Gran Turismo 5

I've been playing a lot of Gran Turismo 5 this last month, in between holiday festivities and familial obligations. It's a great game to pick up for a few hours here and there, though I've experienced many frustrations with A-Spec (the mode in which the player operates the car directly) due to my lack of a driving wheel. Owing to this, I've spent most of my time toying around with B-Spec (the mode in which the player controls an AI driver or team of drivers) races and buying cars. I've had a ton of fun with this. It's a nice way to explore the tracks, compare vehicles, and observe different strategies. I've been slowly amassing a collection of cars meant to tackle the various challenges offered by each tier of content (9 specific races/tournaments per difficulty level) and tuning them up. I'm about to polish off the most annoying challenges - the Mazda roadster (Miata) challenge, the Toyota Yaris challenge and the pickup truck challenge. This will finish up the first 2 tiers of content, and I'm nearly through the third as well. Mostly I have been buying shiny new supercars and select classics. When I finally get a racing wheel I'll have a lot of cars to play with!

Console Cleanup

My attempts to polish off the uninspiring Final Fantasy XIII have failed. I was making decent headway towards my goal until I got my copy of Gran Turismo 5. Now all I want to do is drive in circles and tune up beautiful, shiny cars. It's incredible how addictive this game is. I'm not even a car enthusiast - just casually interested and easily amused. It doesn't help that individual races take around 10 minutes each, some much longer. It's easy to lose track of time as I did yesterday. Afternoon became evening before I realized that the day was gone. I'm finding the title fun as a casual player - it's clear and direct enough that I'm not having too much trouble. Advanced knowledge of historical cars would definitely be an advantage, but if I wanted to I could look up lists of the best cars to suit each challenge online. I enjoy shopping the used car lot without any outside assistance, though. It's a lot of fun to just pick a car off the listed specs and give it a try.

Also distracting me from my quest to finish up FFXIII is the arrival of Little Big Planet! I've wanted to play this game ever since I saw the first demo at the San Diego Comic Con years back, before it was released. And it seems like every time I have gone into any game or electronic store I find myself picking up a copy and toying with the idea of purchasing it. But when I am playing an MMO I do little else - I don't read, I don't go out and I certainly don't split my time with console games. So I have always held off on getting a copy until now. With the sequel coming shortly after the new year I decided I had better get my act together and explore the game so I am ready for LBP2. I have only experienced part of the tutorial thus far and have not spent enough time to offer much constructive commentary yet apart from one observation. This game has, without a doubt, the very best tutorials ever. I adore Stephen Fry, and listening to him do the voice over has caused me to actually pay attention and utilize a tutorial for perhaps the first time ever in my gaming career. The game itself is adorable and clever. It's been so long since I've played a game with such limitless possibilities and I suspect what it will show me is that my own imagination has been withering slowly over the years. I can't wait to start goofing around with the level creation tools!

TERA Updates

I previously posted about playing TERA at this year's Penny Arcade Expo in August. I'd been on a self-imposed blackout of information, not wanting to get too excited about the game when it was still in the earlier stages of development. I ended that blackout at PAX, though, and ever since I have been intrigued by this title. Even with the reports coming in from many friends that the new World of Warcraft expansion has fixed a lot of the things that have been angering me about the title for years, I have no desire to return to that franchise ever again. And Aion, which I love despite its faults, has experienced such a cataclysmic population collapse that it is simply unplayable. For me, this means I've got all my eggs in one basket with TERA. There's nothing else coming out in the near future, so if this game doesn't live up to the hype and my own expectations I will be completely out of luck.

Having lifted my self-imposed blackout surrounding the game, I decided to "like" the official page through Facebook since my Google Reader account is bogged down with dozens and dozens of blogs, webcomics, news sites and other webpages. I've been pleased to see the regularity of the updates that are rolling out for the different classes, races, and the world itself.  It seems like every other day, a bit more information is added to the official site. It's a very manageable rate that allows me to consume each bit completely, and the regularity also keeps my curiosity satisfied. This week the site also had an additional update, an interactive world map! It works well to aid exploration of the world's mythology and races, but the information is not very precise. I hope they'll release further updates with information about the zones in different regions. At current, it's only the broad strokes.

Gran Turismo 5

I've never been a huge fan of driving games, mostly because I always had trouble reaching the pedals in arcades and because I was never terribly interested in cars as a teen and young adult. For the last few years, however, I've become a huge fan of the BBC's Top Gear program. I watch it primarily because it's entertaining, hilarious and clever. But I have always held a great admiration for things that are well made and beautiful, and well manufactured vehicles are no exception. I still know very little about my own car, but I have recently become much more curious about cars. They are one of the great modern inventions and it's fascinating to learn about how they work.

My first impressions are good (though, it would be nice if they'd created a female shaped racing driver). There's a bit of content to install, a few settings to set and then you're off. I decided to start with a trip to the used car dealership, where I purchased my stunning first car - an unbelievably bright lemon yellow Toyota Celica. From there, I decided to work my way through the basic licenses to get a handle on the controls. It has been years since I've played a console driving game, and even then I am accustomed to using racing wheels so there's a lot to adjust to with the controller. Not knowing what speeds to use in different cornering scenarios began to hamper my license exams, however, so I decided to learn by emulation and entered my first race. This proved to be the right decision, as I was able to take the first few laps of each track in the pack as practice. Using the other cars as "bumpers" to keep me on the right track helped refresh the broad strokes for me, and even after just 3 races I saw a huge level of improvement in my consistency.

So far I am really enjoying the game, and can't wait to get another controller so that I can actually race friends. This will provide quite a lot of replay value. I'm excited to see what I will unlock once I advance to the next tier of content as well. I certainly hope there are more races in each subsequent difficulty level. I was disappointed to see only nine tournaments for the beginner rank, but considering how boring these easy races will be for skilled players I understand. I snapped a few pictures, including the one above, during replays. The photo capturing abilities are rich and the replays are very sharp as well - I'm having a lot of fun re-watching the races and analyzing my mistakes. It's clear that a great deal of work went into making this game sleek and rich with content.

Something else that I'm finding enjoyable about the game is the inclusion of specialty races with specific entry requirements. The beginner's races offer several tournaments of this type, such as a European car manufactured between 1960 and 1979 or small Japanese cars from before 1979. It's tough to afford extra cars at this point in the game, but it's fun to have the variety. Unfortunately, both of the classic cars I purchased to participate in these races proved to be very, very slow and handle terribly. I suppose it demonstrates a realistic representation of their actual performance, but it's definitely frustrating.

Social Games: CityVille on Facebook

Zynga has just released yet another Facebook browser-based simulation game titled "CityVille". Though I have only played it for a few hours I already have a much better impression of this game than I do of their recent "FrontierVille". Before I dig into my first impressions, it should be said that I enjoy their Farmville, CafeWorld and Mafia Wars games. But FrontierVille (and YoVille before it) was a massive disappointment - I found the homesteads cute and enjoyed the general style of the gameplay but found it to be so horribly balanced that it is unplayable.

It should first be said that I am a person who takes Facebook relatively seriously. I only extend and accept friendship invitations from people I actually know. Therefore, I have only a few hundred friends, of whom only a small handful play these type of social games. Since having a large number of friends playing the same games provides an advantage, this makes my progression in games slow but reasonable. With a bit of patience, I manage to eventually "unlock" new content and complete objectives by increasing my level. However, FrontierVille's unlock mechanism is based on the number of neighbors each player possesses, not their level. Whereas a player's level is constantly increasing, offering the rewards to those willing to wait for them, the number of neighbors caps very early for me. It was just my bad luck that not even half a dozen friends found FrontierVille interesting. This means that virtually all game content, from simple buildings and crops to complex quests are not open to me without spending enormous amounts of game cash (purchased with real dollars). All Zynga games offer special items for people willing to pay - this is a common practice for free-to-play content. However, where their previous titles offered vanity items and advantages to those buying game cash FrontierVille's poor design made it necessary to use game cash to purchase the basic skills and items needed to play the game.

CityVille is faring better after a short time playing - though I don't have enough neighbors to enable the train station and start a shipping business, I have been able to build my town up reasonably well. With patience I am staffing my community buildings with my friends, which allows me to increase my population and with it my variety of businesses. Even the expansions are more flexible - whereas my cafe and farm are perpetually stuck at their current sizes due to lack of neighbors, I can purchase expansions with money and documents sent by friends. This means as long as I have one or two friends playing and a bit of patience, I will be able to grow my town geographically. I'm pleased to see this trend, since FrontierVille was so frustrating and even CafeWorld is becoming bogged down under a ridiculous amount of content that favors people who purchase game cash. It will be nice to have a new diversion while I browse the web and watch television.

Katamari Forever

I've been looking forward to a new Katamari game for ages - my friends first brought Katamari Damacy to my attention when I was living in New York, flat broke and perpetually bored on my (rare) days off. I was working two jobs and exhausted mentally and physically. Enter Katamari Damacy. Possibly the strangest, most bizarre game ever imagined for the PS2. Wacky music, a ridiculous premise, and the bizarre royal cast of characters all come together to make the game something completely unique and unbelievably fun. Each subsequent title in the series offers a different explanation for why the King of all Cosmos has accidentally destroyed the stars and his tiny son, the Prince of all Cosmos, must painstakingly repopulate the universe by rolling up items into clumps called katamari. I spent weeks with the catchy music stuck in my head during my commute. It's the kind of game that is perfect to pop in for a few minutes after a hard day - it's impossible to be grouchy or depressed while humming along with the soundtrack and trying to roll up fleeing cats and dogs and children into wiggling balls of stuff.

I played We Love Katamari a little bit, but never found it as entertaining as the original title. Then, in a cruel twist of fate Beautiful Katamari was released on the Xbox and a fourth title on the PSP, both systems I do not own. I was ecstatic when I heard that Katamari Forever would be released on the PS3, and it really does deliver. Just as goofy and fun as the original, I am enjoying playing through it slowly. A few minutes of katamari rolling daily are a great way to keep a person in a positive mindset! One of my favorite features returns, allowing the player to view full listings of the items they have collected throughout the various levels. There are some fun new aspects to the game as well - filters that alter the appearance of the world, a large cast of royal cousins, and inventive new levels (like the underwater level, very fun!). My one complaint is that the music is not as fun as the original - many of the original songs have been re-recorded but they are just not as good. I'd love to be able to access the classic tracks as well as these newer versions.

Playstation 3 - Home Feature and Updates

I finally took the time to set up my Playstation Home account just to humor myself, and I had a bit of fun popping around to different locations in search of free content. I had a lot more fun than I expected, since it reminded me so heavily of Second Life of which I am not a fan. That being said, there's not a lot of point to the feature. It would be neat if you could actually collect decorations or trophies as you complete different game titles, but there don't seem to be tie-ins. I was also a bit disappointed in the graphics - Mii's on the Wii are adorable, but Sony opted for a more "realistic" representation and it's not very good when compared to other human simuations such as the Sims.

I'll need to spend some more time goofing around with the feature to actually be able to comment intelligently, but it just doesn't seem like there is much there. It's not a practical feature, just something showy and superfluous. The other updated features are very useful. It's now possible to use Netflix without the CD - after a quick install the program appears in the list of video options. It boots up quickly and also has an improved, redesigned interface. Hulu Plus is also available, though I only use the basic service and can't comment on the paid service.

The functions I use the most on my Playstation are the music and video file capabilities. I use a large external drive as the backbone of my home network and for media storage. My PS3 makes it easy to navigate through my video files, but the support for music is not very impressive. I'd still love to see this feature fleshed out to include more (and better) visualizations and more functions. One of my biggest complaints is that music files are referenced by their file names, and not by their modified properties. This makes navigating the files in any mode other than by artist and folder ridiculously messy.

Console Cleanup

Since I am unemployed and my PC is acting up (therefore, sadly, no SC2) I am considering finishing Final Fantasy XIII. It's without a doubt the weakest Final Fantasy title I have ever played, but it's still beautiful and I quit it at the point that the game (finally) opened up and allowed me to play with my full party and explore the world. It's not the sci-fi heavy styling of the game and the futuristic setting that disappoint me. In fact, I think this is one of the aspects that works best - it's fresh and the visuals are very sharp. It's the pacing, characters, storyline and voice actors that are all terrible. And did I mention it's short? Even though the game feels like it drags on forever, the game is disappointingly simple compared to the massive story, cast and world of FFXII. That game made me feel like an adventurer, pulled me into the story and made me care about the characters. It made me laugh, cringe and wince. I cared and that drove me to move forward and to complete the many sidequests and achievements hidden throughout the game. Final Fantasy XIII offers none of this. It's just a dull, uninteresting story without any room for exploration or adventure.

The game has a lot of potential - It opens with a lot of flash and throws you right into serious action as the enigmatic Lightning. The remainder of the principle characters are introduced quickly thereafter, but for hours and hours of gameplay you are stuck in parallel storylines, playing pairs of characters who are often heavily restricted in their available skills, forcing the player to learn each job role without a full party to support them. It's tedious, boring, and frustrating. It's not until you reach Gran Pulse after many hours of gameplay that you finally gain access to your full party and begin adventuring together. What makes the Final Fantasy stories so great is their combination of characters and camaraderie - the group dynamics. Without this, the game is just a bunch of weak characters without any deep motivation or connection. But it is still very pretty.

AION Revisited: Population Balance

When Aion first launched, I predicted that Asmodians would attract power gamers and pre-established clans, and Elyos would attract a larger population but larger number of casual gamers. Whether or not that prediction was accurate, one year into the game it is clear that Asmodians have lost a much larger amount of their original population. The ramifications of this loss are colossal for the remaining players.

Earning PvP items takes a great deal of time because they are purchased with Abyss Points earned from fort sieges, killing players of the opposite faction and killing NPC monsters in the Abyss. With the Elyos holding a serious and consistent advantage in both numbers and the quality of their PvP gear, they are free to hunt in the Abyss at all times, amassing points and widening their lead. Those few Asmodians remaining on the merged Zikel server do not venture there due to the overwhelming presence of Elyos and this puts them at a severe disadvantage.

In the new zones, the Elyos have already conquered their two forts from the Balaur, which enables them free passage into the Asmodian zones, where even small groups are able to cause great disturbances. In the early days of the game, the Asmodian population was dense enough to immediately muster forces and push back any advances made by the enemy. These surprise attacks and counter attacks provided great enjoyment and added an unpredictable aspect to the experience grind. On the new merged Zikel, however, the population is so horrendously imbalanced that I almost never see any other Asmodians hunting and harvesting in our own lands. This makes it impossible to survive, as I am constantly encountering and being killed by Elyos players roaming in the Asmodian zone to hunt and torment us.

It's really a shame - the new areas and content added in Assault on Balaurea are fantastic, and the game would be terrific fun if the population were only balanced. During the times that the Elyos were barred from our zone (thanks to the NPC faction conquering one of the Elyos frontier forts) I had a fantastic time exploring our area and completing quests. Though frustrating, I did enjoy my return to Aion, if only to see how they expanded the content before my final exit.

AION Revisited - Goal Status

Here are the unfinished goals I had in January when I quit Aion:

• Done! Acquire 2,000 coins and purchase Shadetouched Staff
• Done! Reach 449 Handicrafting Skill
• Done! Obtain Fenris Shoulders
• Done! Complete Advanced Stigma Quest

Here are some more advanced goals I might be able to achieve before I permanently retire:

• Done! Reach level 55
• Failed Twice! Obtain Fenris Pants
• Failed! Obtain Fenris Chest
• Failed! Obtain Fenris Weapon
• Failed! Collect Anuheart Chanter Armor Set
• Failed! Reach 549 Handicrafting Skill
• Failed! Become Alchemy Master

Aion Revisited - Launch of Assault on Balaurea

The new content has launched quicker than I expected, so I am dealing with frustrating patching errors that are keeping me from accessing the game. I am excited to explore again, and have been sorely missing having an MMO time sink, but I am sad that I was not able to polish off any of my goals before the new content released. They’ll have to take the backseat while I level up and explore the new areas and lore!

The new character selection screen looks awesome, but the art has always been the greatest feature of the game so I am hardly surprised. I’m really looking forward to digging into the new Asmodian zone, since I was only able to play as Elyos at PAX. After many attempts, I've finally managed to finish patching and I am ready to explore. The new Asmodian zone looks like the Elyos zone - since they are both part of the same area, Balaurea, there is no longer a large disparity in the vitality and beauty of the terrain. The new zone is really nice looking, and so are the NPCs - the old models look a lot more defined, and the new models are nice. Lots of different types of critters, and even some decaying statues that remind me of the Weeping Angles from Doctor Who.

My first reactions are positive. There are lots of quests to be had, even a good selection of repeatable quests with a low threshold - only 10 or 20 repetitions for an extra reward. The experience offered for the quests is good, and the money is excellent for many of them. The new coin quest is quick and convenient to repeat and offers affordable armor options. I'm looking forward to exploring the new zone in greater depth in the coming weeks. I also bought a vanity pet because the "white dag" looks just like my own puppy, Oliver. Now I have a cute little digital pup to accompany me on my trip through Balaurea.


A lot has changed since I quit but the general game mechanics are the same so I haven't had any problems playing my own character. In the months my account was inactive, the dozen or so servers were condensed and Azphel became a part of the combined Zikel. This is unfortunate as the combined servers all had active, high powered Elyos guilds who dominate the PvP on the new combined server. The Asmodians are outgeared, outnumbered, and severely disorganized. It's a completely uneven political situation that makes the game much less fun to play. The Asmodian players I've met thus far are poor players, too lazy to do any of the fights properly even though they are relatively simple. I expected mostly serious players to be left at this point, but it's still a lot of unskilled people. This is especially painful for me, since support classes are largely at the mercy of their group's capabilities. I definitely miss my friends, and our smooth groups. I joined a legion of Azphel players and had high hopes that they might be skilled enough to run painless dungeons and small scale PvP encounters, but my experiences thus far do not leave me with much hope. I'm enjoying the solo play, though, so I will be able to get my Chanter to 55 without much effort. I'm looking forward to finishing up the expansion lore and then calling it quits in a more conclusive manner.

Aion Revisited - Account Reactivation

Following PAX, I made what is likely a poor decision - reactivating my Aion account. I deactivated the account in January, only 6 months after the game’s launch, and it was an unexpectedly sudden end that left my character in limbo. I’ve wanted ever since to return, at least briefly enough to finish several projects I had been working on with her. In an attempt to find a bit of closure for my character and to feel as though I was ready to leave the game, I am revisiting it for one or two months.

Firstly, I had been farming religiously to earn 2,000 Platinum Coins. Coin quests are a carryover from Lineage 2, where you could kill certain NPCs for a low chance to earn specific types of coins which could then be redeemed in combination for different rewards. It was a way to earn added benefit from killing NPCs to gain experience. In Aion, each subsequent tier of coin requires significantly more coins to earn a reward. The early tiers provide a random reward within one “school” of item type, so that you might wind up with an item you can’t use or a duplicate. This is often frustrating, but can still provide a reasonable amount of profit.

Once you reach the higher tiers, such as the Platinum Coins I was farming, you are able to chose much more specifically. My 2,000 coin quest was to earn an attack speed staff for my Chanter, and when I suddenly quit the game I had personally farmed over 1,400 coins - quite an achievement as they were awarded in small denominations for repeatable quests. At that time, buying the coins was cost prohibitive (roughly 25,000 adena each) so I kept soldiering forward on the repeatable quests. However, I discovered on my return that the price had dropped significantly, and I was able to snap up several bulk lots for 10,000 per coin. This, combined with a heavy night of farming was able to put me at my goal. The difference with the new weapon is unbelievable!

I am hoping to finish up two additional goals, though I am not sure I will make the deadline before the new content goes in. I would like to earn my Fenris Shoulders - I am just over halfway done and now I am able to complete the quest much quicker now. I also need to complete 2 more runs through the Dark Poeta instance in order to gain access to my advanced stigmas, since I frequently sat out for a friend. This is key for my character, and I really want to complete this so that I can feel she’s “done” before I quit for good. It’s a lot more difficult to complete group instances though, since everyone I know has quit the game. I’ll be at the mercy of strangers for the next month as I attempt to finish these goals while exploring the new zones and content.I’d also love to finish out my crafting - I was three points shy of the cap when I cancelled my account, and this has been raised slightly so there is additional incentive to finish.

Game Watch: Tera

I've been intentionally ignoring all chatter about Tera, a game in development and felt by many to be the replacement for Lineage 2, but I broke my self-imposed media blackout this past weekend at PAX and am now intrigued with what little information is available.

The game is undeniably beautiful. I was able to spy on a game tour given to my left while I was experimenting with the spellcasting character gameplay, and I was impressed. As with Lineage, the cities are beautiful and grand, massive in scale and full of fanciful interpretations of various forms of classical architecture. There are 6 playable races, each with their own very distinct aesthetic, architecture, lore, and clothing. It doesn't appear that there is any restriction on race and character class combination, and it will be a faction-free game. Players will be free to form alliances and declare war on any player as they see fit, and the designers are working on a political system more complex than the simple castle ownership of Lineage 2.

As a former Lineage player, I recognize many similarities between the art in both games. Certain locations seem to be flushed out, polished versions of locations from Lineage and this is not a bad thing. If they are able to extract and build upon the successes of Lineage (the art, the open gameplay, the beautiful music) and correct some of its shortcomings (primarily the combat system and steep death penaltys and extremely difficult progression) this has the makings of an incredibly wonderful game.

The gameplay took a bit of getting used to, but that is the point - wings and flight combat were Aion's revolution and the combat system is TERA's. All previous MMORPG games have been built on variations of the same combat system: select a player or NPC by targeting them with your mouse and select offensive skills to attack or restorative skills to defend. The restrictions on skill usage is primarily range based - each skill can only be used a certain distance from the selected target.

For TERA this has been completely redesigned to incorporate elements of first person shooter games. Rather than selecting a target ("locking on") and mashing skill buttons, a player must mind their range to ensure the selected skills will actually hit the target and aim the skills in order to hit. The player never "targets" anything at all. This is very different than all previous MMORPG games, and requires a bit of getting used to. I liked it, but it was still a bit disorienting.

The funniest part of my time at the booth was, of course, listening to confused World of Warcraft players who didn't understand the gameplay. The first question they all asked was "so is this like WoW" or "What's different than WoW" to which the booth staff would try not to wince and begin to explain all the differences. I don't think I will ever be able to forgive WoW for spoiling the MMO market by flooding it with unskilled players who have no experience other than WoW's quick rewards and easy gameplay. Every game that comes out is compared to WoW as though it's a golden standard, and players expect the same type of experience and level of difficulty. Hopefully the differences in TERA's combat system will be enough to set it apart from WoW so that people judge it on its own merits.

PAX!

This is my third year @ PAX, and I am still finding each year more impressive than the last. This year in particular was surprising - the addition of several new floors and satellite theaters at Benaroya Hall, local hotels, and even the expansion to GameWorks really helped thin out the crowds making it easy to navigate in the expo hall. It also allowed for more of everything! More handheld lounge space, more expo space, more console and PC freeplay, and several new rooms like Jamspace. All in all it was amazing, and I didn't explore much beyond the expo hall!

I was impressed by a lot of the console titles, even though they were not exactly my preferred genres. The new Infamous and Fallout titles look awesome, as does Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I hadn't even heard of the Epic Mickey project, but it looks brilliant - a really clever use of Mickey as a hero, with the magic brush as his weapon. It's very classic Mickey meets the Sorcerer's Apprentice crossed with Scribblenauts and an action RPG style gameplay. Their booth was one of my favorites - playing several videos on a constant loop and displaying large scale artistic renderings of game scenes. I love the idea, it's such a great homage to Disney as an animation studio that it actually works, whereas most "franchise" games (movie tie ins and the like) are poorly imagined and executed.

I was surprised to see some interesting FPS and RPG shooter titles that actually interested me. I tend to shy away from violent games because I dislike gore and have poor reflexes. However, these new types of FPS games that don't necessarily prize headshots intrigue me.

I spent a lot of time at the Aion booth playing their stacked (level 55, with lots of stigmas) Elyos Chanter. The expansion looks beautiful, of course, and I had forgotten just how much I adore the Chanter class and how it plays. I may even reactivate my account just to fool around and farm, something my twisted mind misses greatly. The new attacks look awesome, and apparently I can upgrade to the expansion for free. The features I was hoping would be implemented have not, though. There are vanity and practical pets - different pets offer unique bonuses such as extra storage or combat warnings. However, nothing about the dynamic seasons or player housing.

I also spent a lot of time at the Tera booth, watching the cinematic and gameplay. I nabbed a console for a while on Saturday afternoon, and explored the caster class and also played one of the melee classes a little bit. The combat system is brilliant, forcing players to actually aim their skills and position their character in real time in order to launch effective attacks. It does take a bit of getting used to, though. It plays a bit like Diablo 2, in the sense that they had one skill stuck to left and right click, allowing you to easily control the basic combat by maneuvering with your left hand (W A S D) and launching attacks with the mouse (left and right click). The Alt key allows you to toggle combat and passive modes, which remove the "aiming" function of the mouse and allows you to mouse over skills and navigate menus. The mage's skills were neat - a good variety that allowed for different combat styles. There were single direct damage spells that I aimed at single targets, and "wave" attacks like the old school "flame wave" from Diablo 2, that allowed me to sweep through multiple mobs when I got swarmed.

The booth guys were chatting people up, helping them figure out the controls and answering general questions. I am excited about the "no faction" aspect, but wary that the PvP system won't be fully open like Lineage 2. They hinted at a built in political system that is still under development, and assured me that PvP servers will offer "nearly" free-pvp that is still being tweaked. The gameplay was seamless - my main concern with the "no targeting" system - the most radical difference from previous MMOs - was server lag. One of the most frustrating experiences, especially in large scale pvp, is trying to target players who are not where you think they are. The game ran without any positioning issues due to lag at the demo booth, but that will be one of the things I need to test for myself on my own PC before I register a real opinion.

Review: Wings of Liberty Campaign

Though I played Starcraft's Broodwars expansion extensively, Wings of Liberty is the first campaign I have ever played. I was never very familiar with the lore from the original game - I just played because it was a remarkably balanced and exciting RTS game. The primary reason for my campaign avoidance was that I absolutely hate playing Terran - though I occasionally play Zerg for variety I heavily favor and nearly always play as Protoss.

Regardless of my general distaste for Terran, I enjoyed the campaign and the storyline. The purpose of the campaign is twofold - to tell a story and to introduce the character to the gameplay and game units. It achieves the practical aims well. I never felt out of my depth and was quickly reminded of the basic commands and strategies in the first few missions. As they became more complicated, I found myself really enjoying the variety. They managed to work tactical training into realistic scenarios (teaching the player how to relocate buildings due to periodic lava flows, teaching the player how to manage troop drops due to terrain constraints, etc) that were often fun and creative. The addition of achievements also reinforced the enjoyment, offering additional levels of difficulty for the more skilled players. The most enjoyable part for me was definitely the few missions that I was able to control Zeratul and play as Protoss - they left me very excited for the coming Protoss campaign!

The storyline was also well done - the characters were well flushed out and the voice actors were excellent. The high quality videos were astounding - particularly the Kerrigan betrayal video and Kerrigan vs. Zeratul fight. The astounding quality of these videos helped to balance the disappointment I felt at the final video which was a complete let down. Though it leaves the story in an interesting place to be picked up for the second installment, focused on the Zerg, it was a very uninspired ending. No cliffhanger, no foreshadowing, nothing exciting. Though it was a nice moment, I was expecting a lot more that was just not delivered.

Overall I was surprised - I did enjoy learning about the Terran units and the storyline was unexpectedly deep and genuine. I did see a shocking number of parallels and similarities to Firefly and the movie Serenity, from the disillusioned mercenary space cowboy vibe to the actual use of similar names and visuals. I can't wait for the Zerg and Protoss campaigns to see where the story is headed. Blizzard is great at throwing in just enough surprises to really keep people on their toes, so I know better than to make too many predictions at this point.

Early Review for SC2

It's a bit humbling to remember exactly how long it has been since I last played Starcraft, and I admit to being surprised at how much I am enjoying SC2. I originally began playing some time after the Broodwars expansion to Starcraft during my days as an undergraduate. I had finally begun to tire of the repetitious nature of Diablo 2 and because Battlenet shared servers between SC and Diablo, I was coerced into learning to play by some friends who had been avid SC fans from the beginning. This meant that I had a lot of catching up to do, lots of practicing, lots of matches to observe.

As a result, I played the game socially (I can't really say "competetively" due to my mediocre skills) - always on Battlenet with my friends, and never played through the single player campaigns. Because of this, I never really understood the storyline and was unfamiliar with the main characters of the narrative. For me, it was always just a strategy game - one match after another without end. SC2 is the beginning of the story for me, and I am impressed with the simplicity of the narrative - I am not overwhelmed or confused without having played through the original Starcraft or Broodwars campaigns. The characters are solid and interesting, and each new campaign mission is interesting as well as excellent practice for someone with RTS skills as rusty as mine.

My only serious complaint is that my computer, after managing to survive years of WoW raiding on high graphics setting has finally become completely obsolete. I lag so badly even on medium settings (which, sadly for me, look phenomenal) that it makes competetive play impossible. Even on the lowest settings I feel the processor dragging. That being said, I do wish they'd produced a few more high quality cutscenes - years of playing Final Fantasy have certainly spoiled me when it comes to these. Blizzard did a good job of producing the narrative cutscenes - you get a lot of character and emotion even though they are not rendered in high quality. This makes the few cutscenes that are done in high quality stand out from the rest, but left me wishing more had been done to the same standard.

Starcraft 2 Multiplayer

When I was originally sucked into the world of Starcraft years ago, it was by a tight knit group of friends. They trained me in basic strategies and general gameplay, and we always played together. I spent a lot of time observing the matches I wasn't skilled enough to participate in, and serving as a handicap for the most skilled players. Over the years I played, we must have played hundreds and hundreds of matches, 2v2s, 3v3s, 2v1s and many other permutations.

This time around it's different - I have friends playing, but not a dedicated set group. As a result, I have spent a lot of time playing with random strangers and suffering heavily. I had forgotten just how badly some people play - it's astonishing that people with such poor skills get any enjoyment out of the game whatsoever. I've watched people build 4 or 5 gateways at the start of a match, and then only use one to build units. I've seen people build up defenses without any units whatsoever. And some things never change - some people still know no strategy except for amassing battleships.

One thing is for sure - if I keep playing pick up games I will go completely insane. I'm not a fantastic player, I'm an average one who has been getting stuck with absolutely terrible partners nearly every time. So far I am less than impressed with the game's "skill matching" system. Hopefully some of these players will give up or actually learn how to play, because at present it's just unbearable in the lower casual brackets of gameplay.

Wings of Liberty

After months of systematically resisting all leaks, videos and articles about the SC2 launch, I finally caved in today and decided that I must play! I suppose I should have seen this coming, but there it is. I'll be picking up a copy tomorrow and killing my unemployment time by dusting off my RTS skills. Here's hoping I can remember how to play and my reflexes are not too terribly dulled by old age!

Final Fantasy XIII

For the first time in recorded history, I have been having a hard time finishing a Final Fantasy title. Though the art and design is beautiful and the gameplay is interesting, I am not at all compelled by the characters or story arc.

The first mistake is in the pacing - the game begins with the characters fragmented in pairs, with the player alternating between groups. It is frustrating to be stuck in this rigid framework for so long without the ability to play with a full party or select party members. Additionally, the player is stuck on a single course of action without the ability to deviate for any sidequests or adventuring. I've never seen such a linear Final Fantasy title and find it very disappointing.

I am finally at the point where the game seems to be expanding - I have entered the world of Pulse, and it seems to be one massive map full of very difficult monsters. I'm feeling the influence of MMOs through this seamless world, but it doesn't seem to be working as well as the influence in FFXII that lead to the gambit system. I don't dislike the battle system in XIII, but I don't enjoy it either. Typically I enjoy job based battle systems, but these are quite rigid and I dislike the allocation of skills - I feel like the system does not complement my prefered playing styles at all. Previous titles have been customizable to the point that I was able to play through in several different ways and find each enjoyable, and I miss this flexibility.

Aion Wrap-up

I've been working very hard these past weeks to develop my character in Aion, and even though it is horrendously slow going I am enjoying the process. Unfortunately for Harmonia, my little chanter character, I have decided to cancel my account. I am still enjoying the game, and the changes that NCSoft is looking to implement interest me greatly - I ADORE a game with player housing, and many of the other soon to be added features. Unfortunately, most of my friends have quit playing and I feel I should move on now since I have just begun the process of purchasing my own home.

So it's farewell to the world of Daevas and hello to the world of boxes and packing tape.

Resume Function!

Holidays are over, and several weeks have passed since I finally hit the golden 50 max-level mark in Aion. With fewer hours a week spent grinding experience and farming for coin, I hope to return to a more active posting habit, beginning with a review of my newest (ok, so I am a bit behind the times) DS game: Scribblenauts.