Dark Souls: You can't kill something that's dead...can you?

Hey there. Haven't been updating this blog in a LOOOONG time so I guess I'll get back to it. I recenntly purchased an Xbox 360 game titled "Dark Souls" two days ago and I can confidently say that I made a good choice. This game is a mix of action RPG with good old-school Dungeons and Dragons elements such as Warriors, Mages, Undead and the like. However, it comes with a very large catch that makes it no ordinary hack-and-slash RPG. Let's get started.

The game starts out innocently enough, with a character customization menu that allows you to decide how your character will look like, from the gender to the hairstyle and all that jazz. Pretty standard stuff for an RPG. Next you get to decide your character class and you have 10 to choose from, but before we go into them, I'll explain each of the Stats that are in this game:

Vitality:
The higher this is, the more health you have. Also boosts overall defense and resistances by a teeny bit.

Attunement:
Determines the number of Spell Slots you have (VERY important for the magic class) and overall item drop rate from killed enemies.

Endurance:
Increases maximum Stamina, increases Equip Burden (will elaborate later) and Bleed Resistance. The most useful Stat for all classes.

Strength:
Increases damage done by melee weapons. Essential for melee classes, no shit. Certain weapons also have a Strength Requirement to be wielded properly.

Dexterity:
Increases damage done by advanced weapons such as spears and bows. Equally as important for some melee classes as Strength. Certain weapons also have a Dexterity Requirement to be wielded properly.

Resistance:
Increases overall Defence and Poison Resistance. The most useless Stat in the game (IMO).

Intelligence:
Increases Spell power and Curse Resistance. Essential for mages, no shit Sherlock.

Faith:
Increases Miracle power and Magic Defence. Semi-important for pure mage classes.


Now, let's start with the Character Classes.


1. Warrior
Armed with a Longsword, Steel Shield and Leather armor. Overall, a balanced melee class with more or less equalized Stats. Good for beginners. Will be able to wield most weapons early in the game. Will require more investment into Intel and Faith to use magic earlier.

2. Knight
The game's Tank, armed with a Broadsword, Tower Shield and Plate Armor. High vitality and heavy armor at the start of the game makes the Knight very hard to kill. Perfect for beginners as can now afford to make more mistakes=get hit more often and not die. Pretty high Faith Stat allows the Knight to use useful Miracles such as Heal at the start.

3. Wanderer
A melee class that focuses on swift combos and evasion, armed with a Scimitar, Light Shield and Light Armor. Modest health and damage, but high Dexterity coupled with the Scimitar's fast attacks allow the Wanderer to take out most enemies before they can counter. Higher than average Intel gives players the option of learning spells to assist.

4. Thief
The "stealth" class of the game, armed with a Bandit's Knife, Target Shield and Thief's Garments. Backstabs and ripostes (counter-attacks) are the bread and butter fighting tools for the Thief. Fast movement allows the thief to circle enemies quickly for a critical hit, and makes for fast rolling and sprinting. Also starts out with a Master Key that unlocks most of the locked doors throughout the game without having to find the correct key first. An advanced character class for more experienced players.

5. Bandit
The heaviest melee attacker in the game, armed with a Battle Axe, Spider Shield and Brigand Armor. Has the highest starting Endurance and Strength of all the classes, and high Vitality. An all-out melee fighter that specializes in Axes, Clubs and the like. However, starting Dexterity, Intel and Faith means that the Bandit will need some time to be able to wield other more dainty weapons like Spears and Bows, or use magic/miracles. Most effective when equipped with Light to Medium Weight armor as it allows for quick movement with devastating attacks.

6. Hunter
A very versatile fighter, armed with a Bow and Arrows, Short Sword, Large Shield and Light Armor. The Hunter has balanced Stats, but leads with Dexterity. You could say that the Hunter is the counterpart to the Warrior, but has lesser health, damage but faster attack speed. Usually the Hunter annoys enemies in a group with arrows and draw them away before finishing them with a melee weapon. Reasonable Intel and Faith can also open up paths to learn magic to accompany his bow and arrows. For intermediate players.

7. Sorcerer
The basic Mage class, armed with a Dagger, Small Shield, Catalyst and Sorcerer Robes. The best class to use if players intend to rely solely on Magic to win fights. Able to cast Soul Arrow from the start of the game, with 30 uses making it a very useful all-round spell to dispatch and snipe enemies with. However, like all games, the Sorcerer has very low health and defence, and will fall before enemies that get too close or in an ambush. The only tactic is to flee to a distance and use more spells. High starting Intel and Faith allow the Sorcerer to branch out into any magic type he/she chooses.

8. Pyromancer
The "combat mage" of the game, armed with a Hand Axe, Small Shield, Pyromancy Flame Glove and Pyromancer Robes. This class strikes a good balance between melee combat and offensive magic, relying mostly on fire spells provided at the start of the game and switching to melee combat when things get too close for comfort. Is able to branch out to learn Sorcery like the Sorcery, but requires a bit more investment into Intel. Although able to use melee well, low starting armor and health still makes ranged magic the better alternative. Suited for both beginners and experienced players.

9. Priest
The Healer of the game, armed with a mace, Kite Shield, Canvas Talisman and Monk Garments. This class is valuable because of only one thing: Healing through magic that the Priest can conduct from the start of the game. This allows the Priest to progress further than other Classes without the need of constantly returning to Bonfires for healing and Estus flask replenishment (elaborate later). Also possesses reasonable Strength that can be further invested into to make a "Paladin" class character. Also good for beginning players.

10. The Deprived
The true "hardcore" character class of the game, armed with...surprise, surprise, absolutely no armor at the start of the game, and only a miserable club and Plank Shield for protection. No armor means that getting hit at the start of the game equals death, hence this class is only for the most expert of players. All Stats of the Deprived are at the same number, making him/her have no specialities whatsoever and is up to the player to determine the play style of this character class. Beginners should never take this class. Like, never.


Just FYI, I chose the Bandit when I started the game. Yes, I have a thing for brute force characters, is that so bad? Don't judge me, dammit.

 

The Bandit: Violence always solves everything.

The game's controls are simple: Left Thumbstick to move, Right Thumbstick to move camera and Click to Lock-on, LB to block, RT to Parry, RB to Light Attack, RT to Heavy Attack, A to interact and navigate menus, B backstep/roll/jump and hold to Run, X to use item, Y to change combat stance, START to access menu, and D-pad to change active weapons and items. No Tekken/Devil May Cry Combo shit nonsense. If you see an enemy, bash it to death with RB and RT. If it attacks, block it with LB and LT. Well, that's what I thought at first. But I'll get back to that later, now comes to game's backstory.

The land is ruled by demons and the Undead. After the slaying of the Dragons at the start of the Fire Wars, where Gwyn the Lord of Sunlight, Nito of the Dead, Chaos Witch Quelaag and Seeth the Scaleless used the gift of Fire to wipe out Dragons from the Earth, the Undead slowly grew in power with the absence of the Dragons and slowly consumed the World. Soon, most of the humans were corrupted into Hollows, soulless beings that spiralled slowly into madness and devoid of Humanity, but certain few (like the player character) were branded with the Darksign, a ring on their bodies that return them from death's embrace, forever to wander the Earth until their Humanity is restored. You are one of the Signed, but your mind is not yet lost, and you one day wish to rediscover the secret of the Fire and save the world from darkness once more.

Ahem, now back to the game. The entire game is played in 3rd person mode, much like Oblivion, and features a world that is highly interactive and context sensitive. Pillars shatter when enemies attack them, hazards such as rolling iron balls and flaming barrels test your reflexes, enemies think for themselves and try to flank or ambush you when you least expect it. Actually, this game IS Oblivion. On crack. Combined with Monster Hunter. Yeah. Sweet. I must say, the overall presentation of the game is superb; colour and amount of light in different areas bring out the fear and trepidation of players from place to place, the sounds of the environments and footsteps are crisp and detailed, the graphics are superbly detailed right down to the last blade of grass, and area transitioning is seamless and requires no loading whatsoever. The game maintains a smooth frame rate, even in boss battles. So 10 points for presentation.

Left Knight: "That gateway looks inviting!" Right Knight: ".....dancing.....lights....oooooo...."

The Combat system in Dark Souls is pretty similar to Monster Hunter (don't mind the incessant MH references. It's a bad habit). One simple rule: Don't get hit. EVER. Keep your shield up, your wits sharp and your feet springy (in case you need to flee, which might not be as easy as in Pokemon or FF-the enemies chase you to the ends of the Earth). During Combat, you have to take note of the green bar underneath the red bar of your HUD (red=health. Keep it full as humanely possible.) which represents your Stamina. Stamina is used for actions such as swinging a weapon, sprinting, guarding and evading. Like MH (DAMN!) Stamina can drain rather quickly if a player just rushes the enemy without proper conservation of Stamina. Key to defeating enemies is good Riposte (if your Parry timing is good) or wait until they start recovering after an attack to smite them like the hand of God. Finding that you run out Stamina when you need to block a heavy attack or when your enemy is almost finished can easily put you in a bad situation, in other words cause your death, pal.

Holy Smiting of Eternal Smiting in progress.

Alas, all that combat but no place to rest your weary feet. Fear not, there are always Bonfires to be lit in your perilous journey. Bonfires sort of act as your place of rest and restoration, think of it as a...Pokemon Centre. Just that instead of reviving your friendly ball-contraption-residing creatures, it revives EVERY COMMON ENEMY THAT YOU HAVE SLAIN! That's right, every, single, one. So if you desperately need to heal because you have depleted your Estus Flasks, then see the warm, welcoming sight of a Bonfire, think twice before you go there, 'cause it means you gotta fight your way out again and risk death. After purchasing the right upgrades, you can repair and even reinforce your weapons and armor at any Bonfire, eliminating the need to struggle your way to the nearest blacksmith for any of these tasks. When you are killed, you respawn at the last Bonfire you rested at, but it comes with a heavy (but not irreversible) price...

10 games that I played as a child and why I found them compelling

I remember a time where I found everything and anything fun and exciting. Like a dog looking around enthusiastically when it enters a room, even though it has been to that same room for a billion times in its life, I felt that the games that I participated in when I was little was a fresh experience every time I went through it. I don't call it being simple, just...simple-MINDED. Here are 10 games which I played in my wonderful childhood and the reasons why they WERE so compelling to me and kids all over who play them as well.

Game #1: Zombies
No, I did not play with actual flesh-consuming, undead monstrosities. This game was coined "Zombies" because of the way it worked. Basically, it was a twist to the popular game of Tag. One person is chosen to be a Zombie while everyone else was Human. Once the Zombie is chosen, the Humans are given 10 seconds to run as fast and far away as possible before the Zombie chases them down. Once the Zombie "infects" a Human by tapping them, the "infected" person becomes a Zombie as well and chases the Humans instead. The game ends when everyone becomes a Zombie. This game was fun because of the increasing difficulty level as your Human allies drop like flies and go after you instead. Also inspires a sense of adrenaline rush and primal fear of getting caught which boosts the feeling of excitement in the players.

Game #2: Yu-gi-oh Card games
Two confessions at this point: one, I did not own a personal Yu-gi-oh deck when I was little, I had to constantly borrow my cousin's and two, I sucked at Yugioh and STILL suck at it. But I'm digressing. Basically, you build your YGO deck out of Monster, Trap and Spell cards and fight anyone who has their own deck. There are literally thousands of different cards available and most of them are geared towards a certain type of play-style. For example, monsters with high attack and defense points are for generally aggressive players, while those with special effects are for more subtle and unconventional players. I found this card game interesting because of the well-detailed illustrations on the cards and the simple gameplay. A bonus for this game was the sense of individuality it gave players and the spirit of friendly competitiveness it encouraged.

Game #3: Waterguns
Pretty self-explanatory. Rally a group of friends. get a bunch of water guns, fill them with water, have fun shooting at the opposing team, get wet. What was good about this game was that the simplicity and pure childishness of this activity was what made it fun in the first place. In a sense, it also built teamwork and cooperation among your fellow water gunners.

Game #4: Pokemon Games
Ah, the core of my childhood. The "Pokemon" series of Gameboy games was all the rage back in my time. Almost everybody I knew then played it. And they were pretty damn good at it, too. Basically, you play the role of a Pokemon Trainer who travels around the land, catching and training creatures with powers called Pokemon and use them to battle other wild Pokemon or Trainers. Eventually, you must face 8 exceptional Trainers known as Gym Leaders, acquire their badges and face The Elite Four, four powerful trainers and also their Champion. There, I just described the storyline of every single Pokemon game to date. Lame storyline aside, what I found found good about the Pokemon series was the sheer variety that every game brings, in the form of completely new and unique Pokemon with different powers. The graphics were basic at best, but what shone was the designs of the different Pokemon. You could feel the personality of each Pokemon by just looking at its appearance. The task of building up your Pokemon team also provided endless customization to players, which is crucial for a Role-playing Game.

Game #5: Hangman
A classic timekiller. I used to play this mini game all the time when I really had nothing better to do with my friends. Basically, one person comes up with a general theme, such as Movies or Famous People, and writes a word on that theme down, but only the spaces in which each letter is supposed to be. For example, if I were thinking of Sean Penn, I would write _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _. Everyone else takes turns guessing a random letter and if that letter is present in the word, you write it in. If not, you draw a line. Enough wrong guesses and the lines that you draw form a hanged man, the game ends, you reveal the word and bathe in your triumphant victory. What I found fun about this game was that you actually needed to use your noggin and be tactical about your guesses. Also, did I mention that it was a wonderfully effective timekiller?

Game #6: Uno
A very popular card game among people of all ages. Basically, Uno cards come in four colours (blue, green, red, yellow) and 10 numbers (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9). The goal is to throw away cards into the Pile to obtain an empty hand. To throw away a card, the cards that you throw must either have the same colour or number as the topmost Pile card. When you have only one card left when you throw away your cards, you must shout "Uno!" or be forced to draw cards if you are caught. I liked this game because you could play with as many people as you like, and can also be played anywhere at any time. The game's rules were also simple so everyone could join in on the fun.

Game #7: Beyblades
A (temporarily) popular phenomenon originating from Japan. Basically, you choose a "Beyblade", which is a high-torque, spinning top of death and destruction suitable for ages 6 and up, assemble it, find another person with a Beyblade, and duke it out by launching your Beyblade forcefully from a Shooter and pray that your top knocks the opponent's hard enough to make it stop spinning. Then that is considered a victory. Pretty lame, huh? Looking back, I'd agree too. However, this game was fun in the sense that it collecting all the different Beyblades with their cool designs and Creature Motifs was a real achievement. Don't know how that's related to playing the game itself, but heck, I'll go with that.

Game #8: Wario Land 3
Not very well-known in my childhood days, I found Wario WAY more kick-ass than Mario. And his games featured much more cartoon violence, too. In this installment of the Wario Land series, Wario is sucked into a world inside a magical music box and meets a statue which requests him to find 5 other musical boxes and bring it to the statue where its power will be restored and Wario will be sent back to the real world. So Wario rams, slams, crushs, hurls and rolls his way across the World and accomplishes his mission, fighting baddies and minions along the way. What I liked about this game was the unique way in which Wario gains and makes use of his powers to solve puzzles and advance. I also liked the way that each Boss fought and made the player think of the specific way to defeat them. The twist in the story at the end of the game further enhanced my experience playing Wario Land 3.

Game #9: Starcraft 1
This game was THE most popular game back in my time. And for good reason too. Starcraft is a RTS (real-time-strategy) game that focused on unit and resource management for players to defeat their opponents. Basically, you choose a race (Terrans, Protoss or Zerg) with each having their own strengths, weaknesses and strategies. You mine for Minerals and Gas to build your units and attack or expand your bases. Along the way, you acquire more powerful units to manage. You win when you decimate your opponent (s). There are so many things that I liked about this game, and STILL do till today, but I shall give those that appealed to me back then. First off, the units were extremely memorable with their catchphrases and quotes, such as the Marine ("You want a piece of me, boy?"), Firebat ("Need a light?") and Ghost ("Somebody called for the exterminator?) and designs which made the game hard to play and forget. Also, I found the gameplay fast paced and exciting, which kept me on my toes often. Finally, it was set in a space/alien game world. I mean, come on. How could any little boy not like that?

Game #10: Halo: Combat Evolved
The game that kick-started the global recognition and worship of the series that is the Halo series. You play the role of the iconic Master Chief, a super-soldier in his iconic jade-green MJOLNIR power armor. He is the sole survivor of his fellow super soldiers who were all destroyed on their birth planet, Reach, and fights for the glory and existence of the Human race, battling a cruel and overwhelming alien organization known as the Covenant. What I liked about Halo: Combat Evolved was the (then) incredible graphics and extremely smooth gameplay, the latter of which is a must for shooter games. The weapons were realistic yet kicked-ass at the same time, especially the Covenant weapons. The storyline and the characters, such as the holographic A.I Cortana, and the floating A.I 343 Guilty Spark, were distinct and captivating, immersing players to not only enjoy shooting alien punks, but to also sit down and appreciate the tale of Master Chief and all his struggles and convictions. The following games of the series, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo: Reach were also true winners. But please, don't mention Halo Wars. Like, ever. Please.

My life as a game...hmm....

Remember those good old times when we were all still little kiddies? We used to treat everything that happened around us as a game of sorts, regardless of whether they were good or bad. And how could we not? Society did not have its grip of tight schedules, rote learning and teaching us to follow the flow on us at the time, so out imagination ran wild and free. Well, here's my attempt to relive those moments and make 5 areas of my life into games. Here we go.

I call Game Number 1 "Bus Fuss". Basically, it's a reaction game. Here I am waiting at the bus stop and there's a specific bus number that I need to flag.  At the starting part of this game, the buses that go past the bus stop are slow and their numbers are quite brightly lit. The objective is to press a button (Spacebar, A button, X button, in the case that any console would be crazy enough to get this game on their platform) when the correct bus comes along, and success leads to the advancing of stages. With each stage, the buses move faster, their numbers are more similar, their signs are less brightly lit etc, therefore increasing the difficulty level. Flagging down the wrong bus 3 times ends the game.

Game Number 2 is called "Friend Finder". No, not that feature on Facebook. Here I am in a crowded shopping mall trying to find my friends to hang out. Every stage provides the player a general description of the friend that I need to find. Is the friend short/tall, chubby/skinny, a guy/girl? What clothes are they wearing? What kind of hair are they sporting? The player must scrutinize all the people in the stage and click on the person that fits the description. A quicker discovery of the person earns more points. With each stage, the total number of people in the stage increases and start to look more alike to confuse the player. The player will also need to find an increasing number of friends per stage.

Game Number 3 is coined "Hair Scare". As some people may know, my hair is incredibly important to me, sometimes taking precedence over my life. Here I am walking along the street minding my own business, when suddenly evil floating hair-destroying items assault my hair. The player controls my head as it moves in a side-scrolling fashion. The objective of the game is to move my head to dodge incoming items such as straight-hair shampoo, scissors, shavers, combs and the like. Each time my hair is hit, it becomes noticeably shorter and straighter. The game ends when my hair becomes completely straight and short. With each avoidance of an item, the incoming items move faster and deal more damage to my precious hair if collisions occur.

"Quiet Quest" is what I named Game Number 4. Here I am in the library, bored as hell. I decide to whip out my trusty PSP for some game time, but the librarian is out and about. The objective of this game is to fill up a "Fun Meter" by holding down the correct button to make me play the PSP, but the player must release the button to make me stop when the librarian's line of vision is on me. I can move about around the level (which will be viewed in a bird's eye view), but so can the librarian. If the librarian catches me playing, the stage is restarted. Difficulty increases with stage advancement as more librarians are added, the field of vision of the librarians are wider and greater, and they move faster as well.

"Ramen Race" is Game Number 5. Here I am, working my butt off at a ramen restaurant and it just so happens that I am the only service staff there. This game takes inspiration from the renowned Diner Dash, where I seat customers, take their orders, deliver their orders, serve their food, clear their bowls and take their bills. At the first level, business is slow and customers come in one by one and give simple orders. As the levels advance, the orders get more complicated, people get more impatient and families with elderly and even children start to appear. The elderly slow me down by taking a long time to order, and the children provide distractions such as spilling their food and running about, which takes away my time to clean up after them and avoid them. Soon, the Japanese come in and give their orders in pure Japanese, which requires the player to memorize the exact translations of the menu choices. The stage is failed when not enough cash is collected at the end of the day.

In a way, everybody is playing a game already. It's called Life and it's pretty hard to win. Go to school, get some knowledge, earn some cash, start some companies, find a spouse, have some babies, grow old well, pass away peacefully. Jeez, I'm still at the first stage and I'm already afraid of the later stages. Just gotta remind myself not to "quit"...if you know what I mean.

Fable 2: A Disappointment

"What's that? This guy is saying that Fable 2 sucks? BLASPHEMY!!! DIE, NON-BELIEVER!!!!!!!111!!" is what some people might say on Fable 2 naysayers such as me. But, nothing is without reason, and now, I shall go on to tell you gamers out there why Fable 2 was a disappointment for me.


First off, I'll tell you about some of the saving graces of this game. I liked the continuity, in the sense that Fable 2 retained old characters from Fable 1, such as Theresa (below), who is actually the blind sister of the protagonist in the first game but returns in the second game as a mentor and guide. I feel that this would make players of Fable 1 more comfortable with Fable 2's storyline and background of such characters and definitely help them understand what's going on.

Theresa in Fable

Theresa in Fable 2

I liked how the many characters in Fable 2 were uniquely designed and portrayed through their clothing, colours and even in mundane things such as the way they walked or talked when the main character encounters them. Look at the picture I included below. It's clear which of the characters walk the noble side of life, and which of them who thieve, kill and commit crimes. The characters were, I felt, the main factors that added the most variety to this game, which, as a Role-playing game, is supposed to have just that: variety.

Guess who's gonna treat you dinner, and who's gonna take it from you?

The game also gives you the freedom to do things that are unacceptable in today's world and STILL get away with it, such as making your male character dress in drag and strut his stuff, pointing the finger at passerby's and then farting in their faces, go on a 3 month mead binge or just start a mindless rampage and slaughter everyone in town, including the beggars. The possibilities are endless. Literally. Also, depending on the morality of your actions, the appearance of your character changes. Do good deeds and you'll be the living embodiment of angels. Do bad deeds though, and you'll sprout horns and blood-red eyes. And your appearance adversely affects the reactions of the people who see you.

A good but corrupt male and an evil but pure female. The Logicbomb goes boom.

Let's not forget the graphics. The environments, characters, weapons and clothing are wonderfully coloured and rendered. They're vibrant, interesting AND believable, especially the clothing. The general theme of Fable 2 was, I believe, the semi-Victorian age and the apparel in the game portrayed it beautifully. Movements of the characters and interaction of the player with the environment was good. Need to get to the bottom of a hill? Just approach the edge and hit the A button to slide down. Need to get past a fence but you (somehow) can't find the gate? Just press A to vault over it like a boss. Very fluid motions and pleasing aesthetics are always a welcome bonus to any game.

Vault a fence...LIKE A BOSS!

Now comes the rant.


Fable 2's storyline was, I felt, overly-used and very typical of a hero story. The game starts you off as a poor street urchin, living in a dilapidated shack with his/her older sister, scavenging enough food and warmth just to get by each day. You find this enchanted music box and suddenly is summoned by the Count of your town, Lucien Fairfax. It turns out that (surprise, surprise!) he wants your magical box that plays music and proceeds to shoot your sister and throw you off his tower. As if being poor wasn't enough. Anyway, the main character swears revenge on Lucien, meets the mysterious-stranger-who-would-later-help-you-succeed-in-your-quest, Theresa. She tells you that the only way to stop Lucien and his quest for immortality by somehow using that blasted music box is to make three Heroes join you; a Warrior named Hammer, a Mage named Garth and a Thief named Reaver. Warrior, Mage and Thief. Hmm. Now where did I see that before....? Oh yes, NOW I remember. In almost every damned RPG to date. How refreshing.

Hammer

Garth

Reaver

Next, the combat system. Calling it a "system" was a self-parody. It's very simple actually. See a bad guy, walk up to him, spam the Y button. That's it. He'll go down in no time, regardless of whether you picked your weapon up from Rust'R'Us or from the pure depths of awesome-ness. And how can he not? After all, every attack you do that lands on the enemy staggers him, allowing you to continue your onslaught with ease. And if that doesn't work, why not just blast him to oblivion with your magical spells that DON'T REQUIRE ANY MANA? Yes, you read that part correctly. No mana whatsoever is needed to cast the spells in Fable 2, including sick spells like Time-stop and Vortex. Happy day. And if swords and spells aren't your thing, why don't you try shooting the bastards instead? Ranged weapons are back and sicker than ever. So, yeah. Virtually unstoppable are the words to describe Fable 2's hero. Really now. Where's the challenge?!

INFIDEL! YOU SHALL PAY FOR...oops, wrong game.

Feel free to stop time anytime you want. After all, it's free.

The items in the game were, at the most, insignificant. Who needs potions when you can stop time? Who needs a shiny new sword when you can just bludgeon a guy to death with a blunt one? Although as I said before, the clothing and equipment look good on the character, they serve absolutely no purpose at all! No damage or defence bonuses, no extra perks like running or reloading faster, nothing. Sure, you just got a shiny, colourful new pencil. But after all that, it's STILL a freaking pencil. And the item-finding system is just crap. You have to trek around aimlessly for "treasure" chests that (most of the time) contain absolute rubbish. Imagine discovering a treasure chest after some hard searching only to find a condom in it. (Yes, you CAN do the nasty in Fable 2, but you don't actually see anything. And yes, you CAN contract some nasty diseases from it in the game.) Who puts a condom in a treasure chest? Honestly.

The side-missions and minigames in Fable 2 are, to put it bluntly, a lame joke. To earn gold in order to buy essential and valuable items such as condoms, you have to put your hero through "gruelling", manly jobs such as chopping firewood and forging swords. Before you ask whether a Kinect is needed for these activities, fret not. Basically, a "job" requires you to time your A button presses as a moving sphere enters a green area in a meter (see below for a rough idea). How gruelling. And the payout is the same for all the jobs in the game is the same. Yes, in this game, serving beer earns you the same amount of money as forging swords. Make sense? Oh yes, the side-quests are severely repetitive and mind-numbingly boring. Kill the slavers, rescue the slaves, hunt some beasts and what's next? Killing slavers. Whoopee.

Now THAT'S a hardcore job!

The ending of Fable 2 was left me speechless. No, not in the good way. It was more along the lines of "So I spent $69.90 for this game, spent at least 10 hours of my life wading through it, and this is how it ends. Hmm. I could think of a million different ways to spend that amount of money and time that would be infinitely better than this crap." Just...take a look for yourself.

So, the conclusion. I don't understand the hype about Fable 2. Note the word "don't". It means I didn't, and I STILL do not. Sure, the graphics are great, the characters are nicely made and there is great world-character interaction. But repetitive game-play, stupidly boring side missions, unbalanced weapons and spell casting and just an overall weak storyline held this game back when it had the potential to be so much more. My advice? Don't buy it. Ever. Just rent it, play through it while having a laugh, then return it.

I foresee a future review on Fable 3. Hopefully it'll be good this time.

Playtesting with a Pal

Playtesting: My Experience

As an avid fan of the Monster Hunter series, I naturally chose Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for the PSP as my play-testing game. Initiating a quest with my fellow classmate, Ming Che, I was excited at the prospect of defeating our target as a team. The basic aim of the game is to hunt down gigantic monsters with an arsenal of different weapons such as a Lance with an enormous shield, a mechanical Bowgun packing tremendous firepower and the fearsome Hammer that can stun monsters and dish out the hurt.

The fast loading speed (made possible by installing load data into the memory stck) was always a welcome perk. The excruciatingly long wait (about 15 to 20 seconds) everytime I initated a quest in the previous installment, Monster Hunter Freedom 2, was able to be reduced to just a mere 5 seconds in Unite, speeding up gameplay considerably.

Again, the realistic and well-detailed environments where the amazing yet believable monsters roamed never ceased to amaze me, especially since it was on a portable console system.

The various "boss" monsters of the game, which in majority of the quests were the main objective to be slain, were all unique and well-designed in their own right, and could instill different emotions in the player.

For example, I felt a slight fear when face-to-face with the Mighty Tigrex (below), whose powerful attacks could crush me in an instant, and I felt some frustration when fighting the agile Nargacuga (also below), whose speedy attacks and dodging gave me a hard time.

The Tigrex

The Nargacuga

However, some the monsters had unfair and badly implemented "hitboxes", which were invisible areas that caused you damage if you were in it. For example, the Diablos, a very tall creature, had a 360 degree tailspin attack that (somehow) always manages to knock me off my feet even when its tail was physically a few feet above me.

Imagine getting hit for no apparent reason and watching your precious health dwindle in the face of unprofessional and, dare I say it, lazy coding and dying as a result. Irritating would be an understatement. Also, repeating the same quest over and over and over again just to obtain that elusive rare material to craft a single weapon was indeed boring and repetitive, which would no doubt dampen the enthusiasm of some players at the prospect of spending 3+ hours to get one type of material.

Despite my previous point, the game does make up for this with extremely detailed and inspiring armour and weapon visuals, fluid gameplay and an exceptional mutliplayer experience.



Playtesting: My Friend's Experience

My friend and classmate, Ming Che, also had a copy of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite and thus could join me in quests via the PSP's Wireless Ad-hoc feature. Although his Hunter Rank (a ranking system in the game determined by the number and type of completed quests) was only 3 while mine was 9, Ming Che was definitely no inexperienced player. He was adept at a variety of weapons ranging from a Great Sword(an unbelievably large sword which he wonders whether you can actually swing it in real life) to a Long Sword or a katana, which allowed users to unleash devastating Spirit Slashes with consecutive hits. However, his best was a weapon called the Gun-lance, which is a lance outfitted with a cannon that allows users to simultaniously stab and shoot with it.

Ming Che enjoyed the various activities featured in the game like mining, fishing and catching insects. He also liked the equipment crafting system, which stipulated that players must use materials carved from dead or captured monsters such as wings, scales, shells and the like to create various aesthetically-pleasing armour and weapons that emulated the fallen beast. Like me, he also thoroughly enjoyed the multi-player experience of Unite that allowed him to clear harder quests with my assistance and definitely enhanced gameplay.

However, we were both in agreement that the game's badly-implemented hit-boxes that I mentioned in my play-test experience added frustration while playing. He also added that he was quite annoyed at the "Felyne Comrades", which were humanoid cats that could accompany solo players in quests and provide assistance, as the bombs that they threw usually interrupted his attack rhythm and hence were sometimes more of a hindrance than a help.

 

We both came to the conclusion that an intense game like Monster Hunter should be properly coded with good hit-boxes to avoid the unnecessary frustration from players. The constant "grinding" for rare materials wasted valuable time to an extent and also reducesd the enjoyability of the game. 

 

  Sure, the game throws you into the water without a tutorial and leaves you to learn fast which discourages many first-time players, but watching an enemy boss monster die before your eyes after a hard fight and then carving its remains is just so rewarding!

I just wish more people would come to know of this great game and come to appreciate its uniqueness.

First blog ever, first post ever.

OKAY, got my own blog now. To be honest, I couldn't really see the purpose of blogs, other than providing an outlet for netizens to troll someone endlessly, but now my viewpoint has changed.

From now on, this blog site shall be my platform for sharing any future artwork, videos, or anything else under the sun with the online world. Feel free to comment (or criticize) my work and I'll be sure to work on them.

Oh yeah, as you can see from my blog's background picture, I am also an avid fan of the Monster Hunter franchise and I currently play MH Freedom Unite on the PSP (US Version). I'm always ready for some ad-hoc action.