever since its conception, digimon has been a 2 player activity, with raising your monsters and then having them fight each other. I felt that the story behind Digimon world 2 was not only very interesting but also moved at a fast pace. I enjoyed this because despite the length of the dungeons, you knew that you would get a juicy tidbit of an overlaying story. Not only was the progression of the story well done, but the explanation of the world and the relationships between humans and digimon were explained thoroughly all while keeping to the theme of digimon. DESIGN: The design of the game was great for its time, but unfortunately compared to recent titles, the game falls short; this is to be expected as the game is around six years old. The battle-system of the game is simply done, and can get monotonous after a while. The only thing that keeps the player going back for more is the gripping story and the chance to catch strange and new digimon. Another interesting touch to the game is the player’s ability to upgrade the digibeetle with different parts that can become handy in different situations. The system of catching digimon is simple, yet original. The player gives gifts to the digimon they want to catch. Depending on the quality of the gift, the affection gained from the digimon will be different. A high affection means the digimon is more likely to join the player’s party. The player is then forced to fight the affectionate digimon, and if the player is successful, the digimon will want to join them and the player will be given the option to accept or decline the digimon’s offer for help. The more digimon you catch, the more DNA-Digivolving combinations you can make. DNA-Digivolving is what happens when you merge 2 digimon to create a stronger one. The created digimon begins at level one, but as it gains levels, its stats increase more dramatically and it gains the abilities possessed by its “Parent Digimon”. The digibeetle upgrade system is also very engaging. The player is able to buy parts for the digibeetle, making it more resistant to the hazards in dungeons and able to get around obstacles the player may encounter. The only flaw in this system is the cost of the upgrades; the game seems to demand that the player upgrade their digibeetle almost immediately. Unfortunately, the game does not explain how to do this or catch a digimon. Despite these flaws Digimon World 2 provides a unique, fun gaming experience all while keeping true to the digimon world.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:28:03 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2539&iddiary=4793https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2539DIGIMON WORLD 2 GAMELOG ENTRY #1 SUMMARY: The game Digimon World 2 for Playstation 1 takes place in a fictional world known as the digital world. In this digital world there are humans and Digimon, both of which oppose each other. Digimon World 2 begins with the main character, Akira, preparing to go on his last training mission to become a full-fledged Digimon trainer. A Digimon trainer is someone who befriends digimon and uses their powers to defend the city against “Wild Digimon”, who seek to destroy the humans. In Digimon world 2, it is up to you to protect the city against ferocious wild digimon as well as the evil organization known as the “Blood Knights”. GAMEPLAY: Having played Digimon World 2 long before now, I had a very nostalgic feeling after returning to the game. I found myself cheering my digimon on as they performed their attacks and I felt that a large gap in my soul had been filled. I found the characters really colorful and fun, despite that they followed the typical RPG archetypal characters such as: the rival, the love interest, the mentor and the benevolent leader. Despite the fact that the games mechanics felt somewhat dated, I did not care. I went in knowing that because the game was for Playstation 1 that the games sound, graphics and mechanics would feel somewhat old. When the game was originally released, its graphics were unmatched, and I find it so interesting that so much has changed in the last 6 years. So far, the gameplay has been fairly simple. You move your characters avatar through the game’s dungeons. The monsters in these dungeons move 1 space for every 1 space you move, almost like a chess board. When your avatar comes into contact with the monster’s avatar, the screen goes black and you are then brought to combat mode. In combat mode you can see all of your digimon and it is here where all the action takes place. The combat is a simple 3-on-3 battle style with the order being determined by the speed of a monster and the type of its attack. The avatar that you move around with in dungeons is an insect-like tank known as your “Digibeetle”. In Digimon World 2, you are able to upgrade your digibeetle with additional parts that give you bonuses when cruising around in dungeons. Some of these attachments give you the ability to remove obstacles as well as damage enemies before you enter battle with them, thus giving you the advantage before the start of the battle.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:59:52 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2539&iddiary=4772https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2064KATAMARI DAMACY GAMELOG ENTRY #2 GAMEPLAY Upon returning to Katamari Damacy after a much-needed dinner-break, I noticed that the controls were still as just easy to execute as when I was playing a few hours before. I found that the interactions between items and the katamari were very realistic and thus, added a sense of realism to the game. For example, if my katamari was hit by a fast-moving child on a bike, my katamari would go flying farther than if it was just batted around by a menacing, but cute tabby cat. The game also has a fair amount of variety in the levels. On the Taurus-themed level, you pilot your katamari around a town infested with cows! The catch is that you can only roll-up one; therefore, you have to find the biggest cow in the level. Unfortunately, there are also many cow-printed items and pictures of cows that can count as your “Cow Quota” so you have to be careful with what you roll up as the larger cows will require a larger katamari to be rolled up. One the virgo level, everything is female themed, so the trick is to roll up as many girl-related objects as possible before the timer runs out. Unfortunately, despite the variety in the themes of the levels, the actually number of levels is somewhat small. The player’s katamari can also get stuck between objects which can waste quite a bit a valuable time. The multiplayer options are also a bit limited as well, with just an option for a head-to head mode which gets boring quickly. Overall, Katamari Damacy is a unique and interesting look at what the Japanese gaming industry has to offer and a herald for what else is to come from across the seas. DESIGN When returning to Katamari Damacy, I was greeted with a happy loading screen that had me select my save data via rolling the correct data icon (all the data icons spell out the name of the company that made the game, Namco) up in a katamari provided for me. It is these kinds of quirky, seemingly miniscule features that can really make a game shine. Not only was it very cute to see the Prince rolling away a katamari with a big “NA” on it, but it also showed that the game designers really put a lot of thought into making their game unique. Upon progressing in the game, I began rolling up cousins of the Prince. Each cousin had its respective theme to it, some have oddly shaped heads, some resemble fruits and other objects and others have similar bodies to the Prince, but their colorings are different. Katamari Damacy also has an all-original soundtrack of which all of the songs are in Japanese, but that does not stop them from being on the top of my “Most Played” list. MY favorite song occurs on the level where you need to make the constellation of Cancer, the crab. The entire level is a house that is infested with crabs of many different sizes and colors. The song that plays on the level is called “Katamari Mambo” and it is one of the many off-beat and up-beat pop songs featured in the game. The cut scenes following the Japanese family known as the “Hoshino Family” are also portrayed as a pastel drawing. Here, everything is drawn heavily stylized, for example, the shapes that make up the people are all squares on rectangles with rounded edges. The Hoshino’s story begins with the children noticing that the stars have disappeared. The story then progresses with them going to the space station, where it is revealed that they are in fact planning to travel to the moon for a vacation. Despite the actions of the Hoshino family having nothing to do with the Prince, it is still cute to watch them. The level design is also incredibly accurate to many small towns in Japan. The items that the player is capable of rolling up also reflects the presence of Japanese traditions, for example, players can roll up dango, a ceremonial Japanese treat consisting of three spheres of mochi skewered on a long toothpick and many other Japan-related items. Later on, the player is also capable of rolling up thunder and rain gods, showing the polytheistic Japanese beliefs. Overall, Katamari Damacy is a beautifully designed game that brings many aspects of the Japanese culture to us through a unique and pleasurable gaming experience.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:49:47 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2064&iddiary=4012https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2064KATAMARI DAMACY GAMELOG ENTRY #1 SUMMARY Katamari Damacy begins with a father-son chat between the “Great King of All Cosmos” and his son, the main character. The King states that you, his son, are far too small to become a king one day and decides you must get bigger by rolling a katamari. A katamari is a spherical adhesive ball that the prince is ordered to roll around and collect any manner of item that is smaller than the katamari, which includes mundane items like ants to rather outlandish things like giant squids or even entire islands. After a short tutorial on a practice level, a movie plays where the King destroys all the stars in the sky. In the American version, it is said he does this out of eccentricity, but in the Japanese version it is revealed he was actually drunk and did it on accident. It then left to the player who guides the prince and his katamari to restore the stars, constellations, and finally the moon back to the night sky. GAMEPLAY In my first hour of playing the game I was very amused with the stylized character designs as well as the quirky J-pop that went along with the levels. I found this atmosphere to be quite intriguing and I was quite pleased with its originality. The object of the game I found to be original as well, after all, how many games ask you re-make the universe? The controls were also very easy to master and remember. The tutorial was also set up so that you were unable to complete the level without demonstrating mastery of all the game’s controls. The story of the game, so far, has followed the tried and true method of “keep it short and sweet”. The game immediately reveals what is happening and what you need to do. While you progress through the game, you also view small cut-scenes that tell the story of a Japanese family taking a trip to the moon. The levels have, so far, been moderately-sized; the largest thing I have been able to roll up so far has been a person on a skate board. The level design does a great job of making the player feel like they are experiencing immersive game play when in fact, they are moving throughout a level based on the size of their katamari. Levels usually come in two or three parts, in which at the beginning of the level the player is confined to the first part and is then able to move to other parts as they grow and are able to roll up larger items into their katamari.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:22:12 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2064&iddiary=3982https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1746Grim Fandango Game Log Entry #2 GAMEPLAY When reentering the city of "El Marrow" I was again greeted by the same mixture of light and dark offered by Grim Fandango. The light being the bright colors of the central Americas and the dark being the film noir-esque music and dialogue. What drew attention even more this time was the conversations between the characters. The main character, Manny, and the receptionist, Eva, have a wonderfully complex relationship. Manny seems to openly express his desire for Eva and flirts with here often. Eva not only puts up with it but she picks on him, almost in a loving way as if this has been going on for quite a while. Manny's character archetype is quite a common sight in film noir stories. A down on his luck hero with a good heart and dreams of one day getting away from it all with the girl he fantasizes about stumbles upon the fact that he is being wronged and seeks to get even. Despite his talent for mischief, Manny is overall a good person. Judging from his actions toward those he doesn't know, he tries to start off on a good note, yet fate has it that most of his encounters with people are usually unpleasant. The other characters in the game have so far been colorful and interesting to watch and interact with. Manny's rival, Domino Hurley, embodies everything we think of when we hear the words "Over-achieving Jerk". Many times does Domino make fun of Manny's lack of premium clients as well as embarrassing events that took place at the Department of Death's Christmas party. Another character is Manny's boss, Don Copal, who throughout the beginning of the game berates Manny for his poor sales and his lack of "Motivation". Don Copal is a short, squat little skeleton-man with a loud voice and a short temper reminding us of bosses we have had in the past. Overall, I have found the atmosphere, characters and story to be engrossing and loveable; I look foreword to playing more games like this. DESIGN Upon revisiting Grim Fandango I found myself once again being hindered by the awkward movement system. More annoying than the movement system I found was the game's mechanisms that enabled a character to go through doors. I found this to be malfunctioning many times that resulted in me banging on my cursor keys in frustration until I finally was able to go through a given door. Another problem I found when saving my progress was that the sound would shut off. Only after quitting then restarting the game would the sound then return. Another problem I had was constant crashing during cut scenes. Out of the blue, the games sound would begin looping itself and I would be unable to fix what was going on, causing me to restart my game and lose all of my data. Despite these problems I have had no trouble with loading times or slowness during game play. So far, I have enjoyed how the game creates conflict with subtle hints all leading up to a presumably large climax ending or epiphany. One problem with progression in the game is that some events which are vital to progressing farther into the story can be missed, thus causing the player to have to restart their game from where they last saved. I unfortunately discovered this too late and saved after the crucial point had passed and had to restart my game. Overall, I would say that despite these problems, Grim Fandango offers and wonderful looking into a very under appreciated genre of film noir-inspired adventure games. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:46:05 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1746&iddiary=3550https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1746SUMMARY For my Gamelog, I chose to play the game Grim Fandango for the PC. The game starts with Manny Calavera, a struggling grim reaper dubbed "travel agent" working for the Department of Death located in "El Marrow" a city in the land of the dead. The game begins with Manny pitching a sale to a newly arrived "client" about luxury options for the client's journey into the after life. To Manny's dismay, the client did not lead a righteous enough life to qualify for any luxury options. It is later revealed that this sale is exactly like all of Manny's other sales...lousy, and at this rate, Manny's debt for his deeds committed in life seems like it will never be paid off. After returning from yet another unfruitful sale, Manny learns from the receptionist, Eva, that his rival, Domino, was able to bag another premium client, a nun. Upon learning this, Manny suspects that Domino might be up to something and proceeds to find out what exactly is going on in the land of the dead. GAMEPLAY Upon starting this game, I was immediately engrossed in the unique atmosphere the game creates: a film noir feel amongst art deco architecture and colors reminiscent of central American cultures. I was relieved that the designers were able to blend the bright and vibrant colors inspired by Aztec and Mayan cultures while still maintaining the ever-present feeling of mystery and suspense common to the film noir genre. The characters in the game are all either demons or skeletons, the demons being permanent residents of the city of El Marrow and skeletons being souls who have a debt to work off to the powers that be. I found that the character design helped create the game's "Day of the Dead" atmosphere along with the music and level designs. The game's controls were a bit hard to master at first, but with the game's ability to let you choose character-relative or camera-relative directional control, I was able to move my character with little difficulty. The number keys provided a quick method of obtaining items kept in the player's inventory, however, once the item had been taken out, I was unable to put the item away without entering the inventory screen then exiting back to the main screen. While not a complicated process, I found the fact that holding some items can prevent the player from interacting with some key objects to be inefficient. The talking system is a very simple one: highlight the response you wish to say and press "enter". A great addition to the game was the fact that all lines of dialog, no matter how small, had voices to go along with them. This greatly helped me understand the relationships between the many characters as well as get a general idea of their dispositions toward their afterlives. Overall, Grim Fandango has provided a unique and wonderful gaming experience with a story that so far has kept me on the edge of my seat.Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:13:22 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1746&iddiary=3482