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Feb 9th, 2008 at 01:31:59 - Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) |
Entry#2
GAMEPLAY
I began to rush my gameplay I bit because I wanted to be able to review more than just the beginning tutorial. While trying to pick up the pace I bit, I discovered a minor difference between the first game and the sequel: I am able to skip cut scenes now. While I did not skip any this time around - I still found I wanted to know what exactly was going on with this Roxas kid - I am very happy they added this feature. In the old game, if there was a huge cut scene right before a boss fight and you died, you had to sit through that cut scene all over again, perhaps more than once, depending on how many times you died. This was very annoying and I was glad they added a nice, easy "Skip Scene" button.
I'm still not absolutely fond of the Reaction Command. I used it in a couple of boss fights, and my earlier feelings were confirmed: it made the fights far too easy. I still really like watching the special attacks that the Reaction Command produces, which are even nice mini-cinematics during boss fights. However, it does not really feel like I am accomplishing anything and it does not feel like it really flows with the rest of the battle system. Usually you are rapidly hitting attack and trying to get combos in, giving a somewhat intense feeling to the battle. However, with the Reaction Command, it just one simple push of the button and then sit back and watch your character on autopilot. It almost feels like a cheat, in a way.
I do have to say that I like the addition of Drive Forms into this game. A Drive Form is when Sora fuses with an ally to become more powerful in some way. I got the first one right at the end of my second session, the Valor Form. This one, Sora fuses with Goofy - the mainly defensive/melee ally - and is able to duel wield keyblades and fight faster and hit harder. While I found Reaction Commands made things a bit too easy, I feel this fits in perfectly with the flow of fights. You are still in control of the character and it's limited by your Drive Bar and time, so you should use it wisely. I cannot wait to see the other Drive Forms that will become available.
DESIGN
I like the interface the game provides while running around in the world. It has this menu system that took a little bit to get used to it again (since the first game had the same thing), but once I did, I found it quite easy to use. While the analog stick is used for moving around, the d-pad is used to navigate the player's menu in the bottom corner. This menu contains many actions, such as attack, talk, lift, items, magic, and so on, changing sometimes depending on what you're close to. I will admit that this might seem a bit bogged down during fast-paced events like fights, they easily handle this with a macro-menu that appears when you hold down a shoulder button. You can put spells and items into this menu and then during fights, just push the shoulder button and tap whichever button your spell was assigned to and it'll instantly take care of it. I think this menu interface was an interesting thing to implement in Kingdom Hearts and is definitely unique to the series.
The level-up/ability system in this game is also nicely handled. It might be a bit simple for any hardcore gamer, but then I'm not sure if any hardcore player would be playing KHII anyway. Whenever a player levels up, either a stat of theirs - like attack power or defense - increases or they learn a new ability. Also as you level up, the max amount of abilities you can hold increase, but usually at a far slower rate than your arsenal of abilities you can equip. An ability is just some nice little extra thing you can attach to your character - an extra swing to your combo attack, a special dodging maneuver, you can gain money faster, stuff like that. But since, like I said before, you have more abilities to chose from than you can equip at one time. Thus, you are forced to pick and chose, and this adds a certain customization to the game. I like this aspect, almost making me feel like I creating my own, somewhat unique hero. And if I find something does not work in a boss battle, I can move abilities around to try something different.
The designers seemed to have decided to lower the difficulty of gameplay going from the first to the second. Even if the Reaction Command were not there, I still would feel like this game is a little to easy, not enough challenge. It may be because I'm still in the early stages, or it may be because I set the difficulty to Standard Mode at the beginning - medium. But I still feel like it should be a little more challenging. I'll just have to wait and see how my opinion on that changes - or not - as I progress through the game. Still, overall, I find this to be a fun game.
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Feb 9th, 2008 at 00:36:37 - Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) |
Entry#1
SUMMARY
Kingdom Hearts II is a third-person fantasy-action game full of magic, fighting, large areas to explore, characters, and color. It follows the story about a young hero that will fight off an army of darkness using a legendary weapon called the keyblade. Through his adventures, the player explores many worlds, most of which are Disney-themed and full of Disney characters. However, there are a few worlds thrown in that are unique to the game, as well as unique characters, plus characters from the Final Fantasy series.
GAMEPLAY
So, being a fan of the first Kingdom Hearts that I played many years ago, I decided to sit down and start playing the sequel. I have not really gotten that deep into the game, but so far I am enjoying myself.
I want to start by saying that I really liked the graphics in the first game, and it only got better in the second. It's not all that realistic, but it does not need to be. In fact, I think the colorful cartoony/anime-like feel about it really adds to the whole experience. Plus, it would be difficult to add realism to a game full of Disney characters. Anyway, the graphic style is really enjoyable and definitely draws you in, almost making you feel like you're ten years old again.
I liked the new character Roxas that was introduced at the beginning of this game. I think his personality was designed well and fits in with the entire Kingdom Hearts feel, along with his homeworld, Twilight Town. It makes me interested to find out more about him and how he is linked to the keyblade master. It is important that the game aroused this interest in me, but I know that I am basically running through a tutorial/introduction level. When not handled properly, an introduction level can be one of the more boring parts of the game. And while this Twilight Town area is not exactly exciting, I still am interested in progessing because of this interest in this Roxas character.
KH II also seems to offer a fair amount of minigames. It was great to already find several sidegames after only making it an hour into the game. And for the most part, they were pretty fun to play too. I did have a bit of an annoyance with the mail delivery one at first (I could not find one of the recipients - how was I supposed to know it was a bird I had to jump to?), but I found I liked them once I got the hang of them. With only being this far into the game, I can only imagine what other minigames I'll run into later.
Something that was introduced in this game and was not in the first game was the Reaction command. When you're fighting a monster and you get in just the right position or range, a green triangle will appear as if targeting the enemy. If you hit the triangle button at that second, your character will do some special attack that depends on what monster your fighting. I'm not sure how I feel about this new feature. While I definitely like seeing what unique attack will happen, it also feels like it over simplifies the battle a bit too much, since these attacks have a tendency to do quite a bit of damage. I really liked the fighting system from the first game, and at least that is still intact in this game, but now things just seem a little too easy with this addition. I'll give it some time though to see if it grows on me.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 9th, 2008 at 01:10:53.
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Jan 26th, 2008 at 00:00:32 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) |
Entry #2
GAMEPLAY
I began to explore the expansive world of Ocarina of Time more, and I have to say I am not disappointed. It is quite large with every zone having a distinct feel. The first area, the forest, was maze-like and was made up of different greens and many other dark colors, yet had a slightly magical feel to it. The Hyrule Field seems to go on for miles, which I imagine might get annoying later since Link does not run that fast, but still makes for tons of places to investigate. The Market is full of people - and sounds like it too, with several voices overlapping in the background - and I found myself spending a lot of time just running around and talking to everyone and trying what minigames I could. I keep finding stuff to do in this game, and its hardly repetitive, so the zones were designed very well in my opinion.
I also realized that time actually moves in this game, and that effects what or who you see in certain places. A scene you may see during the day could be completely different at night. Different monsters lurk in areas at different times of the day, ranging from zombies at night to some strange, flying plant-like things during the day. I think this is a great aspect of the game, allowing the developers to reuse a zone and have different events, minigames, and secrets depending on when the player is there. This, of course, made me spend even more time exploring a single zone.
I know I have not gotten far into the actual story itself yet, but so far I think it is written well for a Zelda style game. They make it clear what they want you to do next, with characters leading you in the right direction, but I also like that it does not force you to do the next story event right away. And with just a few lines of text, they easily give even just background characters personalities and quirks. I'm definitely looking forward to see where the plot takes me and what the new areas and dungeons look like.
DESIGN
I still have to say I am a big fan of the Z-targeting and the interaction display I mentioned in the first entry. But now that I've had more time to play the game, I was able to play around with some other features that were pretty good too. I like that they improved on the older games in the series, where when you got special items, you could only select one at a time. Now, they have three slots for items that you can attach to the three lower C-buttons, making it so I did not have to switch stuff in and out of my inventory as often. I would have liked if they had found a way to make even more items accessible at once, but three is still an good improvement.
I also like the way the use of the ocarina was set up in the game. When using it, the buttons are set up very similar to a real ocarina, with the four C-buttons representing the top holes and the Z-button on the bottom represent the fifth one underneath. It's a very intuitive design, simply made and easy to learn. I found myself interested to see what songs I would learn and what they would each do, since its obviously important to the game - it is in the title after all.
There are several unique items that can be gotten, as with every Zelda game. But what I like about them is how a some of them seemed to be designed to do multiple things. For example, a plain stick that Link can pick up can not only be used to swing at enemies, but also can be lit on fire, and from there can be used to set enemies on fire or used to solve a puzzle by lighting a torch or burning a web. I thought this was a smart decision on the designer's part, allowing the player to experiment with different items and see if they could find new stuff to do with old things, or possibly solve puzzles in different ways.
I mentioned earlier that I like how much there is to explore, given that there is a lot of space and that places vary depending on the time of day. The world was not only designed for exploring, but rewards its players for doing so. By finding a hidden cave or playing a minigame, you could receive a heart container or money or an upgrade to an item. I liked this reward system, it made it so exploration was not a tedious chore, but just simply fun. Even the music rewards you with a cheery tune for discovering something.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 02:09:20 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) |
Entry #1
SUMMARY
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a classic Zelda game: third-person, sword-wielding hero that goes from dungeon to dungeon, defeating monsters and attempting to rescue the princess. Like its predecessors in the series, it has a huge, interactive world with plenty of puzzles, minigames, and secrets. However, this installment brought several new features to the series, including a 3D environment and many innovative controls.
GAMEPLAY
I have always been a fan of the Zelda series and had a lot of fun growing up playing the ones on the old NES and SNES systems. Somehow though, I had never gotten around to playing the N64 Ocarina of Time. But with this assignment, I finally found the excuse to give it a try. And from my first hour of gameplay - where I got to explore the cozy little Kokiri Village, talk and interact with its locals, and fight my way through the first dungeon - I was not disappointed.
This game being almost ten years old, I was expecting it to feel dated and not quite as exciting/interesting as today's games. However, I was surprised to not only find I was being pulled into the game's story, but also that the game had many features that probably help shape the way games of today are. All that wrapped into 3D graphics that were actually quite impressive for an early N64 game.
The first feature I really liked was actually a rather simple one, but it was helpful all the same. Often in games similar to Zelda or RPGs, you can explore items, talk to people, and interact in other ways all with the push of one button. While this is nice and makes things easy, it is often not very clear what you are instructing your hero to do. For example, if you're trying to look inside a barrel, but you're too close to a person nearby, you often end up talking to that person instead of interacting with the barrel. What I like about the way they handled this in Ocarina of Time is that in the upper portion of the screen, it tells you what will happen if you push the A-button (the interact button). If you're near a person, it'll say 'talk.' If you're in front of a sign, it'll say 'read.' If you're near a hole you can get through, 'crawl' will be displayed. It's such a basic little feature, but it made gameplay immensely easier and more enjoyable for me.
Another feature they implemented that made gameplay fun was the Z-targetting system. If there is something you want to interact with nearby, simply tapping the z-button will target it. Link will face it and the camera will give a clear, unobstructed view of it, staying on it whether it or Link moves. It has a fantastic range, allowing the player to talk to a townsperson from great distance or aim a sling-shot at a spider a floor above you. It was a pleasant experience discovering and using Z-targeting, especially since I was not expecting to find anything like it this game. It was remarkably easy to use and made the game flow easily in and out of fights.
Speaking of fights, that is where I found Z-targeting the most interesting. With a tap of the Z-button, Link was zeroed in on the enemy and could easily block attacks with the shield and do several well-aimed swings with his sword. This made encounters with enemies more fun than simple button-mashing, allowing me to strategize, to decide when to backflip-dodge out of harm's way or lunge at the opponent. It was definitely different and more enjoyable than the fight system I had expected to find.
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Vayle has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 10 days |
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