On an Ash NPC

August 25, 2014 Ashgar

I think this is the first time I’m resorting to one of the prompts for this event, but here goes.

If you were an NPC in a video game, what type of NPC would you be?

First, this is cheating. Random ESO NPC aside, I’d probably be an inconveniently located trainer. I’ve got a bit of a reputation for knowing things, and I frequently like being away from people. I’m not sure I’d go to a place like Uldaman, because there are reasonable limits to this sort of thing. (Seriously, that was bullshit.) I could see myself as a druid trainer, living in the wilderness, forcing people to come find me if they want to know my secrets.

On the other hand, I might be a random mob, zone-sweeper style (think Fel Reavers or Morladim). I could also see myself as a big bear, chasing after low-level players for no good reason. Maybe if the game was sophisticated enough, chasing after the person with the most food in their inventory or something. FF14 had Phecda, but now that B-rank hunt mobs are non-hostile, the effect of a giant bear running after you is lost.

I guess it’ll just be a short one today. For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust Initiative.

Gaming

On Decision Paralysis

August 24, 2014 Ashgar 1 Comment

I was originally going to write about the Pillars of Eternity Beta today, but that would require me to get past the character creation screen. Also, it doesn’t have graphical settings other than resolution and isn’t optimized, so it barely runs on my laptop.

The Problems With Character Creation

A problem this game has (that’s shared with a lot of other games including the vast majority of computer D&D games and Divinity: Original Sin) is that it’s impossible to know your first time through how useful your character creation decisions are. Pillars of Eternity (PoE from now on) had 6 races, and 11 classes. It also asks you to make decisions distributing stat points (in a way that resembles but isn’t actually identical to D&D point-buy), where you character is from (which also impacts stats somewhat). Depending on your class, you may also have to make some decisions regarding spells or abilities (Druids have to determine their animal form and the damage type used by their Wildstrike feature.)

When all you have to go on is a character creation screen, it’s very difficult to know how useful any of this is. To take Divinity as an example, it asks you to fight a lot of undead around levels 5-8, which is difficult if your party happens to have a rogue or archer type, since they’re resistant to piercing damage. I don’t know if PoE is going to ask me to fight things that are going to absorb fire, so how useful is Wildstrike: Fire over the course of the game? It’s also unclear how useful “talky” abilities are, until you’ve played a bit of the game. Some games (specifically Obsidian ones, to be fair) make these skills extremely useful and let you talk your way out of (or into, if that’s your thing) anything. In some others it’s better described as a waste of stat points that could be serving you better in a combat-related skill.

The number of decisions you’re asked to make with almost no knowledge of the coming game is rather high, and it leads to paralysis about what to pick. It’s also impossible to know who your future party members are, and many other things that might influence your decisions. It would be awkward to have a tutorial before character creation, but that might help in some ways. I’m ok with the freedom to make bad decisions, but I’d prefer games were better about not allowing them to be made unknowingly.

For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust Initiative.

Gaming

On Peer Pressure, Part 3

August 24, 2014 Ashgar 1 Comment

And now for the rest of the list:

14. Most memorable moment in a game:

My memory is terrible. I do remember facing Magus in Chrono Trigger for the first time, with all of the torches and lines of speech leading up to the fight. Interestingly, I don’t remember much about the actual fight.

15. Scariest moment in a game:

I don’t play many scary games, so this one’s from The Secret World. The Templar quest between Egypt and Transylvania (Virgula Divina) is the creepiest thing I’ve experienced in any game I’ve played at all, much less in an MMO.

16. Most heart-wrenching moment in a game:

If Mass Effect 3 had ended 20 minutes earlier, it would have been a proper tragic ending and not the stupid thing that actually happened. That game had a bunch of moments that I’d consider heart-wrenching, the most notable of which is probably the one Bel mentioned, which I won’t spoil here.

17. What are your favorite websites/blogs about games?

This list would be incomplete if I didn’t mention Tales of the Aggronaut, because Bel got me into this in the first place. I also frequent NeoGAF, because I find it a better source for gaming news than most of the websites intended to deliver this sort of information.

18. What’s the last game you finished?

The last game I “finished” as in “saw the end credits” is Shovel Knight. It has New Game+ and I haven’t finished that.

19. What future releases are you most excited about?

Pillars of Eternity is a game I’m quite looking forward to, but also Destiny, Azure Striker Gunvolt, and probably a few things I’m forgetting.

20. Do you identify as a gamer?

I play games, therefore I’m a gamer. I feel like that’s a simple question.

21. Why do you play video games?

I play video games for entertainment, and also to socialize. At this point I’ve met quite a few people through the games I play, and I’d like this to continue.

For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust Initiative. It’s still Saturday in Bel’s time zone, so hopefully he’ll take this as the post for the 23rd.

Gaming

On Peer Pressure, Part 2

August 22, 2014 Ashgar

Who am I to throw away another pair of potential blog posts? More of the list!

7. Name a game that was popular/critically adored that you just didn’t like.

In an effort to not talk bad about Guild Wars 2 yet again (although it certainly qualifies), I’ll mention Call of Duty here. I played a Lot of Halo and Halo 2, but I just never got into the Call of Duty series. I guess I like more fantasy in my shooters.

8. Name a game that was poorly received that you really like.

Shining Soul 2 has a 74 on Metacritic, but it’s one of my favorite GBA games. For those unfamiliar, it’s a diablo-like where you play as one of a bunch of interesting classes and beat up monsters to collect random loot to beat up more monsters. Another game I could mention is Scaler, a mascot platformer for the PS2. (Mascot platformers were pretty much dead at this point, with only Ratchet & Clank left.)

9. What are your favorite game genres?

If it involves the letters R, P, and G, you can apply all sorts of modifiers and I’ll probably like it. Special mention to tactical RPGs in the spirit of final Fantasy Tactics, and MMOs.

10. Who is your favorite game protagonist?

In an effort to not use the cop-out answer of myself, I’ll say I really like Ratchet. After his character development in the first game in his series, he’s been a cool protagonist. Shame about the games after a Crack in Time, though.

11. Describe your perfect video game.

Something with solid gameplay, good sound design, and advancement of some sort.

12. What video game character do have you have a crush on?

Let’s go with Liara from the Mass Effect series. The fact that she becomes a badass in 2 and 3 helps a lot.

13. What game has the best music?

Taken as a whole, I’m pretty sure Bastion has the best soundtrack. Transistor has better vocal tracks. FF14 has some really awesome tracks as well, but I think Bastion still wins.

This is good for one more, which will be up tomorrow. For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust Initiative.

Gaming

On Peer Pressure

August 21, 2014 Ashgar 2 Comments

The thing I was going to write about this evening was a bust because Pillars of Eternity barely runs on the computer I find myself writing on. Instead, I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and tackle a piece of this questionnaire. I’m sure you’ve seen the questions by now, so here goes!

1. When did you start playing video games?

Part of the fun of being in my generation is that I can honestly say I started playing video games in school. Specifically, I remember playing Number Munchers in kindergarten, and I had Math Blaster on my own computer shortly afterward. I tend not to count educational games when asked this question, but that’s the honest answer.

2. What is the first game you remember playing?

For this one I will skip over the educational games and credit Sonic 2. Playing this with an older cousin is the first non-educational gaming experience I can recall (although that’s not to say it taught me nothing). I’m kind of sad that the Sonic series is in the stat it’s currently in, because it used to be so good. (It’s more than just nostalgia, Sonic 3 still holds up now.)

3. PC or Console?

I started as a PC gamer, and that died when I got my PlayStation, and came back when I went to college and didn’t have it. Currently I’m primarily a PC gamer, but I still do a fair bit of gaming on consoles. The Xinput driver for the 360 controller was the final straw that pushed me to be primarily a PC gamer, however.

4. XBox, PlayStation, or Wii?

PlayStation. The PS1 was the first console I had, and PS+ has been such a huge value proposition that it’s kept me with Sony consoles. (As a side note, I’m actually kind of annoyed that they’re starting to require it for online functionality, but I’m already so bought into it that it doesn’t personally affect me. Marketing works!) I had a Wii to play Smash Bros, and I have a Wii U primarily to play Mario Kart (Although Pikmin 3 and Zelda: Wind Waker HD are also fun). I had a 360 for several XBLA titles (Sine Mora and Dust: An Elysian Tail were among these), but now that those are coming to Steam 6-8 months later like clockwork, I don’t think I’ll be buying the XBox One.

What’s the best game you’ve ever played?

This is kind of a hard one. I really feel like the game I should put here is Bastion, as I was obsessed with all parts of it for a while, I still replay it on occasion, and it’s great. It does share my steam favorites section with a few games that I feel like I should mention, though. VVVVVV, Skyrim, Risk of Rain, and Portal all come to mind when I think of great games.

What’s the worst game you’ve ever played?

This one’s a bit easier. First, I’ve played the ET game, but that was knowing how bad it was and when I was in college, so it probably shouldn’t count. When I got my PS1, I got a pair of games with it. One of them was G-Darius, which is excellent. The other one was Perfect Weapon. I couldn’t figure out how to do anything in this game, from navigating away from the starting area to fighting the first enemies you see (some kind of wolf or dog things, if I’m remembering correctly). The only reviews of this I can dig up are EGM giving it a 67 and PC Zone UK giving it a 38, so I wasn’t alone in my assessment. (The worst game I bought for myself is Dragon Rage, a terrible PS2 game.)

That’s enough for now, I think. For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust Initiative. For a whole bunch of responses to this in particular, see Belghast, Isey, Welshtroll, and Simcha, with more to come when I get back to adding my own answers.

Gaming, MMO

On ギルガメッシュ

August 20, 2014 Ashgar

As a break from slightly more serious subjects, let’s talk about Gilgamesh, the best character in Final Fantasy. Our Free Company organized a group to fight him in FF14 over the weekend, and certain things about it seemed really familiar.

Battle on the Big Bridge

Gilgamesh debuted in FF5, where he serves as a minion of Exdeath and general comic relief. (This is important, because a lot of people die during the section of the game that he’s primarily in.) He’s fought four times in actual battles before Exdeath gets tired of his failures and tosses him into the Rift. The second of these introduces Gilgamesh’s now-famous theme, and takes place in a location known only as the “Big Bridge”. Gilgamesh isn’t the only thing you fight here, but he ambushes you as you attempt to go through a door in a watchtower.

As far as FF bosses go, he’s pretty easy. He’s vulnerable to Old, an absolutely crippling status in FF5, and due to the timing you’re quite likely to be using a weapon that can inflict old on hit (it’s the best sword available at that point in the game). For fiesta parties he’s frequently a bit harder, because the -a level spells are starting to wane in effectiveness and it’s right before you reach a town with weapon upgrades.

Speaking of which, you have 11 days to finish the Fiesta. Get to it!

Thrown Into The Rift!

Usually, Gilgamesh is thrown into the rift where he sacrifices himself to defeat the boss guarding the last save point in FF5. However, him getting thrown into the rift is technically optional (Don’t open the chest that contained the Excalipur in Exdeath’s castle) and him sacrificing himself to defeat Necrophobe is also optional (either don’t fight Necrophobe or deal over 9999 damage in a turn to finish him off), so his fate is a little ambiguous. Later games have taken this to mean that he’s a dimension hopping wanderer, making appearances in FF1 (GBA, and versions based on it), FF6 (same as FF1), FF8, FF9, FF12, FF13-2, and FF14. Unlike the other cross-series characters, Gilgamesh acts nearly the same in almost all of these.

Welcome to Eorzea

This brings us to FF14, and a trial so very imaginatively referred to as the “Battle on the Big Bridge”. It’s a bit of a spoiler to explain why you’ve come to this place, but it’s where you face Gilgamesh once again. He even appears right after you open a door, just like in FF5. When fighting him, he takes several of his lines directly from his FF5 lines. His fighting style hasn’t changed much either, with plenty of blue magic and jumps to go around. This is another example of what FF14 is really good at. Along with Crystal Tower, it’s a love letter to several of the previous games in the series. If they continue making content like this (this fight was added in patch 2.2) then I could see myself playing this game for a long time. Maybe Bel’s right, and this can be a new “home” for a while.

For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust Initiative. For some D&D math, check out Kodra’s post about DPR for Strength based classes. (Before anyone comments, we both know there’s more to the game than Damage Per Round.)

Gaming, Meta

On Difficulty

August 19, 2014 Ashgar 1 Comment

This is kind of related to what Liore and Belghast have posted recently, but as I just hit on it in two recent posts myself, I figure it’s worth expanding on my thoughts.

My first experience with “difficulty level mockery” was in the Touhou series. All of the games in the series (since the 6th one at least) have 4 difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Lunatic. The first game in the series to release on Windows (Embodiment of Scarlet Devil) locked you out of the final level (and thus, the good ending) if you played on Easy. All of them have some additional text in the difficulty screen, usually mocking you somewhat for picking Easy (although occasionally also mocking you for picking Hard or Lunatic). Ten Desires has the following to say about its difficulties:

Prayer for Health and Long Life	Easy Mode	Hard to die. For those who want to live long as possible.
Prayer for Traffic Safety	Normal Mode	Find a safe way to go. Have a nice trip.
Prayer for Business Prosperity	Hard Mode	If you’re confident in your abilities. You should be able to make a profit.
Prayer for IT Data Security	Lunatic Mode	Asking gods for help is pointless. Don’t play this.

Just for reference, This is Ten Desires on Easy mode:

This phenomenon isn’t unique to Japanese games. Syder Arcade’s default difficulty cuts your score in half because it’s for “those who grew up with modern consoles”. (This implication, that modern games are “easier” than those that came before is also common.)

So why do we do this? There are probably players better and worse than you at nearly any game I’d care to name, so why focus on the second? I don’t actually have answers to these questions, or at least not answers that don’t make me sound like a cynical old man.

I’m not sure every game needs selectable difficulty, but games without it should be somewhat carefully designed. Examples I can think of that teach you how to play them before asking impossible things of you include VVVVVV and Shovel Knight. The idea that it’s okay to have a difficulty curve that resembles a cliff is also part of this problem. Many roguelikes are guilty of this, and claim that if you can’t understand them, then it’s not “meant” for you. I’d really prefer if we could be more encouraging to people adjusting to things. Touhouwiki has a page geared toward beginners that helps a lot (although it still tries to discourage starting on easy at the bottom). More things like this, and less making fun of people playing on easy would be appreciated all around.

That got a bit rambly at the end. For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust initiative.

Gaming

On New Space Invaders

August 18, 2014 Ashgar 1 Comment

The title of this post is a reference to how Nintendo has been titling their 2D game releases lately. Murf, this one’s for you.

Hangeki

Hangeki is a shooter from Pentavera, and as far as I can tell it’s their first game. Hangeki at first glance bears a very large resemblance to Space Invaders, but it plays pretty differently once you get past initial appearances. The objective is to kill enough enemies to earn a screen-clearing super-weapon (referred to as a Hangeki) and then use it to move on to the next wave. Repeat until you face a boss. Along the way, you can level up and earn some abilities that are powered by your chain meter (it goes up as you shoot things and down when you don’t). It’s somewhat moba-like in that you start each stage at level 1 and unlock abilities as you play, but you can choose what abilities to take in each slot. You can choose what abilities to take and in what order. Additional abilities unlock as you complete and perfect stages.

As for difficulty, the first stage is very easy. The second stage is slightly less so. Things ramp up quickly from there, as enemies expand from simple bullets to lasers and bombs and dashing. (Unlike a certain other game, lasers are telegraphed before they fire, to make dodging possible.) Your ship shoots automatically, but if you’re not hitting anything your chain will break and your power meter will drop, so positioning and planning is fairly important. If you destroy a column all at once, you’ll later break your chain if you’re forced to move to that column to dodge. I’m still learning, and I clearly have a long way to go if the global score table is any indication.

Hangeki comes highly recommended if you like arcade shooters. The combination of pretty lights, customizable weapons, and global high-score tables makes for a pretty enjoyable experience. I liked it more than I was expecting to, and at $10, the price is right.

For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust initiative. For ~~why I don’t browse kickstarter anymore~~ a good look at a shooter on Kickstarter, see C.T. Murphy’s post about Hive Jump.

Tabletop

On Placeholders

August 17, 2014 Ashgar

I was going to write about Hangeki, a game I enjoyed much more than RefleX, but I find myself away from my computer and that one deserves screenshots. Instead, you get more D&D.

A Dragonborn Paladin isn’t the most original of characters, but I think it’s what I’m going to play. I like lizard people, and I’ve honestly liked Dragonborn since the 4e Player’s Handbook. (I play Argonian in the Elder Scrolls games by default.) I like the “otherness” that races like that represent. The stereotypical class for Dragonborn is the paladin, and with the new options it’s finally a class that appeals to me. A new system seems like a good time to try something “standard”, so this is what it’ll be.

At the same time, I don’t want a stereotypical background. Unless I’m given a strong reason to do otherwise, I’m going to take the Outlander background, representing a character that grew up away from society. I want to break from the idea of the trained holy warrior because I dislike zealots. I liked the Guardian in GW2 for similar reasons. I still need to finish my character’s background, but I have a fairly good idea of where it’s going.

Gaming

On RefleX

August 16, 2014 Ashgar 2 Comments

I got this game as a gift during the most recent steam sale, and I was asked about it elsewhere recently. I like bullet hell and someone told me that this game was good, so I figured it was worth a try. I attempted to get screenshots for this, but the game doesn’t play well with the Steam overlay (or any alternate method of taking screenshots I tried), so you’ll have to make do with the few I did take.

Basics

RefleX is a vertical scrolling shooter (I don’t think I would actually call it a bullet hell for reasons I’ll get to later) with a bit of a twist. Instead of bombs, your ship has a reflective shield that slowly recharges. Enemy shots are color-coded: blue ones will be reflected, red ones will be destroyed, and purple ones can be destroyed by the ship’s fire (they will also be destroyed on the shield). Instead of lives, your ship has a durability meter. When it runs out, it’s game over, there are no extra lives. In context, what this means is that after making a mistake, you don’t get a life lost and screen clear to recover, and it’s possible to lose multiple hits in quick succession.

Impressions

Playing this game feels very different from other similar games, in that it feels like it tests your reaction time more than anything else. Unlike most bullet hell games where the difficulty comes from trying to find your way through the pattern, this one throws things at you too fast for there to usually be a pattern. (Some principles still apply, like streaming when there’s a line of bullets aimed at you.) The biggest offenders here are homing lasers that are fast enough that if you aren’t moving when they’re fired, you’ll take damage if not shielding.

Combined with the lack of screen clearing and invulnerability when you do get hit, death feels incredibly sudden and quite cheap. As with most shooters, a degree of memorization is required to know attack patterns and when you need to move in order to not get murdered, but attack patterns here are long enough that this is difficult. I prefer to know what I died to in games like this, and it’s quite difficult in RefleX. I don’t like it much as a result.

For more posts about… everything, check out the Blaugust initiative.