Finished: Mirror’s Edge

I really really wanted to love Mirror’s Edge.

I was sold by the original announcement — the pounding footprint EA logo, Lisa Miskovsky’s beautiful Still Alive, the bright colors and parkour-inspired gameplay… Here it was, EA’s big moment of redemption, part of their let’s make something new campaign, an opportunity to show that they could add to the art of video games, that, alongside Dead Space, they weren’t just sitting creatively idle, churning out sequel after sequel.

Unfortunately, the game is a mess.

There’s a core of greatness buried in Mirror’s Edge, and for that alone it’s worth exploring, but the brief moments of awe are surrounded by tedium and frustration. The setting is fantastic — an urban romp through a colorful dystopian landscape — but the joy of exploration falls apart in the level design itself. I’ll accept the forced trial and error gameplay, but when combined with an imperfect contextual control scheme and widely scattered save points, the results were brutal. Many times I’d find myself elated to have crossed some difficult hurdle, only to screw up down the road and be thrown back to well before the tough bits, destroying the pleasure of progress and ratchetting up the aggravation meter. While some of the level layouts simply felt half-baked, thoughtful checkpoint placement might have lessened some of the duress. Yeah, the price would be a reduction in the overall challenge (and already short game length), but for a title that shines brightest when the player is in the flow, leaping over obstacles and along rooftops, it would’ve been a welcome tradeoff.

As I played through the game, I was hoping that the story, penned by Rhianna Pratchett, would be gripping enough to lure me through points of struggle, but the plot was ultimately another mundane enclosure for gameplay requirements, lacking the characterization, unpredictability, and oomph that a well-crafted tale displays.

Particularly mood-breaking were the cutscenes. With such a lush and beautiful in-game environment, why on earth did DICE resort to using a series of Flash-based segments? I’m guessing a lack of cinematic tools or a time crunch led to the decision, but man, was it a bad one.

Anyway, after all this bitching, would it be wrong of me to say that I’m looking forward to the sequel?

Plus/Minus:
+ Overall, a beautiful sense of style & art direction.
+ Novel, sometimes elegant control scheme.
+ Ooh, another great soundtrack.

- Lousy save point distribution leads to seriously frustrating repeats.
- The cut scenes… why?
- Argh, I haven’t played a more frustrating game in years.
- Solidly mediocre story. I was expecting more.

Final grade: C-

Finished: Planescape: Torment

With the sudden and dramatic red-ringing of my Xbox 360, and the couple weeks wait for a refurbished return, I took the opportunity to spend some time on the neglected portion of my play list, the PC games category. First up, the Black Isle AD&D classic with one of the worst cover designs in history, Planescape: Torment.

Actually finding the game was more difficult than it should have been. With services like Steam and GOG out there, why hasn’t this title been packaged in a tidy downloadable format? It may have something to do with the AD&D license or ownership, but Planescape: Torment is playable on GameTap (unfortunately in an unmoddable form), so someone has crossed that hurdle. Anyway, I came across a battered disc in the neglected software box in the garage, scrounged up disc two online, and was good to go.

The fan community surrounding Planescape: Torment is active, and in the decade since the game’s release, several patches and mods have been independently developed. Beyond the whole fixing bugs and typos thing, there’s a patch that completes and implements unfinished content, and another that enables higher resolutions and widescreen play. The overall improvement after installing the lot of ‘em is striking, and really makes for a better gaming experience.

Planescape: Torment at 640×480:

With the widescreen patch:

Hell of a difference.

Now, even post-patching, Planescape still has elements that feel barren and unfinished, particularly those dealing with AD&D particulars. Aside from tattoos (which are treated like any other removable piece of gear, but usable by only a handful of characters) and jewelry, there is a distinct lack of wearable items, and by the game’s end, after days of play time, I still had characters in the party with empty equipment slots. The class differences felt shallow, possibly as a result of poor itemization, and the Thief class as a playable option probably should’ve been cut entirely.

More so than most other games, even within the genre, Planescape is a reader. Alongside the voluminous story-forwarding dialog and text elements, there’s a full journal of content that updates as the game progresses, and a myriad of dialog trees to be followed with each of your (up to five concurrent) party members. Unlike most other games, however, the writing is all solid stuff, and I was genuinely interested in the story progression, background, and relationships as I played.

The basic story treads a path that many others have worn beyond comfortable levels — powerful amnesiac who doesn’t know who or where he is (okay sure, it allows the player to learn as the character does), a wisecracking sidekick, and a mysterious big bad pulling the strings and generally making life difficult. The brilliant part of Planescape: Torment is how this was handled. Beyond the cliches, characters were well-developed, with unique qualities and individual motives and passions. The amnesiac story played out artfully with a satisfying culmination, and the fragments of memories and experiences peppered throughout the game gave it much of its color. And yes, as someone unfamiliar with the lore of AD&D’s Planescape, being given the opportunity to learn as the protagonist did was indeed helpful.

In fact, it’s the story that hoists Planescape: Torment above its CRPG siblings, causing one (at least after installing the community patches) to excuse any bugs or issues as minor quibbles. It really is a fun game to play, one of the best western rpgs to date, and well worth the effort to track down and get ahold of. Give it a run through if you haven’t, and let me know what you think.

Plus/Minus:
+ Expansive dialog, deep characters, excellent story.
+ Good ol’ Infinity Engine gameplay.
+ Solid soundtrack by Mark Morgan.
+ The Planescape setting was a refreshing take on traditional AD&D fantasy stomping grounds.
+ Awesome patching support from the community. Thanks, guys!

- Poor itemization, especially wearable equipment.
- Buggy in stock form.
- Still not a fan of the box art.

Final grade: A

Finished: God of Wars

Like many of the best of the PS2 era, God of War I & II are games that I’m embarrassed not to have played until now.

Upon completion, my first response was to be dismissive, to disparage the titles. I wanted to call them simply a violent Zelda with tits, the video game versions of a 1980s R-rated action flick, gratuitous strip club scene included. These games not only go over the edge of gore and T&A, they revel in it.

Then I realized, that’s the beauty of the series. God of War (here I’m referring to the series as a whole) takes the greatness and exaggeration of the mythology on which it’s based and goes nuts. Everything is big: the battles, the bosses, the characters, the swords, and the breasts. Nothing is subtle here, even the majority of Krato’s speaking parts are yelled out, and when not hampered down by camera issues and suspension-breaking platformer challenges, it all works.

When I play a game, the most evil you’ll see me ever take a character is maybe somewhere just shy of ne’er-do-well. I’ve admittedly got some sort of over-empathy thing going on, as just playing the role of an evil person makes me feel bad, and I find it unenjoyable. Now while Kratos isn’t evil, per say, he does have some serious issues, and there were a few points here and there that were just not fun to play (the man in the cage, for example).

Hmm, the whole game morality issue is a discussion in itself, so for now I’m just putting it out there that I found some of the situations off-putting.

The sequel, expanding on the bigger and badder of the series, takes the Kratos is a dick thing even further, although I’ll admit that battling mythological heroes was a blast. The Perseus fight, with its Harry Hamlin plucked straight out of Titans, was one of the highlights of the game.

Plus/Minus, God of War:
+ Holy crap this feels epic.
+ He’s a dick, but Kratos does seem legitimately badass.
+ Character designs and level architecture are a lot of fun.
+ Gives the player a bit more life each time a checkpoint is reattempted. Nice.

- Camera is maddening, flip-flopping at the worst times and creating difficult angles of control.
- Platformer puzzles without the platformer control. Ugh.
- Overly complex controls, could’ve done more with less.
- Quicktime events: not a fan.

Final grade: B-

Plus/Minus, God of War II:
+ The good points from above. More epic!
+ Colossus battle: hell of a way to start the game!
+ Controls felt much better in the platforming bits.
+ Impressive ending cinematic has me excited for the sequel.

- Fodder battles became tedious.
- Quicktime events: still not a fan.

Final grade: B

Dear residents of Tenpenny Tower,

I guess sorry doesn’t really cut it right about now.

[minor spoilers follow, and I don't wanna get yelled at]
Full story, after the jump »

Finished: Beyond Good and Evil

“The war has arrived at the gates of Hillys!”

Prior to finally completing it last month, I’d attempted and then abandoned Beyond Good & Evil at least three or four times.

While the game is a bit slow to start (after the spectacular introductory sequence), the lack of a full playthrough was simply the result of my falling prey to a constant barrage of newer and shinier things. I’m not particularly known for my discipline.

But this time, this time, bolstered by both age and a sense of duty, I finally beat the damn thing.

Visually, Beyond Good and Evil holds up very well, particularly when played in progressive mode on a PS2 or PS3, and Christophe Heral’s score (he’ll be returning for the upcoming sequel) is considered to be among the best of the previous generation.

The game plays a bit like a stealth Zelda, with a hub-like overworld and a smattering of dungeon crawls, physical puzzles, and platforming segments. The photography and reporting aspects were my favorite part of the game, and I hope they lean heavily on those elements for the sequel.

Things seemed to wrap up a bit too quickly at the end, but I did enjoy the story, and found myself genuinely caring for the primary characters and their crusade.

With the second installment on its way, pick up and play BG&E if you haven’t. It’s available on Windows and all three of the last gen platforms, and can easily be had for less than ten bucks.

Plus/Minus:
+ Game starts off with a bang, throwing me immediately into a boss fight.
+ The button displays in the top left corner show relevant commands and are shaped and positioned like the buttons on the controller (varying per system). Yeah, everyone is into minimal UI these days, but this was really helpful.
+ The circular repeat-scrolling number/letter entry system is great! Much better than an onscreen keypad when using an analog device. I’m so stealing this.
+ After dying, the game sends you immediately back into play at the last (invisible) checkpoint. No loading saves, etc.
+ In-game hints from supporting characters were a nice touch. I rarely felt directionless or unable to progress.

- Being forced to select the language every single time I booted the game.
- The camera! The camera in interior spaces! Argh don’t do that!

? The final boss. I’m undecided, was it genius or really annoying? I was frustrated until I realized that holding the controller backwards was the secret, and then I felt brilliant for figuring it out. Still, how many players will just quit during the feeling frustrated part?

Final grade: A-

Finished: Crisis Core

With my drive to complete the Tron restoration before the end of the summer sabbatical, I haven’t had a whole lot of game time lately to make much headway into the play list. Luckily, I’m also behind on updating my progress, so hey, fresh content! The nice thing about playing games that are already a few years old… what’s another month or two before the write-up, right?

I’ve started to keep a play journal. No, not that sort of journal, but rather a good things, bad things video game journal. Whenever I come across a design element that is particularly aggravating or enjoyable, I mark it down. With the bad things, I think about what was avoidable, and how the issue could’ve been worked around; with the good ones, I note ‘em for reference and future ah, appropriation. Sometimes I’ll draw little arrows off to the side pointing at the especially good ones.

So, play list update.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Through and through, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is unapologetic fan service. With a story as melodramatic and convoluted as any in the Final Fantasy series and an appearance by pretty much anyone who was anyone in VII, hardcore fans of the original game will find plenty of references and tenuous links to go nuts over. While I’m no Final Fantasy superfan, I’d just finished VII a few weeks before, so characters, events, and relationships were all still fresh in my mind. Thankfully, the continuous stream of callbacks to the original were most often amusing, although rarely insightful.

In his review of the game, Simon Parkin found fault with the idea that, unlike Cloud in Final Fantasy VII, Zack is a voiced character. I disagree. In the original game, the player views Zack as someone else, a nonplayer, a relatively unknown member of Soldier whose identify Cloud takes on. Crisis Core tells his story, but by then he’s already been established as that someone else, a character with a history – not an empty vessel to be filled by the player – so his distinct voice and personality played, for me, a fiction-supporting role rather than being suspension-snapping baggage.

Overall, I really enjoyed the gameplay. Combat was a nice merging of action and Final Fantasy RPG, the materia system had enough depth to allow for a variety of play styles, and the control scheme was rarely frustrating. My absolute favorite part of the game, however, was the mission system, and I’d often drop in for a few missions when I didn’t have enough time to progress in the, ah, real game.

Final thoughts? Solid game, plays well to its intended platform and audience. A must-play for the fans, worth a look for everyone else.

Final grade: A-

Plus/Minus:
+ Pick up and play mission system is great fun, and is especially well-suited for a portable title.
- DMV wheel! Tedious and slow after the first half-dozen fights. I would’ve liked a mechanism to speed through the reel rotations.
- Strange hotspot-based random battle system. All this resulted in was my continuously hugging of the walls to avoid unnecessary combat.

Watched Advent Children a couple days after finishing Crisis Core. Not as good as I’d hoped, and a poor way to top things off. Square does best when they deliver their story little pieces at a time, I suppose. I also picked a cheap copy of Dirge, so I may take that up shortly just to knock out the series completely (well, everything but the cell phone game).

Finished: Final Fantasy VII

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but let me clarify. I did not own a Playstation until the mid 2000s, and finally bought a PS2 this year. I was raised a BBS and PC gamer, first with an Atari 400, then an Amiga 500, followed by a Powermac 7100, and culminating with a move to the Windows platform shortly before the launch of the Everquest beta. In fact, aside from the family NES, the first new console I owned was an Xbox, in 2002.

Along with a desire to dedicate time towards revisiting classics and old favorites, this lack of experience with what many would consider to be the glory days of the console has played a significant role in shaping the roster that would become my 2008 play list.

Along with the Metal Gear Solid games, a series that I’ll be taking up shortly, one of the key entries in my pile of shame (I’ve been collecting the games for the play list for some time now) was Final Fantasy VII.

I did experience a bit of Final Fantasy VII back in 1997. There was what came to be a communal Playstation at a friend’s house, and through that year and the next I either watched or played through maybe 8-10 hours of the game, was familiar with most of the summons, and knew bits of the story. Still, I’d never sat down and actually played the game (or most of the other games in the series, for that matter, as the only two I’d played through until recently were the original Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy X), and as such, I don’t have the intense familiarity and nostalgia with the Square Enix juggernaut that many gamers do.

Thanks to custom firmware and a couple of handy applications, I was able to rip my copy of Final Fantasy VII and play on the PSP, the four inch screen giving the graphics less of a dated feel. While the game does have moments where you are forced to navigate off in the background, rendering Cloud as a diminutive heap of pixels in the distance, overall the game felt at home on the portable, and ran without a hitch.

Total time from the main theme to finale was nearly 40 hours, and that was with minimal attention given to ancillary objectives such as Chocobo collecting, Fort Condor battles, or the various Gold Saucer challenges. Of the secret characters, I welcomed Vincent into the party but managed to tell off Yuffie, causing her to run off into the forest, never to be seen again.

I had wondered how the story and would hold up after these years and without nostalgia to bolster it, and was left pleasantly surprised. Sure, Final Fantasy VII has its over the top moments and bouts of melodramatic silliness (it wouldn’t be a JRPG without ‘em), but the chord of solid (and serious) storytelling held true throughout. While Aeris’ death — one of the most talked about moments in gaming history — was in no way a surprise, it was still affecting, and I felt for Cloud (er, driph), Barret, Tifa, Red XIII, and the rest of the cast, hoping that things would go well for them as their journeys progressed. Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack, backed by solid pacing and extraordinary cinematography, was effective and moving, and now that I’m able to connect the sounds with the moments I understand the emotional attachment many have to tracks such as “Aeris’ Theme” and “One-Winged Angel.”

My quibbles with the game are few. Mini-games, of which there were plenty, were a diversion at best and tedious at worst, although some, like the Fort Condor battles, were surprisingly sophisticated for playing such a minor role in the presentation. The random battles were bothersome but not gamebreakers, although I will admit to some tense (and impatient) moments running from point A to point B, cringing as the battle theme suddenly spooled up and the screen swirled. Finding just where to step was aggravating at times, the optional cue points an absolute necessity, although a healthy chunk of the blame can be attributed to playing the game on a screen it was never intended for.

So what’s next? Well, I’m already an hour into and enjoying the fan-service-heavy Crisis Core, to be followed by an evening spent with Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Square Enix’ 2005 followup film. I’m even considering a run through the much-maligned Dirge of Cerberus, although I have a feeling I’ll have reached my fill of VII by that point. For now, I’m hooked, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a fanboy, I am a fan.

I’m still utterly baffled by the exorbitant prices the discs fetch on ebay, though. 9.5 million copies of the game were sold, people! 9.5 million!

Final Grade: A

Finished: Eternal Sonata & Cave Story

Eternal Sonata is a weird one, in some ways a very typical JRPG, but with a wonderful score and brilliant art direction. The gameplay was solidly okay: the combat system was entertaining, the lack of random battles a definite plus, but the dungeons weren’t particularly inspired (although beautiful), and without maps a couple of them would have been exercises in tedium.

One aspect of the game that has received relatively little mention is the co-op mode, a feature I’d love to see become an RPG standard. While the primary player still dictates the flow of encounters, movement within the overworld, and equipment setup, there is an option to hand control of any of the three primary party members over to a second (or third) controller during combat. The additional player then controls every aspect of that character (including their part during Harmony Chains) whenever battle is entered. The system works well, and is a nice bonus for those of you that game with friends or a significant other beside you. Aside from Super Mario Galaxy, this is the first game I’ve seen with an asymmetrical co-op mode. It’s a welcome innovation, and I hope to see more.

Eternal Sonata also had what was probably the preachiest ending ever, taking both the story and player in unexpected directions. Still, solid nonetheless, and I do suggest staying through the credits for the kōan-filled short, The Shape of Life. Or just watch it on Youtube.

Final Grade: B

I finished my playthrough of Cave Story on the PSP last week. The buzz on this game is justified, and it’s become my favorite 2D platformer to come out since the original Metroid. While I’m done with the game for now, there’s all sorts of secret bits for the completionists out there, including a hidden location, mystery items, and multiple endings (I received the standard ending). Play Cave Story!

Final Grade: A

Play List Update – May 6

Yes, I’ll freely admit being a few years late to the party. I’m currently in love with Cave Story.

The thought that everything within was created and coded by one individual blows me away every time I launch the game. From the fantastic gameplay and spot-on controls, to the endearing characters and charming soundtrack, every piece of this game is quality. Why hasn’t a publisher picked this up? Cave Story would be a natural fit as a portable or XBLA/PSN release.

The core gameplay is reminiscent of Metroid or Castlevania, a 2d platformer with multiple weapons and upgrades, puzzles, and challenging boss battles. My recommendation would be to play the PSP port (custom firmware required), where it’s a perfect fit, but barring that, Mac OS, Windows, Xbox and Linux versions are available. A Nintendo DS release is even in the works. You have no excuse not to play this game.

I’ve been writing a lot about Sins of a Solar Empire lately, so I figured it was about damn time I actually sat down and spent a few hours (okay, days) with the game.

While initially daunting (even after the not-so-illuminating tutorials), things fell into place about 45 minutes into my first match, a co-op 2v2 duel against the AI. Now I agree that the idea of a realtime Civ-style game sounds like a recipe for a complete clusterfuck, but I’ve gotta say, Ironclad nailed it. The pacing is mostly solid, and neither of us (both somewhat experienced RTS/4X players) felt harried by the system or interface.

By the third game, we were easily stomping the Normal AI and had moved up to Hard. Beyond just difficultly, the AI temperament can be set or randomized, although I have yet to figure out how much of an effect it has on overall challenge. Back in high school we used to play a port of Risk on the Mac SE, where the temperament choices were basically easy, crazy, and kick-your-ass. I dunno if the Sins AIs are like that.

The lack of any sort of campaign is disappointing. The manual and launch movie do lay out some very basic groundwork for a story, which leads to the thought that Ironclad may be planning some sort of campaign mode in the future. As it is, all three factions feel a bit dry, and I didn’t find myself particularly attached to any of them. With a dev team of less than a dozen people, I suppose the campaign sacrifice was necessary, but I really hope they add something eventually, I’d like to see the story play out.

Play List Update – Apr 19

My personal belief is that tri-Crescendo designed Eternal Sonata as an open challenge to the cosplay scene.

Fifteen hours in and I know I’ll be seeing this one through to the end. While the gameplay is very much your standard jrpg fair, and the frequent mazes a bit tedious, it’s the wrapper they’ve encased these basic tenements in that really excels. The visuals and character design are stunning, the story solid, and the music is beautiful. Between each chapter is a small segment detailing points of Chopin’s life and his music; for me, those alone have been worth the price of admission.

Did a bit of tinkering with the PSP. Also, ripped my PSX copy of Final Fantasy VII in preparation for an upcoming binge on the series: Final Fantasy VII, then FF VII: Crisis Core, followed by a viewing of Advent Children.

Thanks to continued pressure from Adam, I’m chugging along in World of Warcraft again, and Vagary, my Undead Priest, is now level 49. I just want to see Burning Crusade content.