Video Game Musings #2

If you're not familiar with this section, these posts are meant to get my ideas and questions out concerning some aspect about video games. I encourage all opinions to be voiced through the comment section.


2. Why do people find grinding fun?

              I hate grinding. Seriously, I find grinding to be one of the worst things that ever happened to video games. Why? Well, because grinding gives a developer free gameplay hours by making the player do meaningless shit. It's essentially a roadblock stating, " we know you paid 60 bucks for this and we do have all those things you want in a game, but we don't have a lot of it, so instead we'll hope you waste your time with this stuff." The thing that shocks me is that certain games are so grind heavy and do well. World of Warcraft is a game of almost all grind. You grind to level up. You grind to get gold. You grind to get items. Grind, grind grind. It's like people enjoy doing repetitive tasks that have no differing qualities beside a slight change in scenery. But I understand why MMOs are so grind heavy. You can't have people going through material in a matter of days. Power creep and all that jazz. What really irks me are games that are all grind and people herald them as great. For example...

If you think Borderlands is a good game, then you probably shouldn't read my blog. Borderlands is a game where either you're a sucker for reward systems or you're a junkie for doing shit and Borderlands has a lot of shit to do. If you want a near novel look into Borderlands check this guy out.
http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2012/03/borderlands-gun-collectors-club.html .
He spends a few pages explaining why Borderlands is such a good game, using mostly the reward system and the different ways it gets people hooked as evidence. I would like to remind everyone that there is a difference between enjoying something and being trained to enjoy it. Mindless grind games like Borderland are akin to the reality tv show reruns we've all been guilty of indulging in. The difference is that the people who defend the quality of these things are suspect. I know I'm running against a bunch of reviewers and people who speak for video games, but I don't care. I'm not just claiming Borderlands is a bad game, I'm explaining why. Granted not as long as Steve up there, but that's because I like to think my audience has something better to do than listen to me rattle off on every insignificant part of the game. When triple a video games are introduced to broader audiences, you'll find games like Borderlands being tossed to the wayside as generic crap. The only reason it's so revered now is because the gaming community consists of a specific demographic of players that have been trained to think grinding is fun. Well here it is. Grinding isn't fun. It might be necessary, but anyone who finds it fun is mistaking the joy of receiving a reward, for the joy of engaging in an experience.

E.V.O. Search for Eden

E.V.O Search for Eden

Overall: 3.2
Originality: 4.0
Gameplay: 2.0
Mechanics: 2.5

                The first game from the "Games you might not have tried list" I decided to take on is E.V.O. Search for Eden. An action rpg where the player starts out as a small fish in the early beginnings of Earth, and by means of Darwinian wits and a little help from a goddess, is allowed to evolve into any creature they fancy (and when I say that I mean choose between three different creatures that actually have a shot at ending the game). This game could be considered the predecessor of the huge EA flop Spore and I sadly have to say it follows in the mediocrity of its newer model. It's important to understand that at the time, crazy game ideas like this were actually pretty common place, so claiming that the game is good just for the new concept it introduced isn't a valid criticism shield. Also, the gameplay is safe the entire time, reigning back the player from experiencing what's good about the game, while forcing the player into the same SNES RPG formula whenever it gets the chance. It was hard for me to characterize this game because I found myself teetering between RPG and adventure dungeon crawler, but after playing for a few hours you can tell it definitely is an action-RPG joining the ranks of Secret of Mana on my shit list. Let's begin.

Story: All the history of the Earth
           Yep. The beginning of the world. And lucky for you a benevolent Goddess named Gaia (Oh hey Gaia! It's you again!)  gives you the form of a fish and tells you to go explore the ocean waters. And by explore she means devour every living thing around you so you can gain EP (evolution points). EP can used to evolve specific parts of your fish body (e.g. torsel fin, tail, jaw, jaw, jaw,). Seriously, the only thing you need to evolve is your jaw because once you have the best jaw, there really isn't any scaly creature that can stand in your way. Look for this as a theme of how leveling up works later in the game. Along the way of evolving and getting bigger there's always some creature that seems to have the leg up on everyone else. Gaia instructs you to take him out, often conveniently causing a huge tragedy on the Earth whenever you defeat one of them. This forces you into a new epoch and a new body. You know what a new body means! You're weak as a hell. So get back to eating everything in sight so you can become strong again. No seriously, this is the part of the game that's incredibly disheartening because often when you find yourself proud of that strong creature you've created, the game dismantles him right in front of your eyes. You might think that the excitement of a new, more advanced creature is enough to motivate you, but after spending a good 25 minutes doing the same rote grind kill of the same monster just to get a jaw that you will only use to kill the boss such excitement simply doesn't cut it. If you play to the end (which I did), you can get to the moment you were always waiting for (or at least I was); the moment you finally get to transform into a human! Or a better description is a caveman with an axe. The way you get to this point is through a weird combination of rabbit body and cat parts, that completely defies the improve jaw formula the game has trained you to follow! This pissed me off, because I found out I could have gained the human form much earlier than when I did.

Gameplay: Grind, chomp, Grind, chomp
      The gameplay is hard to describe because I don't think I actually figured it all out. Certain actions can be done with certain bodies. But it doesn't really matter. All you need is a chomp and jump and later kick. There's a horn, but it's useless. Most of the game you'll find yourself farming the dinosaurs that give you the most EP drop for time and effort. You do this early in a new form so that you can bypass all the other tertiary body parts and jump to the most expensive ones. This allows you to breeze through the game instead of having to actually fight the monsters the way the developers probably intended. There are side quests, but they are laughable. I end up killing anyone who asks me to do a sidequest, simply because that's my personal philosophy when it comes to evolving. This game starts off being fun and exciting, but ends in a big blob of boring.

Where it went wrong
          What's cool about E.V.O.? Well, we can argue for hours what people would personally like about it, but the main thing going for it is its new concept of using the evolution cycle in a video game. In fact, I think all the excitement it garners comes from the idea of being able to live through that cycle. Making their interpretation of that cycle was the job of the developer. Instead, the developer clearly decided to use the cycle as a tool to drive a broken rpg plot, that had little profoundness. It would have also been nice if I had another option instead of ripping peoples' faces off. I would have loved to be a little mouse or cockroach that was just incredibly evasive. Or a social lion that developed amazing social skills, allowing me to use my pride as one would command a fleet. Even if you wanted to stay with this lone wolf model for means of practicality, then make it so that the highlights of the game are all the different routes one can take. Instead the game forces you into a corner and gives the basic message of bigger is better, except for humans because we know you're vain. I wish the developers would have realized that it had the opportunity to give players a vessel through the evolutionary process.

So who should play this? If you're a game enthusiast this a must. Also if you like anal boss battles, this is right down your alley. The game has a metaphor of fitting the creation story with science, but that metaphor is just a giant container the game is put in, not a portrait being painted. I don't know what else to say. For the grand price of 0$ I paid on vizzed, check it out. You'll be hooked for a bit, but eventually you'll kinda wish you didn't waste your time.

Extra Credits to the rescue!

          So I always wanted to play the unknown Super Nintendo Games. The hidden gems of the great 16 bit era that all present video game producers refer back to when looking for "new", creative content. The issue is that the word unknown implies that information on these games are quite scarce. Yes, I did the generic google search of "best snes [insert category here] to try and find ones I never heard of or never got around to. This is where I found Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana and so on. But I knew about all these games before I decided to look them up. They were engraved in video game legend as the games of their day (well not really Earthbound, its popularity grew years later). Right when I thought all hope was lost (or right when I saw Extra Credit's update on facebook), suddenly my plea for missed gems was answered by the Extra Credits crew.

       For those of you who don't know what Extra Credits, think of it as a quasi pseudo lecture on video games. They talk about a range of topics from serious stuff like: how to be a developer, theory in development, the cultural implications of video games and so on. They also touch on the lighter side with witty banter and special segments where they indulge fans of the show with personally answered questions (essentially an email answer episode) and the reason I wrote this post, "Games you might not have tried" episodes, where they list off a bunch of under the radar games that may have alluded you. So, as you might have expected this means I will take a break from FF and move to bang out this list as quickly as I can ( since that was the purpose of making this blog). Here is the link to the episode in question http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/games-you-might-not-have-tried-16-bit and be sure to check out all of their videos. Seriously, I can't express how amazing their video series is. Anyone who isn't watching their video series is going to be behind the curve when it comes to the industry. Since they don't garner the same amount of publicity as an article on gama sutra, they're able to wrestle with ideas more freely. It has always been my belief that the people who accomplish true genius, are people who were given the freedom to toil in the labors of fruitlessness, while having no expectations when it came to the rewards those labors would produce. 

Video Game Addiction in MMOs

         So I thought what better time to write this then right after a 4 hour League of Legends (LoL) session. When someone stays up to the wee hours of the night, staring furiously at the screen in the hopes to win a silly game, you know that there is probably some potential for addiction. Now I don't want people to confuse the issue of addiction so I'm going to repeat a mantra all people in the industry shout out whenever dealing with the copious amounts of bad press video games get for addiction. Video games are not addicting. Nope. When someone is addicted to video games it's not because they are actually addicted to the game. Instead those who are addicted to video games tend to use video games as a void filler. Anything can be a void filler from video games to jumping jacks. Not everything works effectively at filling voids. Video games however, are excellent void fillers. The very notion of a fantasy world where the normal responsibilities and rules in life don't apply is liberating. But MMOs especially tend to be the void filler of choice for many. I am by no means an expert on this subject, so I've decided to express how I feel about the subject in the medium of writing I'm more familiar with.

           Your name bears your sins. And the first thing the MMO world does is wipe that name away and allows you to replace it with anything you want. Immediately you're allowed to abandon the person you were. Sometimes you want to keep some of that, so you create a name that highlights the best of you. Others are self loathing and subliminally force themselves to be marked by their shortcomings. I wasn't surprised when I named myself Ablindleader. Clearly my tendency fell into the latter. But shortcomings and all, the new MMO community you just joined accepted you. You have now entered a community with a huge population  of hundreds of gamers who have also taken the same name bearing rite of passage. We all finish the entry quests and then begin to get into the serious grind of the game.
         And grind you will. For hours and hours. Forced into a cycle of experience and rewards. I'll just play till I get this drop. I'll just play till I finish this run. I'll just play till I hit this level. I'll just play until I feel happy. And while I'm playing I'm happy, but the minute I take myself from the screen, I'm reminded of the reason I was playing to begin with. So I get on again and suddenly, happiness ensues. But there is an eerie feeling when it's 3 in the morning and you can barely keep your eyes open, yet your fingers continue to guide you to the NPC so you can turn in your quest. My Guild Leader told me that was the fatigue of the kindred gamer. In it we are able to be open with each other, because who else would be willing to spend time with us at 3 in the morning.
       Oh and I know some of these people too. I mean really know them, real life and all. Did you think I went into this social experiment alone? No, I brought reinforcements, too bad we didn't know that the MMO world can make things difficult. The first question you're asked tends to make you choose sides. I know this is an exclusive RPG element, but even in other MMOs you'll see this choice being reincarnated into skill level. You need to get better. You need to get better. Watch videos of other's playing. Read forums on other's playing. Then mimic till it's rinse, wash, and repeat. When you spit out your left over tooth paste make sure you do it in the enemy's eye. I want him to be blinded when I gank him. These orders come from different people.
    Guilds always exists in MMOs, regardless if there is an actual guild system implemented. Your guild leader should talk to you very little and when he does, it should be only to impart great wisdom or give you the money for that mount you needed. But if he's talking to you often, then you know what that means. You're not on enough. Why do you neglect your responsibilities? Suddenly the things you were running away from in video games found their way into your created reality. We need you to dps for this run, get on. Oh, they'll be nice about it at first. Ask you for your free times and then work from that. If at that moment, the novelty of a game you choose to play hasn't been killed, then it's clear that what you wanted all along was a family. And what better family than a guild? They will pay for you, fight for you, and even die for you. You might say it's only a game, but when you spend 6+ hours, exchanging dialogue with live human beings, then you tell me how many feelings can be built and hurt. Temples are the worst for that kind of thing too.
     A temple imitates the classic story plot chart, so expect bitching, regardless of how on track you guys are. Those stupid stat reader things will give them numbers to scrutinize you by. If you happen to have exceptional numbers you'll get a pat on the back. If you're the reason a wipe just occurred, then I hope you're ready for silence. Yes, guild members don't curse and lash out at you. Instead they slowly punish you with the deafening noise of in-game casting. This is to remind you of the expectations you just let down. It's also to encourage you to do better next time. No need for lashing out. But be assured that eventually you will get good or face a true exile. Not through a kicking out of the guild, but by the slow alienation of your player when it comes to guild affairs. Suddenly, nobody wants to do runs with you. The Guild Leader won't ever have extra money to pay your bonds. And they ensure that anyone who knows them disassociates themselves with you. It was at this point where I finally considered committing suicide. 
       So I made my way to the guild bank and took everything clean. It was 5 in the morning so no one was watching and for some reason they gave a nublet like myself the power to withdraw a good amount of stuff. I then took it all and sold it to vendors. By the time it was midday, the Guild Leader came on, greeted everyone on the guild channel and then began getting filtered by my parental control settings. That's when I finally took the rope to my character. Deactivating my account essentially killed who I was. Of course when you finally break free from the throat choking grip of addiction you begin to remember what it is to breathe again. I took a huge breath and sighed, looking at all the obstacles I had left for myself. They festered and are now rotten, but knowing that I had been reborn a stronger person from the process of running away I began laughing and took them on. Let's see if I can get into the serious grind of this game as well.

I don't want anyone to think that I find these games to be all negative. Clearly I loved WoW and LoL. I just think that sometimes we kid ourselves when it comes to this dark side of our industry. The video game industry is in the business of void filling. They know it. We know it. Yet we still absolve them. Just like Casinos put a lot of money into gambler's addiction, we should do the same for Video Games.

Update: So this entire day (including tonight) I refrained from playing any video games. That was just to reflect on how much of an impact, negative and positive, video games have had in my life. I suggest anyone struggling with an addiction or any gamer who knows they're avid about their gaming, do the same. Don't try to void fill it (i.e. go to the movies or something out of the ordinary to take your mind off of gaming), but instead go about your regular day and think about all the other things you've been trading off with. I intend to continue you playing, but I find this process to be eye opening and worth a day of reflection. Thanks!

League of Legends: The infinite Skinner's box conundrum

           I did my behavioral psych homework for this, so that I might try to dissect why League of Legends is so addicting (other than it being awesome) and how sometimes that's not a good thing. I flirted with this topic on the review, but chose not to dive into it so that I could avoid being a huge downer. But when you get to games like League of Legends or any MMO in general, there tends to be widespread addiction. Now I'm not going to pass judgement on whether being addicted to a MMO is good or bad. My only hope is that by dissecting League of Legends, using my rudimentary understanding of behavioral psych in video games and by throwing out some other possible factors, a more substantive conversation on video game addiction could be had. At the end I'll give my opinion on addiction and share a little bit of my experience with game addiction, but nothing to heavy handed or damning.

Note: If you want to read the experts on this subject I would suggest you look up the "Skinner's Box experiment" and also read this article from Gamasutra.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3085/behavioral_game_design.php

Reward Schedules 
            In the world of Behavioral psych, when it comes to video games, developers think in terms of reward schedules. Reward schedules, in their most primitive form, make a combination of reward and effort to create a schedule that will hopefully keep the player glued to the screen. For example, a fixed ratio schedule would be a schedule where a reward is gained after a player kills a fixed amount of enemies. Compare this with a variable ratio, where as you might have guessed, the amount of monsters killed to gain a reward is not fixed, but variable. So what does this mean for the player? Well it means that different schedules will bring about different behaviors. Fixed ratios cause people to have a short pause and then a burst of playing in the hopes to achieve the reward. While a variable ratio has a slightly less active amount of playing, but there is a more consistent level of play (players tend not to take a pause after leveling in a variable ratio schedule). There are also interval schedules that mirror the above schedules except instead of using monster kills, time is the element that is either fixed or variable. Where this ties into League of Legends is crucial, so I wanted to set up the basics.

Reward Schedules in League of Legends
              League of Legends is interesting to dissect through this lens, because League of Legends uses two reward schedules at once. They use an overarching variable ratio (winning the match) and several fixed ratios (leveling up and money intake). The combination of these two reward schedules make it so that players find themselves playing at an incredibly high level of intensity, in response to the fixed ratio schedules, but don't depart from that level of play due to the variable reward of winning the match. Nobody knows how many rewards and levels and money and armor it takes to win a match. A critical mistake by the opposing team or a simple disconnect could make it so that the bar to winning the match is raised or lowered accordingly. This means that those who are serious about winning need to play at a high level of intensity at all times. What this makes for is the high stakes exhausting one hour matches that League of Legends is known for. There is a reason people take a five minute break between matches (sometimes); playing with full concentration for one hour at a high level is mentally wearing.

Cheating the house, how probability could destroy a variable schedule
          Now when I talk about the variable reward schedule of winning the match, I'm speaking from the point of view of the average player. People who play this game professionally know the game so well that the variable schedule is probably inconsequential for them. That's because much like any game of probability (baseball, blackjack), if you know how the percentages work, you can take reasonable guesses at what is the best course of action and how much effort is going to be needed to win a match. For example, if you took the moneyball approach to League of Legends, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an average amount of k/ds you needed to raise your probability of winning a match over 80%. In fact, I've seen plenty of my more experience friends use k/d as a clear indicator of whether a match is over or not. The assumption they are usually riding on is that the other team leveled up at a far faster rate, making coming back impossible. This could probably be used for overall professional gaming, where people aggregate the statistics from their matches to choose the best professional players among thousands. But all of this only exists in the realm of professional gaming, so it really doesn't have much to do with what I'm speaking to (or perhaps who).

What happened to speaking about addiction
          I thought that by taking a psychological approach to the subject of MMOs, more specifically League of Legends, I'd find an answer to why the game is so addicting. The answer I was hoping for would have absolved me of all my wasted hours and abandoned responsibilities. Instead it becomes clear that while the reward schedule in League of Legends is adept at making the game incredibly fun and intensive, it is not the main reason for game addiction. I still have theories as to why MMOs are so addicting, but I'm going to write another post about them, so I can give them the effort and thought they deserve.

Note: If anyone who knows more about behavioral psych than me (I'm a Political Science major) has any insight to the system or knows why I'm completely wrong, then please comment and I'll more than happily make changes to the article with proper credit given.

League of Legends

League of Legends

Gamplay: 4.0
Characters: 3.8
Setting: 3.0
Overall: 4.0


                 Yes, I have been enraptured by the phenom that is known as League of Legends, which has recently usurped WoW as the most played PC game. This RTS affair allows a player to take control of a champion, commanding them around as one would dictate a soldier in advance wars. You are paired with 4 other live players to systematically destroy the turrets and infrastructure of the enemies' base, while simultaneously defending your base from 5 other champions who are trying to do the same to your base. What it can make for is a frantic 45 minute rush to level up your champion, using ploys and feints to take that slight lead that will allow you to come out on top in the end. Clearly this game was successful, but why it's so successful is a harder question to answer. The answer lies with the well executed system that can cater to both new and experienced players.

The New Player's experience


       League of Legends is a game that is easily accessible to new players. Ironically enough, I'd suggest that new players forgo the tutorial system and just jump right into a PvP game. When you begin your first match, you start within the heart of your base with the item shop directly next to you. The shop even tells you recommended builds (item selections) for your character that are helpful for beginners (completely useless when facing more experienced players). The mechanics of the game are incredibly simple as well. Right click to move your character and left click to do specific spells. A player is introduced with the choice of picking a spell in the very beginning, forcing any sensible player to read through all the spells a champion can cast. Eventually you'll gain access to all 4 spells, making the need to read through all of them invaluable. Also, the fact that these four spells remain constant as you level up, make it so that new players don't ever feel overwhelmed. As you continue to get more experienced you'll be turned to new tactics, but you can always be assured that everything will go into bolstering your ability to use those 4 spells.

Experienced Players' feast
       
Experienced players need two things to find a game worthwhile: considerable power increases and knowledge based skill. Luckily, League of Legends delivers on both of these fronts. As you go up levels in the game you are given "mastery points" that mimics the talent tree in World of Warcraft. Levels are earned simply through playing. Mastery points can be reset at any time, allowing you to cater your advantages to the particular champion you want to use (i.e. if you're using a magic dps type like Veigar, using your mastery to improve mana regeneration would significantly improve your performance in the game). When it comes to knowledge based skill, tactics and strategy can be the difference between a W and a crushing last minute defeat. Beginners tend to charge into enemy territory just to find themselves decimated at the unforgiving hands of the turret. More experienced players know: which characters should go on what lane, which champions do best against other champions, what stats need to be buffed through armor and when is the appropriate time to gank, push and so forth. If all of that stuff sounds foreign to you, don't worry. Playing through PVP will give you the opportunity to meet plenty of experienced players that will be more than willing to explain strategy to you. Experienced players do this because it helps give them the best chance to win the match.

Cool Shit
But everything I described above is pretty much the "how to guide" for these kind of games. Nobody wants a game that doesn't both cater to experienced and new players. League of Legends is awesome because of the sheer amount of cool shit they put into it. I'm going to list it for ya because I don't see anyway to logically weave it into a paragraph

• Purchasable content necessary for gameplay can be earned through gameplay 
• 100 different champions to choose from 
• These champions are cycled, giving you a chance to play them before you buy them
• Awesome Skins for your champion 
• Those awesome youtube videos that make the game seem like a sporting event 
• The ping system that allows you to verbalize and annoy the shit out of your teammates 
• The secret to eternal life

Gotta love this little guy (Veigar) 

Seriously, this is a fun game. Try it out. It's free. If you're afraid that it'll be too addicting then I suggest you prohibit playing it during the school year. Otherwise, I'll take the mid with you any day. 

For anyone who wants to add me as a friend my username is: Ablindleader. Feel free to add me, just be sure to tell me you read the blog . 

Finally Finishing a FF game

                  I haven't reviewed a Final Fantasy game yet and that might seem peculiar given all the love and attention I've been giving to Super Nintendo RPGs. The reason I haven't taken my crack at the legendary RPG series is because I had the unfortunate pleasure of playing this game.

I don't know what I was thinking

I started with Final Fantasy 13 (mostly because I had a ps3 and gamefly) and I dedicated 2 weeks of playing (not game hours, just sporadic playing throughout the 2 weeks) just to find myself unable to complete the game. I detested what I saw as the "Final Fantasy model". This grind heavy, group narrative plot that I assumed could either turn out really beautifully or end in massive amounts of boredom and frustration led me around with a carrot on a stick with its awful cliche character archetypes and horrible dialogue. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't intrigued by the overall plot of the l'Cie finding their intended destiny and the game even explored interesting preoccupations, like God's intended plan and what one is willing to give up for another. But everything was so cliche and bland that I found myself disenchanted throughout most of the game. This isn't intended to be a review so I'm not going to continue, but the point is I dislike Final Fantasy. 

               Now the reason I'm writing this is because I have decided to revisit the series. I am going to play Final Fantasy 3 for the SNES. The purpose of this is to give this series its fair shot. I was definitely too quick to write it off with the its inferior modern version. I mean look at Sonic. We all love the old Sonic the hedgehog games, but every single time they come out with a new one I want to cry and press charges for the damage they do to my childhood. I intend to finish the game, so it might take awhile before I write another review. Just wanted to give a heads up.

Note: Thanks to anyone reading my blog. Over the past month and half I've had over 700 site views. This could probably amount to a dedicated group of about 50 readers and even that number is compelling to me. Even if you're just my friend clicking on my fb post of the blog, I still appreciate it because the reason I write these is not to get popular and make money, but to share my enthuse for gaming with anyone willing to listen. 

Diddy Kong Racing

Diddy Kong Racing

Overall: 4.3
Game mechanics: 4.0
Story: 4.1
Design: 4.0
Multiplayer: 4.6

                  So I'm pretty sure a lot of you might be familiar with this game. Yes, Rare came out with a racing gem that still blows so many Mario Kart games out of the water. Diddy Kong racing was made for the N64 in 1997 and now stands as the 6th most sold game in the system's history. Seriously, this game is the real deal. There aren't many games I recommend to everyone because I feel often it's impossible to make your game accessible to everyone, but Diddy Kong racing comes damn close. There is one criteria for Diddy Kong racing. Do you like fun? If you answered yes, then you should be on amazon right now purchasing a cartridge and possibly an old n64 system for those of you who don't currently have one (or on vizzed.com). As for those of you who said no, I suspect many of you are the type of people who enjoy kicking puppies. But when gems like this come along it's important to ask why. Why was Diddy Kong so successful, while other games that tried to follow the same formula failed miserably? Let's switch it up a bit and start with something I don't normally talk about first, the game mechanics.
       Mechanics
                Diddy Kong racing isn't a game for an amazing narrative. It's funny because when you think of the game I'm sure you remember so many of the characters and the plot, but if you actually put your thinking cap on, you realize this game was written for 3 year olds. Doesn't matter. Why? Well, because you can do this

Fly Banjo! Fly!

This game allowed you to play with three different vehicles. And it didn't feel like each vehicle was just a car with a physics engine tweaked a little for it. Each vehicle felt like you were manning a unique machine that had it's own ins and outs. Cars had better traction, planes could change altitudes (no shit) and the hover craft could swerve with ease. They could have easily cut corners and did the entire game in cars, like another title that constantly gets undeserved sequels. (ahem)

I love you Mario, but you do not beat DKR

Introducing two other vehicles was a huge risk that could have easily bogged the game down with careless controlling and glitchy maps. I know the maps weren't perfect and controlling wasn't as tight as Mario Kart, but who cares when you can fly through a volcano (see above photo for a reminder of awesomeness). But the mechanics aren't the only thing that shines, it has a partner in crime that does all the work that we often take for granted.

         Level Design

      The level design in Diddy Kong racing was masterful. Every level had certain styles and ticks that would favor different racers. Take for example Space Port Alpha which had large expanses that could allow a player to swerve around (perfect for dodging enemy rockets), while making the painful tradeoff for speed. Level design in Diddy Kong racing also had a powerful individual feel to it. It didn't feel like you were simply in the ice stage or simply in the fire stage, often it felt like each stage had it's own personality that you can grab on to. For example, among the myriad of stages in the hovercraft area there is one where you drive onto a pirate ship and go through it to make your final loop around back to the finish line. Compare this with the stage that was simply made to introduce the character to using the hovercraft. Mario Kart has been trying to design stages like this for a decade now and I can only name a handful of mario kart stages that really have some unique feel to me (rainbow road, boswer's castle, dk mountain). I will admit Mario 64 had a great set of stages. The reason I want to stress level design is because we're starting to see a lot of this in modern gaming: 

I have never worked in tandem like that when playing LBP

While I do believe in user generated content, I also think that there is a reason professional level designers exist. I pay 60 dollars for content, not for a level generator. 

  The Little Things

         There are a few elements that you may or may not have noticed that make Diddy Kong Racing stand out among the myriad of horrible pseudo racing games out there. These are the difference makers in video games. 

         Boss Fights

          The inclusion of Boss fights in Diddy Kong racing give us a good segway into the topic of why boss battles exist? I mean of course someone needs to be the big bad guy in the end, but in a racing game where winning is the end that justifies the means what's the point? Well, bosses do a few things. They give the player a clear challenge to overcome. When you're expecting a boss it means that these stages you're doing aren't pointless hurdles to jump through, but invaluable practice that will come in handy when playing the boss. This is clearly reinforced when the boss challenges you in the vehicle you were racing in the entire area. But bosses do more than just serve as a bad guy and present a challenge in Diddy Kong Racing; they add characterization by setting the "young racer making a name for herself  (or himself)" paradigm. Also all the bosses in Diddy Kong racing were so memorable. From the Walrus to the Triceratops to the Pig. These guys were fearsome and actually provided a challenge. 

I detested this guy as a kid

       Brand Recognition and Character mystique

       Diddy Kong Racing used some big name characters to make up for the lack of character development. Then they paired these characters up with a bunch of no names that made for excitement and discovery. I know who Diddy, Konker and Banjo is, but who in the hell is Tiptup? I know that at the time Conker and Banjo weren't big names, but that's the amazing thing about being able to look back at a game. Sometimes in video games unintended surprises is what makes your game great. I bet none of you have forgotten Drumstick, even though many of you probably don't remember his name. That's because he was originally introduced to us like this 

I couldn't find an actual picture of him in his frog form so this will have to do

Remember how clever our eight year old selves thought we were when we ran over that odd frog with a rooster mane, just to find out he was an unlockable character! I love this game. Multiplayer deserves a mention too, but I decided I'm probably going to write something about the multiplayer and how it should be used as a model in another piece.

      The most amazing thing about this game is how timeless it is. You can play it over and over and still feel like it competes with it's high tech counterparts in Nintendo land. I'll take this over Mario Kart Wii any day. I'll take this over any racing game any day. This game explains how you take a genre that sometimes takes itself a little too seriously. 

When do I start having fun?

 and turn it into an accessible masterpiece that anyone can enjoy. 

Illusion of Gaia

Illusion of Gaia




Overall: 3.4

Story: 3.0

Gameplay: 4

Difficulty: 3.5




Note: This is an adventure game not an RPG




Synopsis: A young boy named Will is entrusted by a deity to protect Earth from an oncoming evil comet. The comet turns out to be an ancient weapon, compelling Will and his host of alter egos to band together with the young princess Kara to eradicate evil.



Illusion of Gaia is your typical adventure dungeon crawling affair. The only way I can describe this game is average. The dungeons are tough and long, often being straightforward, but at times completely unreasonable. The boss battles are very frustrating, but I guess this is a bit refreshing with the relative ease new dungeon based games have (if you ignore most MMOs). And the story is just ehh, but to be fair apparently the American version was watered down. Let's get to dissecting the game.

The story of the game is the same chosen one spiel we've been hearing since video games were created. In fact, you kinda just walk right into a gate to talk directly to god (or Gaia, who is the titan of Earth in Greek mythology). Gaia explains that things are going to hell and Will (a young teenager) is the only able bodied person to carry out the task of opposing this oncoming threat. From there you befriend a princess and then it turns out your family has been holding on to an artifact that the throne wants. So they try kidnapping your grandparents while imprisoning you for being cheeky. Luckily you escape and help the bratty useless princess escape with you (this makes sense how?). Someone from a secret tribe leads you to your grandparents and then you decide it's time to fulfill your destiny. There's also something about following in your father's footsteps (another commonly used trope), but I didn't really care about it.

As I said before, the American version has been watered down. The American version removes a bunch of religious undertones, which might have been the difference maker in pushing the game from average to meaningful. I mean think about all the romantic comedies you've ever seen (Along came Polly, Gigli, Couples retreat etc) . Now think of the romantic comedies you've found to be the best you've ever seen. I'm pretty sure if you compare their general plots you'll find the same generic equation being put to work. The difference maker when it comes to separating the average from the extraordinary tends to be the commentary the medium is used to make on a certain aspect of the human experience. It seems like the Illusion of Gaia was meant to be a homage to the faith and mysticism of various different kinds of ancient religions. Each dungeon represents temples of different ancient civilizations and it all works up to the final dungeon being the tower of babel (referencing the bible story concerning the tower that was built by all people of the world to reach God, conquering the tower is befitting of the ultimate act of faithful duty). These things matter because they're fucking awesome. With the American version, the preoccupation of ancient religions is hindered with pointless politically correct nods such as: removing the implication of cannibalism, changing Will's school from a sunday school to a regular school, keeping the teacher from leading Will in prayer to leading him in poem (wtf?).

There's more I could complain about, but I'm not. If you're looking for your adventure dungeon snes goodness and don't want to do Zelda, check out Illusion of Gaia. It's fun and there are some interesting narrative bits that I haven't divulged. If you're looking for a gem, pass this game.

The Stanley Parable: A step in the right direction

                  The Stanley Parable is a Half Life 2 mod that allows a player to take control of worker 427 ,otherwise known as Stanley. While controlling Stanley an invisible narrator details everything Stanley does and the thought processes of why he does it (while also giving critical pieces of information to the player). I think this game (I know it's just a mod, but it still it could be considered a game) is a great guinea pig for demonstrating how literary theories can be applied to gain a deeper understanding of how a video game is functioning.

Warning: This game relies on the inexperience of the player, making it have a very short replayability peroid. I would suggest that anyone who is serious about trying something new, downloads the game at http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable and plays it before reading what I'm getting into. The game takes at most 20 minutes of your time and is completely free (you do not need to download Half Life 2 to play it). Make sure you also have Steam downloaded and downloading Desura makes it much easier to access.
                 Let's start with the opening scene of the game and the narrator. The game begins by introducing the player to Stanley by name (through the voice of the typical british accented narrator [refer to the invention of lying for a good example of this]). Then the narrator tells the player that Stanley is worker 427. This creates a nice parallel between the individuality of the character (his name) and the drone like nature of the character (worker 427). It immediately helps the player understand what the possible theme of the game might be. From this information the player knows that the game is probably going to revolve around the struggle of the individual and the group. And lo and behold, the game puts Stanley on a crash course to convene with his co-workers in the lounge. See how powerful a good intro can be for a game? In a few sentences the game was able to give the player all the necessary information they would need to understand how the game is trying to compel them. You might be thinking that most players don't really notice these things, but you'd be surprised. Even if you don't consciously pick up on these things, I assure you your brain does. And players who replay the game (like I said, the game can't be replayed for a long period of time, but it definitely has a few replays in it), which is encouraged by the games different endings system, find themselves picking up on these things the third or fourth go around.
             This process in literature is usually referred to as setting a "theme" or themeing", but in an English course I was in, my Professor coined another term that he took from the Pulitzer prize winning writer, Jennifer Egan. The term was "preoccupations". The reason this term works much better than the term "theme" is because the trope of a theme has become so over used and generalized that we find that almost any theme can be applied to a novel indiscriminately. Also, preoccupations take away the finality the word "theme" seems to imply. Overall I like the term and continue to use it, so I'm going to use it in this review in the hopes that others use it in their conversations concerning literature (or any medium for that matter) as well. Continuing on, one of the preoccupations of the Stanley parable is that of the group vs the individual. And it's conveyed to the player in a manner of increasing complexity. I know that sounds like over intellectualized boredom, but let me explain! It's actually pretty amazing when you think about it.
             Let's start with the simple example, the name vs the worker number. That is the first piece of dialogue the game initiates with the player and it's pretty direct. It doesn't require much thinking or doing on the player's part. They can just sit back an assimilate the information. As the narrator continues with the introduction it lets you know that Stanley is doing a job that most people would find boring (group think talk), but Stanley finds it very rewarding (even tailor-made). Now you might hear this statement and think it's just a small bit of background information, but it actually deepens the complexity of the preoccupation by conveying to the player what the issue is behind the individual vs the group (the archaic way of talking about this in literature is usually denoted as "man vs society" but I dislike using the masculine form to encompass all people whenever I can help it). If the job Stanley is doing is meant to represent life in the group and most find that life unrewarding, then the game is communicating the well held view of a group think society being unrewarding due to its drone like nature. But it immediately counters this point of view with the fact that even though most people would be discontent with the job, Stanley finds it rewarding. This statement creates the conundrum of the individual vs group for the player to wrestle with. If Stanley is enjoying this drone like job, even though most people don't, is his participation in the job a mark of individuality? Why does Stanley feel like this job was made for him? Now to be sure, many of these questions are answered by the game, but the important thing is that the player is given a chance to be introduced to this conversation before the game begins dictating how it should go. If the player was told beforehand that Stanley was actually being controlled by a device (which is revealed later on in the game), then the player wouldn't have considered how hard it is to explain away the individual vs society conundrum.
       

I can go on and on and on, dissecting this game and explaining why the game just adds layer and layer of complexity to the preoccupation of the individual vs society. But I'm not going to. I want you to play the game (without reading this, so if you have read this and have not played the game, stop reading and sulk for not heeding my above warnings ) and then after reading this, play it again, trying to see how the game is working with the player to demonstrate more and more how complex the preoccupation of the individual vs society is. You just might find it even more rewarding than your first play through.




Before I end this post, I want to point out that the game, while having an arguably biased viewpoint on on the aforementioned preoccupation, allowed the player to do some mental lumberjacks before forcing its biased view on them. This is the beautiful thing about video games. Instead of simply force feeding a concept and an answer to a player, the video game allows the player (if done correctly) to experience the very issue at hand. This is far more compelling than pushing your opinion on someone and I argue that video games are a medium best suited for this kind of hands on teaching.The power of the video game does not come from the ability of the developer to guide and control the player, but instead comes from the near infinite amount of "art pieces" that can be produced by the tandem of the player and the developer.