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.
Total War: Warhammer announced!
Wow, this is so great! In a smart move after launching all Warhammer End of Times books and miniatures but before announcing "the new" , Warhammer 9th edition, and of course with the incoming Mordheim and Warhammer Vermintide videogames, it looks like Warhammer world might change, but the franchise is far from dissapearing.
Empire and Dwarfs versus Orks, Undead and chaos (at least Tzeentch) can be seen at the video, including "mighty beasts". Also the company behind, The Creative Assembly, are really good making strategy games and have a long story (15 years), so we can exppect a top-notch title (unlike the latest avalanche of mobile-based not-so-good-and-money-grabber titles).
This really got me excited, it's been quite a few years since we last had a Warhammer Fantasy strategy title...
Anyway, here's the nicely looking video:
Tags: Videogames Warhammer Fantasy
The Elder Diary: #20150202
More than half a year later since last "diary update", but from now on I'll try to post more updates at least monthly (if I don't finish any painting/modelling project, that is).
The main update is the following photo of how's my progress with the Imperial Knight:
As you can see, excepting the base and decals, main body is finished. I also have already painted the shoulder pads and currently working on the arms. With some luck I'll have it ready for decals soon (and probably tackle one of my modelling projects, which without painting I don't even feel like showing here). It's been a huge amount of work, especially because the crappy Citadel gold paint mix has "separated" and before painting it needs heavy re-mixing and around 4-5 layers until it looks like real gold (and this painting over a silver layer, else needs even more layers!). I'll probably try Vallejo's equivalent of gold for the future, now I'm so near the end I don't want to change color and have more problems. I've also given highlights to blues, some silver parts and to the gold (using silver) and it definetly shines and looks way better. Combining with the washes, despite my poor painting things look way better :)
Apart from that, and due to the recent addition to the family of a young golden retriever dog, my sleep cycle and free time is quite chaotic now, so I'm focusing on either playing Diablo III or Hearthstone from the laptop near the dog, or reading books.
Whenever I can escape a bit to the "workshop room" I'm either painting or trying to finish assembling Deadzone miniatures, as I finally received wave 3 shipment and still have (quite a few) minis to assemble from the two earlier shipments. Definetly one of the best kickstarter projects I've backed regarding price/content ratio... lots of minis (5 factions + zombies), lots of scenery, lots of extras...
I also have pending buying some powerful white lights to improve the room's lighting for photos, currently is ok for painting but far from adequate for photos.
So, let's hope I come again soon with some cool photos!
Mordheim: City of the Dammed
Mordheim is one of those Games Workshop products (like Gorkamorka or Man o' War) that I never had the chance to try in my youth. I've read articles about it at the White Dwarf, seen pictures but never actually played a single game.
When I saw that a computer version of it was being made, I definetry wanted to give it a try. And few days ago I was able to play the four tutorials of the early alpha build of Mordheim: City of the Dammed.
As I said, I don't know how loyal is to the original, although looks quite right, but I love turn-based tactical strategy games, and the game can't look better for these kind of public. The controls are smooth (I actually prefer playing with the gamepad as it is being designed with it as an option from the beggining), the menus and actions work fine, and the game already looks quite good.
The Alpha/Early access build right now only has two warbands (human mercenaries and skaven) but the tutorials allow you to test the other two future warbands, Sisters of Sigmar and Possesed (chaos), showing also some variety on the scenery, from a big cathedral to cities.
The full game will feature campaign modes, experience and inventory, special characters, both fixed and procedural maps and of course multiplayer (already available but I haven't tried it yet). After playing the tutorials I can say I really liked it and only found a bug (one human ogre got stuck in a small door), for the rest is quite playable although limited because there's still only predefined missions (tutorials) and skirmishes (no customization).
Here are a sample of how it looks and a gameplay video (quite good to get a feel of how the mechanics work):
Mordheim is in Early Access at Steam right now if you're interested. While not the cheapest game is at 20% discount now.
I'm trusting this one to become everything that has been promised (also Steam is becoming stricter regarding commitments), so I already "backed" it and will play as much as possible.
More details about the Warcraft - Warhammer link
Few weeks ago I was finishing my read of a book about Blizzard and Diablo's history when in the notes section I found the following text:
Soon after the release of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans in late 1994, many gamers picked up on the similarities between Blizzard's RTS and Warhammer, a tabletop game created by Games Workshop where players arranged painted figurines and engaged in turn-based battles.
Warhammer's influence was massive.There were lots of people at Blizzard who played Warhammer and they were obviously heavily influenced by it.
During the course of development - and this didn't happen beforehand; it was somewhere along the way - Allen [Adham] proposed that we license the Warhammer IP so the game woudln't be WarCraft, but Warhammer. That was met with a negative reaction because a lot of us felt we would lose control of the game.
Several years after WarCraft was done, my dad came back from a trip to Asia. He brought back this really cool skeleton chariot. it was a chariot drawn by some skeletal horses. And he said, "I found this really cool thing in Asia, and they totally ripped of Warcraft!"
It said Warhammer on the bottom, and I said, "Oh, yeah, um, not exactly..."
-Pat Wyatt
So, almost in the lines of previous texts I have found (I & II), confirming the influence but also sustaining that the failed negotiations were not before WarCraft's inception.
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