Articles tagged with: Videogames

Last week, I spen't one sitting of 5 hours playing Risen, a new RPG that looked very cool from the screenshots and that was just released.

Risen looks very beautiful, yes, and in fact the game world is pretty: weather effects, day-night cycle (you will get used to carrying torches), well chosen color palettes, good overall world design and lots of vegetation visible (a-la Oblivion).

But playing it feels a bit clumsy. Jumping is... strange, trees at close aren't that beautiful, combat is very basic (and there are bugs, sometimes just attacking will keep enemies from doing anything until they die)... After playing Fable II Risen looks unpolished in comparison.

I haven't gone too far in the game (I didn't finish the first chapter), but simply I didn't want to spend more time playing this.

The quests are too similar to World of Warcraft ones (kill X enemies, collect Y items), you have freedom to go to two or three places at once but this is not Oblivion, you have ranged and close combat weapons but you will have to rely on close combat ones for any non trivial enemy...

Sometimes those quests are not too clearly stated, and as the NPCs will just stop talking with you until you finish them, looks too unreal.

Heck, even the "professions" look like World of Warcraft ones (prospecting minerals, lockpicking, skinning dead animals), except here that means "see but don't use yet" along your path, not "stop killing monsters and act like a real miner searching the world for minerals".

Leveling is very basic too: Each level you get 10 "learning points, then you search for trainers to spend them on stats (strength, agility, etc.) or skills (swords, lockpicking,...). Apart from some extra life and mana points, nothing else.

Risen looks like an unfinished ambitious project. It has tons of elements but so rough, so simply implemented and displaced away by the more important lacks or problems, that you forget them and notice more the terrible combat system, or the almost useless world map.

Too bad because it has potential, it might get better later but at least with me its too late, it failed to engage me in the first hours.

Posted on 2009-10-12

On this holidays my Nintendo DS has been my night companion for when it was too hot (or too early) to sleep, and I've been playing three RPGs quite a few hours.

Final Fantasy III

I've talked previously about this game and how difficult it is, but I'm very persistant so I've progressed some in the game.

I'm not probably yet even halfway it, but it's really fine. The Jobs stuff is a bit hard at first (you have to level each job for each character if you don't like to stick to just one specific job per char), but after the first levels it pays off when having a good party.

I don't get stuck on what to do next (I just sometimes need to level up a bit before progressing), the story up to now is simple and typical, and the GFX and controls are nice and do their job perfectly.

I will keep playing it until the end probably...

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

This has been a small nice surprise. A mixture of realtime RTS with action-RPG, with 3D scenary and beautiful 2D pixel characters and creatures game...

It continues the story of FFXII and the adventures of Vaal, converting the espers to troops to command, invoke and use to fight enemies, conquer magic sources and destroy resurrection crystals.

The game is very tactical, highly dependant on the weaknesses and natures of each level enemies (you can be easily defeated if you don't take into account it, or easily win in just 5 minutes on some battles if you do so). It is like playing Magic The Gathering with a Final Fantasy theme.

I will write a full review for other of my blogs, but being more than halfway of the game I see one important problem: The formula that works marvels for the first time, great for the 10th, and ok for the 40th, starts to be too repetitive and boring nearing the 100th time...

All the battles tend to be very similar and I'm becoming tired of it, so I'll set it aside for a few days before finishing it (I'm on chapter 6).

Orcs & Elves

The same game I played more than one year ago on a mobile phone, this time on the Nintendo DS.

The game is pretty much the same as the J2ME Orcs & Elves 2 version, but with a heavy visual tweak and some polygons. The upper screen always shows the first-person view of the character, having the touch screen for inventory handling, automaps, shopping and options.

The game features a bunch of weapons, some enemies (with slightly different patterns, like "fire and hide", "keep distance", etcetera) and around 5 hours of gameplay for your first run on normal difficulty.

The engine itself is not bad. Not only combines 3D scenery with 2D sprites (with good amount of detail), but also implements a lot of the typical "Eye of the Beholder" era map tricks: hidden rooms, teleporters, triggers for events or enemies, special objects...

The downside is the short duration: 5 hours for non-random maps means you might give it a second run to become even stronger (you will already have the full range of weapons at the end), but not much more. Also, the story is a bit silly sometimes, but you can live with it.

Posted on 2009-07-06

Just a quick post explaining the lack of stuff here...

First of all, I've left (again) World of Warcraft. I still feel I don't have enough time to play it properly and, while the new expansion looks fantastic, playing it will be posponed to the future. I prefer playing non MMORPGs right now (and I have a lot of games to finish).

About Warhammer 40.000 miniatures, I haven't yet started to paint the armies, but I'm working on a scenery modelling that, if doesn't results too bad, I'll post some pictures (an ork mek facility, where the Stompa might have been built).
It's been a long time since I attempted some modelling, but being orks it is easier (and I have quite a few spare parts, plates and banners to place on it).

And finally, also regarding W40k but this time on the PC, my copy of Dawn of War II finally arrived, and I must say I'm impressed it is in fact two games in one!

• The multiplayer battles are more like the tabletop game. Almost no base management, so you focus on battles with small squads. The number of units per squad is smaller than the real one (4 on space marine tactical squads, 3 on devastator ones, etcetera), but after a few CPU skirmishes I enjoy it a lot. Also the new army painter tool is fantastic (although we still don't get all units preview...)
• The singleplayer campaign is in fact an RPG-RTS! You progress through the story obtaining squads (one of each), leveling units and your commander, and getting items (armours, weapons, accesories) much like in WoW. I feel like playing a space version of Warcraft III. Highly recommended!

I expect to make some posts soon but I first have to finish the single player campaign (not too difficult on Sargeant level but requires a lot of time and you can't save mid-game).

Posted on 2009-02-28

The next time you want to extend one game's length, try innovating or creating content. But please, avoid forcing the players to grind levels from the very start of the game }:(

I don't know if it is a big, lengthy game or not, but it is the hardest Final Fantasy I've touched. Apart from the initial cave, I'm having to grind levels to be able to do anything "not from the main quest". And even there it is dangerous; if you have bad luck (a lot of so hated random combats), yo can die.

Usually, level grinding is performed optionally for one of this reasons:

• Lowering the difficulty level: If enemies are level 5 and you level 15, you will have no problem on killing them.
• Balancing speed-runs: If you're going too fast across the main storyline, probably you'll end facing an enemy or boss that you won't be able to kill until you level up.
• Grinding money or items: Along with experience, monsters usually drop money and/or items, so it's like a 2x1, extra levels plus extra gold.
• God feeling: If a level 5 enemy is easy at level 15, imagine being level 50 or 60, it's almost like being a god. *

I at last don't see in that list something like "Make the game last longer", because that's a cheap and dirty trick.

* Beware of games that auto-level enemies acordingly (like Final Fantasy VIII)

Posted on 2009-01-21

After almost two years of mutism, at least some news: The World of Darkness multiplayer online game is still under development and will appear on 2010.

Let's hope to see more info and details soon...

Posted on 2009-01-19