Counts Grand Theft Auto V as an RPG?
After more than 1.5 years of wait, we PC games finally have the pleasure of being able to play GTA V in all its glory. I had already pumped some 20-something hours, maybe 30, in the XBox 360 version but now I aim for, if not a 100% completion, at least doing every mission and at least attempt every challenge. And oh boy, playing it for a second time feels just as great as if was new (I'm just more proficient with the controls, know a few tricks and remember how to complete most missions).
While I'm playing it, slowly, enjoying the story, trying to catch all the small details, the almost alive city, the animals, the pedestrians with their impressive artificial intelligence, the random chases, robberies, accidents or traffic jams... The world feels so alive that I can't but wonder if actually GTA can be played as an RPG, because it really feels like an RPG.
I'm the kind of videogame player that tries to maximize Final Fantasy character levels (except in those like FF VIII where enemies level along with you), the one that pumped dozens and dozens of hours on Fallout 3, finished all DLCs and got the explorer achievement (IIRC, exploring 100 different points of interest from the map). When I finished Elder Scrolls Oblivion, my character was so powerful I did all the main story arc almost in a speedrun. But the amount of things you can do in this GTA entry... is so amazing.
You can invest in stock options and alter the world to make them go up or down (e.g. invest in a car firm after destroying many cars to buy low, then destroy other firms so their price rises and sell your stocks), you can buy houses and fine-tune cars, buy clothes and each character has their own stats you can increase... you can even change the haircut or tatoos. World setting aside, it is quite similar to any Elder Scrolls game, and ages above the degree of customization you can do at most "action RPGs" like Diablo 3, which many times are quite linear and only the loot or the chosen skills actually "customizes" the character.
Here you can literally spend hours doing side-missions, travelling by cab or train, learning to fly planes, or even diving in search of UFO pieces. NPCs get scared if you follow them and might call the police or not. Steal a car and many things can happen, from them running to even taking out a gun and shooting you. So many variants in general that as I already said the world feels almost real. Hell, even the radio news reflect the latest events that have happened (of course all around you, but anyway adds a lot of inmersion).
So what makes an RPG so? Old school ones had lots of text, GTA has hours and hours of conversations, phone calls, sms and emails; RPGs have stats, GTA has them (even money and owned properties are separate for each character); Visual customization as said is present; Lore, NPCs and a credible world, more than present; Choices and side-missions, a lot of both. Free-roaming, more than any Final Fantasy title would dream about.
Yes, is not turn-based or pausable; No, you cannot fully customize the main characters but you can create online characters and there you have way more freedom... I am no expert in the subject, but I think many of the last years' so-called xxx-RPGs have way less right to use that acronym than other recent titles like Grand Theft Auto 5.
In the end, it's all about how you play, how you live the virtual setting created for your pleasure.
Note: Photos taken from Snapmatic uploaded trending photos, another clever idea from Rockstar: use the in-game phone to take photos (even selfies) and upload them so people mimic real-world Instagram.
Harlequin Shadowseer and Death Jester minis comparison
I don't usually do miniature reviews or comparisons except some "extreme cases", but the incoming new Eldar Harlequin Shadowseer and Death Jester miniatures was appealing.
I have an small Eldar army, mostly composed of minis I bought to a friend (all unpainted yet, sadly), and they include a few old metal harlequin troupes. I also have the resin shadowseer, but precisely of failcast (the shadowseer had small imperfections due to the bubbles) I didn't wanted to buy the death jester until a plastic one was out. Well, they're almost here, very very likely in plastic... but also almost identical to the existing resin figures!
The similarities are so big they almost look like the same mini re-posed. The shadowseer has a different weapon, ropes are swinging as if there was wind coming from the east, but that's all, apart from the paint work. But the death jester... maybe is the paint job again, but looks exactly the same and just crouched on the ruins fragment.
I wish I had better pitcures to confirm (or show my mistake) but seems creativity is not too high lately at GW...
Impressive Lord of The Rings Lego Creations
It is not the first time I write here about Lego scenes, but the ones I've found at MOCpages are really impressive:
Be sure to check them because there are some quite impressive Lord of the Rings scenes depicted with thousands of LEGO pieces.
Tags: Elder's Thoughts
The most important factor of a CRPG
After some weeks of intense work and real life tasks, I've got two weeks ahead of taking things with calm and try to rest (or at least spend my free time doing mostly non-development).
Apart from finally being able to test my painting lamp and actually painting a bit (nothing major, I want first to finish some half-painted miniatures and scenery props), I decided to go and buy both Fable II DLCs to extend the game's lifetime a bit before starting it again creating an evil alignment character.
And while playing yesterday and today for a few hours, I remembered why I enjoy Fable II so much (and other games like The Witcher, Fallout 3 or the Final Fantasy series) and why I haven't finished yet Neverwinter Nights (either part, but I prefer the first one).
The answer is simple: Because they tell you a tale, a story.
The argument of Neverwinter Nights its a bit typical, not engaging enough to make me desire to progress. I usually park the game few days after playing it because all quests are very similar and just feel "plugged in". I don't feel like living as my "drow", I feel playing a computer version of DnD.
When I play Fallout 3, I feel like really living in a post-apocalyptic future. I feel like exploring a huge world, discovering buildings, ruined citys, doing small quests... really inside of the game.
And while Fable II offers no challenge (it is way too easy) and is not so big and open as Fallout 3, whenever I play it I feel inmersed into the fairy tales it transmits. The world is so beautiful, the people react to my actions, the bards sing my adventures...
Many people dislike the Final Fantasy series for having too much combat. But combat in FF, in the end, is just a way to slow the pace, to extend the time you need to reach the end of the game and so finish the story it tells. I don't care having to level characters on purpose (instead of just as I go through the game), because the stories the games tell are engaging.
So, for me, the single most important factor or aspect of a computer RPG is not how well it implements a given set of rules, or how easy or hard are the battles, but the presence of a good story and a good sense of inmersion around it.
Tags: Elder's Thoughts Game Design
Offtopic: My non-gaming miniatures
I must admit I'm sometimes like Peter Pan... I feel like a grown-up child, and while I've lost a great part of my childhood imagination (with which I could take a single Magic card and imagine stories for hours...), some things still prevail, like collecting some miniatures I find cool to decorate my book shelves.
As today I'm still "on vacations mode" and lazy to think of anything productive, I've uploaded some photos of my small collection and I will show them here (among with a few interesting extras not-related to the photos...):
An orc shaman guarding some articles and Warhammer 40.000k codex
Predator & Alien guarding some books...
An old T-800 Terminator toy, next to the Sandman comics collection
The executioner from Resident Evil 5. One of the latest additions, and the "worst and scarier one" in my girlfriend's oppinion xD
A zombie from Resident Evil 2
A Knight deflecting some arrows
Kratos defending some game programming books
Snake had to be in my collection
A Gears of War locust
Mister X, my favourite RE boss
And a Tyrant, from RE too
A wow Warlock...
... And a priest guarding some of my Forgotten Realms books
Another zombie, holding a brain
And the U.S.S. Enterprise in front of my complete Star Trek DVD collection (all seasons of all ST sagas + all movies)
Extra #1: Ruleset, FAQ, and lots of unit rules for Warhammer 40.000 Epic. Since the game itself is discontinued, they are a very valuable asset.
Extra #2: Mini codex for the Genestealer Cults (now updated for the 5th edition of Warhammer 40k). Since I have a few genestealers (most of them from Space Hulk, but counting the unpainted, enough for a small side-force or quick battle.
Extra #3: The Soundtrack of Warhammer 40.000 Dawn of War II is freely available for download!
Tags: Elder's Thoughts Epic 40000 Miniatures Warhammer 40000
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