Games You Probably Like, But Shouldn’t: Uncharted
Bruce Willis was dead at the end of Sixth Sense. I would have put a spoiler warning if the conclusion hadn’t become a pop culture reference the likes of which even The Lonely Island makes quips about. In a movie completely revolving around the dead, the ending may have come as a shock for most, but it held within the bounds of reason for that movie’s reality. That’s how M. Night mystified audiences worldwide, reasonable surprise within a set mode of reality.
What happened from there? In Signs, a movie about aliens hailed the power of God, a presence that had been non existent, if not shunned through the rest of the film. In The Village, not only were there no monsters, but a commune somehow existed in secret in America without a single fly over. M. Night strayed from the surprising, given reality and found his way into writing reality-jarring, even the false reality-jarring, endings that leave much to be desired.
Disclaimer: SPOILERS for the Jak series, and Silent Hill 2 in this paragraph.
But wait! Brandon! What does this have to do with games that I should or shouldn’t like? Everything. Game designers have gone down the same path. Initially, they understood the same reality-bound ideas. For instance, at the end of Jak 3, even though it was hinted at, it was great to see that Jak had sent himself through time. What about Silent Hill 2? James smothered his wife and I sat there with my mouth agape. Like M. Night though, the gaming community has fallen headlong through the rabbit hole, losing our sense within dramatic endings. Final Fantasy IX had an excessively unnecessary final boss that had no impact on the plot. The well accepted inFAMOUS had a weak, even poorly personalized ending that I won’t spoil. There is one game worse than any I can imagine though; heralded as a diamond in the next generation rough, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune has a conclusion as discordant from the rest of the game as The Crystal Skull.
Grab your whip and your brown- Wait, this isn’t Indiana Jones! This is Uncharted; though the similarities are staggering. Drake runs around hunting for treasure, shooting up bad guys, bumping into Nazis, and making sarcastic comments all while making a woman fall in love with him. Here’s the thing though; I was completely okay with it. In fact, I was enamored with the jungle treasure exploration genre, one that I thought had burnt out years ago. Aside from a few poorly designed Indiana Jones games, Pitfall was basically the culmination of such a game. Then came Uncharted.
I can happily say that I joyfully played the game with the same lens as everyone else: “This is absolutely fantastic. This doesn’t need a single thing added.” So, rather than allow me to enjoy the game to its completion, the writers of Uncharted decided we the gamers needed a twist. Why? Because apparently, there can not be any modern work of popular fiction these days that does not include some form of neo deus ex machina.
Zombie-monster-mutants, that’s how they pulled a M. Night on the gamers. They completely twisted the genre to butcher the treasure hunting action adventure much like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s alien. I guess I should go out on a limb and say…
SPOILER ALERT
A statue that causes a mutation in people almost instantaneously, creating Spanish zombie monsters? I mean really Naughty Dog, who shot the writers and replaced them with idiot thirteen year olds trying to think of the coolest thing they’d want to fight? Let alone the fact that there’s no possible way to mutate every strip of DNA in a human body simultaneously, but to flounder so pathetically in writing? It’s amateur. On a side note, zombies (though Nazi zombies are much better) are up there on the greatest fantasy enemies list, right next to futuristic robot ninjas; however, there is a time and place for them, most likely in a game with Dragonforce playing in the background and Jack Black being a voice actor. There is no place for these low brow ideas within a seamlessly well done genre; once again, I present the recent debauchery of Indian Jones as an excessive parallel.
Where did we go wrong? “Nothing is new since Rome.” That quote began the downfall of creativity. Thanks to it, all artists and writers have started to fight against it, hence the rise of modernism in all creative forms. Films and video games were hit with this trend the latest due to their late blooming emergence; however, now that the technology is up and running full swing, every writer and director is out to out do the other. What’s wrong with writing a treasure hunting game that stays in that genre? What about a dramatic movie that doesn’t require a surprise science fiction twist to make it interesting? A word to all creative companies out there, film, publishing, and videogames: Your audiences don’t always need a twist. Even if it’s an old story, if it’s told well enough with a new breath of life, then we’ll love it.
So, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is a game you probably like, but… Oh no! Futuristic robot ninjas! I’ll have to fight them off rather than finish my sign off… Eat lead Metallic Jackie Chan!
-Brandon
Not our usual post, but figured it was worth a mention. The mystery of the Square Enix countdown has been revealed.
Final Fantasy Gaiden
Another DS game. If you can translate the rest, feel free.
Point and Clique: A Look at Gamer Culture
Gamer culture, as it is today is a sadly underdeveloped concept. Views of said culture especially among ‘non-gamers’, typically see it as a cut and dry on/off switch. Either you are a gamer, or you are not. There are two major problems with that vein of thought.
First, how is one declared ‘gamer’ or ‘non-gamer’? There exists no standard, no scale of gamerness on which to base such classifications, and as such it becomes heavily biased and arbitrary. To some playing Tetris is ample qualification to be a gamer; to others if you have not played games since the NES era then you have no business calling yourself a gamer. Obviously these are extreme examples, but it shows how widely the perception can vary. Outside of establishing an actual standard of measurement for gamerness, which would be clunky, forced, and no less arbitrarily determined than the current system, the easiest solution is leaving ‘gamer’ as a purely self-identifying label. If someone wishes to be identified as a gamer, then let them claim that. What right does anyone have to deny an aspect of someone else’s identity?
The second major issue, as well as the chief focus of this piece, is the perception of ‘gamers’ as a unified whole. This is far from the truth, as gaming culture is very much segmented, and in many ways similar to the average high school, although there are some key differences. Within the broad generalization of ‘gamers’ exist a vast number of cliques and factions.
A trend I have noticed, to some degree, is that those who consider themselves gamers have a tendency to form into genre based cliques. Granted these are not as well defined, nor as exclusive as cliques in a high school setting, but many common elements exist. A prime example of this is the gaming equivalent of ‘The Jocks’, gamers of a highly competitive nature, who trend towards shooters, sports titles, and fighting games. While there are certainly exceptions a large number of ‘jocks’ do not play games falling into other categories. There are many gaming cliques, such as ‘musicians’, those who tend to play games like Guitar Hero and Sing Star obsessively, the gaming equivalent of the student sitting on a bench playing an acoustic guitar, or a popular high school band with minimal talent. Another clique is the ‘artsy’ gamer, who tend to play primarily indie games. A new clique has begun to flourish recently, the so-called casual gamer. These gamers are the equivalent of cheerleaders, surprisingly popular, given their general lack of substance. As with their high school counterparts, there are frequently some ‘jock’/’cheerleader’ relationships, in the sense that some ‘jocks’ enjoy casual games, and some casual gamers enjoy sporting titles. While there are many other cliques, the last major one to be mentioned is the ‘nerds’. This clique represents the ‘hardcore gamers’, those who play older games, often with a focus on RPGs and adventure games.
As with the high school model, there tend to be many issues between the various cliques. Stereotypes, as they are prone to do, have sprung up, and even led to enmity. Casual gamers are perceived as vapid airheads, with no real respect for gaming history. ‘Jocks’ are frequently seen to be noisy and obnoxious, as well as being looked down upon for buying new iterations of their sports titles every year. ‘Artsy gamers’ tend to be seen as snobs of the gaming world, looking down at the ‘uninspired’ games, and elevating games to a high level even if artistic merit is the only pro the game has. A prime example of this is the game “The Path”, which, in addition to having a premise that many found abhorrent, is reported to have shoddy game play. Despite this many ‘artsy gamers’ herald the game as a brilliant artistic work.
Another major similarity in gamer culture is the equivalent of school rivalry. As many high schools have obsessive fans who attend sporting events to boisterously support their team, and denounce the others, so too does gaming have its console fanboys, and while they may not paint their chests, they are no less obnoxious. Such fans will loudly make claims as to the superiority of their team/console, even when such claims have no relevance on the topics at hand.
One fairly ironic issue with my gaming culture as a high school model is that, while the classifications make sense in terms of genre, with ‘jocks’ playing sports games and so on, the actual interactions tell a different story. As was stated previously, when the cliques are defined based on genre, the ‘hardcore gamers’ fill the role of the nerd. However, when one looks at the overall actions and attitudes of the ‘nerds’ their behavior is far more closely analogous to that of real life jocks. ‘Hardcore gamers’ have a tendency to view most of the other cliques with disdain, and as lesser gamers, often excluding them, if not blatantly ridiculing them. As with real jocks, these gamers tend to have the heaviest concentration of obsessive fandom. Very few of the other cliques will engage in a debate, much less a flame war over the alleged superiority of one console over another. Additionally, while typically musicians are seen as ‘cool’ within the confines of a high school, in actuality music gamers are treated more akin to ‘band geeks’.
Another major difference between gamer culture and the high school model is the level of segregation in the different cliques. In gamer culture, one is much more free to participate in multiple cliques, unlike in high school, where one is typically stuck with the label they are given. I myself play a variety of games, and while I enjoy RPGs the most, I am also fond of Rock Band, and Wii Sports. So the model is obviously imperfect, but it is certainly more accurate than the idea of a single unified gamer culture. One can certainly hope that given time and effort, the different cliques of gaming can learn to better understand, and better tolerate each other, because games are above all else supposed to entertain and be a fun experience. Whether we are ‘jocks’, ‘nerds’, ‘band geeks’ or ‘cheerleaders’ what right do we have to deny someone else’s fun?
If there is something this recession has taught me, it is that life is cyclical. What goes up must come down. You reap what you sow. What goes around comes around. Insert any other clichés you can think of, but the point is, this isn’t the first financial crash we’ve seen, and it probably won’t be the last.
In 1983, the video game industry crashed. Warehouses were full. Stores had shelves and shelves of games they could not sell. Boys and girls did the unthinkable; they went outside to play. The industry had hit rock bottom due to a mixture of haphazard business decisions, poor game development and over saturation of the market. And unlike pinball machines, video games’ untimely demise was not because something better had been developed, but because they were too stupid to see the eventual consequences of their actions. Ok, the rapid development of personal computers as a means of gaming may have been a factor. But, for the most part, these companies had no one but themselves to blame.
Oh, and just to refresh your memory, this catastrophe wasn’t a two week fluke like Katie Holmes career. This depression went on for TWO YEARS. Not only was it solely responsible for the death of Atari and the extinction of the video game arcade, but ’83 saw America thrown from the top of the video game heap. It took a Japanese company and their drugged-out plumber to shock the industry back to life.
So where am I going with this? If life is cyclical, would it not stand to reason that there could be another video game depression in the foreseeable future? As in 1983, the industry is embroiled in a console war. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft continue to produce a high number of games while simultaneously trying to undermine each other. By comparing the conditions that led to the crash in ’83 with the conditions we are living in now, it might be possible to shed some light on the future of the gaming industry.
Just as the Atari, ColecoVision and Intellivision feuded decades before, so now do Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft wage war on the electronic battlefield. To date, the three companies have sold nearly 100 Million consoles worldwide (with Nintendo outselling the nearest competitor 2 to 1). This doesn’t even account for handheld sales or PC gaming. Meanwhile, work has begun on the next wave of consoles. As far as software, first and third party developers have produced thousands of games for these platforms and show no signs of stopping. As in the 80’s, the market is flooded with products. How long before public interest begins to wane?
Then there is the question of game quality. Games like ET: the Extraterrestrial and Pac Man proved that Atari didn’t care how shoddily the games were produced because they figured the public would buy anything. Modern companies are no less susceptible to this trap. For every good game there are five mediocre ones. Yet, with sales as high as they are, it can be very tempting to churn out ‘just another game’ to make a quick buck. And what about replay value? I could play Mario or Galaga for the rest of my life and they would never get old. How many games do you own now that you have played once and sold back, or that just sit on your shelf collecting dust (i.e. Bioshock)? Is this all sounding scarily familiar?
Now everyone calm down. I’m not suggesting that the end of the video game world is nigh. I’m just providing a kick in the balls to make sure you’re still paying attention. If the Video Game Crash of ’83 has taught us anything, it is that, like the government, there needs to be a system of checks and balances. The companies must continue to push the envelope as to keep consumers from becoming stagnant. On the other hand, the consumer must continue to ensure that the industry sells quality items. As soon as they stop innovating or we stop investigating, the system breaks down. Companies: If a game sucks, don’t sell it! Consumers: If a game sucks, don’t buy it! If we follow these rules, we can ensure that the past will never repeat itself.
-Jared
Games You Probably Like; But Shouldn’t: Damage Control
Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to a special edition of “Games You Probably Like, But Shouldn’t” that I am lovingly calling “Damage Control.” This edition was originally intended as a monthly response article where I could answer the comments made on various websites in reference to my sometimes controversial statements within GYPLBS. Due to reader response however, the monthly “Damage Control” article will become one that occurs after every three GYPLBS’s. So without further ado, I present the first edition of “Damage Control”…
Let’s start things off chronologically, shall we? Comments were made concerning the Fallout 3 post on both this blog and the websites http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50790 and http://www.n4g.com/News-345431.aspx so I will be responding to issues raised in all.
TheWesDude stated on NMA:
“what ever happened to the days of “investigative reporting” where reporters tore people apart for their &$#%ups and exposed them to the masses… and the masses listened?
this guy reminds me of a teacher shaking her finger at the bully who just beat up a nerd and broke his ribs and nose.” (Edited for a broader viewership)
I’d like to take this time to make a few points clear to the readers. Most importantly, I am not out to be another destructive blogger whose only goal is to tear apart everything he sees. I understand the necessity of strong criticism in some cases; however, I refuse to be harsh in those critical depictions for two reasons. First, these are opinionated pieces, so no matter how justified I feel in my beliefs concerning a game; I will never let that become a form of anger. I intend to hold this column up to higher standards in writing, whether that is my grammar, word choice, or even use of profanity. I respect the game designers, players, my readers, and my self, so I will not belittle any of us through outbursts, excessive whining, or coarse language, all of which have become too prevalent and commonplace online. Second, these critiques are not intended as an end all be all. An observant reader will find that I’ve never said to absolutely not play these games. In the same mode of thinking of respecting my readers, I feel the gaming community should hold itself to certain standards. My intentions are to humbly show where these measures of a game’s or designer’s character do not stand tall. In fact, these articles could be seen as advisories for the production teams and the only way I or TBMAG can hope to be taken seriously is through a mature and understanding mindset.
Numerous individuals commented on the analog to digital switch over on NMA; however, Brother None found the heart of the analogy:
| SuAside wrote: |
| is anyone stupid enough to think that comparison is even remotely valid? |
Actually, yes.
It’s noticeable that many people don’t understand what innovations entails, and that progress is created by attempts to innovate that either succeed or fail. Radiant AI was a massive failure, yet it is still an innovation that moves the industry forward because people look at it and learn, knowing that this is not they way to do it. That’s innovation, which isn’t always a good thing per individual case even if it’s always a good thing overall.
Same goes for change overall. It seems to be outside many people’s conceptual framework that you can not file all change under one positive, progressive nomer, and that some change is in fact regressive, or really not change but outright replacement, such as Fallout 3′s.”
My point in regards to the analog/digital switch was as follows: If you have followed the news remotely, then you will quickly notice the controversy that had been brewing concerning the television broadcast switch. Many people argued that it would be near impossible to switch over all the antennae being used, claimed the new system was all for naught, etc. In the case of television, opponents were generally and utterly wrong, especially since the majority of televisions have already been rigged for digital interface. How does this relate to Fallout 3? Just as Brother None said, it’s the same form of progress except that in this case, most can say the original format was much better.
Ausdoerrt stated on NMA:
| Quote: |
| “But, still it’s entertaining to shoot someone in the head and have all of their body parts explode into gore.There’s nothing to get from the article after this. I wonder how the guy who loved the asploding heads even conceived of writing something bad about FO3. Anything from calling the levelup system “complicated” to the graphics “amazing”, etc etc was laughable.
Well, the only thing he got spot-on was the music. The rest of the article lacked any serious analysis, was full of errors and whining about similarity with Oblivion, which wasn’t even that important (not for me anyway, some other stuff was much worse, like the broken levelup system etc.)” |
No matter how over-analytical I may become in life, how much knowledge I obtain, I will always understand, if not enjoy, my baser instincts. Can I grasp the inner workings of masterfully worked plots? Most of the time. I can also have an amused chuckle at bits of people getting blown halfway across the D.C. Metro area. I can also empathize with other people’s ideas of games. While I connected with the level up system no problem, to many it was foreign, new, and a burden. My articles are meant for all gamers and, as such, I will continue to write with them in mind.
Anonymous commented on TBMAG:
“Yeah yeah… what about character development?? What about dialog?? what about monotonous voice acting (except for ron perlman, mr. president and three dog)?? What about insipid NPCs??? What about the magnanimously stupid enemy AI?? If you are gonna give us a shooter (combat plays like a shooter) at least try to give the enemies some AI… What about graphical glitches and wooden animations brought in from Oblivion without a single upgrade?? What about supermutants transformed into mindless orcs?? What about raiders tranformed into midless reavers [from firefly]??”
This is where my weakness comes to the surface of my writing. In many cases, I will not have the ability to go into great detail as to all the aspects of a game that need to be considered. That, in a way, is my fault for not taking the time to do; although, I am also not aiming to reiterate the items brought up by numerous reviews online, in magazines, and on television. While I completely agree with all of these points, I am focusing on those points of a game that I feel aren’t being reviled as much as they should.
Now, let’s move on to the most controversial article of the three by far, Final Fantasy VII. Let me start out by saying that this was extremely difficult piece for me to write as I am guilty of many nostalgic leanings towards this game. Aside from Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, FFVII stands as one of my favorite RPG’s. As part of my original goals, I wanted to go headlong into my top games as well as much as my lowest. I will be responding to comments from TBMAG, http://www.n4g.com/News-347076.aspx , http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/1169/t1379296-games-you-probably-like-but-shouldn-ffvii/ , and http://www.gamegrep.com/blog/21900-an_opinion_on_the_overratedness_of_final_fantasy_vii/#c128322 for this section.
I’d like to begin by giving a very large shout out to Celes Leonhart from the NeoSeeker forums. I posted this blog there, knowing that there would be quite an outcry against it; however, within the depths of people hating me merely for the title, this moderator of the site stood up and tried to point out the obvious: People should read the articles before commenting. Celes brought clarity of thought to an overall quickly deepening hatred for the article and possible the site as a whole. I was afraid of such a backlash, but once again I can’t thank Celes enough.
Biohazard01 on TBMAG and Biohazard01_FF7 on NeoSeeker stated roughly the same thing:
Quote:
“I don’t understand what this guy is trying to say. Is he saying that FFVII is such a great game, we should hate it? Is he saying that FFVI had a better plot structure than FFVII? Lmao! “
“His argument: the game is so great, there are so many fans, argo, it’s stupid. Hahahahahaha!”
‘I mean, Kefka? Epic win! Sephiroth FTL. ur a noob if u dont agree.’ I doubt you know the meaning of the word ‘noob’. When you do, come back and talk to us.”
Obviously these two screen names were the same individual, but this response was so often declared it almost scared me out of continuing the column. Ladies and gentlemen, while I intend of running this column and writing it with respect, one of my most used mediums for points is sarcasm. I personally like VII better than VI; however, that final comment was intended as a sarcastic play on how “fanboys” refer to games. In the future, I may somehow accent sentences of phrases that are facetious, but only if readers comment that they feel it is necessary as well.
Speaking of fanboys, numerous individuals commented on my use of the term, so many in fact that I don’t feel like I should quote any single one. Once again, this is in the same vein as the “noob speak.” Fanboy is a term I use with heavy sarcasm because, by all means, I could be considered part of the throngs as well. I also note that I’m referring to the minority of those people who are, without a better word, obsessed; this is not a topic I expected would cause such uproar.
Wraith from NeoSeeker said:
“Like I said last time I haven’t read the article as you put it, it’s about fanboys, and I’ve herd that speech so many times now, and it doesn’t change the facts 
I’m more replying to what you guys are saying, so all I know is what you guys are writing here.”
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most individuals who do comment on the articles actually read them. I don’t feel I need to go in depth about this. This is on par with me saying that I refuse to watch The Godfather and think its “stupid” based on the fact that I hated the Sopranos. Before anyone gets mad, I enjoy both, so no nasty comments on my poor tastes in mob related material.
There were other comments based on the idea of opinions and having favorite games. As a final statement on this, I will say this. My point was that it is fine to have a favorite game; I in fact have many. What is unhelpful is the decision that a single game is better than any other and will continue to be in the future. It taints your perspective for anything you may come across.
Normally, I would go into the third piece, Need for Speed: Most Wanted; however, I didn’t get enough comments to really justify it. Let me make it clear though that I do appreciate those who took the time to read and hopefully enjoy it. As for those who claimed this was way too outdated, where were you for the FFVII review? Well, to appease those individuals, I will be starting of the next trio with the very modern, especially with the announced sequel, Uncharted, so stay tuned.
As a final, but most important thought, I just want to thank all of my readers, the TBMAG staff, my close friends who support me in this, Allison, and the source of all my writing ability. If it weren’t for you all, none of this would be possible.
-Brandon
Enjoy!
Retro Reviews: Blaster Master
Blaster Master: Blasting its Way to My Heart
This being my first article, it seemed only appropriate that I review one of my favorite games of all time. Blaster Master was released in November of ‘88 by Sunsoft (now defunct in the US), and was met with positive reviews and respectable sales. Oddly enough, it never garnered the kind of notoriety that similar games like Metroid and Zelda enjoyed immediately after their release. Since 1988, Blaster Master has had four sequels, been listed 63rd on Nintendo Power’s Top 100 Games of all Time, 184th on EGM’s Top 200 Greatest Video Games of All Time, and is widely considered one of the most underrated games ever made.
Blaster Master is a localization of a Japanese Famicom game entitled Super Planetary War Records: Metafight. The game’s storyline was heavily altered upon entering the US market. While this usually spells doom for a video game’s legacy, the simple story of a boy fighting evil to rescue his pet frog seems to fit the NES. Why not? Mario fought flying turtles to save some dame! The instinctive human nature to defend the helpless and stand by our friends somehow propels this story forward and provides motivation for the following levels.
As far as game play, Blaster Master seamlessly incorporates several different experiences, which was unusual at the time. When the game begins, Jason is side-scrolling in his tank and can drive, jump, and shoot enemies with his cannon. However, it doesn’t take long to realize that Jason can hop out of his tank at anytime and go it on foot. This adds an interesting dynamic as there are certain places the tank cannot go. Jason is far smaller than the surrounding enemies and much more susceptible to harm without his four-wheeled protection. Then, after the tank has been abandoned, you will see little doors through which Jason can enter. These doors introduce top-down shooter levels similar to Zelda. And while the common player may think that these three distinct options seem too much, Sunsoft has sewn them together so well that the transitions are not apparent.
Blaster Master shares another similarity with some of the more popular ‘80s games: the story is not linear. You can roam the game freely and may discover that you must go back to go forward, or that you need a tank upgrade before you can get past a certain barrier or enemy. There is one point after the third(?) boss that you realize you must go all the way back to the first area to get to the fourth.
These elements are commonplace by today’s standards. We see freeform hybrid games all the time. Blaster Master was one of the founding fathers of the modern video game, and yet, is sadly underappreciated. It is unlikely that it will never be as famous as its first-party counterparts, or that we will ever see another sequel. Yet, it’s only faults lie in a significant amount of speed reduction when more than two or three enemies are onscreen (common among NES games, including Zelda), and that it is notoriously difficult. There are no saves, no passwords, no continues. You must beat the entire game with the lives that you are given. If you are interested in beating this one, I would suggest an emulator. But please, treat yourself to this game and appreciate one of the unsung heroes of the 8-bit generation.
-Jared
Recently, this column has caused quite a stir against those who live by an inflated sense of nostalgia. While I don’t intend on contradicting myself, I do intend to show an example of how nostalgia can remind people how far downhill we have gone. Unfortunately, these nostalgic musings are not the only problems facing games and gamers alike these days. Another one of these culprits takes the face of sub-culture idealism.
Don’t get me wrong; some, if not most subcultures or even pop cultures have decent things to contribute to society. For instance, the Grunge music and life style that spawned in the early nineties gave the world Nirvana and the even more powerful Silverchair; though, I doubt most outside of Australia have ever given the band a second thought. Without degrees of both gothic and emo culture; I don’t think Tim Burton would have a career at all. The problem, much with nostalgia, lies in the excess of a culture or the forcing of one.
In the late nineties after the Grunge era, the world had gotten over Will Smith’s clean rap and moved on to the lyrics of Notorious, Tupac, and a slew of other MC’s. Gamers on the other hand were still experiencing a rather “clique”less form of entertainment. Sure, Parapa The Rapper came in and jazzed things up, but you expected that from the start. JRPG’s lovingly starred angst-filled teens. I even think there was a Michael Jackson game thrown into the mix somewhere along the line.
The point remains though that the majority of games stood outside the bounds of culture’s influence. For instance, I can’t think of one subculture that would lay claim to the legendary Mario mushroom, not including the present day geek phenomenon. Spyro the Dragon didn’t hate himself while listening to My Chemical Romance. Back then, you could simply race in a racing game as you still can through Grand Turismo. I understand the merits of the intense driving simulator; however, I wanted more. As a young, listless teen, I needed an exaggerated experience that I had only dreamt of…
Enter Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
This was a strange cornucopia of dreams all meshed into one, albeit graphically limited, game. What teenage, young man didn’t want to race excessively fast and expensive cars? What about police chases? Spike strips? Helicopters? Even the scantily clad, yet quite polygonal women waving on the start and end of a race were something ripped right out of a dream. One inspired shortly after a boy’s realization that women had breasts.
It was everything just about every teen wanted and it lacked exactly what it should have: Plot. Rather than attempting to tell a story through the impersonal actions of cars, Hot Pursuit allowed every teen and me to interject our own plot. Whether I was racing against the school bully for rights to his woman or I had stolen the car and the cops were after me, I could fill the game with my own inner turmoil and desires. In a way, games made in such a fashion allowed the player to practice at an imaginative form of life to prepare for reality.
Enter Need for Speed: Most Wanted
By any means, the most direct sequel to Hot Pursuit as it fully incorporated the presence of police once again, Most Wanted was a much anticipated title for me. It was next gen, better handling, more cars, more customization… On the surface, this was the perfect upgrade. It even had a plot added; then, it hit me. They added a plot to a game that in some ways was all about perfecting male posturing. Rather than allowing the gamer to use the game as a medium for his or her own problem solving euphoria, Most Wanted had become a racing game that tried to tell a story. The even greater injustice in this situation was in fact the insistence on presenting the gamer with a forced representation of the racing subculture.
Now, I could understand if there had been certain undertones relating the game to the racing world. Such as the Asian character using a Japanese make car, a European driving a BMW, and an American of whatever race using “good ol’ American muscle” to win the day. There was no subtlety in this game; instead, Most Wanted relentlessly beat the gamer over the head with stereotypes and unnecessary cultural excesses. Whether it was the graffiti, “street” writing that often times led to illegibility, a main character that seemed more along the lines of an emaciated Eminem, or a host of other drivers that somehow dodged claims of racism only through the sheer lackluster writing behind them, Most Wanted spat in the face of its players. Most Wanted spat on the dreams we used to incorporate into it and told gamers that we should be inspired to fight authority through deep bass hits and baggy jeans.
Let me make something clear: I am not against rap culture. In fact, if I tally it correctly, the only cultures I abhor are the ones that pat themselves on the back for attempting to be a subculture. The problem here is that gamers were forced to relive the poorly written dream of a handful of people rather than allowing us all to live our dreams through it. Allow me to reference another series as a good example. In Grand Theft Auto III, you are in the mafia culture. In Vice City, it’s disco. In San Andreas, it’s street life. In IV, it’s Eastern European immigrant, which I found appealing due to how rarely American society has focused on the culture. What all of these iterations allowed gamers that Most Wanted didn’t was the right to choose. In any of the GTA games, you may be in a certain plot, but your character can change. The gamer has the ability to be a cowboy, a prep, straight gangster, or a host of things I’d rather not mention. You can even go so far as change the radio station to the music form you prefer.
Most Wanted decided for the gamer that we should all love and fight to be the same cheapened stereotype of a white, gangster driver rather than achieve what we want in our dreams and, in following, our own lives. Some games are made based on a culture, so they can’t be held to this argument. No one’s going to whine when 50 Cent’s game has tattoos and guns. No one’s going to blame a Madden game for egging on a house full of frat boys to think they could play football in the big leagues. Those games are based on those cultures whereas previous Need for Speed titles stood outside cultural leaning; though, Underground and its sequel did begin to have signs of a cultural shift. It’s this same vein of thinking that created Shadow the Hedgehog and possibly even the eco-friendly Mario Sunshine. I mean, someone has to appease the hippies at some point or we’ll have Woodstock all over again.
Do I want to race across a city with the police chasing after me? That’s an emphatic yes; however, I won’t do it when force fed a watered-down, stereotype ridden version of a culture. So as you all know, that’s why Most Wanted and the Need for Speed games following it are games you probably like, but shouldn’t.
Review: Crimson Gem Saga
Crimson Gem Saga, developed by South Korean IRONNOS, and published by Atlus was released for PSP May 26.
Crimson Gem Saga is sure to receive mixed reception, as it is very old school, and to some degree cliche for an RPG. In some minds, that is a bad thing, but as far as I am concerned it worked well. The game is highly polished, and well presented, which certainly helps the case for it. Additionally, the majority of the dialogue is brilliant with such lines as ” ‘My parents are looking down on me from above’ ‘Oh, sorry to hear they died’ ‘What?! They’re on an airship’ ‘Oh… gotta run’ ” or pop culture references like (paraphrased slightly) “Scruffy dun want to be a clown any more, when Scruffy gets reincarnated he wants to be something else, maybe a janitor.” Also some of the lines make jokes about cliches in RPGs as evidenced here:
To further add to the humor, in the next chapter you have to go on a fetch quest to retrieve medicine for a sick innkeeper. The game indulges in cliche, yet acknowledges and jokes about using it.
The plot again is somewhat on the cliche side. The main character, Killian von Rochoff has just graduated second in his class, and is disappointed in himself as he always ends up second best at everything. He meets a female treasure hunter and is thrust into an adventure to recover some ancient artifacts. He meets several unique characters along the way, and learns that someone is (GASP!) trying to revive an ancient evil and he must stop it. So yes a bit cliche, but the polish and dialogue really help offset that, and give it a sort of charm, like when two longtime rivals meet, one remarks “I was expecting some sort of epic fight to the death, glad that didn’t happen.” There are a few other twists along the way, but ultimately nothing amazing, just decent.
Gameplay in Crimson Gem Saga hearkens back to older titles, it is a simple turn based affair, albeit with a few tweaks. Characters can do basic attacks, use items, use skills, escape, etc. The tweaks are in the skills. First, each battle earns EXP towards leveling characters, and SP which goes into a common pool, and is used to unlock different skills on the Skill tree. Some of the skills that can be unlocked are combination skills requiring the two or more characters with said skill to have consecutive turns in battle. Most of the skill animations are great, even when seeing them for the umpteenth time. A couple minor issues I had with the gameplay is that first, two characters have an area-of-effect attack, that for some inexplicable, and presumably glitched reason, gives them vast amounts of experience and leaves the rest of the party behind, levelwise. Secondly, there is a dungeon in the game that is not mandatory until chapter four, but can be visited as early as chapter two, and the battles there distribute around four times as much SP as normal ones, which led to most of my skill trees being complete (or as complete as I wanted them) by the midpoint of the game. While certainly not a bad thing, the fact that I could just spam a really powerful attack to get through basic encounters felt a tad broken. Also, there are no random encounters, enemies are visible on the screen, and you can ambush them for extra damage by approaching from behind.
Crimson Gem Saga proves, in my mind, that the old school turn based RPG is far from dead. When presented well, and with charm, as is the case here, it can feel fresh and fun. My only qualm with the game is how short it is. I cannot say for sure, since the clock continues to run when the PSP is in sleep mode (which is a bit irksome), but I would guess I put around 25 hours into it. Let’s hope that if they make a sequel (and the ending is open enough for one) that it is considerably longer. That being said I wholly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of RPGs, whether you rent it, and marathon through it, or purchase it.
Gems of Gaming: Earthbound
Welcome to Gems of Gaming. This new column will cover games that I personally consider classic. The goal is to analyze these games objectively and look at what sort of impact they had on gaming once they were released. So without further ado, let’s get into it shall we?
I’m assuming here, and yes, I know assumption wins and loses wars, but let me finish…I’m assuming we all have a game that we remember from when we were growing up, a game that means something sentimental to us. That we spent hours tucked away in our room playing. When mom yelled that it was dinnertime we yelled back “Okay! Let me get to a save point!” In my case, that meant trying to find the nearest telephone to call my dad. That’s right. I’m talking about Earthbound.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the game in motion. I think that’s what really struck me. Not that graphically it wasn’t good, it was just…different. I’ve since come to appreciate the art style. In a world where game colors are under saturated and worlds look bleak and uninspired, it’s quite a breath of fresh air to see such a wide palette of color strewn across my TV screen. No, not just the look, the game play, the story, and even the soundtrack stood out. I knew back then that I was playing something special.
If you’ve never played Earthbound then you’re truly missing out on a classic. Released in Japan as Mother 2 (yes, there is a prequel and a sequel that have yet to hit US shores), Earthbound was met with modest success and warm reception. It wound up selling over 400,000 copies worldwide soon after. Maybe that doesn’t compete with Halo’s 9 million copies, but for an RPG and for the time, that was a tremendous success.
If I had to attribute just one thing to the timeless quality of the title, it would be the humor. Being a kid, a lot of the innuendo was over my head. Replaying the game as a teen, and then again in college, opened my eyes to the dry and witty writing that went into this title. The game was a huge laugh at American culture. It may have been a warped vision of what the Japanese think, but it was a humorous one nonetheless. Using a solid script, creating an intriguing look, and innovating new game play ideas is what made Earthbound such a well rounded package. This probably isn’t the first example of ‘Games as Art’ (and we could argue forever as to what constitutes art, but then, art is subjective isn’t it? Even though it goes against the objectivity of this column, I’ll stick with that for now), but it was the first one I experienced. Perhaps that’s why it’s so dear to my heart. I don’t think another game struck such a chord with me until ICO, which arrived years later.
Maybe you didn’t play Earthbound for other reasons? You thought it looked silly and childish? An honest mistake. Let’s face it, at first glance the game appears to be a the bastard child of a Disney coloring book and David Lynch film. Don’t let the scribble-style artistry fool you, Earthbound was not for the faint of heart. Anyone remember Diamond Dog? How about trying to get the Gutsy Bat? The Sword of Kings? This was a difficult (read:brutal) game. However, there were innovations in Earthbound that were revolutionary for their time, and one could argue, still revolutionary today. First person battle perspective in an RPG? That was something unexpected during my first encounter. Being able to level to the point where you can SMAAAAAAAAAASH!! enemies? What a fantastic idea! Why don’t we see more of that in RPG’s today? It rewarded the player for working hard enough to gain a level that was considered outrageous at that stage in the game. Perhaps Final Fantasy XII displayed a similar (if altered) use of this feature. The Gambit system allowed for you to quickly level in an area where you far surpassed the strength of the monsters. Did some inspiration come from Earthbound? It can’t be proven, although it’s likely, but let’s move on.
In addition, the superb cast of characters in the game took the story to unparalleled heights. I understand the need for voice over’s in modern Role Playing Games, but you have to admit, not naming your party does take a bit of the connection out between the player and the characters. Not only did Earthbound let you name your alter ego and your dog, but your favorite pastime became your ultimate attack? Heck yeah!! There’s a good chance my final power was Video Game Omega…I’ll leave it up to you to decide. And of course, after realizing what the ‘favorite’ name did, I can imagine more than a few juvenile things I attempted (well, succeeded) to call it. $@!!*% Omega anyone? This sort of customization connected you to that world. On top of that, the characters were all memorable. You were able to travel to each one’s homeland and develop their back-story. There was a substantial portion of the game devoted to fleshing out your entire party. Hmmm, I seem to remember a few other travelers going to Wutai, Cosmo Canyon, and Rocket Town in a game that would come a few years down the road. Interesting. But again, it’s not that this was revolutionary, it’s just that Earthbound did it so well.
Before I wrap up, let’s talk about combat. I touched briefly on this earlier. Earthbound did not have random encounters. Instead the player was treated to seeing each enemy on screen. Unlike most RPG’s however, there were some tactics to how you engaged your opponent prior to entering the battle. If you engaged an enemy from behind, the screen would swirl green, meaning that you had activated a preemptive strike. If the opposite, they would have the one up on you. This added a new twist to every area you entered. Stronger enemies would pursue you, while weaker parties would flee. I think we all remember a few times in Dark Side, while frantically trying to figure out where to go, that we were running our tails off from pieces of art and demonic fire hydrants. It added so much fun to simple dungeon crawling. I hate to even call it that. It makes most RPG dungeons seem like a complete bore. Anyone out there played Eternal Sonata? Was I the only one who thought “WHOA! Earthbound!” when they explain that you can gain an advantage by engaging the enemy from the rear? Yeah. Just another example of a simple, yet very effective, influence.
So you’ve never played it. Well, I have to ask: What are you waiting for? Give this game a shot. I know it’s difficult, but stick with it. The scenery is out of this world, the adventure is epic, and the ending is something I will never forget. Go grab an emulator and play this now. It’s truly a gem of gaming.
-Garrett
