So big news! In the last week, Final Fantasy XIII came out (you should know this - I mentioned it at least three times in last week's post!). I've played for about 30 hours and you'll be able to read my thoughts on the game below.
Also, the Tokyo Game Developer's Conference 2010 has been in full swing and we've heard a lot of exciting announcements like the Playstation Move, the PS3's answer to motion control which couldn't be any more similar to Nintendo's Wii Remote; OnLive, an online service which will allow you to play PC games on any (Windows compatible) computer by streaming gameplay through an external server, among other things. To see the entire Playstation keynote, click here. GDC usually eases the wait between E3 each June. For those not in the know, E3 is the largest videogame conference in the world and is open to both the media and consumers.
The gadget that may single-handedly make PC gaming accessible to everyone
GAMES THAT I WAS EXCITED FOR WHICH NOW I HAVE PLAYED FOR YOUR BENEFIT (Part 2)
Final Fantasy XIII
(PS3, 360)
(PS3, 360)
Let me get this out of the way: if you think this is the best Final Fantasy game ever then you are seriously deluding yourself. All the pretty, flashing colours have probably triggered some minor case of epilepsy which makes you think stuff is awesome. Get real; compared to the other iterations in the series, this one is worse than XII (I actually really liked XII so I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I wrote that).
Final Fantasy is like Videogames for Dummies. It is so linear for half the game (let's remember that the game is over 60 hours in length!) that if you can find enjoyment out of pushing the control stick upwards, and occasionally twisting it left or right, you should probably be in a mental asylum. The overworld is tediously similar and drawn out to extreme lengths to the degree that some sections become incredibly boring and make you feel like you have to put the game down so you can revitalise that urge to bore yourself to death for the next time you play. It does not help thatthe width of this linear world (for the most part) is like that of a doorway. Though sparse, there are times when the path diverges for 3 - 4 (5 if you're lucky) footsteps so you can collect a treasure which contains the same item you collected 15 hours prior.
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The second-most annoying enemy returns in HD brilliance
There are two diversions that make the overworld a little more tolerable. Firstly, there's the battle system which is deep and interesting to explore. Each character has a few classes they can switch between at any time. You can choose Ravagers who use magic to damage foes; Medics who heal teammates; Saboteurs who cast debuffs on enemies so attacks deal more damage, and Sentinels who draw enemy attention away from weaker party members - to name a few. Choosing when to switch roles is crucial in battle, as fights tend to be more difficult than other RPGs and the tide can change at any time. Enemies each have their own quota of battle damage that, when reached, forces them into a temporarily weakened state where you can deal upwards of 500% of normal battle damage to really up your odds before they revert back to normal. This mechanic is also very important as foes can take a hell of a beating before going down. You can also summon special beings known as Eidolons who deal great damage and can transform into a kind of vehicle mode (crazy Japs!) where they zoom all over the screen dealing even more damage for a short period of time. Battles are all timed and ranked; higher ranks mean better items at the end.
I do have some gripes with the battle system, however. Firstly, the variety of enemies in most areas doesn't usually exceed more than four kinds. You'll often fight at least two kinds, and the game just swaps between different combinations of these few enemies and stamps it 'VARIETY'. With long-winded overworld stages, these battles too become tedious and you'll begin to find yourself wanting to skip fights after constantly battling the same enemies ad nauseum. Also, you can only switch roles from pre-selected combinations in the menu between battle. You can't set individual roles on the fly which is sometimes annoying when your pre-selected ones don't quite do the trick and you're left fighting a strong foe for more than four minutes because you didn't put a saboteur combination in the presets. Finally, the ranking system is at times absolutely outrageous. You get an average rank (three stars) if you hit the target time, give or take a few seconds. You get five stars if you're about a minute ahead, but this is entirely up to the developers. There were some battles where I was upwards of 1:30 ahead of the clock and it only gave me 4 stars. I would have thrown my control at the television where it not so damn expensive! A silly addition is that your health is considered dangerously low when it really isn't. The game goes into panic mode if you have 500HP when your max is 700HP. It's like an insatiable child who cries for attention when a fly lands on their arm. The game is totally and unnecessarily insecure! Finally, you can only control one party member while the rest act according to their current class. Having the ability to set conditions to their actions (like a simple version of the FFXII Gambits) would have been really helpful, like say, 'Use a potion if a party member's health is below 30%'. These are only minor little things, and the battle system is really very deep and keeps you wanting to explore different combinations of classes against different types of enemies.
The other reprieve is the level-up system known as the Crystarium. Here, characters have a unique skill tree for each class which you can level up with experience gained from battle. The amount of experience you pour into each tree will affect skills in battle and attributes like Strength and Magic Power. Obviously, if you devote more time to one tree, you will be less-efficient in another which could mean the difference between victory and defeat in battle. It requires a lot of forethought and planning so that you don't neglect a particular class as the Crystarium expands for further development.
As far as graphics go, I can safely say without a doubt that it is the best looking game I have played, period. Yes, it looks even better than Uncharted 2 which seamlessly switches between cutscene and gameplay without any difference in quality. There is a particular CGI scene in FFXIII about 25 hours in where you see a re-enactment of an historical event played by these kind of firework spirits and it's breathtaking. The amount of detail that has gone into each landscape is not at the expense of the detail of characters faces either. There are times when the game could have been filmed with real-life actors and you would not be able to tell the difference (good luck emulating those hairstyles though!). Even the Crystarium looks awesome thanks to lots of bloom lighting on the bright-coloured crystals. There are no hitches in battle either which is surprising given that there is always so much going on at any given point.
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Lookin' good!
You can't review a Final Fantasy game without talking about the Soundtrack and unfortunately FFXIII misses the mark on the scores. Although there are some very notable tracks, there are others which don't do anything for me. I was a massive fan of the XII soundtrack which so many people did not enjoy, which comes as a great surprise to me (funnily enough, it was the same guy who did XII's soundtrack who did that of Valkyria Chronicles). Many said of FFXII that the loss of Nobuo Uematsu from earlier FF games ruined its soundtrack. I did not agree, but now for FFXIII, I can see that his greatness can never be achieved, and FFXIII is all the worse off for it.
Anyway, despite all its shortcomings, Final Fantasy XIII is still an all right game. For me it's the story which really has me wanting to play on and not much else. The graphics are spectacular and truly have to be seen to be believed, and the battles are very enjoyable and challenging. Ultimately, this is not the best game ever, nor the best Final Fantasy game ever and fans should not expect to find the same greatness from earlier games in this one. I do recommend a playthrough though if you can tolerate the mundaneness of the first 30 hours of play.
Heavy Rain
(PS3)
(PS3)
Another over-hyped game of 2010 which incorporates one of my many banes of videogames: quick-time events. Heavy Rain is one massive quick-time event, not suitable for people with the reflexes of a brick. I don't think Heavy Rain is a bad game by any means but the gameplay mechanic which is supposed to draw you in is its biggest flaw.
Basically, when your character has to do something involving movement, you have to press buttons on the control which correspond very loosely to the action on-screen. For example, when stumbling down a muddy hill where grip is practically non-existent, you tap the left and right shoulder buttons on the control stick which translates the character's footsteps as he slips downhill with growing momentum. In another instance, you have to disinfect a man's wound by slowly rotating the control stick clockwise (which translates to the girl swabbing the wound with a rotation of her wrist). A great deal of effort has gone into making these actions seem somewhat similar to what it would be like if in real life, we were all Playstation 3 Dualshock controllers. Unfortunately, the gimmick wears off quickly (after the tediously slow introductory section where you have to watch a man shower - among other things) and the frustation builds up.
I would be able to cope better with this mechanism were the controls actually responsive, but for anyone who has played a Playstation 3 game that uses the motion capabilities of the Dualshock control, you'll know that to get any response from the control, you have to shake the control harder than you would your best friend who passed out from a drug overdose. It would seem that my Square button doesn't work properly either and you have to press it down with enough force to pop a pimple, but when I play any other game, the button works fine with a simple tap.
Where the game shines though (and this is not unique to just Heavy Rain) is that your actions can affect whether a character lives or dies, and regardless the game continues. There's a scene early in the game where you come head to head with a gunner and you know that if you miss one action, the character is as good as dead. Your heart pumps at one million miles an hour as you hope, just hope that you can survive long enough that you might knock the man out. This happens a lot so if you have a weak heart, maybe give this one a miss.
What I fear though - which hasn't happened to me just yet - is that the control will not respond at a crucial moment and my character will be shot dead and their story will cease to go on through no fault of my own. It seems you are allowed to miss a few actions - in another instance, you're forced to drive against the traffic on a highway and failing to hit a button to swerve out of the way just makes you clip another car - but the game doesn't indicate how many times this is possible before that's it for your character.
The intriguing part is that the story will go on. Presumably as long as one of the four characters lives, this murder mystery will find closure. This provides for numerous endings and playthroughs for anyone foolhardy enough to trust that their heart won't give out at the next scene. The story is fascinating - though my knowledge of criminology tells me that these type of killers do not exist - and will keep you wondering what will happen right through. The game forces you to switch between the four characters, allowing only short bursts of play for each one which triggers the annoying habit of 'I'll just playing for one more scene'. I didn't get to bed until 3am last night because I played just one more scene five times in excess.
The graphics are give or take. A lot of detail has gone into characters' faces but not so much into other body animations, particularly hands. The loading screens are mind-numbingly long at times (2 - 3 minutes sometimes) without so much as a simple minigame to make the time go faster. Then there's the voice-acting. Heavy Rain has quite possibly the worst voice acting I have ever heard in any game to date. They're all played by Brits putting on American accents and the results couldn't be worse. Some characters sound ok at best, with possibly a mild disability that makes them talk the way they do, while others sound like a mix between German, Swedish and French accents with a frontal lobotomy for good measure. The kids and one particular psychiatrist suffer from this the worst and though it is highly comedic, the intention clearly was not this.
Anyway, I'd play this game for the story if nothing else. The gameplay, graphics and definitely the voice acting aren't anything to write home about but the story of the Origami Killer will have you on the edge of your seat for hours to come.
Bioshock 2
(PS3, 360, PC)
(PS3, 360, PC)
Picture this. You're standing alone in the city - silent, dark and run-down - where anything that moves is not going to be friendly. There are noises in the distance, shrieks, quickly getting louder and louder. You have a gun with only 5 bullets. Thankfully, as quickly as the noise was audible, it's gone. Now you're dead.
Welcome to the world of Bioshock 2! In the undersea world of Rapture, human folly has led to its downfall and all that's left is the worn-down ruins of a once great society, now just a sombre reminder of the sad fate this world has befallen. The city of Rapture has fallen victim to human nature and once more the gods are laughing.
Bioshock 2 follows ten years after the events of the first game; now a new political sociopath has come to power and she wants you dead. Although she has the best intentions for Rapture, her selfishness and greed prevail and once more the city suffers with you caught in right in the middle. Everybody is an enemy; nobody can be trusted. The game may even convince you that you cannot trust yourself. This game is dark and I love it!
Atmosphere is key in this game, so much so that if you think you have a moment's reprieve, the game has fooled you. Danger lurks around every corner; light is used sparingly and the music is a constant warning that safety is not nearby. Ammo is more scarce than light and if you find yourself out of ammo in a gunfight, your hopes of survival are minimal. For the faint-hearted this truly is a terrifying game, but you have so much to gain from continuing onwards.
Welcome to the world of Bioshock 2! In the undersea world of Rapture, human folly has led to its downfall and all that's left is the worn-down ruins of a once great society, now just a sombre reminder of the sad fate this world has befallen. The city of Rapture has fallen victim to human nature and once more the gods are laughing.
Bioshock 2 follows ten years after the events of the first game; now a new political sociopath has come to power and she wants you dead. Although she has the best intentions for Rapture, her selfishness and greed prevail and once more the city suffers with you caught in right in the middle. Everybody is an enemy; nobody can be trusted. The game may even convince you that you cannot trust yourself. This game is dark and I love it!
Atmosphere is key in this game, so much so that if you think you have a moment's reprieve, the game has fooled you. Danger lurks around every corner; light is used sparingly and the music is a constant warning that safety is not nearby. Ammo is more scarce than light and if you find yourself out of ammo in a gunfight, your hopes of survival are minimal. For the faint-hearted this truly is a terrifying game, but you have so much to gain from continuing onwards.
Not so luxurious anymore I suppose
The story is revealed to you via radio communication from various characters, some on your side, some not. You can search around for extra radio diaries which speak of the horrors to come or shine light on characters and their motives. This ruptured method of storytelling is enthralling, leaving you to piece everything together yourself and come to your own conclusions. Not many games give you this sort of freedom of analysis. If Bioshock were a novel, you would study it English class. That said, it is by no means alienating; no knowledge of the first game is required, but it enriches the experience if you know what happened ten years ago. Despite its complexity, the story is easy to follow. So compelling is it that I beat the game in two sittings; one three hour sitting, one seven hour. If you think ten hours is short then you'll be pleased to know that you can play through again for different endings or go back and find all the radio journals.
The gameplay is more or less the same as the first game with a few extra tweaks like being able to dual-wield guns and plasmids (magical powers, if you will); being a Big Daddy means you have a drill to play with which is great fun, and the hacking minigame has changed to be a much more on-the-fly experience. These make the FPS gameplay much more fun and keep you on your toes with a higher difficulty curve to boot.
I haven't tried the multiplayer but I'm told it's very good and some new Downloadable Content has become available including some new maps and characters to keep things feeling fresh.
Although this is my shortest review this week, this is without doubt the best game of the three. You must pick this one up!
Editorial: Motion Control and why Nintendo are Douchebags
2010 is the year of motion control it seems. Both Playstation and Microsoft are dipping their finger in the motion control pie and both have their own versions slated for release later this year. They hope to gain some ground over Nintendo with the unprecedented success of the Wii. What does this mean for gamers like you and I?
At GDC last week, Sony of America CEO Jack Tretton promised gamers that their new Playstation Move technology would not cut out the core gamer by only focusing software on the casual demographic. He continued that the Playstation would be the next logical step for the causal userbase of Nintendo looking for HD graphics, DVD and Bluray capability and a deeper gaming experience. To misconstrue his words just a little, he pretty much said that the Wii is a shallow gaming device for people who know little or nothing about games and are ignorant when it comes to knowing what real gaming is all about.
If that's what he was really thinking, I agree entirely.
I was away recently with a friend, female, foreign to gaming but more than willing to try. Her previous forays into gaming included Guitar Hero and Wii Sports. She'd seen advertisements for Assassin's Creed II and was itching to try it out. I thought with its difficult control scheme she would find her first real game extremely challenging and might turn her off the experience forever. I was right that she thought it difficult, but I was surprised that she was determined to hone her skills and play on. There were a couple of occasions where she would spend the entire the day inside just playing Assassin's Creed II - just like a real gamer! By the end of the trip she was probably more than half way through the game and playing like a pro.
'Incredible,' I thought. Since the Wii's conception, I thought that casual gamers were hopeless idiots when it came to gaming. But in two weeks Sophie alone turned that myth on its head and opened my eyes.
Nintendo treats gamers like they're idiots. The games they allow to be manufactured for their system treat people like they have half a brain. Naturally, hardcore gamers looked down on casual gamers because Nintendo was brainwashing these people. Nintendo really is more evil than I thought.
And now, Sony comes up with the Playstation Move, a Wii Remote look-alike with greater potential, possibly more phallic-shaped than before, which could restore balance to the madness Nintendo is responsible for. Their promise to deliver quality games to casual and hardcore gamer alike could break down the wall which has created so much resentment within the gaming community. I like the route Sony has taken and I hope that they do not travel the same path Nintendo has.
I would talk about Microsoft's Project Natal, but they have been very coy about the details up until now. I foresee it will be a major aspect of their E3 keynote speech. Right now I'm in no position to consider whether they are following in the footsteps of Nintendo... but if you want to know my opinion, I think they will.
Reggie Fils-Aime, the douchebag that is Nintendo of America's CEO said in an interview with IGN that he is not intimidated by Sony and Microsoft. In fact, he said they should be intimidated by Nintendo. He refused to acknowledge the economic concept of market competition by stating that Nintendo do things how they want and do not bother with other companies. Well, it's no wonder Nintendo have their head stuck up their own arse. Mr Fils-Aime seems to believe he knows exactly what the consumer wants ("there really is no loss for the Wii consumer" when it comes to Netflix and HD capability) and that's exactly why much of Nintendo's original userbase has migrated to other consoles. Tell me Reg, since when have consumers ever wanted a device that measures their heart rate while playing a game?
He is reading your mind right now
At GDC last week, Sony of America CEO Jack Tretton promised gamers that their new Playstation Move technology would not cut out the core gamer by only focusing software on the casual demographic. He continued that the Playstation would be the next logical step for the causal userbase of Nintendo looking for HD graphics, DVD and Bluray capability and a deeper gaming experience. To misconstrue his words just a little, he pretty much said that the Wii is a shallow gaming device for people who know little or nothing about games and are ignorant when it comes to knowing what real gaming is all about.
If that's what he was really thinking, I agree entirely.
I was away recently with a friend, female, foreign to gaming but more than willing to try. Her previous forays into gaming included Guitar Hero and Wii Sports. She'd seen advertisements for Assassin's Creed II and was itching to try it out. I thought with its difficult control scheme she would find her first real game extremely challenging and might turn her off the experience forever. I was right that she thought it difficult, but I was surprised that she was determined to hone her skills and play on. There were a couple of occasions where she would spend the entire the day inside just playing Assassin's Creed II - just like a real gamer! By the end of the trip she was probably more than half way through the game and playing like a pro.
Playstation Move: fun for the whole family - mum included
'Incredible,' I thought. Since the Wii's conception, I thought that casual gamers were hopeless idiots when it came to gaming. But in two weeks Sophie alone turned that myth on its head and opened my eyes.
Nintendo treats gamers like they're idiots. The games they allow to be manufactured for their system treat people like they have half a brain. Naturally, hardcore gamers looked down on casual gamers because Nintendo was brainwashing these people. Nintendo really is more evil than I thought.
And now, Sony comes up with the Playstation Move, a Wii Remote look-alike with greater potential, possibly more phallic-shaped than before, which could restore balance to the madness Nintendo is responsible for. Their promise to deliver quality games to casual and hardcore gamer alike could break down the wall which has created so much resentment within the gaming community. I like the route Sony has taken and I hope that they do not travel the same path Nintendo has.
I would talk about Microsoft's Project Natal, but they have been very coy about the details up until now. I foresee it will be a major aspect of their E3 keynote speech. Right now I'm in no position to consider whether they are following in the footsteps of Nintendo... but if you want to know my opinion, I think they will.
Reggie Fils-Aime, the douchebag that is Nintendo of America's CEO said in an interview with IGN that he is not intimidated by Sony and Microsoft. In fact, he said they should be intimidated by Nintendo. He refused to acknowledge the economic concept of market competition by stating that Nintendo do things how they want and do not bother with other companies. Well, it's no wonder Nintendo have their head stuck up their own arse. Mr Fils-Aime seems to believe he knows exactly what the consumer wants ("there really is no loss for the Wii consumer" when it comes to Netflix and HD capability) and that's exactly why much of Nintendo's original userbase has migrated to other consoles. Tell me Reg, since when have consumers ever wanted a device that measures their heart rate while playing a game?
He is reading your mind right now
Nintendo's problem is that developers found a way to milk money out of the Wii. This exploitation has left Nintendo sitting on millions and millions of dollars, leaving them lazy and complacent. The developers keep making shit games, the people who Nintendo trained to be idiots keep buying them and Nintendo revel in the money they've made. Meanwhile, the people who loved them for their quality games have been left in the dark and go on to seek refuge in the companies who actually respect their gamers and cater to their interests.
I think that Nintendo too believe that they made a mistake somewhere along the line and have too much pride to say they were wrong. They manufactured a machine which in turn has manufactured more crap than a cow on haemorrhoids and nearly 5 years in they're in way too deep. So Nintendo, I invite you now to come to the stage and admit that you made a mistake. I won't judge you. Change your game plan, fire Reggie and Cammie and we can kiss and make up, k?
My resentment for the casual gamers is fueled by the existence of motion control technology. At first I believed that Sony's foray into the market was going to be a big mistake, but after GDC, I've seen a glimpse into the future that's in store for the gaming community as a whole, and I can only hope it is a bright one.
Oh, and Nintendo suck.
Other Things of Note
This is what I've been trying to tell everyone!
Pictures courtesy:
Playstation
OnLive
Game Trailers
IGN
I need not talk about the games I've been playing this week as I mentioned them all earlier. This section will return next week when hopefully I can talk about some new games. God of War III, perhaps?
People have been asking me recently just how many games I have in my entire collection. Well I can't give you an exact figure as I currently have some of my Wii games rented out to a mate, but on PS3 alone I have 34 games. On the Wii, I think I have about 20, and on 360 a mere 3. That's not counting games I have downloaded on my systems. Between my PS3 and Wii, I have another 30 or so. That brings the total to around 87 games. That's a fair amount of money I've poured into gaming over the years and that doesn't count my DS or PSP games.
This is what I've been trying to tell everyone!
I synced my iTunes library with my Playstation 3 the other day and for the first time I'm hearing my music in 5.1 Dolby Surround. It is so awesome. The more bass the better. If you have a spare $800 lying, I highly recommend investing in some surround sound. The transition from 5.1 back to stereo is always a difficult one to make. I wish life was in 5.1 surround.
If you have anything you want to email me about, the address is:
jonosasson@hotmail.com
I appreciate anything from support to hate mail to comments to suggestions. Feel free by any means.
I appreciate anything from support to hate mail to comments to suggestions. Feel free by any means.
Until next week,
Jono
Playstation
OnLive
Game Trailers
IGN
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