posts by chris
chris

A sense of accomplishment in video games

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What is it that makes a game particularly memorable?

When you finish a game, you want to feel as if you’ve accomplished something. By the time you beat some games, you want to really feel you’ve made the game world a better place through your actions (or, perhaps, you have intentionally left a horrifying wake of devastation). You’ve solved all major problems, and probably a lot of minor ones as well. Maybe you’ve beaten a particularly tough platformer or shooter and you feel like you’ve done a superhuman feat or twelve. The important part is you feel like you’ve done something significant or participated in a memorable story. The main pieces used to bring about this feeling are plot and challenge. →  Hot Shots Post 3

(Re)Translations present & forthcoming

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Those who have played the Final Fantasy VI remake for GBA have surely noticed something in addition to the new Espers and dungeons.

Apparently the game was actually partially retranslated, whether due to the fact that mysterious ninja video game company TOSE actually did the port or because somebody along the localization chain realized it might be a good thing.

A translation making fun of nitpicky fans? Heresy.

Not to disparage Ted Woolsey’s work on the original game (which is nothing short of heroic, as he had just one month for his original translation of FFVI), but the game could probably use it. Some parts were a bit sketchy, others unclear, and the retranslation has generally been received quite well. Many of Woolsey’s original lines were kept in the script as well, so many of the better original lines will still bring back nostalgia. →  The gamers have only interpreted the games, in various ways. The point, however, is to change them.

Best Game Ever – Master of Magic

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Back when Microprose was still making games, they came out with a bunch of ideas for similarly themed titles spanning multiple universes. Although Master of Orion, Civilization, and X-Com were all well and good (that is to say, well, very good), my favorite was always Master of Magic. Master of Magic took the best parts of Civilization and being a wizard and put them together.

You play a wizard starting with control of one city, and your goal is simply the annihilation of all other wizards. You pick a difficulty, pick which spell types and special enhancements you want, and go. A randomly generated map is created, and you get to start playing.

Red Creek. What a depressing name for a hamlet.

 →  Assassin’s Read

Review – Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators

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It’s hard to find a recent game with a name more cheesy than Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators. It has all the classiness of a corny low-budget science fiction movie.

In fact, its name could be the main reason why nobody’s noticed the game, despite a lot of acclaim from reviewers. So much so that the publishing company is now asking users to suggest a better game name… possibly to re-release it.

In any case, Space Rangers 2 hails from Russia, courtesy of Cinemaware Marquee. Most of the game script feels pretty natural, but there’s just enough awkwardness to indicate it was not originally in English (other ships will ask your help to take out “this type”). That said, the script actually contains a lot of jokes. →  Read or die.

Farewell to the Game Boy

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Since I, like many of my fellow videolamer staff, now have a DS Lite, I am enjoying many new and interesting games. It even has backwards compatibility, making my GBA titles more vibrant and colorful than ever. But I was left with a small pang of sadness when I noticed that the original Game Boy games – as had been reported – simply don’t fit into the GBA slot. This isn’t so much of a surprise, although I had been keeping up hope.

And so, I must bid farewell to my old portable games. They kept me engaged through even the longest road trips when I was younger, and I will now move on to newer, more colorful and touch-friendly games. →  In all ages, hypocrites, called producers, have put crowns upon the heads of thieves, called publishers.

Let Us Cling Together: The joy of playing games cooperatively

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Imagine you’re delving into a dark labyrinth. You’re exploring the endless hallways, looking for a path leading deeper into the ruin when you’re ambushed by a dozen demons both ahead and behind. You’re certain this is the end… but then you realize your partner was trailing a ways behind you, and by now she should blasting her way through the enemies attacking from the rear. Thus assured, you unsheath your sword and charge on ahead… This is the magic of cooperative gaming.

I find it hard to get into any competitive game (with the exception of Smash Bros). The idea of playing against other people just isn’t as fun as playing alongside them. I tend to find cooperative games much more enjoyable, but it’s a much under-appreciated genre. →  While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not gaming.

Best Game Ever – Cave Story

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When I was considerably younger, I had no disposable income but way too much free time. So I did what any sensible young gamer would do: I looked for free games on the internet. Back then, pickings were pretty slim, and the only downloadable games worth playing were severely limited shareware. Most of those, if they were any good at all, were not worth the registration price.

A dozen or so years later a truly great freeware game had finally come out. The game was Cave Story, and it had been painstakingly designed by one individual (who goes by Pixel) and later translated by Aeon Genesis. It comes across as a game that might have come out for the NES in its prime; simplistic graphics and basic music may lead you to believe this. →  Up to 6 billion readers.

Lament of a lost developer

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Once upon a time, there was an innovative game design company. Though they tended to use mainly the historical as backdrops for their titles, they came out with a wide range of interesting games and managed to release them for several platforms despite fairly intense console rivalry. It was clear there were individual designers in the company with a passion and talent for game creation. Now, several years later, this company has grown stagnant. The only games that it seems to spend any money on are rehashes of the same genre. The innovation that still exists comes primarily from the company publishing the efforts of various subdivisions or studios.

Sound familiar? It could be one of several names, since it’s a common malady, but in this particular case I’m speaking of Koei. →  Jesus: Readful Bio Monster

Fear the Mystic Balloons

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I find most freeware games to be temporary distractions, but every once in a while I get hooked on one longer than usual. Such is the case with Mystic Balloon. Originally a cooperation between two Japanese developers, this puzzle game was translated a few days ago by Derrick Sobodash.

Mystic Balloon’s plot is simple, as are both music and graphics. But the puzzles are rightfully the heart of the game, and there are a lot of them.

Our forecast for tomorrow is mostly cloudy with a chance of ice and springs.

In this puzzle game, you make your way through individual 2-dimensional puzzle map-areas – similar to Lolo – but in Mystic Ballon, gravity has an effect and there aren’t enemies – the game is pure puzzle, and controls are tight so mistakes are the player’s fault. →  What is word? Baby don’t read me.

Series Retrospective: Wild Arms

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As far as RPG series go, one of the smaller ones you don’t hear too much about is Wild Arms. They are the only RPGs I’ve heard of that try to tackle the Wild West as an overall theme, and tend to blend in fantasy and science fiction elements to keep the game interesting for more traditional RPG fans.

Although the plot and setting differ significantly between any two members of the series (with one exception), there are some trends, such as the Guardians, which are summons characters can equip and use. All of the games also have the blessing of Michiko Naruke’s composition talents. Although she was not able to do the full composition for 4, all of the games have excellent music which adds greatly to the atmosphere – in fact, it was hearing the music that brought me to revisit the first and go on to try the rest of the series. →  Game is dead. Game remains dead. And we have killed it.