[First Impressions] Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited (Xbox One)

I've been playing a lot of Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. It's strange to play on Xbox One, which is what I'm currently doing-- it obviously works much better as a PC game, and not having a hot key for a map is driving me insane. And makes it hard to explore, I'm just saying.

I've naturally gone the route of a Dark Elf named Keah (again). In sort of vague story-telling terms, I've decided she's the ancestress of my Keah in Skyrim, and the family line was transported there due to the events in ESOTU.  My gamertag is grohiik07, so for the purposes of simplicity, I'm probably going to end up referring to my gamertag and character names together at some point.

The map has to be my biggest complaint about the game, though, since it's so very hard to navigate it on Xbox One. A mini-map would 100% help, even if they didn't want to "clutter" the UI. (I am very tired of their belief in a lack of clutter disrupting my ability to play their game.) Beyond that, the differences between ESO and Skyrim are very interesting. Making money in ESO is hard, a full-time job. Any gold drops or found gold are only in small amounts. You have to really have a profession to make any money. Or, you could do as a Nightblade sneak-thief does and steal everything that's not nailed down from houses... pockets... the market.... You can gather materials-- which themselves are only slightly more common than gold sometimes-- and craft them through an extensive and interesting crafting system to make money. Not being that committed, and with a character that can actually become invisible when necessary, I generally steal, and sometimes make potions. So do a lot of other people. The marketplaces are literally crawling with thieves, crouching behind the stalls, stealing whenever the stall merchant isn't looking their way. I've been playing for several hours and still only have a bit less than 3000 gold-- and it was hard won let me tell you. The cheapest horse is 14K unless you buy it in the Crown Store, which feels a bit like cheating. And I should probably start playing every night to make money if nothing else, if I want to get a horse.

Nightblade is an interesting class, especially when you combine the abilities with your choice of any kind of weapon. The Nightblade abilities give you some magic daggers for close-up moves, and pairing it with my love of ranged weaponry works perfectly. Health-draining moves alleviate the need for heavy armor. I can shadow walk across the map if I can get a target to lock onto, making it so I can shortcut the map in interesting ways at times.  Outlaws refuges in most cities make it so I can fence my goods (limit of 50 per day) and launder any items I want to use myself, making switching up my weaponry a breeze. The vast crafting system makes it easy to change the way your bow looks as well. I have a nice Nordic style bow with curved dragon heads on the ends, as well as a lovely Altmer-style bow covered in gold wing patterns.

One complaint, which I think might end up fixed by the Imperial City DLC, is the lack of a Thieves' Guild. The only guilds as yet present in the game are the Mages and the Fighters. But I'm willing to wait for the Imperial City and see if it provides me with either Thieves' or Assassins' Guilds. OR BOTH. I would also like more of the different countries unlocked, if possible. Currently you can only get into Eastmarch and the Rift in Skyrim, for example, and after running all the way across Morrowind at level 7it was very disappointing that I couldn't reach Markarth. And it was already irritating enough to be level 7 in an area where the enemies are level 42. (Irritating/terrifying/holy shit what.)

I'm going to leave this here for now like this, in the hopes of adding another post today if I get a chance to play after work. Screenshots to come when I'm no longer hidden behind my work computer's firewall!

[First Impressions] Pokémon X and Y

I've not been on a gaming hiatus by any means, but I have been setting up new Xbox One and Wii systems, gathering up some new games for review, and then actually playing those games so I had some things to say. So new content will be coming soon (Story of Seasons just came out, for example; I've almost finished Sunset Overdrive for Xbox One; I've been playing Destiny on the weekends; Tamriel Unlimited is out soon; and I still need to play more Inquisition).

For now, though, I'd like to revisit Pokémon X and Y.

I originally bought my 3DS system solely because X and Y were coming out and for me, they were the must-have that made me bite the bullet and buy a 3DS.

I ended up not playing them very much. I played 30 hours, but somehow ended up with only two badges, and I burnt out. I've now restarted, with a much more select team (see my post on ORAS for how I ported over all my Pokémon so I could restart). I have a few stumbling blocks that prevent me from really getting into X and Y. The new list of Pokémon is kind of alien to me, and I don't want to just use the same Pokémon all over again. So this time, I'm trying out training some new Pokémon. I'm taking advantage of the EXP Share as much as I can let myself. I would really like to actually finish a Pokémon game for the first time since... well, before Black and White, actually.

A Quilladin named Teddy was my Starter and choice for Grass type this time around. He's a bit troll-looking, but has a good amount of power, and makes a pretty cheery travelling companion.

My choice for next permanent-training Pokémon was a bit harder, since I always capture a Flying type next for the permanent part of my team. Having both Pidgey-- yes, one of my favorite Pokémon-- and the adorable firebird that is Fletchling, made the choice difficult. But I've trained at least twenty Pidgey over the course of my life (they were once part of a breeding project for me), and this is only my second Fletchling, so I found a cute little girl that I named Arrow.

Besides that, I'm currently rocking a Psyduck (I've wanted a Golduck since Red, but somehow never managed to get one), a Rhyhorn, Mienfoo, and a Helioptile. (I'm not sure about the Helioptile.)

I like the Pokémon well enough, but I'm still not really drawn into the game. Like always, I'm compelled to train the Pokémon, but something about the layout of the towns irritates me-- maybe the metropolis setting?-- and I haven't really liked the Pokémon well enough to search out every one in each area to capture.

I'll have more thoughts on it later. Perhaps I still need to get back into the Pokémon groove. However, Etrian Mystery Dungeon and Story of Seasons were just released, and I have lots to do there as well!

Ah, the gaming life.

[First Impressions] Pokémon Omega Ruby, P1

Oh hey, it's that time again. You're going cross-eyed, you're practically glued to the screen of your handheld-- yup, the new Pokémon game is out, and this time, it's Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire.

My two favorite Pokémon games were Silver/Gold and Sapphire/Ruby. I loved those games. I played the shit out of those games. I did intense breeding experiments in Sapphire/Ruby, which is one of the reasons that I'm so unhappy they changed Mauville's layout - too many loading screens in the hub town right next to the Day Care Center, and also it's just stupid looking, like a giant mall. Silver/Gold I was just flat out in love with. I still remember entering the forest at night and seeing my first HootHoot. It was magical.

I'm just getting back from the volcanic wastes of Fallarbor and need to go pursue my next Gym Badge at Lavaridge. I've reached the point where I'm about ready to murder if I don't get Fly ASAP. I'd kill to have a decent Electric Pokémon on my team, since I refuse to use that ridiculous Cosplay Pikachu. (Seriously, what the hell is wrong with that thing?) Fortunately, Flannery, the Gym Leader of Lavaridge, uses Fire Pokémon, which is going to be fairly easy, given that two of my Pokémon in my current team are part Water, and only one of the rest are weak against Fire.

Current Battling Team:

Ricardo (Marshtomp, L23)
Ability: Torrent

Bide
Mud Shot
Water Gun
Mud Bomb

I've never used Swampert before, so picking Mudkip as my starter was a new experience for me. I was very impressed by how the Water/Ground combo played out, meaning that he is completely immune to Electricity-- color me impressed! I will probably leave him as my Water choice for the game, but I'm not convinced yet. His current attacks deal some damage while also draining stats, which can be an interesting play-style.

Sinatra (Nuzleaf, L21)
Ability: Early Bird

Beat Up
Razor Wind
Growth
Razor Leaf

I had Sapphire originally, so getting access to Seedot/Nuzleaf/Shiftry couldn't have made me happier. I immediately fell in love when I started using this little guy. His Beat Up move deals a decent amount of damage, despite taking a long time since it has to hit 6 times. Razor Wind and Razor Leaf are both great moves as well, and overall, Sinatra deals a decent amount of straight damage. I'm still trying to pick my parties for both first and second run-throughs on the Elite 4, but I like this guy so much I might build one party or the other around him entirely.

Lucille (Kirlia)
Ability: Trace

Heal Pulse
Magical Leaf
Confusion
Double Team

Here's the thing. I prefer Kadabra/Alakazam. Don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but this Kirlia was a bitch and a half to raise. It dies one shot most of the time, and isn't quite powerful enough to one-hit KO, which is what you need in a Psychic. The Heal Pulse is only useful in Doubles and it can't heal itself, but Lucille is always the one that needs the healing, since it's so weak. I think it could make a great Doubles Pokémon, if its partner has a move that can draw attacks away from it (essentially making it a healer/magic unit guarded by a tank). Unless some things change, I can't see taking this one with  me to the League. (Note for later-- if I can get a Riolu and breed it to a male Clefairy with Follow Me, I could use Riolu as the tank; chance of male Clefairy is 1:4)

Gable (Mightyena, L22)
Ability: Quick Feet

Fire Fang
Howl
Snarl
Bite

I've always loved Mightyena. Mightyena was part of the breeding program I ran in the original Sapphire/Ruby. I have some grudges against this particular Mightyena, since I neglected leveling it, and then had a tough time and just expected it to rock with opponents the same level or higher than itself. That might be part of my problem with my Kirlia as well. This Mightyena, Gable, has served me well, since it had Fire Fang when I caught it. Fire moves are damn hard to come by, and I don't know what I would have done sometimes without it.

Makit (Hariyama)
Ability: Guts

Force Palm
Vital Throw
Fake Out
Arm Thrust

I can't say I've ever used Hariyama. I had a Torchic in the originals for my fighting type, and when I don't have Torchic, Machop tends to be my go-to. Hariyama is great, though. Makit is an in-game trade, meaning it gets a nice boost for EXP, and Mariyama has one of the highest HP stats in the game. Fighting Pokémon require a lot of strategy and planning to use, since all of their attacks are fighting moves that do damage based on different things (the weight of your opponent, your own weight, whether you go first or last, etc). I really like using them for this reason. Definitely taking this one with me to end-game.

007 (Wingull, L23)
Ability: Keen Eye

Water Pulse
Air Cutter
Supersonic
Wing Attack

This is the fun thing about sneaking in ORAS (Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire): you can occasionally get a dud. This happened a few times for me, actually, before I figured out how the DexNav feature worked. I would normally use the pure Flying Taillow, since it's the first Flying type you can catch. Pidgey is my preference, and I love Starly as well, but in this game, it would be Taillow. Instead, the Taillow I caught had no offensive moves, meaning I had to level it way slower than my other Pokémon, and Wingull ended up way outstripping it. Water Pulse is a great attack with a Confused side-effect, Supersonic can aid that confusion, and Wing Attack is a great Flying move. This one is going to stick with me for a while until I find my perfect Zubat. Pelipper is unfortunately too slow to be adequate in the long-run, but I am pretty fond of 007 regardless. I expect to drop it shortly after I gain access to Fly, and can easily train a lower-level Pokémon up, potentially Skarmory.

[Review] Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, Part One - Spring and Summer, Year 1

It requires some work to keep track of why two Harvest Moon games are being released, one without the Harvest Moon title, but which resembles Harvest Moon games most closely (Story of Seasons) and one with the Harvest Moon title, but very dissimilar to normal Harvest Moon (Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley). I am not going to get into that, but essentially what you need to know is that the games carrying the Harvest Moon name in the United States are no longer Harvest Moon games. Here is a fine article that outlines the situation most clearly.

The Lost Valley was just released on November 4th, and I very nearly didn't bother to pre-order it. I ended up doing so the day before it was released, with the facetious reasoning that I really wanted the plushie dog that came with the pre-orders. The game has a heavy Minecraft influence in the art style, which I've never liked, and I wasn't quite sure about it. I've played it quite a bit since it's release, to the extent that I feel comfortable giving this review. I'm going to be following with a lot of negativity before I get to the positivity, so to offset it, I would like to open with this statement: this will not satisfy any Harvest Moon cravings you might have, but judged on its own merits, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley is a fine game.

Long time Harvest Moon fans will be sorely disappointed by the lack of a town; limited interactions with animals; the odd fact that cows must completely finish eating before you can finally milk them and can't go outside more than once every other day (provided it isn't snowing, which it does, often), since a Harvest Sprite must let them out to graze; crops that may "grow better" in certain seasons, but are not limited to them; an entire year of winter; the end of gift-giving to woo NPCs into friendships or romantic relationships, which takes agency away from the player; an end to the recent gathering craze that's taken over the Harvest Moon franchise since Tale of Two Towns; only three romance options for each gender; and continue.

The Lost Valley is trimmed down to the bare bones. The game is not even 3D, so don't even bother turning it on. You can't customize your character at all, though there you can eventually change outfits-- somehow. The game swears it, but I haven't figured out how yet. Minutes in the game run faster than 1 minute in game per 1 second in real time-- you're even warned about it by one of the Harvest Sprites (now resembling Teletubbies) who says that "time runs fast out in the valley." Above all else, The Lost Valley is a lonely game. If this were a traditional Harvest Moon game, there would be the town, the forest, the mountain peak, and the river area. The Lost Valley takes place entirely in the forest/mountain/river areas, and cuts out the town. You might see merchants when they stop in a couple days a week, and some of the villagers might decide to wander around, but essentially, your character is a crazy mountain hermit who is managing to grow crops in the dead of winter solely by the grace of the Harvest Sprites. There's not much you can really do besides farm.

This is everything that The Lost Valley isn't. So what is the game, exactly?

You begin the game travelling through the mountain pass into the Lost Valley. You are saved from a blizzard by a Harvest Sprite, drawn into a warm cabin with a cozy stove and some cheerful decorations. You begin receiving strange, hazy, prophetic dreams and are soon drawn into a quest to wake the Harvests Goddess and help restore seasons to this place, driven all the while by the urging of sprites, the goddess, and what you see while you sleep. This gives the game a very familiar, fairy tale feel.

You start working the fields. Your only initial company is a single Harvest Sprite and a sketchy merchant, who will sell you things at high prices and buy them at low prices, since the reason he makes the trek to the mountains is because he thinks you're gullible. Slowly, other characters begin to come by. The Harvest Goddess wakes up, and you have to fulfill requirements to get the Crystals that power her bracelet, which controls the seasons. You build friendships with the characters who appear by supplying items for their requests. These items range from flowers of a certain color to lumber to various crops. You'll unlock Spring just in time for it to turn to Summer, which actually means cold, icy winter, again. I imagine I'll unlock Fall just in time for it to turn to Winter, which means I will have to get through an entire season with very little to do until it's finally Spring again.

Due to how pared down the systems are for fishing, growing crops, and caring for animals-- as well as the fact that you have virtually no need to spend money on anything except seeds-- I ended up farming far more than in previous Harvest Moon games. You also end up using the game's Minecraft features a great deal.

By pressing the Y button, you open up a menu which has options from dig, fill, till, shovel snow, fill/dig water path, etc. The entire valley belongs to you, so you can shape the terrain any way you want. You can make lovely raised beds for crops, or create a set of stairs to reach the Harvest Goddess, level most of the mountain to the ground, widen the river, enlarge the falls, etc. Your choice. This is honestly one of the few ways available to you to pass your time. You also have ways of passing skills on through your animals and causing mutations in crops, which are some interesting innovations. The passing on of skills in particular gives you a real incentive to actually breeding your cows instead of just buying more.

Creating different feed requires the windmill, which you must unlock, and fodder recipes, as well as fodder corn so you can make the fodder. Different feed will cause your animals to have different skills, which they can pass on to their offspring. Crops can have different mutations (a Strawberry can produce a White Berry instead), but the cause can be hard to pin down.

This is not a game that really begins the first year, which is something I hate. Games should not make you play 20+ hours to get into the bulk of the content. It's one thing to gain more content over time, but to have so little you can do at the game's start makes the game seem sluggish and boring. The saving grace is that although things unlock slowly, it's a steady pace-- the dreams help you feel like things will happen soon, and the game clock is very quick.

As more merchants are attracted to the valley, you can buy new stock, and different merchants will buy different things from you at a higher rate. If you think about it, Sam, the initial merchant, will buy anything and everything from you, and probably sold them to the people you later attract, such as the florist and restaurant owner. So he bought them from you at a low price. When everyone else in Hillsville (the town you aren't allowed to go to in the game) finds out you exist, they cut out Sam as the middle man and buy your items from you directly at a higher rate. The restaurant owner buys ingredients, the florist buys flowers for bouquets, etc. This system is pretty great in comparison to the "dump everything in the shipping bin, where it will magically disappear into the ether" system of other Harvest Moon games. However, it would have been much better if there was a town and you had to go to different shops to peddle your products, rather than having them hang around your house two days a week to see if you happen to have anything to sell them.

The first season, I unlocked on the very last day of Spring, so I didn't get to see any green at all. The second season, I unlocked on Summer 20, so there are 10 glorious days of summer before I am forced into the bleak winter yet again. As new seasons unlock, more fish are available. New animals come out. Basically, the game starts. The Lost Valley is both incredibly easy, since you have so little you need to do, and difficult, in the sense that you have to work to achieve everything, even if that work is itself easy. A lot of the difficulty is needless, though, like having to wait forever to fulfill a request simply because you MUST talk to the character either in front of your house or at Moon Valley, rather than while they're walking around. And some things simply aren't explained well, like the circumstances of genetic mutation in your crops, which could be one of the neatest features of the game, if it made sense.

Overall, I'm giving this game a tentative thumbs up for the first two seasons/fifteen hours, but I would not pre-order if this game has a successor. Given a choice to go back in time, I'm not entirely certain I would buy it again either. The Lost Valley might provide an introduction to the Harvest Moon series for someone new to it, and with its simplicity and easy nature, it is accessible for younger players. Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley will not satisfy any Harvest Moon cravings you might have, but judged on its own merits, The Lost Valley is a competent and amusing game. For the hardcore gamer, however, it proves uninteresting and a little flat.

[First Impressions] Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Demo

As you can see, the model for Orlando (the avatar) is actually smaller than the others, since he's 10.

After receiving access to the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Demo, I promptly took a bevy of pictures and videos.

Updated May.

The demo was actually very bad. Not that the game will be bad, but there wasn't very much in it that make it worth playing. Content is dull, linear, and repetitive. You are a boy named Orlando who is helping Steven out with some Magma/Aqua problems in Mossdeep. There are a couple battles. You see the updated May and Magma/Aqua uniforms, and Aqua has some pretty hilarious dialogue about how the girl's costume is great because do you see her midriff?! That's about it.

The updates you are told about are the cut-scene around flying, where you get great aerial views; the PokéNav showing an updating news feed on your bottom screen; the new Primal Reversion aspect of Mega Evolution; and the Stealthy feature where you can do a stealthy walk to sneak up to Pokémon by slowly creeping forward with the left analog stick. The most interesting information was actually in the cutscene after you beat the demo, which shows interesting-looking Pokémon battles and Secret Bases, which is no doubt going to be great given the wireless features on the 3DS. It also looks like what your Pokémon is wearing will appear in Pokémon battles as well? There was a lot of really great stuff that the demo just didn't give you access to.

It did, however, do the job of convincing me to preorder Omega Ruby, so as of today, I will officially have it on preorder! I am excited, and Aqua/Magma is one of my favorite teams. Look forward to my play-through at the end of November!

Something I do hope they implement: the ability to skip through battle animations and maybe the flying animation. Battles were very boring considering they didn't require much strategy in the demo, and I couldn't skip through it.

[First Impressions] Fallout: New Vegas, Missed Connections

Walking the Mojave Wasteland seems like an entirely different experience than walking the Capitol Wasteland. The Capitol was seemed denser, with more buildings and humans around. Heck, post-apocalyptic or not, the Capitol is just more metropolitan than podunk Nevada. It's even reflected in my characters, Jayne (Capitol) and Styx (Mojave).

Jayne

Styx

Jayne was imagined as a cold scientist, willing to do anything to further her ends. Styx was imagined as (reference intended) a renegade. She runs around as a Courier, poking her nose where it doesn't belong, doing things not for science, but to keep her and hers alive.  (Oddly, this makes rough-and-tumble Styx more human than Jayne, who is something of a sociopath.) Styx is a thief, finding supplies wherever she can without alerting a soul. Jayne holds fast to the morals her father taught her-- in some respects. She won't steal from a home, but if she has to kill to get what she wants, well, at least that item isn't owned by anyone, even if they're still warm. Styx is a fiery redhead. Jayne is a bespectacled blonde.

In some ways, this reveals a flaw in New Vegas. It doesn't really pay to explore in New Vegas. There are occasionally funny sayings on the walls, but besides that, it doesn't get you anything. Finding a random body in a fridge might be odd, but it doesn't open up a quest line-- New Vegas is a game of missed opportunities this way. Similarly, finding a ritual sacrifice in Skyrim would at least lead you to the nearby necromancers or Hagravens who had done it. No such thing in New Vegas. This might make sense if your character, like mine, is only out for herself. But there is no sense in New Vegas that curiosity will bring you a reward. Curiosity will often bite you in the ass. If attacked, you might quickly run out of bullets and die. You might find yourself killing people in a faction you want to align yourself with later.

Hopefully this all only holds true until I manage to struggle my way to New Vegas or another more populated area. Primm is virtually a ghost town due to the Powder Gangers taking it over, and Goodsprings is pretty useless as a city. The only tolerable character is Sunny Smiles, and there is only one quest the town forks over to you, which it isn't even wise to complete early on because it will make either Goodsprings or the Powder Gangers angry with you. None of the shopkeepers in the game seem to have quick and easy fetch and carry quests for you, where you kill monsters for some ingredient, which may occasionally be tedious, but at least makes the world seem interactive. It isn't too far out of the question to think that someone might pay a traveler in the Wasteland to gather things for them instead of risking their own life!

I have always wondered why I found it so hard to connect with Fallout games-- in New Vegas, the reason is obvious. There are so few quests around your starting area that figuring out what to do and where to go is next to useless!

Fallout: New Vegas, 13 hrs. Fallout 3, 8 hrs.

3DS Announcement

I've recently, with the new Pokémon X/Y 3DS, added the 3DS to the systems I have available to play. So far, I have Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan, and Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. When I next go to GameStop, I will be adding Fire Emblem: A New Awakening and Pokémon X!

Just for a quick overview, since I have to work in fifteen minutes and still have yet to drink coffee: the 3D in Animal Crossing is very well implemented. The graphics look great, and its obvious that they knew what they were doing. Being a mayor instead of just another townsperson is nice; it gives the game a direction, whereas before, I was never particularly into the games.

I've only played Etrian Odyssey IV for about an hour or so at this point, but I was impressed by how much thought and care went into crafting the game (it is my first Etrian Odyssey game). It has layers and layers of rules and difficulty, which is accessible, but will obviously be difficult to master. It obviously prioritizes gameplay over story, which is actually a welcome change at this point and is the reason that I always buy the new generation of handhelds, but do my other gaming on the computer. Mechanics are very important to me. I look forward to playing Etrian Odyssey IV more.

Harvest Moon: A New Beginning is more complicated to talk about, since I've played it more than the others and now only have ten minutes before work. (Countdown: 3 2 1 0) At the beginning, the game is greatly stripped down from the usual. Echo Village is a ghost town. The player character's father was supposed to move in and start a farm, but chose to marry your mother and move to another village instead; this meant that the revenue the town desperately needed never appeared. None of this is stated outright, but it's obvious considering the structure of the games (everything revolves around your farm) and is a good reason for you helping the town along, where there wasn't one before. You're not just a good person; you have to help where your father promised to but couldn't. At the beginning, there is only your farm, Dunhill-- I have no idea what he does, but I believe he serves the function of the mayor-- Emma, who does the shipping, and Hana, who runs the general store. There is also a forest-mountain-river area to explore, set up very similarly to the way it was in Tale of Two Towns.

The player's house is more or less completely upgraded already-- having no one in town means that the houses that are there are often fully equipped, like the smithy. There are five fields with eight squares each for producing crops, and a barn with space for two animals. There is no coop, and your first cow will be free.

After a while, the animal breeder comes back to town, since he was away getting animals, and later than that, a young woman will come set up the smithy. Until that day, which is near the end of the first season, you only have four other people to talk to. Your day will consist of: caring for the crops, hunting bugs/gathering wild food, talking to people, another round of bugs/wild stuff, then watering the crops and bed. I am usually asleep by eight, which is a change from earlier games, where there was so much to do that I often didn't get to bed until past midnight.

I'm still at the end of Spring, but the game is supposed to pick up soon and I pray that it does: the days seem very long and lonely so far. I adore it, but I need the town busier. Thankfully, it is my duty to make it so! The game has a lot of work ahead for me, and reads like a well-oiled machine-- but more on that later, since I have to be in the car in one minute!

Cheers to all!

[FFXIV] Server Update!

Today was the first day I was able the play since my last post. The servers were updated overnight, and the update is the most beautiful thing that has ever happened. Every time I log on, I get to go straight to my server-- I don't even have to deal with a queue! While trying to get a screenshot to properly express my joy, I had to look away for a second to see if I could find the hotkey I wanted to make the camera face my newly leveled character. In the meantime, it started storming. With realistic clouds, thunder, lightning, the whole shebang. Probably just as awesome as the weather was the chat's reaction to it: "Are you guys seeing this?" and endless iterations of how great it was, as well as the Lancer comment as in the chat of the screenshot. Goblin is full of some pretty great players, overall, and despite the occasional spammer or twelve-year-old boy style dirty joke (which, I admittedly, laughed at like I was also a twelve-year-old boy), everyone is just there to have fun.

As an update on FATEs, I think I've mastered the tab-targeting now that I know roughly what I should be doing in a FATE, and am getting a really good amount of XP since I can deal enough damage now to get a good 2000 XP or so each time around. Unfortunately, though, I am too high a level for most of the FATEs I stumble into, so it's time to move on to a new area of the Shroud.

Level 13 now, with only another two levels to go until the world opens up even more. I now have access to Guildleves, Inns, and the Recommended list.

Guildleves are essentially just new quests you can be assigned to now that the main quest has progressed past a certain level (10). There is a selection based on the character's class, level, and skills, and can gain access to restricted areas with a pass that's given for taking part in the quest. There are leves for battle, crafting, and gathering, so don't think only the battle classes can take part. Inns will give you a rested bonus, which will boost your XP earned, and the Recommended list pops up in the main menu, and lets the player know the available quests around them so they don't have to search it out. Two more levels will open up the airships and let me travel to new city-states. The chocobo porter is available at level 10, but only at level 22 will I be able to get my own chocobo mount. A chocobo porter is similar to how chocobos worked in... FFIII, I believe? Essentially, the player can rent a chocobo from a stable. The chocobo will only bring you to the one place, and if you dismount, it will run away. (In FFIII, the player would ride a chocobo from a ChocoboWood, anywhere, but only for a limited amount of time, and if you dismounted, it would run away.)

So far, the one thing I'm wishing is that there were more styles and kinds of armor for my class, but I believe that branches out as I go forward. I'm going to test out one of the other classes, probably Leatherworking and Conjuring, since both of those are in Gridania, and then get back to any readers I have about how that works!

Peace! <3 Ivi'lea'hi Rhiki, Goblin, Level 13.

FFXIV is great... when I actually get to play it.

No, but seriously, I shit you not. FFXIV is awesome. It's just that you have to manage to get into the game first.

The first time I wanted to play, it was in those early funtimes, the ones that somehow still keep happening, when it just says, "This World is currently full. Please wait until an opening is available and try again." Then the message is over and you have to click through three menus to get back to try again. Eventually, I got a queue, realized not all hope was lost, and could play.

I logged in about three more times over the next two days, waited a day, and then that horrible message happened again. "This World is currently full. Please wait until an opening is available and try again." Could not wait around for it to fix, and the next day I was busy, so THEN, today, I tried again. After realizing my early access key had expired and I needed to enter my real product code, I did so, and then HOLY SHIT my character wasn't loading and I had just reached level 10! After panicking, I realized that the NA/EU servers weren't loading. Proceeded to spam reload, because I had plans, damn it. Finally managed to log in. Played for maybe twenty minutes before getting ganged up on by Diremites and some sort of raging firefly; died by Diremites, and then the game crashed. Not entirely convinced that my death wasn't because the game was lagging due to the crashing. Tried to log back in. And then-- "This World is currently full. Please wait until an opening is available and try again." All I want is a few uninterrupted minutes of game time. I don't think it's exactly fair to buy a game which you like and genuinely want to play, and then not even be able to play it because the company won't get their shit together. *oldmangrumblegetoffmylawngrumblegrumble*

Once I am able to get into the game, in those rare times that it's possible, it is precisely the kind of MMORPG I have been looking for all my life. We might be soulmates. We're considering promise rings, and maybe in a few years, a July wedding.

Being Final Fantasy, it is by nature my kind of RPG, and in truth, Final Fantasy is well set-up for an MMO. The player is an adventurer. Being an adventurer and even part of an adventurer's guild, there is a legitimate reason for all of those little fetch-and-carry/kill x amount of monsters standard MMO quests that I always hated, so they don't bother me. The reason, of course, is that adventurer is an actual job, and doing the job is why the player is doing all of these quests. FFXIV MMO-standard quests are particularly well-done to boot-- they provide bits of lore in them, and make the player genuinely more immersed in the game. The characters that give the quests to the player have bits of personality, and the quests are enjoyable even if they are fetch-and-carry/insert-arrow-here. There is a mission, a quest, and a calling. Like in many of the Final Fantasy games, the player may need to recruit help, but since it is an MMO, you might also be the recruited help yourself. In many of the Final Fantasy games, my favorite part was the idea that I could craft my own army of warriors-- this is, of course, referring to the older games and the handhelds, since I view the new, non-handheld generation as something of cinematic showpieces from about X on. Maybe even VII on, but I liked VII-IX, so. Not to say that I didn't enjoy X and X-2, but who wants to admit that, really? FFXIV takes this to a whole new level because every player is one of those adventuring, hireable work-force warriors. Your character can be meticulously trained to be part of a guild or free assembly, and that is awesome because in the single-player games, that wasn't necessarily the case. Consider the system in Tactics Advance, and then compare it to what I'm trying, and probably failing, to explain here. In Tactics Advance, the player controlled Marche, who headed a guild. Marche recruited warriors or they approached him to recruit them. They would be a certain class and race, and have their own skills that they brought into the mix. The reason this is special in FFXIV is that so many doors are opened up. Every one of those warriors is another player. That blows my mind because even if it makes sense for an MMO, it doesn't for a Final Fantasy game.

Like in 4 Heroes of Light (DS game, excellent, everyone should play it), the player can change class freely, though it's better to specialize in one or two if you don't want to spend hundreds of hours leveling everything up. Well, who am I kidding? Of COURSE you want to spend hundreds of hours doing that. That's fun. Or maybe that's just me.

(Oh hey, it's letting me log on again. Back soon. No wait, the cake was a lie, never mind.)

There is a VERY detailed crafting system. I believe this is also a feature of 4 Heroes of Light, or at least 4 Heroes had something similar, but things like Botany, Weaving, Carpentry, etc. are actually legitimate classes that you can level up. The interface is generally good. The map is excellent, with nice convenient markers for every quest. Being able to highlight one quest at a time would be nice, and there is some annoyance with how you have to shift maps around for different areas, but it's all very manageable. Tab-selection is a bit awkward in FATEs which are events that occur spontaneously like a certain type of monster mobbing a town, etc. The tab-selection, paired with multiple people attacking, can create awkward situations where you barely have time to select something before it's dead and you're left experience point-less. Which is sad, since that's what FATEs are for-- experience building.

Being an Elder Scrolls girl, I was shocked to enter an area with a level 45 monster. Little, brand new, level 9 me walked in innocently, thinking, Oh hey, new area. Is that a guard? Why is it so high level?

It hefted a sword as big as my five foot one character.

OH SHIT, thought I, before death occurred. Thankfully, I was level 9 at that point and not over level 10, since after level 10 is when the real KO damage occurs: your equipment takes damage and you have to get things repaired, which is what I will be doing if I can ever log in.

(Are we there yet? Nope. "This World is currently full. Please wait until an opening is available and try again.")

We all know by now that I am not the girl to go to if you want someone who likes MMOs. I enjoy The Secret World, but to be honest, there aren't enough swords and arrows for my taste. (Medieval Cthulhu setting would be made of so much win!) I am willing to handle it because of the frankly killer story, dialogue, voice acting, and generalized awesome that is The Secret World, but Final Fantasy XIV rocks my socks, guys. Rocks 'em right off. In fact, the last time I saw the opening movie, I teared up it was so terrific.

(Seriously. Can I please play now? No? Well, at least I know I can complain with everyone else about it. Is that what people like so much about MMOs? You can all share your pain when the servers won't load and you go through withdrawal?)

But seriously, Ivi'lea'hi Rhiki, level 11 Miqo'te Archer, Goblin server. Look me up, if I can ever log on.

First EVER What Are You Playing Monday

In yet another effort to Get My Act Together, I am stealing (directly from The Border House blog, so go check it out!) What Are You Playing Wednesdays? But I am doing What Are You Playing Mondays, obviously.

This Monday, I have recently taken advantage of the Steam Summer Sale and have a load of new games to have fun with, but mostly I have been playing Don't Starve.

Don't Starve is a wilderness survival game, which is a description that takes all of the fun out of what it actually is. Don't Starve is a Harvest Moon that wants to kill you, I sullenly told a friend. An apter description I can't think of. Compulsively playable, you can marathon the shit out of this game. With numerous characters who all have their own strengths and weaknesses, props for taking risks (you only gain experience after you die), and a sanity meter, what more could you ask for? Keep sane, keep fed, and try not to die: these are the rules you live by. Or, at least, try not to die without weighing the risk benefits. More or less a love child of Harvest Moon, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die, Dungeons of Dredmor, and Terraria/Minecraft, actually. A strange combination, but maybe not so strange. The only problem I've come across so far is that for some reason, I have been unable to find a reliable source of manure in my last couple saves, which is a problem, since without it, I can't farm without it.

After a certain amount of time, in every instance where something new appears, you look at it for a moment, then ask, "Can I eat it?" If it's inedible, "Can I craft it?" If it appears useless, "Is it an offering to something?" These questions govern your behavior, because answering them is a necessary part of Don't Starve. The purpose of the game is to explore, build an awesome base, and live as long as possible, to some extent for bragging rights. Which I have none of, since so far I have played the game for 6 hours and only lived 19 days. Sad. But again, it's been difficult to find manure! I have an excuse!

That is what I have been playing, but I'm hoping to get back to my first game of the Steam Sale-- Borderlands 2-- tonight, since it's easier to play Don't Starve before work tomorrow than it is to play Borderlands 2 in that time period.

I have been playing Zer0 as female and calling her Gh0st. It has been fun-- stealth is forever my preference, and any game that lets me shoot things just gets me. I do dislike 1st-person perspective if I can't switch between it and 3rd, though, since it makes me a little disoriented.

What are you playing this Monday?

Things I Have Learned from Dark Souls: Prepare to Die

 
1) Never decide to play for "just a couple minutes" while trying to boil water on the stove. Disaster will occur. Similarly, one should never play Skyrim when a pie is in the oven.

2) Sobbing "Why do I keep dying? It's not fair!" into the screen does not actually help anything.

3) Cursing does not help.

4) Spend everything immediately, because if you can't get to your bloodstain again, you will lose everything and gain nothing for it.

5) Death is your gift. No, you're not Buffy the Vampire Slayer (even she didn't die this many times), but use your death strategically to figure out how to get through levels, and try to die in strategic places if you can. Ideally, in a spot that you can reach again (see above for why).

6) Frustration will happen. Avoid screaming, because what will the neighbors think.

7) When you've FINALLY gotten past the EFFING TAURUS DEMON and are THEN KILLED by an EFFING WYVERN AND LOSE ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE. Don't panic. Don't stop playing. Just push through, riding on your learned responses and reflexes, because if you set the game aside, you will not be able to get back to your blood stain due to being out of practice.

8) When you've finally gotten past the EFFING WYVERN-- yes, that is its true name, I swear-- you will be killed by rats. SUCKS TO BE YOU.

9) Make use of that shortcut in the Undead Burgs. The shortcut is beautiful.

10) If anyone ridicules you for only getting midway through the Undead Burgs before taking a several month long rest, quietly murder them. They deserve it. Because even as far as you got is amazing. You are a survivor. Please try not to be tempted to play again, because it is unhealthy. It is masochistic. It's a ton of fun.

[Skyrim] Skyrim: Dragonborn

Announcement came out for Skyrim: Dragonborn today.

Some things obviously worthy of note:

1) Dragon mounts.
2) Boat transportation: setting is an island. Solstheim, which makes little sense to people who haven't played Morrowind much in recent memory. It should have both green and snowy areas. Dunmer and Nords should both be prevalent. There are also links to Hircine, so I would guess there might be some werewolf related quests?
3) At 0.25, the architecture has gigantic mushrooms and mushroom-inspired buildings.
4) At 0.28, another bit of amazing architecture. Some people have suggested Morrowind Telvanni influences; others say hints of Red Mountain in the distance.
5) At 1.06, the enemy is mounted on a boar and looks like some sort of goblin. Whatever they are, they appear to be in some kind of stronghold. Edit - These are Riekling Raiders.
6) Obviously again, new enemies and new armor/weapons.
7) At 1.10, there is a cliff-side fortress behind the dragon, so unless that's old, there are going to be mountain fortresses in our new setting. At 0.24. you can see a good deal of the island and some hint of the mushroom architecture in 0.25 on the left of the screen. Solstheim looks pretty big, especially if it supports the mushroom type architecture, which is surrounded by greenery, and the snowy landscape from the other shots.
8) Cool jumping at 0.47. Unsure what that's about, but the architecture of the room the player jumps into is almost Falmer.

Edit - The tentacled monsters are Ash creatures from Morrowind, but I prefer to consider them Lovecraftian.They are even Goths-- Dagoths. Like Shoggoths, but with a Morrowind twist.

[First Impressions] Bioshock

I am not an FPS girl. I do not wear combat boots. Okay, I do. I own several pairs. But I am definitely not violent. Excluding my frequent talk of headshots and murdering swarms of the undead. But my point is, I prefer for my boots to be paired with a broadsword and my headshots to be shot with a bow and arrow. Lacking that, I want my gun to shoot magic bullets or look like clockwork.

Sometimes certain games break through. Portal was one of them, probably because it was more puzzle than shooter. Bioshock is apparently another.

Never was anything so terrifying as the first ten minutes of Bioshock. And I've played Amnesia-- it bored the crap out of me, so I stopped after ten minutes. Bioshock is brilliant-- the soundtrack, the vocals, the setting. Within the first ten minutes of Bioshock, I felt like I was drowning, nearly had a panic attack since I couldn't move in the bathysphere while I was being attacked, and almost cried with relief the moment I was finally able to pick up a weapon. And even then, it took me another ten minutes to stop having a heart attack from fear every time I was attacked. These people are crazy, and powerful, have no morals, and are quick. The zombies in Left 4 Dead never terrified me so much, because they didn't keep up the steady cackle of insane reasonings, ramblings, and regrets.

And then there are the Little Sisters. The insane little girls with their big protectors, who every time I see them, I cower and attempt to leave the level. At the same time, I'm aware that this is a visceral reaction. It's a game. I don't really need to stop breathing so that the Big Daddy won't hear me. I don't need to have a panic attack because I don't have a weapon yet. But still, I do have to stop breathing and have that panic attack. Because this is a great game, right here, and it would be a shame not to realize that.

The Quest to Find the Perfect MMO

A few months ago, I downloaded Everquest II. Everquest was such a big thing, and it was F2P, so I figured, why not.

The interface defeated me within the first couple of minutes. 'Wow, this is really difficult to navigate all these freaking menus,' thought I as I clicked X numerous times as a consequence of opening my inventory. 'Also, why is it so hard to equip things and compare things? WTF is up with this,' my thoughts continued. After completing a couple of quests, I left the game, right-clicked on Steam, and told it to delete.

I am often defeated by MMOs. They offer many advantages. Their games are usually really interesting looking and I always want to play them, but then when I get them, I realize that it's kind of boring, a little bit of a pain, and I'm not that interested.

I downloaded Forsaken World and then I waited a while. I ended up deleting it without playing. I played a whole lot of Skyrim in the middle (let's say about 30 hours worth and leave it at that). It was also at this point that I first heard of Secret World and nearly had a heart attack trying to figure out whether a preorder needed to happen or whether I needed to wait, given how I dislike MMOs.

Then I got into The Secret World beta. The first thing you do in this game is choose a faction-- Illuminati, Templar, or Dragon. Each faction has its own recruiting video, so to speak. I chose Illuminati after a seriously badass video and proceeded to try to make a character that as looked as much like FemShep as possible. Because I could.

There's a lot about this game that appears to be like a standard MMO. But there's also a lot of this game that ISN'T like a standard MMO. The dialogue is witty, as if Joss Whedon decided to turn his hand to video games. There are lots of Cthulhu references and tentacled zombies. (No, I shit you not.) The landscape-- at least in the beta-- was a little bare. I don't know if that has changed since the game came out, but there it stands. I started off in Brooklyn and where I could go and what I could do was bleak and a little linear. However, since I played the beta, and how much of that stayed and how much went is something I'm not quite sure of. However, within the locations I could go to had people who were awesome. The voice acting in this game is killer. The people just-- shine. Sample dialogue: "We have stocks in hell, and compromising photos of angels." -- the line that made me choose Illuminati. "Roleplaying is the only avenue of control." -- multiple self-referential jokes are made of awesome.

The way to move from one area to the next is Yggdrasil. Yes, the World Tree, with branches that reach to heaven and roots in hell. This is the perfect reference for this game. It also has so many branches that it means, as an MMO, the game can evolve and spawn new branches whenever it wants.

A few cons, which I strongly suspect were worked out after release: character models were limited (only to be expected in beta status). Having several copies of yourself wandering around is freaky. I was also in the stress test for the server, and kept getting kicked off because of that. The first quest after you leave the Illuminati headquarters was also one of the standard "kill a bunch of x" quests, which I hate. However, it was kill a bunch of zombies and attract them by making car alarms go off. So. That was fun. However, the quest progressed weirdly. You were supposed to be figuring out how to attract the zombies, but apparently after you kill a certain number of zombies, the information is mysteriously beamed into your brain, since the quest objective changes to jumping on cars. That was irritating.

All told, though, The Secret World didn't grab my interest enough for me to actually buy it, especially given that it has monthly fees.

20 or 30 more hours of Skyrim passed.

Then we have the Korean F2P MMORPGs, e.g. Maple Story and Trickster Online. These are actually the only MMOs I have ever been able to get into and play continuously. The cute graphics, easy storylines, and Engrish have never disappointed me, largely because I don't expect more. With games like The Secret World, I do expect more. I expect the same level of detail and tight storylines as a single player game, and an MMO is too big-- it just can't deliver that, not that I've found. With the coming of Elder Scrolls Online, I only hope that I won't be disappointed-- I don't know that my heart can stand it.

Furthermore, a note on my quest for the "perfect" MMO. I think my largest problem with MMOs is that I always want an MMORPG to still identifiably be an RPG and it never is. I don't really LIKE the MMO genre, so the stronger the MMO elements are in a game, the more likely I am to dislike it. It has nothing to do whether MMOs are necessarily "good"; it's more that I personally need an MMO where the RPG elements overpower the multiplayer elements, and that is precisely what I'm looking for. So my quest to find the perfect MMO is not a quest to find one that is perfect for anyone other than me. Perfect is a term relative to the subject and can't subsequently be defined or transcribed to the object. My perfect MMO is essentially a single-player game expanded outward; my hopes for Elder Scrolls Online, which I sincerely doubt will be fulfilled, are that it will be as if a single-player character took a step sideways and suddenly became embroiled in a mess where all her fellows had as strong of a personality and ambition as her. I don't know if an MMO like this exists, but I hope that someday it will.

Elder Scrolls Online and Dragon Age III

2013 is looking like it's going to be a veritable bounty of good games. With both Dragon Age III and Elder Scrolls Online coming up, I can tell that I'm going to be busy.

New screenshots were released recently for Elder Scrolls. I'm particularly looking forward to the river of lava.

Meanwhile, over in Dragon Age III land, Bioware released some more information and some heavily Skyrim-inspired concept art.

Well, hey, if it's even vaguely like Skyrim, I know I'll be pleased. There were rumors that Dragon Age III is going to be more open world, and I know that the developers are a little Skyrim obsessed. Which is okay in my book. Mark Darrah, Dragon Age III's Executive Producer, said that there will be a "more expansive world, better visuals, more reactivity to player choices, and more customization. At PAX East, we talked about armor and followers… Yeah, that kind of customization."

[Skyrim] Skyrim: Dawnguard

Do I need to post more than the link? Also, WTF. X-Box 360 gets this first? You people like to spit in the face of the group that's been with you since Arena, don't you?

Skyrim: Dawnguard

What will be in Dawnguard? Hints in the latest patches have things for snow elves and vampire animation upgrades. This article also offers a decent theory, and one that I am MORE than willing to roll with, since it involves going to Oblivion. If Bethesda could put some unique qualities into the Oblivion landscapes for the Skyrim crowd, I would be overjoyed. On the other hand, given that every fairly benevolent daedric prince is seen at a feasting table with very little other background, I have little hope that Bethesda will spend much time on that front. They don't seem to like offering variance in decor regarding daedra. Sigh.

[First Impressions] KoA, or When Did Fable and Skyrim Get Married and Why Wasn't I Invited to the Wedding?

If you have played any Fable game and you have played Skyrim, you have basically already played Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning.

No, I'm not exaggerating matters.

There are skill trainers as in Skyrim (as well as factions-- and the Warsworn bear an uncanny resemblance in almost all ways to the Companions-- bards in the taverns, etc). The eye meter to see if you've been spotted while sneaking is similar to in Fable, thievery in general is very Fable-esque, which guards running after you regardless of whether you actually were spotted, and you can kill chickens. No, I didn't mean to. It was an accident-- I was trying to smash barrels, also a la Fable. Not that barrel-smashing is a Fable-only invention. It's just that the execution seems very like Fable, a nod-wink to "hey, go over and smash those barrels for loot!" that almost breaks the fourth wall. There is also a stat that counts chicken deaths, as in Fable: The Lost Chapters.

The writing is... poor. Extra poor. So poor it hurts my soul. I expected little better from something R.A. Salvatore took part in, but still.* A bandit who screws over the local gnome alchemist of Gorhart just spills his soul to you with only a question from you. "Yup, screwed this lady over. Ain't it grand? And here's my entire evil plan! Mwahaha!" Uh-huh. That was super realistic. The dialogue options also sometimes contradict themselves in terms of what, precisely, the character in question knows. One of the gnomes of Allestar Glade knew, somehow, that my character was from the Well of Souls, and then in the next option didn't know. The fact that the setting is the Faelands is also hilarious when from the author who became famous for his D&D elves; he didn't travel far from his comfort zone. Not that I'm complaining. The setting is kind of awesome, though at least partially, perhaps mostly, due to the graphics.

So if the game is extremely derivative-- it is-- and the writing isn't great, what keeps me from shutting the game, crying at money lost, and moving on?

KoA is basically Skyrim Lite, so that means that it's a fun game to play, with quests galore and various storylines to see to their ends. The most annoying thing about it is that Faith isn't leveled up the way I want her yet, since she and my Dunmer, Keah, from Skyrim could be twins given my playing style. (Roleplay-wise, Keah is colder and more willing to kill someone she doesn't like; Faith is a bit of a soft touch who steals for the adrenaline of it. She's also more more of a melee fighter where Keah doesn't like to get her hands dirty if she doesn't have to.) There are quirky side quests-- I'm just waiting for the one where I chase chickens-- and the setting is disgustingly pretty faerie land. But in a match up, the reason to play KoA would be the combat.

Combat in Fable III was pretty, though too easy. My character knew how to wield her weapons and did it well, and the magic animations were nice. That prettiness is added to a level of complexity that wasn't there in Fable III. In addition to blocking, the player can dodge, causing their character to roll out of harms way. This additionally gives time to power up for a charge attack. Different charge attacks have different effects and are linked to different kinds of weapons, which makes weapon-selection difficult at times. So far, daggers pwn all for me, since their charge attack enables Faith to move very quickly and no one can land a hit on her. This is even though they are the weakest weapon per hit. She lands so many hits that it's insta-win. Leveling up has given her a poison magic ability too, which can be sustained for a drain in total mp for the duration of a fight. The poison magic provides her with extra damage per hit, and if she has the Smouldering Daggers equipped, which have burn damage too-- well. Win.

Magic is something of a disappointment. Magic, as such, hardly exists in the game, and there are only a handful of spells. Instead, you have staffs and sceptres as two magic weapons that drain your mana when you use them. Though the fighting is nice to watch with these, as it is with everything, it's a little disappointment that bamf magic is more or less missing from KoA and the one spell the play has for early magic users is ye standard lightning. Maybe higher levels yield better spells, but there's still a very limited selection.

The other draw that KoA has is the same that kept me plugging away at Fable III. The collector in me just keeps going, "OMG epic loot! Epic loot! MUST EQUIP NOW." Meanwhile, my pack is getting far too full, and I already purchased extra room as it is. Next up, a house to store my loot in. Fable III suffered from an overabundance of special swords, guns, etc. KoA has just the right amount, so when the player actually gets a special weapon, it feels like something has been achieved rather than the game was scripted to give awesomeness away for free.

Hmm... note to future Kingdoms of Amalur games... please to give me guns? Magic guns.

*Please note at this point that I have not actually read R.A. Salvatore's work. I skimmed through, noted that there was a different tag following every bit of dialogue, and closed, never to actually read for real. (I.E. he said, she laughed, he retorted, she spat, he snarked, she bit out, he sighed, she screamed, etc.) When I picture R.A. Salvatore, who I know so little about, I picture pretty much any elven extra from Lord of the Rings. Brown hair, beard, and quiver at his back.

[First Impressions] Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Demo

After the trials and tribulations of starting a new job, moving, and etc., I'm finally back with my first impressions on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

Story

I'm taller! Mwahahaha!

I didn't have high expectations from something made by R.A. Salvatore, but the game's story seems workable. There's a war (the Crystal War) going on between the mortal races and the Tuatha, a cult from the Winter Court of the Fae, who are immortal. The player character is a man or woman who is raised from the Well of Souls by the gnomes. He or she has power over her own fate and is unwritten in the tapestry of the world. Essentially, the player is the world's wild card. It is the player's job to save the mortal races from the bloodthirsty Tuatha.

Graphics

This game seems to borrow heavily from Fable. A swear that a lot of the character animations-- the way that my character, Faith, moved, for example-- seem to be the same as the way my character from Fable III moved. The graphics are smooth, exaggerated, and nice; the color palette is lighter than in other RPGs and everything is brighter.

Combat System

It's so pretty... not snowy at all....

Fable again comes to mind. Fortunately, Fable: The Lost Chapters, for the most part, rather than Fable III. I'm fairly certain that the combat multiplier is extant in KoA, which was missing from Fable III. The game utilizes the middle mouse button to move from one weapon to the other, allowing the player to have primary and secondary weapons equipped. (I, of course, chose dual daggers and a longbow.) The magic takes up a separate space, and having played Fable III, where it didn't, I give a hearty THANK YOU to the world. You can see the slots running across the bottom of the screen in the screenshots. They're attached to the right mouse button, and by choosing the number, the player choose the spell. Mana replenishes automatically, but the player's supply is very limited and makes it so that strategy must be properly utilized. The player can both block and dodge, which have different associated stats and abilities. Also enabled are assassin stealth stabs and stealth long-range attacks. Bows have a limited number of arrows, which will eventually refill on their own. Weapons in the game are staffs, chakram, hammers, swords, and daggers, as well as magic. Combat animations are very nice, and special attacks that come about by charging the weapon (holding down the attack button) are nice to look at as well as interesting. And also, very similar to Fable: The Lost Chapters.

Roleplaying Capability

The character creation isn't unlimited, but offers a nice selection. The piercings the game provides are a little blocky and weird-looking, and don't quite sit right on the character, which I hope they either fix by launch time, or someone patches in for later. Given the bevy of weapons and armor that the player can choose from, as well as the different play styles that KoA will adapt to, roleplaying seems like it might be at a good point in KoA. I'm not sure yet whether the game has any morality inbuilt into it, I.E. whether I can play an evil character. There is pickpocketing, etc, but it's unclear as to whether there's a negative effect. I suspect that morality is in the game, but is judged by an unseen meter. If there were more dialogue options allowing a greater range of character expression, I would be happier, but it seems at least fairly solid as it stands.

The boss battle of the intro dungeon.

Conclusion

If Fable: The Lost Chapters were to have an honest successor-- and if that successor actually had the morality angle (need more definite information, KoA!)-- then I wish that KoA was it rather than Fable III. As it is, I'm happy enough that both games exist. KoA also seems to have drawn some from open-world titles, which makes it more expansive than Fable could ever hope to be, but is narrower and, at times, more charming (certainly less serious) than Skyrim. I will be glad to purchase KoA when it comes out on February 7th, 2012!

[Review] The Sims 3: World Adventures and Ambitions

As always, Xmas yields a bevy of new games: Darkspore, as well as The Sims 3: World Adventures and Ambitions. The two expansion packs also coincided with me finally getting the right updates/patches, so who even knows what was included in the games and what was included in the patches. @_@

The breast/muscle definition slider was interesting for the various feminist reasons always given for why breasts/muscles aren't a direct correlation to one another in terms of attractiveness. This was definitely part of the patch/update, as it was released with Late Night. The feminist argument why this isn't a direct correlation is that muscles are indicative of strength; big boobs are indicative of nothing and are cosmetic. However, I approve of the ability to have different body shapes. The fact remains that some people have larger breasts than others, which is why this argument can be discounted, in this particular case. Where game covers have scantily clad, big-breasted women-- that is objectification. Where a game includes the ability to make different body shapes, that's a different case entirely.

The patch also added in the scrapbook function, meaning essentially, memories are back. The notifications for it must be turned off immediately, as the constant popups interfere with gameplay. They still have yet to bring back the ability to write a story with screenshots and captions, which completely obliterates my enjoyment of The Sims 3 vs The Sims 2. *sigh*

World Adventures

World Adventures allows a Sim to go to another country, perform adventures (quests) and gain points on their visa. It quickly becomes tiresome. Sims occasionally have adventure-related wants (especially if they have the Adventurous trait), but the idea of filling a Lifetime Want that's adventure-related is boring and would entail little more than grinding. However, the new items and clothing released with this was nice, as well as the 1000 Sim Points that come with the expansion. The eyeliner that is available is also very nice, but there's a bug-- which no one has yet fixed-- where the eyeliner disappears for no reason, as if it doesn't exist. Thus, although I saw it once, now, no longer. Problem! It shares similarities with The Sims Medieval and The Sims: Vacation/The Sims 2: Bon Voyage expansion packs. It managed to make the vacations somewhat more interesting-- they were always some of the most boring expansion packs-- but vacations aren't interesting enough for Sims to have Lifetime Wants for them. Used as what it is-- a vacation-- having the adventures blended with the vacation is interesting. It's also nice how going to different countries is integrated with career opportunities.

Overall Rating: 2.5/5. It's an okay addition, but nothing special.

Ambitions

Ambitions is quite a bit nicer, with new buildings, laundry, and lots of functionality. I especially wanted this for the Professions-- different than careers-- where you can be a ghost hunter, private investigator, stylist, etc. That you can be self-employed now is very nice. Tattoos were released with this expansion pack, but I'm fairly certain that patches gave them to me beforehand. Either way, there are tattoo stations now and lots of downloads available for nicer body art than the game provides. The new hairstyles are very nice.

Overall Rating: 4/5. This expansion pack enriches roleplay experience in many ways.