2014: The 'Curious' Games

I've often had pride in the fact that I'm not afraid to try something new. Whether it be a new Indian dish, a show that's not science fiction or fantasy, a band that is formed of guys that are not from a grunge-era band, or a girl that does not have red hair, I'll try anything once.

Where the consideration comes in for games, though, is two things. Time and money. To ask someone to invest $20-60 dollars AND a lot of their free time into something that's an unknown quantity, that's a big deal. Ask someone to do it several times in a year, and that's an even bigger deal.

Bear in mind, I'm not talking about n3wb-P3wn3r69, I'm talking about someone like me, that's semi-retired from the hardcore gaming scene, and just wants to enjoy himself, rather than have pride in having played every indie/hardcore release.

The games I'm talking about today are upcoming releases that I'm leaning toward buying, but more because I'm really interested in what the marketing and publicity has presented in terms of feature sets and story, rather than because they're part of a franchise I know and love.

Divinity: Original Sin (PC)
The Divinity series is one of which I've had an awareness, without really ever jumping in too deep. Yes, of course, I own every game in the series (thanks, Steam sales), but they keep getting brushed aside by something new and shiny before I can really sink my teeth in.

That changed a little last year, when Larian Studios released the mostly-excellent Divinity: Dragon Commander. However, that game is a sharp departure from the rest of the series gameplay-wise. I enjoyed it tremendously, for the most part, but had been waiting until the prequel to the series, Original Sin, was out before I really jumped in.

CONFESSION: I've already bought this game, so I suppose counting it as a 'Curious' game is a moot point. However, before playing the alpha, I was somewhat on the fence, despite having impulsively funded the game. Everything I knew about the series told me it was something right up my alley. The deep lore, the big worlds, the cool story, the solid combat.

The alpha, thus far, has confirmed that I will fucking LOOOVE the combat. Rather, I DO love the combat. Ever played a tabletop strategy game like Warhammer 40k? OK, there's your combat system. Were I saying this to me, I'd slap the person for daring to invoke the greatest combat system ever, and then hand over my money to Larian.

Where my curiosity mostly lies is in everything else in the game. What I've played of the alpha is pretty nice, but I'm curious to see how the rest of the presentation comes out, how the character builds are, and how the co-op works.

In all, I'm pretty excited.

Bravely Default (3DS)
Everything I've read and seen says that this is the Final Fantasy game we've been waiting for since the end of the PlayStation 1 era.

I just wish it was on any platform that wasn't 3DS.

Yeah, I could borrow my son's 3DS, and yeah, I also wanna play the new Phoenix Wright game on the 3DS, but ... it's still one more game platform I gotta buy. I am not excited about that.

Watch Dogs (PC)
Yeah, this isn't technically an RPG, but it sure has plenty of RPG elements, and I think this, rather than Thief, may be scratching the itch left by Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Also, I did my undergrad in Chicago, so I'm eager to see how closely they've rendered the real city.

Everything I have seen about this game blows me away, in particular, how much the user can use the environment around him or her to accomplish various goals. Promises like that, though, can sometimes underwhelm in their final implementation, as we've seen many times. Of course, it could also be the next DXHR.

Just please give me Steam achievements, and not just Uplay achievements.

And let me have my character take advantage of $.50 draft nights at the Parkway Tavern on Fullerton, if that's still a thing. Hell, if it isn't, make it a thing in the game. That was awesome.

Age of Decadence (PC)
I'm so excited about this game, I refuse to take part in the Steam Early Access. I don't want anything ruined for me before the finished product is out.

Turn-based, low magic, post-apocalyptic setting + an emphasis on choices and consequence? Where do I sign up? Oh, on Steam, it turns out. I've contemplated buying into the early access, just to help contribute to the game, and then not playing until it's done, but I know I'd be unable to resist just getting a taste. I don't want to have to replay anything in the final game. I'm so pumped, I want it all to just be new.

Curiously, though, it's been in development for, literally, 10 years, so I have some concerns about that. When you iterate on something that long, everything from the ideas to the tools you're using can become woefully outdated. That doesn't appear to be true here, especially since graphical fidelity doesn't appear to something with which they're very concerned, nor should it, for an old-school isometric game that still looks pretty decent.

What has me curious, and pumped about this game is the motivations and ideas behind it. Like I said, the interesting setting, plus the emphasis on choice really has me excited.

Wasteland 2 (PC)
And another 'old-school' PC RPG release, though this might be the biggest of them all. You like the Fallout series? Thank the original Wasteland.

To tell the truth, though, I've never played it. I know. It's true. It was released in 1988, when I was but a lad still cutting my teeth on Legend of Zelda.

This game features an overhead, rotatable view, turn-based combat, and a party of up to 7 people. The NPCs sounds pretty interesting, too, and seem like they're going to have a lot of logic dictating unique agendas on the part of the NPCs.

I will say, I'm fascinated by the resurgence of turn-based combat in these crowd-funded RPGs, and it tells me that there's an appetite for it out there. I know I've certainly missed turn-based combat. Frankly, I enjoyed both turn-based and real-time, but I like having both, and the turn-based games all but went away some time ago, at least in terms of the high-profile RPGs.

There's an early access version available on Steam for $60, but word on the street is that price will come down upon final release.

I'm heavily leaning toward getting this one, as well, but timing, if it slips all the way into the fall, when all my big boy games come out, may become a question. This game sounds beautifully huge, and rather demanding of time, but potentially worth it. We'll see when this actually comes out. It's in beta now.

Star Wars: The Old Republic (new content) (PC)
What an interesting couple of years and change it's been, SWTOR. I've stuck with you the whole way, and I'm still with you, but if you don't get some significant new story content, we're done this summer. It's not me, it's you. And ESO.

What about you? What games are you really curious about? What games have you just on the edge of preordering? Lemme know!

Thanks for reading! I'll be back tomorrow with my 'MUST HAVE' games of 2014!

-Blaine

2014: The 'Maybe' Games

When it comes to unreleased games, I tend to veer sharply in one of two directions.

On one hand, I'm stupidly loyal to series that are long past their expiration date. I've been that guy that's chugging down a gallon of curdled Final Fantasy releases for quite a while now, to the point where it's easier to beg them to stop that it is me.

On the other, I'm also pretty good at reading the tea leaves, and knowing when a game is going to be shit. See: Aliens - Colonial Marines. I've been at this long enough now that I can typically get a good feel based on not only what the publisher let's us see in advance, but also what they won't let us see in advance.

Sadly, though, #2 never overrides #1. Maybe we can change that this year.

Fable: Anniversary (Xbox 360)
I really enjoyed the first two Fable games, even if they fell well short of Molyneux's promises that they were going to be full life-simulators and that real children were going to literally burst forth from the original Xbox (it was about big enough to gestate a human embryo.)

I enjoyed them, and then finished them, and never envisioned a world in which I would ever go back and play them. Yes, this looks neat, and it has ACHIEVEMENTS, and yes, as I said, I really did enjoy the original game.

However, it has two strikes right out of the gate. One, I've already played this. Two, I can't play it on my Xbox One. Yes, my 360 is still hooked up in another room, but I don't like playing consoles, especially retired consoles, and while this looks kinda interesting, between my backlog and the crush of new releases this year, I'm leaning toward 'no.'

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy: XIII: 3: Lightning Again (Xbox 360)
This whole Final Fantasy XIII franchising thing has always had me scratching my head. My two least-favorite non-MMO numerical Final Fantasy games (X and XIII) both got the sequel treatment, and I've never understood this.

I don't think either is outright offensive, nor a bad game, per se, but there are much better Final Fantasy titles out there with which to build franchises.

Rather, there are better Final Fantasy titles out there with which to make true JRPG sequels, and not horrible third-person shooters that make children and cute animals cry tears of anguished blood.

Either way, Lightning is apparently Returning, and it looks like they've revamped the combat to be more action-oriented after 25 years of success with a more menu-heavy system. Why, you ask, would they do this? Well, it's obviously, uh, hmm, I, uh, well, it's obviously the next step in further alienating a once-tremendous fanbase. And we'll all still buy this shit, so there ya go.

But, it might be great. After the horrid story & characters (but awesome combat) that was Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 was a pleasant surprise.

Honestly, I'll probably end up being a sucker bitch and buying it, but my logical Vulcan mind says that's a potentially stupid decision.

South Park: The Stick of Truth (PC)
This is one that should be on the 'Curious,' or even 'MUST HAVE' list, given it's blend of pedigrees.

Here's why it's not. Too many delays + change in publisher. Sometimes, when something's allowed to have too many hands changing core concepts over a period of time, the game can end up having a ton of cool features, none of which is particularly polished. This isn't to say it's doomed. It might be great, but I have to wait and see.

Also, it's Ubisoft, so the PC version might get delayed until god knows when.

BUT, it is being developed by Obsidian, which is usually a great thing, and a lot of the marketing has suggested that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are heavily involved.

I actually have a better feeling about this than I do my next game ...

THIEF (PC)
Yeah, it's not really an RPG, but DXHR came close, so I'm counting it.

This game is supposed to be great. It's the same studio, Eidos Montreal, that made Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and you'd think this game would be right up their alley. But ... the tea leaves have me worried. Between the lukewarm previews citing very specific issues with the game, and the studio GM bailing last year because of irreconcilable differences with Squenix ... ya gotta wonder ... it's too bad, because I wanna buy this game and love it. I loved DXHR. I like the Thief series quite a bit, too.

At the same time, some of the issues presented in the previews sounds pretty fucking nitpicky, so it may be alright. We'll find out in less than a month.

Final Fantasy XIV - new content (PC)
My paid time is running out in Eorzea, and as much as I didn't hate my experience there, I'm not sure my subscription to this game is going to survive my summer purge of MMOs, in which only sub will be left standing.

I don't like the lack of voice acting, and while the game itself is actually pretty decent, I'm guessing that its lack of narrative hook will end up dooming it for me.

We'll see, though. A substantial story-based release for the game could keep me in. Anything they can do to make it more a true 'Final Fantasy' game, but online, will make it very hard for me to dump. I'd love nothing more than to immerse myself in a real Final Fantasy world, and this game already comes pretty close, but ESO and SWTOR already have made stronger cases for my $15/month.

In closing ...
I don't want to be a negative Nancy, but these are games I want to want, and something about them makes me cautious, or has diminished my interest.

It is worth noting, too, that these games are all coming out soon, away from the releases in which publishers typically have more confidence. If something hits about this time of year, it indicates either a just-missed holiday release, or it's being dumped, to avoid competing with better games. Bigger releases typically crank up from April to June and then September to November. Games released outside of those windows, due to observed publisher habits, typically bear a little more scrutiny.

These could all be fine games, but have all, for various reasons, incurred a 'wait and see' attitude from me.

What say you? What are your thoughts on these games? You gonna take a chance on them, wait and see, or just avoid them altogether? Let me know!

Tomorrow, I'll be back with my 'Curious' games, the games that I'm very curious about, and am somewhat inclined on which to take a chance.

Thanks for reading!

-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