Showing posts with label Playstation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Playstation. Show all posts

Friday, 23 May 2014

Games| Finished Recently: Gone Home and Child of Light


Let's start with this one, it's a story exploration game.
There is a huge debate between "gamers" whether Gone Home can be considered a game, because some consider it's merely an interactive story but not as saying that is not a bad thing and just consider as an interesting way to tell a story and others do consider as a story exploration game to tell a very human and very close to heart-warming story.
If you were expecting some horror exploration game or action, something of critical thinking and logical  game, win or lose game, danger, then this game isn't your cup of tea, it won't suit your tastes and you will find boring, because it doesn't have your own sense of "fun" there.
Now if you want to know a story, a human story, 90's nostalgia, you like to investigate and explore, examine as a way to explore the story, then you're in for a treat.
Now my own experience with the game, I did quite love the game, not my favourites in general, but is the only PC game I really enjoyed so far, I loved it because it was telling a beautiful story through exploring the house, knowing the characters, pick objects and notes and studying them and being the clues to understand the plot and  the characters, main character being your younger sister Sam and the player, the older sister Katie, the objective of the game is exploring the house to know what's has been going on while you were abroad, why is it empty and all this it's up to your own interpretation basing in what you find and search, in a very bad weather, which gives an very interesting experience.
I do consider as a game since gives an interactive experience, you explore the house, there clues piecing them up together tells a story, the more you advance in the exploration, the more you advance in the story and reach it's closure, in another words, story exploration game, with a different subgenre, drama.
to give you some idea before of thinking give it a try.

(if you're still unsure because of the price, you know there is ways to play for free right? :p)

Next is:

The current RPG of the moment, specially being a platformer Turn-based RPG, what's the best way to describe this game? Beautiful, charming and innocent.
This game is literally an fairytale in form of platform and RPG merged together in one, even though I don't like platformers (besides being terrible at them), the exploration and get items and open chests is platformer style, even being inventive by having a firefly friend Igniculus using his light to open specific chests and doors and slow down some traps(other special abilities such blinding enemies to avoid a battle, slow them down in battle and heal you and help solve the puzzle by using his light, which makes the game accessible), the RPGs elements it's in battle, HP and MP, each characters has attack moves and special abilities, so you can use different strategies to defeat your enemies and bosses and crafting.
But there is something different besides the exploration and finding chests, for example, in traditional RPGs, you can buy and sell items, but here is the opposite,you can't buy or sell them, you have to search for them and gain from battles) so besides relying on Robella (but requires MP to heal you) and Igniculus to heal you but it has limits, so balance it out so you won't rely too much on them so it won't waste their MP and energy, such as those plants to heal, the items (careful not wasting them since you can't buy them) you find and everytime you level up, you recover your HP and MP, so there is quite an well executed balance, making the game accessible.
Now the Story and the dialogue, there has been some minor complaints, such some thinking the rhyming dialogue was forced (try writing a rhymed dialogue for a less 30 hours long game then) and the story some found boring, others thought for rendered pretty story had an abrupt ending, some say it wasn't a complex story - I think the story is beautiful with it's imperfections (beauty doesn't mean perfection), when we think about it, most fairytales has abrupt endings, what makes the story pretty, it feels like telling a child a fairytale and this child is us and with it's beautiful illustrated watercolours-ish  like a pop-up fairytale books.
Child of Light has beautiful art, music (I love it, I listen to it almost everyday xD) and story, by the way, my favourite character is Igniculus, the firefly.


Let me advise you, before give a try to any of these mentioned or others, have low expectations, otherwise you will be disappointed by high expectations and don't follow blindly critically acclaimed and then be disappointed because isn't your kind of game or wasn't the way you wanted, many games or movies or animated series can be of great quality but maybe not suit your tastes, quality and personal tastes are different things.

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Rant: likeable and unlikeable characters to evaluate quality of a game/tv show/book/movie, isn't subjective?

I do always have an issue when people make a review about a game or tv show or film or book or comic book or graphic novel, they write or say for example:

"this A game has likeable characters so it's good" or "This B animated show has dislikeable characters therefore it's bad".

With these examples, that's where my problems resides, a quality of a story doesn't reside if the characters are likeable or not, because people have different opinions on what they consider likeable or not, it's quite like in Harry Potter books and movies, each person who read the books has a different vision of the characters, so of course the actors wouldn't be like exactly or very similar to the character as the readers had in their minds, so the right way to evaluate a character is by analysing and see how well-rounded they are, not if likeable or not.

The purpose of well-rounded characters, it's not with the intention to make the character likeable or glorified or to be a role model but to treat as a person first with flaws, virtues, strengths, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, the amount of resilience, convictions, ideals, not a black-white character but much deeper and complex, more to the character than what meets the surface.

Many people has the bad habit of judging a character or evaluate them basing on what's on the surface of their actions, don't even question why he/she did, when given reasons is:
"because he is a jerk" or "because she is annoying" (each person has a different ideas of what they consider annoying or jerk) and when they say why they think a character is annoying or jerk:
"because it did A,B,C,D,etc.",  but the actions/reactions/personality traits and why he/she did it, that's what a well-rounded character is. Remember Understanding is different from Liking, understanding a character doesn't mean you like the character.
It's noticeable likeable and dislikeable is a matter of a personal subjective opinion and not an evaluation.
If the characters are well-rounded or not, it's an evaluation.

there is many well-rounded characters I dislike, Umbridge, Voldemort, Amon, Lucius Malfoy, "Father" Homunculus, etc.
as much there is many well-rounded characters I like and love, Atemu/Atem"Yami No Yugi", Yugi Mutou, Harry Potter, Izayoi Aki, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Azula, Aqua, etc...(yeah, too many to list).

also there are few well-rounded characters which I feel indifferent or like and dislike, Snape (sorry fans, but he is in my like and dislike list, in another words, in the middle :p), Mazaki Anzu (same with Snape), most of the Homunculus, etc.

I hope I was clear :).

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Pottermore News: is 1st instalment of GoF coming very soon? | Games: Nostalgia playing Kingdom Hearts HD

a teaser picture shared and revealed from Pottermore Facebook Page...The Portkey...

You know what it means...it's definitely coming soon, there is a quite a chance is next week or one more.


Now the subject on nostalgic feelings while playing Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix, I am now on Agrabah, not favourite worlds but excellent to explore, can't wait to get to Halloween Town and Peter Pan (to get glide and float in the air) and then Hollow Bastion, Yeah, I'm still quite far to get there, I love also the end of the world.
the only thing I don't like about Agrabah is Bosses except for the Cave of Wonder Entrance which is awesome.
probably the only complain of the game I have is the camera, the rest of it it's still pretty good as the 1st game 10 years ago I played.

Monday, 23 September 2013

Finished Playing: Tales of Xillia and post arrival of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix

Today I finished, it always feels good when you finish a game, specially a game you enjoyed so much, the achievement and the feeling and watching when the story evolves and ties up toward that end of the story.
I love completed stories for this reasons in a video game, you play the story from the main characters perspective.

I loved Tales of Xillia, I do definitely look forward to Tales of Xillia 2 that's coming in 2014, which is a aftermath of Tales of Xillia but also a new story centring a new main character but the beloved characters from Tales of Xillia is back to help this new main character.
I liked the ending a lot, it is not really happy ever after ending but gives the idea of a good story ends, the main characters still having problems but healthier, stronger, wiser and bit happier being conscious of the path they chosen will be hard and worth it.
I love all characters except Ivar, but favourites will be always Milla and Jude for the reasons I posted before about the game.

xillia-image.jpg

Something funny and very amusing happened while still in the ending of the game...
you see, I bought Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix through Amazon a week ago and arrived today while Tales of Xillia was passing the credits, I really wanted the game to arrive once I finished Tales of Xillia, so it literally happened, I was thrilled and laughing because it's very amazing and funny this happened.
I'm still overwhelmed by it, the fact that Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix arrived and the game right in front of me and still hasn't sink in I finally have it (this feeling happened before with Fire Emblem: Awakening) and also I haven't been playing this game for 10 years, I couldn't play as much I'd want to because my little brother took with him, I'm a huge fan of the games.


kingdom_hearts_hd_1_5_remix_6.jpg
I plan to play tomorrow morning (Tuesday, 24th September)

Saturday, 17 August 2013

Games| Finished and replaying - Fire Emblem Awakening and Playing Tales of Xillia

I finished the game, the game is amazing, at least for me is, I loved the ending, it's so sweet, even though the characters sayings to Robin took long come through all of them was a bit boring, but I loved it's closure.

I still can't say much who my favourite characters are, since I didn't have all the children and characters to the army, but for now I can assure is My Unit(female), Chrom, Lucina, Morgan, Lon'qu, Cordelia and Lissa.
it's quite a good number of characters, I like most of them, many of them have their quirks which I found funny and interesting, which makes the characters all the more unique.

Now I'm replaying as the male My unit, whom intend to marry with Lucina and this time I will make sure to get all the characters of the story (Tharja, Gaius and the other children) - some change of couples though except for Lon'qu and Cordelia.

as the title says, I'm also starting to play Tales of Xillia, on Milla perspective - so far from where I am, I'm still kinda at the start...recently Elize joined in the battle and I'm in Sharilton, I'm liking the game very much.



Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Pottermore - Playstation Home, new locations!!

most of you must already know (who uses pottermore and playstation home) about the new location, you can go to your own common room, explore the great hall and have charms class practice wingardium leviosa, you're able to buy a house in Hogsmeade (but you can't explore Hogsmeade you just have it's view  from window).

I have to say that from most part I like, but I have a few complaints and complaints about complaints.
some of my complaints would be about for example, I think it should be possible go to the dormitory not just the common room, the dormitories is technically a part of it, between the 4 houses is 2 towers and 2 close to the great hall...the other still remains, I think after the sorting ceremony, it should be given change of color in the robes and tie from grey to the color of their houses, so you don't, you have to buy it.

the Hogsmeade house, I heard a lot of complaints and some of them quite unnecessary, but I have to disagree, I do kinda agree with the restrictions, if this is supposed your character living house of Hogsmeade, the only wizarding village, logically has to be decorated and wearing it for the spirit of the books itself and it's meaning and not to someone's personal liking (for that you have your own apartment in Playstation Home), to see more like how a house of a wizard looks like usually.

I'm glad you can't still explore Hogsmeade in Playstation Home yet, because that would be unfair for those who don't own a ps3, in my opinion, some wizarding locations should start from the pottermore website first.
Now for example, Hogwarts grounds, I hope will come soon, it would be cool to see Quidditch Pitch, Owlery, Forbidden Forest, the moving staircases, etc...
another cool thing that would be cool (lol), like Book of Spells, have the chance to make potions with Move (I think it would be much easier to make potions xD, though I don't have much problem with it), Transfiguration, etc. I still don't own Book of Spells, wish I could though.

putting the little problems aside, able to explore your own common room (it's really neat, it's very well detailed as much Hogwarts Express, Diagon Alley and the Great Hall), but for you to enter it, you must have Pottermore account and got through chapter 7 (in another words, after the sorting ceremony),
I see what you did there... ;), this must be one of the strategies, to have new users into pottermore and maybe give incentive those who haven't read books to read it and come back again.

Pottermore Facebook is starting giving trivias, I know what this usually means :), it means the last instalment of Prisoner of Azkaban isn't very far now...(probably at the end of June or middle of July.