RPGs & Achievement Whoring

Back in the Day
I remember, in the days of yore, when Microsoft first showed off the Achievement system for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, I was curious, but not overtly excited. I wasn't opposed to the idea, but I was interested in seeing how it was implemented, and what effect it would have on the way we game. As it turned out, some of my good buddies instantly became what's now affectionately known as 'achievement whores,' and as I watched their Gamerscore tick up and up, almost minute by minute, I became concerned about their overall Xbox/life balance. This became a very real concern as I started seeing games like King Kong and Kameo pop up on their games list.

I wasn't into Elder Scrolls when Oblivion came out, which resulted in this weird period in time in which I never had anyone to play PDZ with. It was very isolating. I felt so alone.

Therefore, the first RPG that I really sunk my teeth into that had achievements was my beloved Lost Odyssey. Man, I loved that game. I think I said at the time that it was like reconnecting with an old flame, falling in love all over again, only to have it come to its inevitable end, one last time. Once the game was over, my heart was shattered again, but I didn't regret the time we shared. Not one bit. That was the last JRPG I really loved. It was that one last hurrah from Sakaguchi-san, the final Final Fantasy, and it was a showcaseof everything that was great about his games.

But then, it had DLC and achievements.

I remember, as I played through it, whenever I'd get that nice little Achievement pop-up, I got a nice warm feeling of artificial validation, but it was really neat, because it was for a game that was one of 'my' games. It was kinda cool seeing 'their' system applied to 'my' game. Sure, I'd racked up a few Achievements in other games prior to this, but it had rarely mattered much to me.

Shortly after Xbox Achievements became a big thing, both Steam and Sony scrambled to implement their versions of the Achievement system. I remember being really bothered that I'd beaten Uncharted before Sony had implemented Achievements, er, Trophies, and actually going back and playing through the game AGAIN after they were put in place, just so motherfuckers would know I could beat a game on easy.

Now
Through the years, I've found that I actually care more about Achievements in non-RPG games, like Uncharted and Dead Space than I do my usual BioWare/CDPR stable of games. I remember very distinctly, while playing each game in both series, I'd always pop into my Trophies on PSN to see how awesome I was, and to get a rough idea of my overall progress through the game. Oh, and you had to do that, since it was impossible for Sony to have that automatically sync otherwise (/facepalm. I sure hope that's fixed on PS4.)

I think I care less about it in my 'core' games, but then, I've always wished that my PC Mass Effect and Dragon Age achievements were tied to a bigger system than the BioWare Social Network (yes, it still exists, and could've been a cool thing), so that people could celebrate my love for playing through those games. EA, you have a big opportunity here with Origin.

Hell, the one thing I loved about the hated Games for Windows Live was that it tied PC games into my Xbox Achievements, so people could see my awesomeness in games like Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 and Fallout 3.

Throughout the years, one thing has never happened. I've never Achievement-whored a game, and I wonder why. Lost Odyssey is the EXACT kind of game I'd do it on, too. There are Achievements for optional bosses, max-leveling, and all the great stuff we all used to do 'back in the day.' I know for a fact that Tony and I both still have saves on old PS1 memory cards that we treasure because they're so bad-ass (mine have since been transferred to my PS3, many moons ago. That fucker better never die. And it's one of the original models, that still has the ability to play PS2 games.)

I wonder, at times, if the nature of RPGs discourages Achievement-whoring, since they tend to be big, huge semi-linear games, and aside from save-reloads, it's generally very difficult to get every Achievement on the first play-through.

Additionally, at least for me, RPGs provide repeated moments of immense payoff, whether it be taking down a difficult boss, getting to a great cut-scene, or just getting immersed in the world. Achievements are inherently immersion-breaking, so maybe I pay less attention to them while I'm playing a big, bad-ass RPG. I'm not sure.

Actually, there is one game in which I really pay attention to the Achievements, and I think it's because I've exhausted so much of the content. SWTOR. However, MMORPGs are an entirely different beast, and a bigger topic than I wanna get into right now.

I like Achievements in games. I think they provide a cool meta-game for the social scene that surrounds gaming culture. They can provide instant points of reference for a discussion between two people that both like a particular game, and there is something that's very cool about looking at my own Achievements, and comparing them with someone else's. I can get idea of how they approached the game, and maybe that's something about which we have a great discussion, or I use that data to refine my own approach the next time I play the game. Or, even better, I see they did something nigh impossible in the game, and I wanna hear all about it.

I do think, though, that Achievements in RPGs, perhaps moreso than any other genre, can evolve. Because RPGs tend to be so insanely detailed and stat-based, a developer could really have some fun when setting up the Achievements for the game. There are some rich opportunities for Achievements that are tied to leveling single attributes, crafting, or even wacky choice-based Achievements (or wackier than what's already in play in some of the choice-driven RPGs.)

I also like shame-based Achievements, as well, in which you're granted an Achievement for doing something stupid or being a weak player. I've seen a few of those. I wanna say Dead Space and Fallout 3 both have them.

In any case, I may try to finally 100% a game for the first time this year. We'll see. I'm curious to see how Achievements continue to evolve. I look forward to racking up more this year in the avalanche of RPGs that will start raining down on us next month.

An Idea
Something's been rattling around in my brain for a bit, and since I like to just give away good ideas before I have a chance to implement them myself, it would be interesting if an entity like Raptr started implementing a 'Retro Achievement' system, in which PC games that lack Achievements were set up with a Raptr-based system that analyzed game progress in saves and granted Achievements for titles like KotOR, or The Witcher, or even older games, like Baldur's Gate. That would be something I'd enjoy, and could build quite a community, since there's so much passion for those old RPGs right now.

Just sayin'.

In Conclusion
Achievements are here to stay, whether you like it or not. I've seen interesting arguments both for and against them, and I see the merit in both stances. I like them, and hate to admit, but I've occasionally been more inclined to play one game than another because it has Achievements.

But, Achievements that aren't easily and very visibly displayed to other community members are nearly worthless. If you're gonna go to the trouble of implementing an Achievement system, give the user some control over displaying them. It'd be cool to pick a few really rare Achievements, and have them displayed on my profile, or my forum sig. Make them visible outside of the game, if the user wants that. It provides more community and user engagement, and really maximizes the value of the system.

Side Quests
 - I mentioned the reviews for this game yesterday, but Lightning Returns is looking more and more divisive. I may need to see for myself sooner than I thought.
 - Pillars of Eternity is now set for a 'winter 2014' release. In my mind, at least, I'm now moving this to 2015. And I'm fine with that, if that's what the game needs. I have some high hopes riding on this one.

How do you feel about Achievements? How do you feel about them, as relates to RPGs?

As always, thanks for reading!

-Blaine

Prepping For Dragon Age: Inquisition

I'm a HUGE BioWare geek. HUGE. Ginormous, even.

Quick note - this piece is written from the perspective of someone that has gloriously bathed in the awesomeness that is the PC versions of Dragon Age, not whatever the console versions turned out to be. Why one would subject themselves to such a vile taint is beyond me.

Dragon Age: Origins Origins
Dragon Age: Origins was the first game since the original KotOR to have me totally seduced, and I easily sunk 60-70 hours into my first play-through of it. I loved the origin stories for each type of character, and I loved the NPC party members, and I loved the world, and I loved the art style, and I loved the music, and on and on and on.

Since that game, we've seen two further releases that were still great, even if they featured design aspects that had me scratching my head. In Awakening, I was disappointed that even if my Warden sacrificed himself in DAO, he was still inexplicably the main character in Awakening. I wished for a save import that accounted for this, in which my world was imported, but a new character was at the forefront in Awakening, as would befit a save that a featured a man that was dead. As I understand it, the development for Awakening was done by a team other than the main DAO team, and was in development prior to the release of DAO. I don't know why this issue was either overlooked or ignored, but it always bugged me, and very much broke the point of having a save import feature.

This same issue stands for all subsequent DAO DLC.

Still, I was able to grit my teeth, and somehow find a way to enjoy the hell out of the expansion and DLC (unlike the many motherless trolls that would have us believe that this issue caused them to fall on their mage staffs [ouch.])

DA2 had no such overt save import issues, even if there were some minor details that bugged out.

Still, I have two saves that feature every game, expansion, and DLC from DAO-DA2. I have my original warrior human dude (DAO) & whatever I chose for DA2, as well as a female city elf (DAO) & whatever I chose for DA2 (I think it was a mage.) My DA2 characters are one male and one female.

But I still don't have saves that account for some choices, such as letting Angry Dad (Tim Curry's character in DAO) live, so I'm wanting to prep some new saves, as well as see what that content looks like.

The Mass Effect Effect
As I stated above, I'm a geek. Because Mass Effect tends to operate off of a more binary approach to its choices, I actually have a spreadsheet I maintain that tracks these choices, so that I can track my saves and see what I chose where, and in what combination. Make fun of me, if it pleases you, but know that my ME shit is ORGANIZED.

I think I may want to crack open my Dragon Age saves, and do something similar.

Dragon Age Keep
I received some potentially terrible news a few months back.

The way that reads, it sounds like we have to manually enter the choices we made in the previous DA entries, rather than directly importing. I greatly dislike this for a number of reasons, but I'll distill it to two reasons.

1) I can't remember shit. I can't tell you how many times I've run into someone in either Kirkwall or the Citadel, have them start talking at me, and I'm like, 'oh, yeah, I do remember you now. Did we sleep together?' These are great moments, and I like the surprise of it.

2) I'm assuming that the number of choices I made in Dragon Age exceeds the number that BioWare is going to ask for. In the FAQ for Keep, it does point out that we can get as detailed as we want, so it may be alright, but if it does give me a metric fuckton of choices, I'll just point you back at #1.

However, rather than be your run of the mill BioWare Hater, I have a potential solution.

What about a means to extract our choices from our save into a file that can be fed into Keep? That would be perfect for me, and a decent compromise.

Of course, this could also be a chance to undo my accidental sex with Zevran, as well. I really didn't mean to do that. I really didn't. I just hope Leliana never finds out ...

Prepping For Dragon Age: Inquisition
When I play a roleplaying game, whether it be a classic single-player experience, or an MMO, I really roleplay the game. I create a character in my head, and really try to make choices as they would.

I have a current play-through of Dragon Age: Origins in which I'm roleplaying a very pro-Chantry mage, and that's been really interesting. I'm also planning on trying to kill Alistair at the end, or if I have to, that other Warden, but I've told Morrigan to fuck off, so I might be doomed.

I also installed Angry Daughter on the throne, which I've never done before, so I'm curious to see what ripples that creates.

I have some ideas about what I want to do in Awakening, but in DA2, I plan to continue my pro-Chantry crusade with a massacre of mages, since I've never done that before.

After that, I'll have three complete saves to import, so I plan to spend quite a bit of time with DAI later this year.

Side Quests
 - I finally spent some time with the Steam streaming beta, and I'll probably post a walk-through and some thoughts up here
 - the Lightning Returns reviews are coming in; about what I expected; yes, I picked it up and I don't want to talk about it
 - here's a couple cool videos for Thief and Kingdom Come: Deliverance:

I leave you with some questions, as always ...

How do you feel about Dragon Age Keep?

Did you pick up Lightning Returns? Either way, what are your thoughts on it, and the general health of the Final Fantasy series?

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya tomorrow!

-Blaine

Those Other 2014 RPGs and the Time I Don't Have to Play Them

I've been avoiding doing individual posts about the remaining RPGs of 2014 about which I'm excited because, frankly, I hate writing previews, especially when there are so many skilled and paid writers out there already doing exactly that.

Instead, I think I'll just dump them all here, tell ya a bit about why I'm excited for it, and let you take it from there. It's not a matter of sheer laziness. Rather, I already won't have time to play all these games, especially with the backlog I have.

Consider this. I got no time with Morrowind this weekend because I was attending a wedding this weekend in my wife's hometown, and the setup there, from a gamer perspective, is much like camping, but indoors. The internet is something that is referenced in everyday conversation, but in a longing and 'someday' manner. My cell phones search frantically for signal when I attempt to tether either the Alienware or Surface, and on occasion, I can find that one perfect spot in my in-laws' house, as if the Maker himself is beaming down a beautiful one-bar LTE signal, just for me.

This is also assuming that I can resolve some of the power issues I run into up there, but enough of this.

The point is, I've lost a weekend of Morrowind play time, one weekend out of 52 this year, and that is a staggering loss, when considering that I'd like to play the following this year:

• Fable: Anniversary Xbox 360 2/4
• Bravely Default 3DS 2/7
• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 2/11
• Thief PC 2/25
• South Park: The Stick of Truth PC 3/4
• Elder Scrolls Online PC 4/4
• Pillars of Eternity PC spring/summer 2014?
• Wasteland 2 PC spring/summer 2014?
• Divinity: Original Sin PC late summer 2014?
• Age of Decadence PC fall/winter 2014?
• Dragon Age: Inquisition PC fall/winter 2014?
• The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt PC fall/winter 2014?

That's a lotta big-ass RPGs. Oh, and as I've mentioned before, I'm employed full-time, married, and have children. Yeah.

I've not had a list like this in years. Not even close. If anything, my list of annual game purchases has been diminishing year after year, and then bam, 2014 hits, and I feel like I'm back to being a fresh college grad with a bachelor pad, old Final Fantasy preorder posters, and furniture that's been acquired via dumpster-diving. All I need now is a case of Icehouse and some Doritos, and I'd be 'back in the day.' I don't see my wife or employer going for that any time soon.

So, what's a grown-up RPG fan to do?

Maybe we can break these down into three categories, 'Maybe,' 'Curious,' and 'MUST HAVE.'

I'd like to be able to play new games this year, but intersperse my continued play-through of Elder Scrolls 3-5. I know. I know. One could fill a year with just those three Elder Scrolls games, but I'm an ambitious fellow.

So, this week, I think I'll break them down into each category. Tuesday, we'll talk the 'maybe' games, Wednesday, the 'curious' games, and then, Thursday, we'll talk the 'MUST HAVE' games.

What about you? What am I leaving off that should be on here? What games are in those three groups for you? How would you break these games down into those groups? Leave your comments below!

No matter what I do, it's going to be a great year for RPGs, maybe the best we've ever seen. Lots of variety, and a strong blend of both quality AND quantity.

Thanks for reading.

-Blaine

I'm Old and I Game Like It

One of the things I've enjoyed about aging (I'm now in my mid-30s) is that my tastes have slowly narrowed in the gaming realm, and I'm very happy about that. I used to play the latest everything, plus a lot of interesting niche titles, and I really didn't look down my nose at a game unless it was just flat-out bad. I also didn't finish a lot of games, and actually developed something of a reputation for it. I also didn't really care. If it wasn't a Final Fantasy title, I didn't finish it. And if it was Final Fantasy VIII, and featured that horrid Junctioning system, I lost all motivation to play it late in the game.

Looking back, I should've financed an intern to come to my apartment and Draw magic for me from enemies for several hours. Seriously, how the fuck was that allowed to make it to the production version of the game?

Oh, and Squall ... ugh ... worst lead character in a Final Fantasy ever ... well, maybe second to that obnoxious daddy-issue-laden jerkoff shitbag Tidus. It's like some Japanese consulting firm came to the States, saw all the sad little emo boys of the late 90s, and decided that 'feelings' needed to be a bullet-point on the back of the jewel case for Final Fantasy VIII and X. As if having watched Cloud wobble in a wheelchair like a drunk, blonde cactus for 10 hours in FFVII wasn't enough 'feelings' for the entire series. Ugh. And Tidus ... I'm still disappointed there was no way to drown that whiny prick, even with all that water. Ugh. UGH. ACK. At least Cloud was an identity-stealing sociopath.

Anyway, now that I've thoroughly dated myself, I used to play everything, but only finish Final Fantasy games. FASCINATING, I know.

Nowadays, insane Steam sales aside, I play far, far fewer games, but finish a far higher percentage (let's just look away from my 300+ game Steam library and play along.)

Part of that has come from the fact that I just don't give a shit about your dudebro, mouthbreather, generic, annualized military shooter anymore, and part of it is from the fact that I look at my family, I see the years of wear and tear on my body start to accumulate, and realize that if I'm going to spend any time at all gaming, it needs to be spent on games that actually contribute something to my life, which for me, is RPGs (and some strategy and some driving sims.)

Yeah, okay, I'll still pop in for the occasional Battlefield match, but rarely. I don't play BF4 40+ hours a week, so I'm not good enough to really enjoy it, and multiplayer in games tends not to drive me down a thrilling narrative path, so I tend to regard them as a waste of time. Some MMOs, because of their structure, are exempted from this.

I'll also veer outside of this for games that aren't RPGs, but still tell good stories well, like the Uncharted series and various PC adventure titles.

There's just something about being swept up in a narrative experience that feels substantial, like a good novel, almost, and getting to explore another world in an interactive way deeply reinforces that perception. While my life is far less stressful than it used to be, I still find that I love totally checking out of this reality for a bit, and living in a world that is not this one, whether it be the rolling expanses of Tamriel, the politically-charged kingdoms of Thedas, the wasteland of post-apocalyptic Washington DC, the wind-swept tombs of Korriban, or the bright, endless expanse inside the Citadel.

On top of that, cracking open games, digging through their files, and either editing them myself or installing mods, and then getting to dictate my experience is fantastic.

For me, the interactivity with a game doesn't stop at the user interface, but being able to tailor the game even more to my tastes makes the experience more 'mine,' and so much more enjoyable.

And I still enjoy the occasional RPG on console, when it's the only way to play it, like the rare modern JRPG that's worth playing.

On top of that, I still have a pile of shame like you wouldn't believe. Between 90s PC RPGs of which I wasn't aware, and newer console-only (for shame) titles like Dragon's Dogma that I hate playing on console, and the entire Bethesda catalogue, I've got a pile of shame that is daunting.

Combine that with the fact that I hardly game during the week (8-5 as a developer, 5-8 with the kids, 8-? with the wife), most of my gaming is night-time binging on Friday and/or Saturday night, so I have to be fairly selective, and force myself to focus on one, maybe two, game(s). And I've sometimes been known to sneak in some time during sports broadcasts by seeing how long my legs can stand the Alienware laptop while in my recliner (my normal gaming rig is a custom build ['of course it is, you pretentious dickbag,' is what you're thinking, but it's okay.])

What's funny, too, is I used to experience something approaching anxiety about not being super-plugged-in to the gaming scene when I decided to start scaling back my purchases and genre interests. Time and the realization that most so-called hardcore gamers are just awful people really changed that. Between the built-in racism and misogynism endemic to the 'hardcore gamer,' I was more than happy to divorce myself from that crowd. The 'anti-diversity' thing that pervades comments sections in gaming articles makes me want to throw up in your mouth.

Additionally, as I've gotten older, I've come to realize that the concept of being 'hardcore' about anything tends to imply that a person has a gaping emotional hole in their life that they're desperately trying to fill, only to further erode any shot at happiness they'll ever have. As great as that sounds, I'll keep my life interests diversified, and spend what little gaming time I have in a way that is fulfilling and fun.

I remember recoiling in horror, as younger man, at the thought of ever having to 'give up' the huge amount of gaming time that I had. Maybe that's where you are right now, and that's okay. I was like that, too, for a real long time. It's important, though, to remember that you're a moron, your priorities are beyond fucked, and right now is a good time consider completely overhauling your core identity, before you do something completely stupid, like reply in a way that is deeply passionate to a comment in an article about which is better: PS4 or Xbox One.

What about you? How has your gaming experience changed over time?

Also, I don't know why I've been bringing up Final Fantasy so much in these recent posts. Sorry about that. I hardly touch the series anymore. I don't know what that's about.

Thanks for reading, and I'll be back soon.

-Blaine

2014: The Year of the RPG: Part 2: Bravely Default

So, as I discussed the other day, 2013 was a pretty dogshit year for RPGs. My assumption is that the console transition killed things for a bit, even on my beloved PC, since PC game release schedules are now beholden to their lesser, malformed console counterparts.

2014, though, looks to be much brighter. Much, much brighter. Almost blinding in its potential.

To kick things off, though, I'll be talking about a 3DS release, which kinda shocks me. I'm not a big handheld gamer, unless we're talking my Surface tablet and the PC games I play on there. I guess my PS Vita is my de facto Final Fantasy 1-9 machine now.

In any case, the thing that caught my eye with Bravely Default was that it was sooo Final Fantasy, and looks to be the really good kind (pre-FFX, but FFXII rocked.)

It's weird, though, because I feel kinda stupid whenever I see these cutesy, squeaky characters, but from what I know of and have seen from the game, it looks like the mechanics and overall story are getting to be pretty bad ass. It's been a while since we've seen Squenix really try to recapture their once-proud pedigree, and since they seem opposed, for whatever reason, to making a proper AAA JRPG, this is as close as we're going to get.

I'll tell ya, too, as much as I've adopted the western RPG as my main genre, a good JRPG (such as the brilliant Lost Odyssey) is refreshing as hell. I still love JRPGs, but haven't found one that I've really loved in a long, long time. It's like they're either trying too hard to be western, or they're so Japanese that I begin to feel sorry for the near-nude squeaking female. Matta fac, every time I play one of those games, I'm reminded of this Onion article.

Anyway, having grown up with Final Fantasy, starting with buying the first one on NES the day it was released when I was in sixth grade, games like this almost look like a chance to reconnect with an old friend. That is precisely what Lost Odyssey was like for me, and I've been eager to find something like that again.

Bravely Default

The visual style actually reminds me of the Final Fantasy III remake from a few years ago.

Final Fantasy III

While I could do without the cutesy super-deformed art style, the thing that really draws me into JRPGs is the presentation and the combat. While the presentation, being on a Nintendo handheld, is going to be jaggy and slightly shit, the combat looks and sounds fantastic. It's your standard turn-based JRPG affair, plus the 'brave' and 'default' options. If you choose 'brave,' you can use four attacks at once, but then you have to wait until the enemy takes four turns before you can go again (so you wanna save this for when you think you can get a knockout) or you can use 'default,' which banks an attack, and skips your turn.

While I'm fairly certain that my time with Lost Odyssey was a one-time event, and that I'll never feel that same way about a JRPG ever again (especially with Final Fantasy being reduced to an action series now), I'm still fairly enthusiastic about Bravely Default. It sounds like a chance for something old to be something new again, and if I'm relegated to the Vita and 3DS being my sole JRPG machines, I can think of worse fates.

Also, for those that enjoy JRPGs, keep an eye on Project Phoenix (which has funded on Kickstarter) and Unsung Story (which still needs your help!) I'm thrilled to see more and more of a JRPG presence on PC!

I'll be back soon.

-Blaine

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Trust the Bethesda

I've been an RPG fan for a good long while. Yeah, I've been playing games that are mislabeled 'RPG,' such as the Legend of Zelda series, since the first iteration on the NES, but more importantly, I cut my teeth on the early console RPGs, such as the first Final Fantasy (loved it) and the first Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) (didn't really like it.)

All through the 90s, I stuck with the console RPGs, usually Square titles, but then branched out once Squenix decided that most of the design choices in Final Fantasy X were a good idea (they were not).

At that time, I discovered BioWare, then traced them back to Black Isle, and before I knew it, Obsidian existed, and then CD Projekt Red sprang up, and I had so many awesome RPGs from which to choose.

Somewhere in there, Bethesda and I never got some on the page (scroll.)

I never understood it, either. On paper (scroll), Bethesda games should be my dream games. Open world, freedom of choice, a shit load of menus, tons of stats, tons of variables, insanely deep lore. All of those things equal my dream game, and yet ... it just never clicked for me.

The years went by, Bethesda would drop the occasional release here and there, I'd inevitably pick it up on or near release day, because THIS was going to be the Bethesda game that I'd finally get into, and ... it never happened.

I kept telling myself it was the combat (which is pretty bad for such refined games), or I'd tell myself it was the weak central narrative (which is almost nonexistent in some titles), or I'd tell myself it was the pain-in-the-ass traversal of the game world (which can be horribly painful if you take a single wrong turn.) Still, everyone so often, I'd fire up Fallout 3 or Oblivion, and something would almost click. Something would almost tickle the right part of the brain to pull me in, and yet ... it would just never quite happen.

I think, initially, I had a bit of culture shock, if you will. See, in most of the BioWare / Squenix / Black Isle games I've played, if there's a dice-roll associated with an attack, it's an explicitly expressed dice-roll, meaning that the user is informed that there is 'chance' associated with the invocation of this action.

In Bethesda games, the dice-roll is implicit, rather than explicit. When I swing/shoot this sword/gun, there's a dice-roll, even though in most games when I swing/shoot, there's a 1-1 association between animation and object collision.

Throw in there the first-person perspective, and if you're not accustomed to Bethesda games, your mind is trying to demand that there be an automatic 'hit' when you shoot/swing, while, underneath this FPS veneer is a very, very deep RPG engine that wags its finger and says 'ah, ah, ah ... +2 to hit.

At first, this made combat very hard for me. I'm a seasoned RPG veteran, but something about this mishmash of genres really fucked me up. I'd be swinging like mad at a Cliff Racer, only to be taken down by Prehistoric Fucking Tweetie Bird.

Additionally, ranged enemies soon became problematic. Also, jumping. Also, navigating the map. Also, the world just being so big. Also ... it just stopped being fun after a while.

I own EVERY FUCKING GAME Bethesda has ever released. Oh, and all the expansions and DLC and shit. Yup, I'm THAT guy. I wanted so badly to love these games. There's so much in there that I can appreciate and enjoy.

So, fast-forward to late 2013. I decided I needed to chill out a bit, and be less goal-oriented in my play time. I realized that I'd gotten very linear and very concerned with 'progress' when I played games. It occurred me to that I was approaching all games with the same mindset, which was to maximize stats, view all available content, and do so in as timely a fashion as possible.

It occurred to me that Bethesda games, at least the first time each is played, aren't easily compatible with this approach. I decided to approach Morrowind (the furthest back I can go without being forced to invoke DOSBox) with a mindset of 'max chill.'

And to be fair, much of this flawed gaming mindset comes from being a pretty happy guy. I have a wife, children, and a full-time job as a developer, so while I have nothing about which to complain, I wouldn't necessarily have the time to complain, anyway.

Either way, it was time to fire up Morrowind (again.) After installing a few mods to get it to render a little prettier, we were 'go.'

As I (very) slowly walked my way through Seyda Neen, I leaned back, chilled myself out, and said, 'just relax ... take your time ... you're here to relax.' And it all finally started to click.

As I very deliberately took in everything around me and talked to everyone, I could almost here Loial, from a Wheel of Time, in my ear: 'humans are always so hasty.'

Since then, I've progressed further in Morrowind than I have in any previous attempt. I'm excited, because I'm so chilled about it. I'm even thinking I'm going to fire up Fallout 3, and then New Vegas, some time during my Elder Scrolls 3-5 playthrough.

I'm an Imperial bard, member of the Thieves' Guild and Imperial Cult, and cannot stand these whining Dunmer. I look forward to joining the Imperial Legion, and doing what I can to bring about greater obedience from these elves.

It is amazing to me how easy these games are to roleplay, though. It seems that these games lack in story, they make up for with depth of lore and freedom of choice. I appreciate now more fully how different but equally successful the BioWare and Bethesda approaches to RPGs are.

It's amazing to me, though, that all it took for me  to finally 'get it,' in regards to Bethesda RPGs, was an adjustment to mental approach. Have any of you experienced anything like this?

Also, to those experienced Morrowind players - is there something optional that I absolutely MUST do or somehere optional I absolutely MUST go? Let me know!

I'll keep checking back in every so often about this while I write up my RPGs of 2014. I've got more to say, but I'm eager to get back to Morrowind on this extra day off!

 

-Blaine

 

Final Fantasy Future

I read a brief news piece over at EGM about some comments from zipper-obsessed Tetsuya Nomura and I had a stronger reaction to it then I was expecting. At this point, I could care less about an FFVII remake, really, but I'd love to see Final Fantasy restored to its previous glory.

In the piece, Nomura asserts that new Final Fantasy games "must overcome the older games and break away."


In response, the writer, Matthew Bennet, asserts "people loved the old games and seem to hate the new direction."


I had to take a moment and think about this. Final Fantasy, I believe, has changed forms drastically several times, and it is always timed with a shift in platform, which brings new technological advances to the series.

The basic tenets of the series were established in the Famicom days, with Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 3. The basics of the combat system, the narrative approach, and even creatures like the Chocobo were identified and defined in these early days.

Final Fantasy 4, 5, and 6 saw the series migrate to the Super Famicom, and many purists argue that this is the point at which the series' storytelling abilities really blossomed. Many of these same purists also argue that either 4 or 6 was the best ever, and that the world has since been in decline, all games suck now, and nothing in life can ever be half as meaningful as these games (plus Chrono Trigger) ever. Ever. I exaggerate, somewhat, but so do these sad souls.

Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 9 brought the series to a new console manufacturer in the form of Sony. As a sidenote, this is also when Nintendo took one look at being successful by giving consumers the best product possible and said, 'Ah, fuck it.' They chose cartridge over optical and have been way behind the technology curve ever since.

Anyway, FF7-9 harnessed the optical format to bring a more cinematic appeal to the games, and moved from sprites to polygons. The series spread to the masses, and the fanboys wept crystal-shaped tears.

About this same time, we saw the brand start to spread out to other platforms as well, with releases on the GBA, cell phones, PC, as well as re-releases of older games on PlayStation.

Final Fantasy 10, X-2, 11, 12, and VII - Dirge of Cerberus continued the series on the PlayStation 2. FFX brought voice-acting into the series in much the way that a plane crash delivers passengers to the ground, and FFXI brought the series into the MMO space in a way that perplexed all but the most dogged of masochists. Dirge of Cerberus experimented with bringing the brand into shitty action games that feature terrible controls, while FFX-2 was the first-ever direct sequel in Final Fantasy history (and yes, I still think it's better than FFX). FFXII, meanwhile, showed that it was possible to drastically change up the series' mechanics and make a great game.

Then, Squenix astonished everyone by making the series multi-platform for the first time, and Final Fantasy XIII (and its direct sequel) were both released for PS360.

Oh, and Final Fantasy XIV released to PC and managed to actually be worse than FFXI, which is an accomplishment heretofore unimaginable and most unwelcome.

This overlong recap is presented to illustrate a point, which is that the series changing direction is not new. The problem we've had this century isn't that the series has tried to change, but that Squenix chased out the core talent, namely Hironobu Sakaguchi and Yasumi Matsuno. Sakaguchi is the father and was the main scenario guy on FF1-9, and you can tell. Matsuno was the father of the Tactics branch and the main creative guy behind FFXII (though he was ejected before the game was completely done.) Sakaguchi and Matsuno were both  shown the door, and that's the first problem. Yes, I'm sure other folks could step in and make us actually care about characters, but they don't seem to be trying.

Tetsuya Nomura has risen steadily at Squenix over the years. He's their main character designer now, on (I think) all of their Japanese RPG releases, and man, I am tired of his designs. Yeah, the asymmetrical zipper thing was interesting the first fifteen times I saw it, but now ... ugh. Bored now.

I wonder, at times, if there's on overemphasis on presentation with Final Fantasy now, and a total lack of regard for rich and compelling characters.

If you're not quite on the same page with me here, please do the following: play Lost Odyssey (Sakaguchi) on 360, then play FFXIII on PS360, and then get back to me. Lost Odyssey is the best Final Fantasy game I've played since FFIX. Final Fantasy XIII ... had its moments, but none of the characters elicit any feeling from me (except for Hope, who I kept hoping someone would 'accidentally' kick over a railing.)

Another aside - Japanese publishers: listen to the English voices of Tidus from FFX, Hope from FFXIII, and that awful Canadian from Resident Evil Code: Veronica, and don't ever do that to us again. Thanks.

The problem with Final Fantasy isn't with changing approaches or design, it's with the characters. Sakaguchi and Matsuno both developed strong personalities in their characters, and built interesting relationships between them. The casts from both FFX and FFXIII were 'blah' to the extreme, and show a lack of proper development. Both of those games focused tremendously on new technology and features being brought to the series, but were painful in terms of storytelling. Tidus would go down as the worst Final Fantasy protagonist ever, if not for the emo douchebag, Squall.

What's interesting about each of those characters is that it seems like their personalities were put in place in order to explain their appearance, as though the whole character was built from the character design, instead of having a character design that complements what the writers established.

It's almost as if a character designer has too much clout, and that story and writing is being treated as secondary ... hmm ...

But what do I know?

Final Fantasy XII shows that the series can not only handle change, but excel with it. What the series is missing is human relationships. It's a rich and compelling series, and can easily be restored to its former glory, but they need to change the approach.

Or maybe bring back Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yoshitaka Amano, and Nobuo Uematsu? Just a thought.

What say you?

Blaine
Buy my book!

Untitled Podcast returns!

Here it is!

We kick things off with some general chatter about what we've been up to, then talk about (gasp) games. We talk everything from Star Trek Online to Final Fantasy VIII to Killing Floor to God of War III to Magic: Duel of the Planeswalkers (huh? Yeah, I'm there with ya.) We then move into a brief overview of the gaming implications of what was shown at CES 2010 and then talk some gaming news, and then wrap it up with quick preview of Mass Effect 2's inventory and armor system.

Oh, and we came in @ 2 hours, so you can relax.

Download it, listen to it, then yell @ us in the comments about what ya think.

We'll be posting new blogs again on Monday, and maintain that, then we'll be back with our Mass Effect 2 blowout podcast on 1/30.

Thanks for listening, and let us know what ya think!

-Blaine

Happy Frakkin' New Year! Here's a podcast!

It's a new year, a new decade so here's a new podcast.

We rap about all the games that are worth talking about in this new year (that would be 2010 for those of you keeping score at home.) We also wrap up our top games of the decade by revealing our #5 - #1. We also talk about all the old shit we've been playing this last week. You Fallout 3 apologists might be pleased.

Tony is blasting George Michael right now, so it's a little distracting.

Listen in, enjoy, and let us know what works for you, and what doesn't.

We'll be podcasting again on the 16th, to wrap up CES, and we'll be posting in the meantime.

Let us know if there's anything in particular ya wanna hear/read about from us.

Word.

-Blaine

End of 2009

Here's the podcast.

Let us know what you think, and feel free to let us know where we went wrong.

-Blaine

Gaming & Acquisition Day

Acquisition Day is nearly upon us, so it's time to prep your gaming library for maximum fulfillment. You must be mentally nimble over the next few days to make sure that your gaming acquisitions are maximized for as little as possible.

Here's a fun fact: I never get games for Christmas. I don't want games for Christmas. If I get a game for Christmas, I know it's something I don't want, because if I did, I'd already have it. I realize that not everyone is as efficient in terms of acquisitions as I am, so here's some tips from the pro.

#1 - Scour your local gaming shops for trade-in deals. Sometimes, if you trade in toward a pre-order, they'll give you a bonus of some kind, or if you trade in a certain amount, whatever. Even if the preorder game is one you don't care about, trade in anything you don't love toward it, maximize that dollar, then sit on it.

#2 - If you get a game for Christmas that you didn't ask for, tell the giver a) that you've already received the game from someone else and will require the receipt to correct their thoughtlessness, or b) it's such a wonderful gift that you can't believe that it's real so you'll need the receipt to verify that is does, in fact, truly exist. If the game isn't from your game shop, see if you can return this game or games to your local shop w/ no receipt and add them to your store credit fund. Either way, move the value of that game into your already existing store credit fund.

#3 - Be careful how you open the games you do decide to keep. Leave any and all stickers attached, or in a state in which they're easily reattached. Make only minor slits in the cellophane or shrinkwrap. If it's something you can play through quickly, make sure to get the receipt from the giver, so that you can return it as new after resealing it and add more to your ongoing store credit fund. Bear in mind, though, that you're voting with your dollar. If you do this, you're essentially telling the developer and publisher to fuck off and never make a game like this again. If it was a bad game, though...they overcharge for most of these games anyway. A lower prince point would make you less apt to do this.

#4 - Now what to do with your lump of store credit? First of all, switch all your credit to something other than the game you preordered that you don't give a shit about. Next, evaluate what you want versus what you need. I know that most of you are the kind of gamers that buy any old piece of shit game (I've seen your XBox live gamerscore & PlayStation Trophies, and what games with which you've tarnished it/them, fucker.) Most of you are the kind of gamer that contribute to the greater problem by buying just about anything with flashy box art or a good review from Game Informer, IGN, or GameSpot. Allow me to stop you for a moment. You know how you wonder what sex would be like, or what it would be like to touch a bare (female) breast without having to worry about being prosecuted? I maintain a very high-quality gaming library while maximizing usage of my man parts with a consenting living human woman every single day. What's my secret? I dump all that store credit into game preorders, so that when those releases come around, I'm in and out the store so fast that it's as if I was never there, and the bank account doesn't take a hit, so again, it's as if I was never there. I look smart, efficient, powerful, and thoughtful, all in one fell swoop, and you can too, all by not buying shitty games.

It's the key to life, really, when you think about it. What repels women more than anything else? A man who repeatedly makes bad purchases and bad financial decisions. You know how you can easily tell how smart a man is with his money? Find out how hot his woman is. If you're pissed about how ugly your girlfriend or wife is, or if you have failed to acquire one, it's time to review your game purchases over the last few years.

That's why you should be more like me, and only make good purchases, but make it difficult to ascertain the exact number of these good purchases. Nothing gets my woman's motor purring like her finding out that I made another gaming acquisition using only non-liquid assets.

Additionally, a solid game library becomes an asset, based on the market value of each of your games. If you only have good games, then it's not that you're 'buying games,' it's that you're 'investing.' Consider Panzer Dragoon Saga, Final Fantasy VII (black label), or Burning Rangers, all of which have only increased in value. If you are shrewd about your game purchases, and vote with your dollar, and only for games with real quality, then not only will your gaming life improve, but you'll position yourself well for an attractive mate. When she sees you step out of your personal helicopter in the parking lot for the hot new wine & sushi bar, she'll know that you were incredibly smart about how you handled your acquisitions on Acquisition Day, how you knew which gaming assets had real long-term growth potential, and which gaming assets were best liquified in favor of financial gaming diversification.

Anyway, since this is a gaming blog, I wanted to share some pro-tips right before Acquisition Day. May your acquisitions be vast and your wealth increase!

Lemme know what you get, and don't hesitate to ask if it's a keeper or dumper!

Also, the End of 2009 podcast is going out this weekend, so keep your ear to the ground! We'll post it here when it's time! Don't forget to tell us what your favorite game of 2009 was, as well as what games might be in your 'best of the decade!'

Merry Acquisition Day!

-Blaine

Second! Pffft...

Let me give you a proper introduction and spare you from Tony's slander of a fine, fine game.

This is the Untitled Gaming blog. Those of you who have been following our podcast for a while know what to expect, roughly. Imagine this as sort of a non-stop literary form of our podcast in which Tony and I will just post whatever the fuck we feel like (relating to gaming) whenever we feel like it.

We honestly have no idea what to expect from this, but it struck me as a good idea over the weekend, and I informed Tony that we were doing this last night, since it wouldn't be right to take on this venture without him.

I think that this will be a daily thing, if not multiple times a day. Some posts will be three sentences, while others will be overly bloated reviews, others will be commentaries on gaming news stories, and still others will be nearly pornographic in how extremely they satisfy your brain.

At first, this will serve as our running discussion on the top 10 games of the 00s.

Before I assert that I am above even pretending that Tony's hatred of a landmark game based on its unforgiving save system is worth validating via a response, I'm going to reveal some of the games that have been in our discussion, so that you all can make cases for and against, if you'd be so kind.

Here's the short list, in no particular order:

Bioshock
Final Fantasy XII
Grand Theft Auto III 
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Mass Effect
Guild Wars
Diablo II

Fable II
Fallout 3
Orange Box (this isn't even a game, but I didn't pick it, so whatever)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
MVP Baseball 2005
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
Final Fantasy IX
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Lost Odyssey
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Dragon Age: Origins
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (PC)
Indigo Prophecy
Shadow of Destiny


So, that's the short list, and that's even missing a few that both of us wanted to put on there.


Hell, I just realized that Tony didn't put any racing games in there. That's surprising. I thought for sure that we'd see a Codemasters game from him somewhere in there.

One thing that will be interesting to see is how Tony and I come to a consensus on criteria for the decade's top ten games. It's clear to me, at the moment, that we have slightly different criteria. For example, multiplayer matters little to me. I do enjoy multiplayer, but I haven't quite figured out how important to me it is. It's important enough to keep Modern Warfare 2 and Forza MotorSport 3 out of the discussion, since both have extremely severe problems with their respective multiplayer experiences (though Forza 3 has a far better single player experience than the laughable MW2 single player.) I do enjoy both games but both are cases of diminishing returns on a franchise.

So, what do you guys think? What's your criteria? What would you champion for our list, and what did we leave off? Don't forget to tune in this weekend when we post our first podcast of this series!

-Blaine