VGCulture - Cyber Monday Break

Hopefully those who waited all year for Cyber Monday Sales were able to find what they needed.  I've had a really busy morning and still have things to work out so I don't have much time to rant on today.  Steam is having their last day of Thanksgiving sales right now and I'm planning to buy "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" right after this post since I've been told that it's one of the best RPGs ever created.  I ended up buying Medal of Honor on Friday night, but I have some problems with it when I got it in the mail today.  Hopefully I can find a way to fix the problem.  Anyways, have fun shopping online and I'll be back on schedule tomorrow (hopefully).

GameLight - Tales Weaver Preview

I was planning on doing a review/analysis on Trine for PC since I finished the game yesterday before my friends and family came over for Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm still pretty worn out from last night and don't feel like going into detailed writing.  Thanksgiving Dinner was delicious and playing NBA Jam and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with my friends and family made it all the better.  So today, I went around my usual reading of game news and announcements and saw something that caught my attention.

Source: http://www.talesweaver.com/

An MMO called "Tales Weaver" claims to be an episodic adventure that uses similar mechanics of console RPGs to tell stories and utilizing action fighting in the RPG world.  I got this information from G4G, a blog that shares news about free games, including MMOs.  The game looks intriguing in that the player doesn't have to keep killing things in the same area for a quest or that grinding is necessary like many other free MMORPGs.  The fact that it follows a story and that there is a distinguishable progression in the game besides leveling makes me really want to play through it and see what story it unravels.  The Action aspect of the fighting seems to be enjoyable too, similar to how Shining Tears played on the Playstation 2 or Lunia for PC's MMO Action-RPG.  I've been neglecting MMORPGs for the longest time since I keep running out of Hard Drive space and have been playing most First-Person Shooters (FPS) in the past year.  I've already bought an extra TB of Hard drive from Black Friday sales, so I should be ready to get back into trying MMOs when I get it.

At the moment, I'm looking at a hard decisions of what to buy during these sales:
-Medal of Honor (PS3)
-Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PC)
-Fallout 3 (PS3)
-Sin and Punishment (Wii)
-Bayonetta (PS3)
-Uncharted 2 (PS3)

and others.  I'd really like to get a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops so I could play with my friends, but even the best deals I've seen are less than $10 off.  Maybe I really should cut back on the FPS and continue to finish up all the other old games I haven't played through yet on PS2 and Gamecube.  Anyways, have a great weekend everyone and safe travels back if you're visiting relatives.

VGCulture - Happy Thanksgiving / Black Friday Sales

Source: http://store.steampowered.com/

I can't really recommend any of these games since I haven't played them yet, but I highly recommend AudioSurf.  For $2.50, you get a game that generates levels based on your music in a music rhythm/Racing/Puzzle game.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and stay safe during the Black Friday sales tonight.  Eat food, spend time with friends and family, and play some games~

For those of you not shopping late night, check out online stores such as Amazon, Best Buy, and newegg for Online sales between now and Monday.

VGCulture - Steam Thanksgiving Sales

Source: http://store.steampowered.com/

I check Steam generally Tuesdays for Mid-Week Madness, Thursdays for Free weekends and Weekend deals, and on special occasions such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and ESPECIALLY Christmas time.  Steam is known to provide the best deals from 3rd party company games as well as cloud technology so that profile, save data, and preferences are stored online so that you can continue where you were playing from any computer.  Each day, there will be a list of games with really good deals (anywhere from 5%-90% off).  Here are the ones I personally recommend:

-Counter-Strike: Source ($4.99 - 75% off from original) - Counter-Strike (CS) and Counter-Strike Source (CSS) are two of the most play First-Person shooters for the longest time.  It has a good mix of realism with arcade-like game-play with an array of weapons, tons of custom maps and servers, and a strong community that continues to have tournaments, create mods, and provide servers to play one.

-Prototype ($14.99 - 50% off from original) - Prototype is an amazing, open-world Action-Adventure game where you play the role of Alex Mercer, a human with the many capabilities of transforming the body into a dangerous weapon.  Run up buildings, fly around the city, destroy everything around you while following an intriguing story of all the people involved in the "incident" that caused the people of the city to become hostile.  It's a lot of fun, good stress relief, and a variety of ways of playing the game.

-Borderlands ($9.99 - 50% off from original) - If you like the blood-pumping action of a First-Person shooter and like the loot collecting of an Role-Playing game, then you're going to love Borderlands.  It mixes open-world RPG with fast-paced shooting.  Buy new weapons, level up skills, play up to 4-players co-op, and fight humongous monstrosities in this unique Action FPS RPG game.  It was a really fun game to play, be sure to get your friends to join you for the best experience.

-Deus Ex Collection ($4.99 - 75% off from original) - I'm still working on the first game actually since I got it just recently.  I've been told many times over of how Deus Ex is "the" best game created.  I can't say it's "the" best game ever, but I can say it is definitely worth buying and playing through.  The immerse world that the player goes into has such detail (considering it's 10 years old) that it feels more than just a game.  Deus Ex is an experience!  It has the many elements used in current day stealth/action game where the player chooses to play more carefully or more aggressively (I'm playing stealthily).  It's an odd mixture of FPS, RPG, Action, and Adventure.  The entire game is in a FPS format, the level is open ended and has more than one way of completing an objective, has leveling systems like an RPG, an on-going story, and decision making that affects events later in the story.  For Invisible War, I have no idea what it's like.  But the friends that claim the first Deus Ex to be the best game believes that every other Deus Ex did not live up to the original (and that it was terrible).

For me personally, I'm planning on buying the Indie Energy Pack and hopefully enjoy the games as well as learn something about Indie game development.  It's $4.99 compared to its original $49.95 (so 90% off) so I hope I can make those $5 worth it.  In terms of the other games on the list, I am interested in Alpha Protocol, but I don't have time to play it at the moment (since I'm working on finishing other games right now).  RUSE did not capture my interest after participating in the open Beta earlier in the year.  Shank seems interesting, but it also looks like a game I'll play through once and be done with.  And finally Sam & Max...I'm not sure why, but I can't bring myself to buying point-n-click adventure games.  I actually really like them, especially the Ace Attorney series (which I consider to be one of the greatest series in videogames).  That's it for now, enjoy the sales!

VGCulture - Pokémon Black and White New Starters

Source: http://kotaku.com/5696937/smugleaf-is-a-better-name-than-snivy

My goodness, what has our childhood memories evolved into...I read an article from Kotaku on the new starter Pokémon the player gets to choose from in Pokémon Black & White (They are running out of colors).  The Pokémon are getting weirder and uglier with each new generation (except for the one on the left, what's his name...Smugface?).  Hmm, apparently they were going to name one of them "Smugleaf" but decided on Snivy instead.  It's so strange to talk about Pokémon now since it still continues, but not much has changed.  When I think of Pokémon, I think of the ones we grew up with and all the memories we had and shared with others who were into it too.  All the old jokes and references to things like naming your rival with some stupid name or spending hours walking back and forth in the Viridian forest just to catch a Pikachu.

Source: http://www.vgcats.com/super/?strip_id=1

It's also reasonable to say that most Pokémon fans from the original grew out of it.

Source: http://nerfnow.com/comic/302

And some of you got back into it (admittedly, I bought the remake SoulSilver just so I can get the Poké walker.  I haven't touched it since I beat the first gym leader, I need to finish it...).

Source: http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&comic=032910

Here's the pattern that I (and plenty of other people) see:
-They'll continue to make Pokémon games
-The Pokémon will change, but not the game
-Pokémon will continue to get stranger as ideas will dry out (how many legendaries do we have now?)

How long will this cycle last?

And as a ending note, I really encourage everyone to take a look at the comics I used references:
-VGCats/Super Effective by Scott Ramsoomair
-Nerf NOW! by Josué Pereira
-Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich

VGCulture - Indie Gaming

I was planning on doing another review today, but I failed to finish the game in time in order to give it a fair critique.  Anyways, I was going to do a little rant about the "indie" scene and how I am taking interest in participating in it.  "Independent (indie) Game Developers" are generally a small team of enthusiastic game makers who are not being funded by a publisher.  What's so riveting about indie game makers is that risks are taken in development of a game and can bring about really unique ideas in game mechanics.  When working under a publisher, the business men and women have the last say in how a game should look, play and be presented to the public.  Because a publisher must look out for the best results in sales, less risks are taken and what is already known to be successful will be used.  So if you're a gamer and wonder why that all of a sudden there's a slew of First-Person Shooters, or why every game is about zombies or leaning towards casual gamers, it's because it's the business looking for the profits.  It's not (always) the developers fault for making cookie cutter games.  Such as with Infinity Ward when they wanted to make a modern shooter, but they were stuck doing historical shooters for a while first.  This is why indie games are becoming increasingly popular, not to mention that many of them start out being free.

The cool parts of making/playing indie games:
-You answer to no one but your team...if you have a team.  Developers are like artists, they have a ton of new and innovative ideas.  Publishers are about business, and they'll have to put restrictions on development in order to meet due dates and funds.  Given this freedom, indie game makers are able to try out all sorts of wacky ideas and see which one works.

-You could work independently.  This is something I am looking at right now since I want to build a portfolio, try out new ideas, and be able to learn the many aspects of game development so that I can grow as a game designer.  Some of the most enjoyable indie games were created by one person:

Cave Story:

Source: Youtube Channel Chaddicl

Developed by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya, the guy took 5 years to work on the design, writing, art, music, programming, everything and then released it free on the internet in 2004 for PC.  It's got the attention of the game industry and has been remade onto the Nintendo Wii and is also going to be released on PSP and DSi from what I heard.  In development of a game, I like doing the art, music, writing, design, testing and all, but I don't really like doing the programming part.  Programming is very frustrating, which is why I respect good programmers.

Touhou:

Source: Youtube Channel Dracil

Under the name "ZUN", who created Team Shanghai Alice though being the only one in that team, the guy has created over 10+ games all based off of his original creation called the "Touhou Project."  The sheer difficulty as a bullet hell (danmaku in Japanese) shooter, creative bullet movement designs and especially the inspiring soundtrack he composed for each of the games has brought the game and his name to fame (WOW, that all rhymes!) and has built a strong community within gamers, musicians, artists, cosplayers, fanfics, and such all around the world (if you don't believe me, type in Touhou on google).  Though not everyone knows of this man and his games, I really respect him a lot and hope I can do something of his caliber.

Audiosurf:

Source: Youtube Channel GameShizzle

I apologize in advance if I got any information wrong.  From what I remember, Audiosurf was developed by Dylan Fitterer.  He would come out with a small game each week and shared it with the community on the internet and one of them was called "ride your music" or something of that nature.  He decided to polish the game and worked with music composer Pedro Camacho and launched it on Steam, being the first 3rd party game to use the steamworks technology.  The idea was simple, the execution was difficult, but the results were well worth it.  Getting the type of attention he got as an indie game developer is the ideal kind that could land him a position in a AAA grade game company.  It also benefits the gamers to have such a innovative engine be compatible with the music of the player's choice.

-It's (sometimes) free for the gamers!  This benefits both sides.  If the developer wanted to get exposure and recognition from the industry for their work, making the game free would spread word throughout the internet by gamers (if it was a good game) and would serve as good publicity.  At the same time, gamers get to experience innovative ideas from those of the same community (be it forums, circles, or clubs) and actively participate in critiques, testing, and publicizing.  Unfortunately, since this happens so often now, not all games reach their audience.

-It might inspire other developers and gamers.  I'm not talking about a big name company taking the idea from a indie dev and making it their own.  I'm saddened whenever that happens.  There are actually quite a few gamers who want to make videogames and work in the industry, but there is a very limited amount of resources that allows anyone with no experience to start.  I have always wanted to make videogames as long as I could remember (probably when I realized that videogames weren't created like movies were), but it never crossed my mind as a career path (I thought I was going to be a scientist in physics, ha!)  It wasn't until in freshman year of high school when I came across the Campaign Editor of Starcraft that I became very serious in learning about game development.  To point out a more well known example, DotA as we know it today was inspired by a custom campaign from Starcraft and then was recreated as Defense of the Ancients on Warcraft III's engine because of its capabilities of using RPG elements.  These were all within a community of map makers, modders, and avid forum moderators.  From those in the community, two came out and now work for Riot Games on League of Legends (Guinsoo and Pendragon) while the other (Icefrog) went to work on Heroes of Newerth and has been recently hired by Valve to lead the project for DotA 2 (I rather not get into the argument of whether it was right for Valve to copyright the term DotA or not).  The game industry is similar to the gamer community in how we like to exchange ideas and work together and talk about games.  If anything, take a look at what Minecraft has inspired some of its players to make:

Source: Youtube Channel Run3scaped


Source: Youtube Channel stewe231


Some sucky things about indie games:
-No financial support, no steady income, and no guarantee.  The games that indie game makers create may not get the results they hoped for nor does it guarantee that the game will ever get finished.

-Gamers get a lot of bad games.  Not all indie game makers plan on making something new and innovative.  Some just really want to make a videogame, sometimes for attention.  This leads to the next one:

-Lots and lots of "fan-made" cookie-cutters.  Ever heard or MUGEN?  RPG Maker?  Then more than likely you have played some of the same games several dozen times.  This is more of a "fan-based" community's doing rather than indie game devs, but there are a lot of games where the user just replaces the graphics and calls it something else.  I was thinking of posting a video here, but I realized that it might be disrespectful to the person who worked on it.  I'm talking about those who rips graphics from one game and plugs it into one of those "game" makers that don't require programming and say "hurr hurr, I made a Naruto game!"  I'll admit right now that I had a huge phase in the beginning where all I wanted to do was fan-made versions of other games (mostly with the starcraft editor).  I made a lot of bad maps and got it all out of my system and started to realize that I was missing the "game design" part and only concentrated on the references to existing "intellectual properties" (IP).  I'm making a huge deal about this because developers in the game industry does just that: copy a game with different graphics and a different name.  How many bejeweled, break-outs, and tetris iterations have you seen?  I find it perfectly fine to take something great and twist it around into a new game (such as Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is an excellent take on Bejeweled).  But I don't want to hear about another "Ultimate MUGEN Showdown" or "Extreme Tris!" unless it has something new and innovative about it.

-Risk of stolen ideas.  The copyright laws of intellectual property can be tricky and causes all sorts of troubles for big name companies.  So imagine how terrible it feels when either a company takes the ideas from a indie developer without any crediting or if a indie dev purposely/accidentally uses the IP of a well known company.  Problems can arise.

-Losing control over the game.  I've read stories of how some indie game developers wanting to sell their games for cheaper or for free.  But if that team or person signed a contract with a distributor or publisher, they lose control over a lot of IP and sales.  This isn't surprising seeing how it happens in the actual industry (I'm talking about you Activision!  $15 is enough to buy a full game nowadays!) despite the efforts of the development team.

These are only a few of the goods and bads of indie game making and indie gaming.  If you feel compelled to suggest any indie games in the comment box, I'd be delighted to take a look at it

GameLight Review - Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Before I get into a review, I read some more news about a supposed Megaman Online game coming out.  Joystiq reported on their site some new gameplay footages and it looks pretty good so far.

Source: Youtube Channel xayaxxo

I am a bit concerned about the game slowing down a little as an online game since enemies in Megaman games generally blow up fairly quickly.  I would not like playing a Megaman game that felt like Maple Story, but so far it looks good.  Here's one of the trailers for the game:

Source: Youtube Channel Pmang

I think all these collaborations (such as Capcom teaming up with Korean company Pmang to make Megaman Online) is really great towards the game industry.  We've been presented with more and more collaborations between companies before, but I think the industry will benefit even more with companies of different regions of the world working together.  Sure, not all the game will be great.  But at the very least, we have different ideas and talents working together to make something new.  It was sad to hear Keiji Inafune leave Capcom, but like him I hope that Japan find ways to re-innovate games in the industry in general, not just within Japan itself.  In any case, I hope Megaman Online gets an international release so everyone else can enjoy it too.

[Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth - Capcom - Nintendo DS]


Source: Youtube Channel Games

The Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban in Japan) Series from Capcom is hands-down, one of the best game series I've played in the longest time.  If you have never played, tried, or even heard of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, you are missing out my friend.  If you are under the impression that it's all about lawyers and the judicial system, then let me reassure you that it's much more than that.  The incredible writing within each of the installments of the series has the player constantly thinking "whodunit?" and "what happens next?"  The Ace Attorney series is in a form of a Visual Novel with a lot of detective skills involved.  Generally, the series has two part: information gathering and the court scene.  In the new "Investigations" installment, the court is ruled out and the testimonies and rebuttal are done on the spot.  Rather than a first-person view, the player takes control of Miles Edgeworth in a 3rd-Person perspective in order to explore the entire area around the character.  Despite being significantly easier than the original 3-4 installments, the game was entertaining in every way the originals were.

Graphics:
This time around, moving 3D videos weren't added into the story telling that Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney had.  What drastically changed was that characters had a full body sprite versions of themselves walking around in the environment.  Before this installment, the characters were always presented in first-person or in a picture format.  The animated sprites and ability to freely move around was new and a welcome aspect to the game.  There are times where it feels like there should be more graphics drawn for characters that want to depict a certain expression or mood, but there is still a plentiful amount of sprite animating the characters within the game.  Crazy reactions and eccentric characters still exist, which stays consistent with the theme of the series.  The 3D view of certain items in the evidence section is brought back.  Many animations used for past characters such as Edgeworth is brought back as well.  I felt as if more could be added into the animations and story, but it wasn't very necessary thus it was sufficient for the game.  Graphics: 8/10

Audio:
The sound effects are pretty much the same from the last 4 games, so no discussion on that.  The music, in my opinion, didn't seem as memorable or distinguished as the first 4 releases; however, it still stays true to its style.  It was definitely not bad, because the music was still appropriate and enjoyable to listen to.  There isn't much to say since one of the greatest aspects of the Ace Attorney series is its music, and this one was no exception.  Audio: 8/10

Gameplay:
Like I said before, this one was much easier than the first.  Thankfully, it was still fun pointing out all the contradictions and investigating all the scenes.  The change in the way the player gathered information was much more linear and got to the point much faster than previous installments where walking back and forth from area to area was a given.  In "investigations", the player is secluded to a room to find all the evidence that they needed rather than moving from one room to another.  The story moved much more smoothly.  In terms of Replay Value, I would have to give it a N/A since it really depends on the player.  All the plot twists and surprises are known already, so the only reason to play it again would be to revisit the story.  Gameplay: 8/10

Overall:
Although it felt like something was missing from this game that the previous ones had, it's still considered a "must play" in my book.  I was very serious when I said the Ace Attorney series is the best game series I've played in the longest time, it's really fulfilling to get through it and experience the gameplay (especially the parts where you get to shout "OBJECTION!").  A sequel to the investigations spin-off is already in the making and another spin-off that has Level-5's Professor Layton and Capcom's Phoenix Wright solving a case of a accused witch.  The popularity and involvement of the community has built an interesting culture within the Ace Attorney world with music remixes, parody videos, comics, and fan-fictions.  Overall: 8/10

This is one of my favorite parody videos:

Source: Youtube Video CMSPyrowolf

GameLight Review - Nation Red

[Nation Red - DiezelPower Studios - PC]


Source: Youtube Channel steamfrance

Nation Red is a Top-Down Zombie Shooter sold in digital form on the internet through distributors such as Direct2Drive and Steam.  I bought my copy of Nation Red off Steam during a Halloween sale for $3.39 from its original $10 and convinced a friend to buy it so that we could play the 2-player co-op.  Wow, was it hard.  It was not surprising that it was fun though, I mean c'mon it's killing zombies!  Okay, there are also bad zombie games out there...but fortunately this one is fun.

Graphics:

Image by Shuriken

The graphics are rendered in 3D but are presented in an 2D format that references old school top down shooters.  The details of each of the models isn't state-of-the-art, but is possibly done so to avoid graphics lag when trying to render so many units on the screen at once.  The graphics wasn't the most important aspect of the game, nor was it its strong point; however, it was satisfactory since it still depicted the most important parts: the weapons, and the slaying.  The graphics were done appropriately and efficiently since it had that level of believability or satisfaction of each kill the player makes while still keeping the game running smooth despite the amount of zombies, explosions and blood that's on screen.  It did get confusing during 2-player co-op missions where both players are together in a pile of zombies since the color and structure of the player's character and zombies are very similar.  It helps a bit when that bright ring around the player shows up to indicate the position of the character. Graphics: 8/10

Audio:

Source: Youtube Channel Griffo619

It just seems to match a zombie apocalypse to have Heavy Death Metal playing the background, doesn't it?  Even though I'm being halfway facetious, the music really got me pumped in killing zombies.  The grungy effect was strong and the drums were powerful.  If you asked me to hum any of them to you, I probably couldn't.  The soundtrack isn't very memorable, but it's definitely fitting for the game.  I would still listen to the soundtrack if I ever got the music files though.  The sound effects were very clear despite the music blaring through my headphones.  Each gun has a distinctive sound it makes and most all of them are decent.  There weren't any corny, carbon-copy sound effect of a gun shot or anything, and if there were it worked for the game. 8/10

Gameplay:

Image by Shuriken

There are several game modes for Nation Red, but the ultimate goal is to kill the zombies and stay alive.  Each stage is a boxed arena where zombies are capable of coming from any direction towards the player that spawns right in the middle.  The list of weapons is a decent amount and each one has their advantages and disadvantages so that no weapon will seem useless (though I tend to find the play style I like and stick with certain weapons over others).  The game if fast-paced and gets right to the point.  The difficulty doesn't sluggishly work its way up each time your start a new game.  Once you begin, be prepared to shoot-run-reload-repeat.  If you die, then jump right back in and restart.  Most of the game modes are infinite and don't have a real ending to them, so it's a matter of endurance and aiming for the high scores like an arcade game.  There is a Mission mode for single player where certain conditions are set and need to be fulfilled.  Some missions have you fight bosses that possess a high amount of stamina and a weapon while others have you defending a AI partner.  The perk system adds a strategic dynamic to the survival and allows players to create a type of character that matches their play style (up close and personal or distant and deadly, etc.).  Plenty of weapons and power ups drop in the battlefield which makes the experience different each play through.  Because of these dynamics, the replay value is very high especially with multiplayer.  The game is challenging and multiplayer allows the experience of two players to fight the odds, online or offline.  If there was anything else I wanted in the game, it'd be a system for communication and a higher number of player count in multiplayer.  Gameplay: 9/10

Overall:

Image by Shuriken

The game may eventually wear out its novelty, but it's one of those games you can go back to and jump on for 10 minutes and enjoy it.  It's great that videogames have strong storylines, amazing cinematics, and deep leveling systems, but sometimes a gamer just wants to play and not have to build up to that satisfaction.  I would not recommending getting right this instant since it's not the type of game for everyone, but the next time you see it on sale for $5 or less, buy it!  Overall: 8.5/10  (Lunch costs more than this game and this game will last much much longer than your lunch...unless you're starving, then go eat, don't turn into a zombie...)

GameLight - Zentia

Quick note: Anyone remember the game All Points Bulletin (APB)?  Yeah, the MMO that lasted only 79 days before shutting down.  I was disappointed that I didn't get to play it longer during beta (some customer service problems).  But I heard a lot of players had problems with hackers, subscriptions, errors and all, so the game had to be shut down.  Rumors of it going free to play is still going and is becoming more of a legitimate announcement as Gamasutra reports that GamersFirst is going to be launching APB: Reloaded next year sometime 2011.  APB looked like a really fun game to play, but I just never got the chance to get into the meat of the game.  I'm glad that another company was willing to pick up the game and relaunch it and continue the efforts the developers put into making it.  GamersFirst has some other free MMOs worth checking out (I currently play Sword 2, used to be called Granado Espada: Sword of the New World).

[Zentia - ChangYou - PC]


Source: Youtube Channel ZentiaTheGame

Zentia is one of the better Chinese MMOs I've played so far.  It's quirky characters and cartoon-like graphics has a sense of charm that distinguishes itself from other MMOs in the market.  Despite that, it still follows the main structure of create, find, and kill that is so evident in MMORPGs of its genre.  One of the biggest differences in combat I noticed was the ability to dodge by back-dashing with the shift key and to go into a defensive stance using the space bar.  What amazed me was that it worked!  When I went up against boss level enemies to fulfill a quest, I was able to press shift and move out of harms way while counter-attacking with a ranged skill.  Players get a pet and mount early on so that auto-routing and traveling is eased by the animal companions.  There are 24 characters to choose from and so there isn't any character customization; however, between those 24 characters is the option of choosing one of eight classes.  I chose to be a Blade Warden which allows me to tank with melee attacks while still being able to DPS (Deal damages per second) with my ranged skills.

Screenshot by Shuriken

 

Pros:
-Auto-routing is implemented so that finding the desired destination is easier
-Game flow is pretty balanced (so far) and is not meticulous (no need to kill 100 baddies at a time)
-Graphics are not demanding, so it can run smoothly on even older computers
-Combat has a nice structure.  Not new, but at least it's not broken either
-Interface is organized (a lot of Chinese MMOs tend to have complex and intimidating interfaces)

Cons:
-There will be a lot of traveling between places.  Good thing you get a mount and a pet to lead you
-The game feels a bit unpolished, but it is open beta.  It should get better
-Nothing drastically new to offer to the MMORPG genre, just another take on it

In all honesty, I enjoyed playing Zentia thus far (perhaps compared to CardMon Hero) and "might" continue to play it.  I already play a large library of MMOs and I've been playing more retail games lately as a part of study in game design that I decided to partake in.  ChangYou surprised me with Zentia since the other two games did not seem very appealing when they first announced international launch.  I've been keeping up with ChangYou before they released games internationally, and now I'm even more curious as to how far they'll be able to expand in the market.

GameLight - CardMon Hero

This week, I have a line up of GameLight and GameLight Reviews from just this past weekend.  I beta tested 2 MMOs and completed two other games and am working on finishing one other.  Also, be sure to check out major electronics stores next Monday for early Black Friday sales such as Steam, Newegg, Amazon.com, etc.  Recession is bad, and games are expensive, so try to get the ones you want during the up coming sales.

[CardMon Hero - HanbitSoft/T3 Entertainment - PC]


Source: Youtube Channel UKGameOn

CardMon Hero is an Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) that follows the game structure of many other free online MMORPGs: Create a character, find a quest, kill some monsters.  Every MMORPG (usually) has a unique twist that makes it special and different from other competitors, and for CardMon Hero it is summonings.  To keep it simple, it's essentially Pokémon crosses with MMORPG (like Fly For Fun).  The player captures monsters and units in cards and then summons them to fight along side the player.

Screenshot by Shuriken

 

Pros:
-Comfortable graphics.  They're easy on the eyes
-Various summons to aid the player
-Lots of instances, quests, and pvp events
-Gameplay is easy to learn despite the dynamics of the summons
-Player has more freedom of how they want to start out (in terms of class/weapon)
-Easygoing and fitting soundtrack

Cons:
-In terms of gameplay, CardMon Hero doesn't have that much to offer that other free games couldn't
-Animation in the character's movement and NPC are erratic, awkward, and unnatural
-Game progresses slowly (whether there is grinding or not, I am not certain)

The game is interesting and is somewhat entertaining; however, it's also a game I don't feel like investing a lot of time into.  Games should not require a player to plug in hour, days, and weeks in order to enjoy it, because not everyone has the luxury of spending so much time just to level up or gain a new item.  The process of leveling up and gaining those new items should be just as entertaining as end-game content.  CardMon Hero ended Closed Beta just this past weekend and will be up shortly for it's next phase, so be sure to check it out if you're interested: http://cardmon.t3fun.com/Home/Intro.aspx

GameOn - FPS Week last day with Team Fortress 2

[Team Fortress 2 - Valve Corporation - PC/Xbox 360/PS3/Mac OS X]

Source: Youtube Channel RadioactiveCaffeine

Team Fortress 2 is more than just a game; It's a culture.  Team Fortress 2 has generated millions of fan-based materials all over the world such as art pieces, videos, fan-fiction, remix songs, comics, and parodies.  The game brought all gamers, creative minds, and hobbyists together to create things beyond the game and into our everyday lives (yes, I'm talking about Cosplay).

The truth is, the game has no story, no campaign, no background, just the game.  Team Fortress started out as a Quake Mod that was then brought in by Valve to distribute through Steam and then worked on a original game developed by Valve themselves as Team Fortress 2.  It's an Team-Based (or it should!) First-Person Shooter that has two sides fighting for the intelligence (Capture the Flag), an area (Capture Point), or escort a bomb to enemy base (Payload).  Each player is capable of choosing one of nine classes to play as that fulfills a sort of role in the team: offense, defense, and support.  Each of these classes have a personality and accent in their speech that gives them a distinctive personality.  The game is multiplayer-based and played online.

Pros:
-Fast action in a unique FPS experience that plays more like an action game than traditional FPS games
-Dynamics of the game changes each time you play with the different combinations of classes in a team
-Tons of ways to play the game that fits many different styles of play
-Very strong community within the game, there will be plenty of players to play with online
-Graphics are not too demanding and allows many players of any computer specs to play
-Lots of mods and special servers that allows changes in rules and game type
-Developers constantly update the game and maintenance the servers
-Many extra maps, modes, and features are added without charge
-Deals can go as low as $5 for the game and can provide several hundred hours of gameplay

Cons:
-You WILL die...A LOT, it is impossible not to (unless you hack, DON'T HACK!)
-It's very rare to play with people that understand the term "team"
-The game takes a ridiculous amount of time to load and connect to a server
-Hackers, mic spammers, glitchers and other riff-raff frequent in the servers
-Lack of players and Lag in a server makes for an unappealing experience (so d/c and find another)

If you're not a hardcore FPS player and want insane action, I highly recommend Team Fortress 2.  The game is phenomenal as entertainment and as a culture within itself.  The game often gets extra content and will not be charged for it unlike every other FPS game that has released recently.  I am up to about 124 hours of gameplay on Team Fortress 2 and I got it Christmas of 2009.  The only game I have played recently to have gotten that amount of hours is League of Legends with 128 hours.  For those of you who don't like unrealistic gunfights and whacky action, I suggest one of the 4 games mentioned earlier this week.  Other than that, go get Team Fortress 2 when it goes down in price this holiday (sale for this game frequently shows up).

GameOn - FPS Week day 4 with Massive Action Game (MAG)

Got a bit busy this morning, but here's today's post:
[Massive Action Game (MAG) - Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEA)/Zipper Interactive - PS3]

Source: Youtube Channel PlayStation

This game is CRAZY!  Massive Action Game (No one calls it that), known by its acronym MAG, boasts its capability of supporting 256 players in one match in a full out war zone between three opposing private military companies (factions).  The game doesn't bring you into a full blown story with a beginning and end.  Players who start the game jumps right into the middle of the conflict between the three factions and participates in the experience between the struggles of the factions.  When the player first starts, they choose a nickname and a faction to sign under.  Between the three factions are:

-Raven Industries, a faction with high-tech weapons and armor, comprising of West European Countries such as Germany, Italy, France, and The Netherlands, prizing technological advancement as key to winning.

-Seryi Volk Executive Response (SVER), a guerilla-style military force with personnel drawn from Poland, China, India, Russia, and other countries in Asia, east Europe and Africa; infamous for their passion of battle.

-Valor Company, whose soldiers are equipped with more standard-styled weaponry. They comprise of seasoned veterans from the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom; believing that knowledge in battle is strength.
Source: Wikipedia search "MAG (video game)"

Afterwards, the player is presented with a menu with the selection of upgrading skills, changing the loadouts in the armory, buying equipment (new feature), interacting with the community (set up clans), and to deploy into the battle field to start playing.  Not all the modes are filled with 256 players.  There are modes where you suppress the enemy (team death match), Acquire vehicles (a very difficult version of capture the flag), or capture/destroy/defend pivotal points on the battlefield.  The customization does not have great depth as Modern Warfare 2 and Blacklight: Tango Down does, but it has a very intricate and organized skill tree for the type of play style each player may have (the way items are acquired and how skills level up has changed from the last big update).  The game is exclusively for online play only and is also exclusively for Playstation 3.  The dynamics of the game can change drastically for this game as well since there are so many combinations of weapon loadouts and skills sets the player can integrate into their play style.  The skills can be acquired by leveling up with experience points gained in the battlefield.  Fulfilling an objective, killing an opposing faction's soldier, or healing a team mate will earn players experience points a la Modern Warfare 2.

I personally enjoy the game very much as it gives me a sense of community and pride within my own faction as well as the pride I take within my role in the team.  I play as a medic (everything is within medic skills at the moment) and field support.  I spend most of the match healing, resuscitating fallen comrades, giving cover fire, and keeping the team up the front.  MAG is possibly the hardest FPS to adjust to as different button layouts, large scale maps, and skill level difference all hit the player immediately as soon as they start.  I started at level 1 with players level 50-70 in my team and my enemies' team.  The game also implemented a "happy hour" game mechanic which rewards players for playing the game once every 24 hours they've been gone from the game.  This allows me to play for one hour with 200% experience points gain.  Once the hour is up, I am usually satisfied and feel good from playing while being able to put down the controller.  For the past three games I posted about, I always had a lingering feeling that I need to play more despite doing well or bad in a previous match.

Source: Gamespot

Pros:
-Large scale warfare between 32-256 players in one map
-Assortment of weapons, skill trees, and level up perks
-Tons of loadout and skill set combinations that caters to the player's play style (support, sniper, assault, medic, engineer, fusion of any class, etc.)
-A good sense of community with player's faction
-Unique gameplay mechanics that mix RPG leveling, FPS intensity and action game fluidity
-Dedicated development team who constantly adds more to the game
-A great deal of detail is put into the environment, audio, and level design

Cons:
-Difficulty in communication (not everyone has a headset.  Those who do speak gibberish nonsense)
-Game relies heavily on team work
-It can take a while for auto match up to get all 256 players up and ready
-You will inevitably die a lot due to the sheer amount of players
-No skill level limitation, all players join the same game
-Certain content is available to those who buy the extra Downloadable Contents (DLC) from the PSN store
-For the sake of latency, the graphics are toned down as prevention of lag from graphic rendering

MAG is still under good maintenance and continues to grow.  I'm still not sure about getting the $10 DLC, but I do recommend getting the game since it's cheaper now.

GameOn - FPS Week day 3 with Blacklight: Tango Down

I was hoping to hear bigger news about Call of Duty: Black Ops, but so far it's been a raving fight between those to love it and those that hate it.  I noticed a significant drop in player count on the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer the past 2 nights (The usual 15k+ reduced down to 5k+ players).  I intend to find the opportunity to play Black Ops sometime or another as with Halo: Reach as I've enjoyed both series thus far.  So before I get onto Blacklight: Tango Down by Zombie, here's two quick announcements I wanted to share:

-Steam's Mid-Week Madness sale is 75% off "Day of Defeat Source" for $2.50.  For those of you who enjoy WWII themed shooters in a competitive match between two sides such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress, then I recommend buying the game.  I bought it last night and tried one match.  It was hard...but fun.

Source: Youtube Channel ernest132132

-Do you own an ATI Radeon or Nvidia graphics card?  If so, go claim your free copy of Valve games:
ATI Radeon: http://www.steampowered.com/ati_offer1a/ 
Nvidia: http://www.steampowered.com/nvidia/ 

Source: Youtube Channel RAWSND

[Blacklight: Tango Down - Ignition Entertainment/Zombie VR Studios - Xbox 360/PC/PS3]

Source: Youtube Channel machinimarespawn

Futuristic gear, customizable weapons, and fast-paced FPS action for that twitchy trigger finger.  Blacklight: Tango Down has the package to satisfy the FPS player with 12 maps, tons of switchable parts for weapons and armor, a unique thematic environment set in the future, and a 4-player co-op mission mode for those who do not want to play as competitively.  I had the opportunity to play the game on PC before it even came out at June 2010's Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3) and it was one of the games that stuck throughout the show.  I planned on buying it as soon as it got a discount on Steam, and I eventually did.  But don't let that discourage anyone in buying the game now, since it started and is still $15.  The game is downloadable rather then being sold retail.  The game launched on Xbox 360 and PC late June and on PS3 on Oct. 26.  The PS3 version got a few extra perks since it came out later.  I hope these "perks" are implemented later into the PC version since I bought it just recently and already see a decline in players already.

Pros:
-70 levels for the player to work up to for unlockable weapon/armor parts.
-Tons of customization and personalizing, suiting to each player's style of gaming.
-Implementation of unique items such as the digi-grenade, EMP grenade, and the HRV which allows the player to take a glimpse at the location of all the players for a second.
-Fast-paced fire fights encourages players to play more carefully and cohesively with their team mates.
-The game is downloadable, doesn't take up an excessive amount of Hard drive space, and only costs $15.
-Mission modes are exciting, challenging, and is good practice for those new to the game.
-Graphics are incredible for a downloadable game, and the quality in audio is superb.

Cons:
-There are times when level design became a problem when players started camping either in their own base or in the opponents base, turning it into a one-sided fight.  Even with the HRV, it's still difficult to fight an opponent who has the opening of an entrance or exit well defended while behind cover.
-Prior to the PS3 release, players could not join in mid-game.  This needs to be implemented into the PC and Xbox 360 now since PS3 players have it.
-I am not certain for the consoles, but the PC version's aim-down-sight is a toggle rather than a hold which can be bothersome for such a fast-paced game (you die fairly quickly compared to even Modern Warfare 2).
-Joining a game, connecting to a new host, and intermission can take quite a while and can be frustrating when player count is limited.
-There is not nearly enough players playing the game, despite being affordable and offering so many content.
-Mission mode can be very difficult and unforgiving (start over if you die), but once I got the pattern down, I was completing missions at "Insane" difficulty level.  They become predictable, but it can be still challenging and a great way to practice fast aiming and reacting since they can kill the player just as quickly.

I waited for a while to get the game (maybe not as long as an entire year like I did for Modern Warfare 2), but end up not getting into full games if any because of the lack of players on PC.  I hear that the player count on Xbox 360 and PS3 is much higher.  I do not regret my purchase though, as I do enjoy the game.  I don't even mind dying so much if only there were more players in multiplayer.  I did get into full house matches before, and that's when the game truly shined.

GameOn - FPS week day 2 with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops releases today, and many have already gone through the game at last nights mid-night launch at Gamestops all over the world.


Source: Youtube Channel CALLOFDUTY
So far, it has received good reviews from critics all over the world with a few concerns in the same structure of gameplay that Activision has kept despite the switch off between Infinity Ward and Treyarch.  User reviews are filled with typical fanboy debates between how it's the best/worst game comparing to so-and-so game using vague comments, if any, to downgrade or praise it.  Some, I suspect, did not even buy the game and decided to give it a zero score review seeing how every other review is a 8 or above.  I do not like how Activision had taken control of the series out of Infinity Ward's original team; however, Treyarch has been working on the series along with Infinity Ward long enough that they have learned what they needed in order to create a enjoyable shooter.  I do not plan on buying CoD: Black Ops immediately, but I do in the future.  The difficult decision will be choosing between the PS3 version and the PC version.  I'll be expecting news of how it out sells Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 soon.

[Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Activision/Infinity Ward - PS3/Xbox 360/PC/NDS]

Players can complain how unbalanced the muliplayer can be.  They can whine about how it requires very little skill when camping out behind a barrier while picking players off as they pass by.  But in the end they still play it because it's fun.

Source: Youtube Channel Robert61494
I did not get to try out the Nintendo DS version of the game, but the other three consoles are the same game.  I had the opportunity to play MW 2 on all three consoles through friends and free weekend events on Steam.  I did not buy the game until just a little while ago (the weekend before Medal of Honor's release) on Steam during a 33% off deal with the map packs 50% off each.  I am happy with my purchase, for the most part.  The game provides plenty of replay value as the dynamics of multiplayer can change drastically depending on the play style of each player, the type of loadout they decided to choose, and the mode chosen.  Unlike the various first-person shooters I've played in the past, you die quite quickly in MW2.  It can be a satisfying experience if you happen to be in a cohesive team that moves and works together; however, more than likely you will be running around and shooting/knifing whoever you happen to find if not camping out in the shadows.

Pros:
-Though not as strong as Modern Warfare 1, the game boasts its campaign in an action driven storyline with multiple perspectives from the characters involved with memorable events and exciting gun fights.
-Extensive multiplayer customization and gameplay allows an array of choices for the player to combine that suits their play style.
-Quick controls adds to the speed of gameplay and skill required to play in all sorts of situations.
-Creative map designs allows players various approaches to acquiring their goals.
-Match making allows players to jump into multiplayer quickly and efficiently without the hassle of waiting for player, setting options, and looking for a game.
-Despite rewarding those who are winning, or having situations of spawn kills, camping, and sniping, the game strangely balances itself out.  It is a videogame after all.  Chaotic warfare is very possible in videogames.

Cons:
-It does not always works, but camping is an effective tactic that scores the player a lot of points.  (You can't tell someone how to play if it's within the rules of the game).  This can lead to all players in a standstill or a one sided fight.
-In team fights, there isn't a determinable spawn point for both sides and is set randomly.  Thus, it is possible to spawn right in front of line of fire, an enemy, or an explosive of sorts.  It's possible to have a string of deaths from spawning in the wrong place at the wrong time.
-Those who continue to do well in a match will constantly have an advantage over the other players.
-Players with higher prestige and play time will inevitably have better equipment than those in lower levels.

I personally don't mind the setbacks in the game too much.  I do find it frustrating to die consistently in a match 32 times before getting the chance to even see someone, but I notice it happens to others as well.  It goes with the saying "you win some, you lose some."  I find the custom class aspect of the game to be the best part of the multiplayer experience as it feels like an RPG where you create your own character and watch them grow.  My favorite custom class is the "Ninja Assassin" class I made.  It consists of infinite running, fast run speed, extended knife distance, a silenced sub-machine gun, a throwing knife, and some stun grenades.  I rarely use my pistol as I find myself running around knifing players most of the time.  I know...I'm one of those players...I find it easier to get kills from knifing rather than shooting since players still have the chance to run away and kill me.  I also find camping to be very boring and would rather run around (which is probably why I end up with the most deaths each time).  But even so, I find the game to be very entertaining.  I'm up to 31 hours so far on Steam, let's see how long it lasts.

GameOn - FPS Week starting with Medal of Honor (2010)

With tomorrow's launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops, I couldn't help but talk about some of the recent First-Person Shooters I've been playing recently.  This will be a 5-day event on the discussion of 5 different FPS games.

[Medal of Honor - Electronic Arts/DICE - PS3/Xbox 360/PC]


Source - Youtube Channel medalofhonor

I have to admit right now that I have not played the actual game.  I participated in the open beta on PC through the Steam program and am very glad I did.  Though it is not selling like hotcakes and has the multiplayer dynamics of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the game feels, sounds, and plays like no other FPS game before it.  The quality put into the audio is the most impressive aspect of the multiplayer beta I tested with a few other thousand players on Steam PC.  My laptop is not up to spec, and so I had to keep the resolution at a lower ratio.  Despite that fall back, the graphics were still breath taking and really added to the game experience.  I plan on buying this game in the future for possibly the PS3 as I want the full experience of no graphics lag, highest graphics capability, and a less likely chance to go into a online match with a hacker (I will explain that tomorrow on CoD:MW2).


Pros:
-Incredible, dynamic graphics.  I did not like the muddled, brown color schematics of the older MoH games.
-Superb, realistic audio.  I want this game mainly for the experience the audio gave me.  No other game delivers this type of excitement into my FPS experience.
-Encourages team play.  Most FPS games have players running off on their own, but this MoH forces the players to work in a line if they do not wish to have a bullet through their head each time they run forward.
-Immersive environment.  The explosions, weather, and bullets all have an impact on the experience because of how detailed the graphics are rendered and how well designed the audio travels.


Cons:
-Awkward level design (in the area the beta allowed us to play in) allows players to predict where their opponents spawn and essentially kill them the second they come in as well as having opponents funnel through 2-3 obvious paths.
-Multiplayer is dependent on team work, and so the experience of the game can change dramatically depending on the skill level of your comrades.  (I had the best experience the first time I played, and then I started to realize how bad it could be after playing a few round with people who were playing for the first time).
-Customization is extremely limited to about 24 different parts to change compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's extensive custom class aspect that has over 100+ different parts to swap out.

I encourage those who love FPS games to try this game at the very least before determining that Medal of Honor is not the game for them.  I understand that it released between Halo: Reach and tomorrow's release of Call of Duty: Black Ops; however, I believe that there is enough difference in the experience that each one delivers to buy all three and still find something enjoyable out of each one.

GameLight - Short Rant on Microsoft Kinect

News about the Kinect has been going on for the past few days and many people are having problems with input lag, inaccurate controls, and body recognition.  Microsoft is doing their best to spread the news about the Kinect, but I have to wonder how well it will hold up without the support of salable software.  At the moment, the only game I'm really interested in trying out (besides Dance Central) is Sonic Free Riders:



Source: Youtube Channel TheRiderssonic123

I have to admit, I'll probably look silly playing it with my arms flailing about.  The thing that interests me is that Microsoft is trying something new with the technology and may prove to be innovative in future games.  The first one to create an innovation may not particularly get it right the first time.  I have seen countless products from Sharper Image where I thought it was creative and interesting, but much too expensive.  Another company comes along and creates the same product with a much lower price and possibly being more durable.  Nintendo tried motion sensing games a long time ago with the NES, but it did not sell.  They did it once more just recently and became the best selling console in the market.  So perhaps, somewhere along the path of Kinect, a really good game or new, better peripheral might come out of it.

On the Kinect from Gamasutra

The Kinect is new and so developers may struggle with optimization and ideas on how it should be used.  Similar to how "Red Steel" had quirky controls on the Wii when it first released and then Nintendo proved the controls can be versatile and intuitive for First-Person Perspective games with the release of Metroid Prime 3 Corruption.  I respect the endeavors the team that worked on the Kinect tried to deliver since it was something new.  No offense to Sony, but trying to follow up the Nintendo Wii years later with a device that has awkward ergonomic design and faulty motion sensing isn't exactly the best way to bring in more sales (yes, I tried out the Sony Move).  I have yet to try out the Kinect and am intrigued by it at the moment.  Kinect is expected to sell well this winter with Christmas coming up and Black Friday before it.  We'll see how things go down this holiday season.

GameLight – Square-Enix Invades Facebook

Knights of the Crystals & Chocobo’s Crystal Tower are facebook games created by Square-Enix in the likeness of Mafia Wars and Farmville (I think…).  I haven’t played Farmville before, but I have played games similar to Mafia Wars such as Castle Age.  I do find some of them interesting and even possibly fun; however, there were things about them that finally made me take them off my facebook page.

Knights of the Crystals (Facebook)

So Knights of the Crystals (KotC) is essentially Mafia wars in a Final Fantasy theme, but it runs on a flash rather than html.  Here were some of the things I hated about games like Mafia Wars that relates to Knights of the Crystals:

Image of Map for Knights of the Crystals by Shuriken

Browser Based- The games made on facebook originally refreshed the page each time you made an action such as going on a quest, buying an item, or attacking another player.  Well, Knights of the Crystals refreshes everything within its own game since it runs on a flash.  This is a big improvement to the browser based gaming design, and I think other companies will begin to utilize this method of browser based online games.

List of people who pwned you- It was annoying receiving up to 10 messages a day on facebook saying that you’ve been attacked by so-and-so and have lost x amount of gold.  KotC has all those information within its own game so you’ll still know who attacked you, but you don’t get spammed by that information in facebook.

Anonymity- It might have been because it was an early concept and the developers wanted people to be closer as a community, but facebook games allowed players to see each other’s profile and look through their pages.  It was weird having someone from across the world to ask me to add him on my friend’s page of facebook just to improve our stats in Castle Age.  KotC still shows a person’s picture, but a thumbnail size version.  Aside from that, a player can choose to enter a “character” name instead of their own name, which furthers the anonymity concept.

Boss Fight using two characters from my friend's list by Shuriken

Invites- Nope, this concept is still the same.  Get more people to join and you become stronger.  Have people open up a treasure chest for you to get items and in-game currency.  What DID change was the concept of party fights.  There are quests that require the player to fight a boss in a turn-based battle like in Final Fantasy.  You can choose two other friends who play the game with you to be in your party and use their characters to help you defeat the boss.  This concept was new to me and an innovative use of inviting friends.

OCD- This concept is still here.  Every once in a while, the player will log into their facebook page in order to see who attacked them, use their energy (or Action Power in the case of KotC) on quests, and Battle Points to attack other players.  Do you have a friend who plays a facebook game made by Zynga?  If they say they need to log onto facebook really quick to check on their crops of their farm, or they need to take a look at their restaurant, then they will begin to develop an artificial symptom of “Obsessive-Compulsive Disease”.  They won’t actually have it, but they’ll play the game as if they do.  I use up my energy for the day that I check messages on facebook and then I log off.  But if you want that next level, or attack some more players in 1 second animation sequences in PvP, then you’ll probably be logging on to facebook a lot.

Image from the one second animation sequence by Shuriken

Micro-Transactions- Yes, the game is free like many other online games nowadays; however, those who pay real money will more than likely have an advantage over other players.  I think I’ve hit a blockade where I am not even allowed to progress through a quest unless I pay real money for a certain item in order to do the quest.  Also, players who use real money can potentially defeat you in PvP despite being several levels below you.  If you feel sad about that, keep this in mind: you still have your money while the person who attacked you lost real money for that one second of satisfaction.

Overall, it’s a good distraction.  There are sound effects for the actions and animation sequences for most of the game.  There is also music whenever the player gains a level, earns a reward, or is fighting a boss.  The game consists mostly of questing and Player vs Player (PvP).

Chocobo’s Crystal Tower

This game surprised me since I found it to be quite entertaining seeing how I played it for over 2 hours of just trying it out today to write this post.  So the premise of the game is that you’re a royal Chocobo breeder who takes care of Chocobo’s of the Final Fantasy world and have them collect crystals from towers in order to maintain the peace of the land from being overridden by monsters.  Does anyone remember Tamagotchi virtual pets?  It’s a lot like that.  You feed, groom, and dress your Chocobo and then send them to fight monsters.  The player has no control of the fights, only the stat building depending on what you feed and what you have them wear.

My little Chocobo Farm! by Shuriken

You can buy more items to improve the stats of your Chocobo and even go into your friend’s farm or random people’s farm and help take care of their Chocobo’s as well when they’re away.  So this game is the opposite of KotC and has players helping each other out.  This doesn’t go without being rewarded though.  You can gain “breeder points” and level up by helping others.  This is one of very very few facebook games where I felt like I was playing an actual game.  There’s music, full animation, goals that isn’t a click of a button, but still involves the facebook community to interact with each other.

Certain items can only obtained by paying real money and exchanging them for Chocopoints, just like KotC.  This doesn’t have too much impact in the beginning, but it will probably become more difficult in future battles for your little Boco.

I had learned about KotC on Kotaku’s page 2 days ago and decided to try it out since it was by Square-Enix.  I am satisfied for the most part, but will eventually give it up since I don’t want that OCD to get in the way of my work and of real videogames I could be playing.  I learned about Chocobo’s Crystal Tower when I was playing KotC and saw the banner on the bottom of the page.  From the sounds of it, KotC will be available on phones and mobile devices soon.

Sources:

Kotaku - Knights Of The Crystals Is Final Fantasy For Facebook

Joystiq - Square Enix releases two free Facebook games, one with chocobos 

Facebook - Knights of the Crystals going mobile