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Jan 25th, 2008 at 22:17:10 - Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) |
Entry 1
Summary:
You play as an unnamed character that is commonly referred to by players as 'The Wanderer.' The game begins with a cinematic that shows the Wanderer riding his black horse Argo and carrying a body as he crosses a very long bridge and enters a gigantic and ancient looking fortress. You soon find out that the Wanderer has stolen the body of a young woman and a magical sword and brought them both to a forbidden realm where a spirit named Dormin will restore the dead girl's soul, but only if the Wanderer uses the sword to defeat the 15 colossi that roam the forbidden land. The price will be high Dormin says, but the Wanderer accepts the challenge. For each colossus you must find its weak spot using a beacon that emits from the sword then discover how to reach that weak spot by manipulating the environment or by climbing on the colossus itself.
Gameplay:
What made this game really interesting for me was how mysterious and desolate the world feels. The dulled color scheme of the world and the slow and sad music during the introduction give the game a melancholy tone. The dead girl has been sacrificed because she had a cursed fate and the magical sword can protect the Wanderer from the menacing smoke creatures that begin to approach him when he enters the fortress. I wanted to know who the girl was and how the Wanderer knew her and how he got the sword, but the game teases you and won't let you know any background information. Immediately I didn't trust Dormin because of the mixture of voices blended together to create its main voice. The Wanderer seems to be in the forbidden land as an act of desperation. He wants to bring the girl back to life so badly that he has resorted to coming to this land that has a definite cursed feeling to it. Despite not knowing whether or not I could trust Dormin the only way to proceed is to battle the colossi. Once you have free rein to explore the world you can’t help but notice that the world is almost completely desolate. The only other creatures besides the Wanderer and Argo are lizards, hawks and of course the colossi. The world is massive, but there is really no point to exploring anyplace that isn’t along the way to the next colossus. The empty world adds to the sorrowful feel of the game that I found so intriguing.
For my first session I defeated the first three colossi. Each colossus was a unique battle besides the common goal to stab the weak spots on the colossus’s body. A typical place to find a weak spot appears to be the head but they appear on other parts of the body and you must find and attack each weak spot in order to bring the colossus down. Each colossus is more like a puzzle than a boss fight. You must use the beam of light that projects from the sword to locate each weak spot. Then you must manipulate the environment and the colossus until you can reach the spot. There is climbable fur and stone structures that you are able to climb on each colossus and you must carefully examine each situation in order to figure out how to win.
I enjoyed the deceptively simple style of this game. Your only actions are run, swim, jump and climb. The only weapons that you are given are the sword, arrows and the horse, but as the game progresses you must constantly find new ways to combine the limited actions and equipment in order to discover the way to bring down the next colossus. The only time when you hear music is when you are in battle and the music is usually eerie and sad. When you finally find the way to reach the colossus’s weak spot the music changes to a fast and heroic song that lets you know you’re on the right track and really gets you excited. When you finally kill the colossus shadowy black tentacles reach out of the body and attack the Wanderer, knocking him out until he reawakens at the fortress and receives instructions from Dormin about the next colossus. The ominous feel of the game and the mystery of the plot make me want to keep playing and the excitement of solving the puzzle of how to defeat each new colossus made it hard for me to put the controller down.
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Jan 15th, 2008 at 02:26:39 - Mass Effect (360) |
Gameplay:
For my second session of Mass Effect I found myself exploring the Citadel Station, a massive space station that is the hub of galactic politics and houses embassies for all of the allied alien races. The station lives up to the character's description of it being a massive complex as I explored it for two hours and have only covered about half of the layout. The Citadel Station was fun for me because the main actions are speaking with people and learning about the various alien cultures. After exploring for awhile you start to meet people who have problems that you can help them solve by running around and finding other people and delivering messages or convincing them to do things. This style of solving minor problems for locals while being on a planet for a greater more plot motivating reason really reminds me of Knights of the Old Republic. This section of the game was almost completely lacking in action sequences but kept me entertained by building in depth histories of different alien species and giving a complex history of the world that the characters live in.
The multitude of sub quests and running back and forth between people started to feel a little confusing but the well designed journal in the menu helps keep track of all missions and quests. The journal helps keep track of which quests are integral to the main plot and which are superfluous yet still fun for building a full picture of the amazing depth of world the designers created. There is also a nice variety of conversation choices, you can be polite, indifferent or a complete jerk and the way you speak to people affects how others react to you later in the game.
The endless amounts of talking and errand running did start to leave me wanting more action and I found myself shooting my gun randomly in hallways just to remind myself that I had a gun. I think the designers must have known that more action would be required and added the pleasant surprise of an ambush by assassins that let me get out some of my itchy trigger finger issues.
Design:
So far my favorite elements of this game are the decisions that you must make with how to interact with the other characters in the game. Two characters may be in a conflict and you must make a decision about how to resolve that conflict based on who you think is right or wrong. The player must use their own ethics and opinions based on the knowledge they have gained in conversations and the decisions they make will shift the way the game is played afterwards. If you make the decision to help one person then they will be more likely to help you later or conversely, if they don't like the way you handled a situation they may ignore you when you ask for help or advice. As you go through conversations with characters you can earn 'paragon' or 'renegade' points based on how civil you were in your discussions. This reputation building is similar to whether you become a jedi or a sith in Knights of the Old Republic. I think that this style of game is very innovative because it opens up many new possibilities every time you play. When one conversation can change the outcome of the game, you really have to be careful how you behave and with who you choose to become allies.
The level design of this game really opened up as I suspected it would. The first level seemed to be rather linear, but the level of Citadel Station is expansive and huge with many options and no required order for how to explore it. While mildly stressful for me because I always want to explore ever single nook and cranny, this open city to explore really contributes to the freedom the gamer has to experience this game in their own way. I really enjoy learning about the different species and how the decisions you make changes the way people react to you and speak to you. This aspect really makes it feel like you are in a fully interactive environment and not just running through it and watching watching what happens.
The expansiveness of the station is exciting to explore because each district and area looks different depending on the purpose of that area or the demographic of the people who can be found there. By interacting with the varying people in each area and hearing their opinions and problems you get to feel like you really see the inner workings of the city and complexity of the alliance of so many different alien species. This really shows how the world of the game is fully flushed out and well designed.
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Jan 14th, 2008 at 22:36:41 - Mass Effect (360) |
Summary:
In Mass Effect you control the character John Shepard, a soldier made famous for his skills as the sole survivor of an attack on one of Earth's early colonies on another planet. Through conversations you learn about the alliances and feuds with various alien races and the governments that they have formed to manage the galaxy. Humans are relatively new to intergalactic diplomacy and colonization and their relations with the varying alien species promises a story that will be full of political intrigue. The game starts out on a secret mission to pick up a valuable alien artifact before rival groups can claim it. On arrival you find that the site has been taken over by a race called the Geth and you must control two squad members while shooting your way through the demolished research facility.
Gameplay:
First off, the high quality of the graphics in Mass Effect makes it enjoyable to watch. In the opening hour of the game the majority of the story is revealed through conversations with other characters. The details on the faces of characters makes them look very realistic. When you interact with other characters their facial expressions and movement look so natural and match so well with the dialogue that just watching a simple conversation turns out to be very exciting. The voice acting and the writing are also done extremely well so I was able to really focus on the complex state of intergalactic politics and not be distracted by blocky or jerky movements and silly voices or bad writing. The characters all had a very organic feel to them that made it very easy for me to really get immersed in the game.
The complex relationships between humans as an emerging power in space and the alliances that they have formed with pre-existing factions are constructed through conversations that give a sense of the many varied opinions on the political situations. The set up of a very interesting political background plot gives the ominous visions of war and destruction at the end of the first level a sense of urgency and excitement.
Once your character is finally set down on the planet you have full access to the menu where you can read files full of historical information, upgrade the various skills of your character and his squad and view and upgrade your weapons and armor. Experience points are gained through fighting and exploring and items like med kits and equipment upgrades are found in crates hidden throughout the levels. The sheer volume of menus and options was a little overwhelming at first, but I took my time and read all the explanations and I came to find that the high level of customization in equipment, squad actions and how you level up each character really lets the gamer tailer the game to their own style of play.
The level design was fairly linear, but seeing as this was the first level of a complex game I found it comforting to not have to worry about finding every single hidden item and exploring every inch of the map. The graphics and detailing of the world were amazing and made it fun to explore. The large amount of debris and rocks in the area I played in made the fighting fun as I could take cover and snipe or rush in with a shotgun. This game really lets you explore with gameplay so you can maximize your fun with your own style of fighting.
My favorite aspect of Mass Effect so far is the various conversation options that let you shape how the story unfolds and how your character interacts with others. I always tend to be polite and honorable in my interactions, but I know I'll play again so I can be a jerk and bully people into doing what I want. This feature adds to the customization level and makes the replay value high. I know I will want to try out all the varying conversation options to see if I can access new plot lines and relationships with other characters.
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Flamojo14 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 9 days |
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