Life is Strange Reflections

If you haven't played Life is Strange yet, you're missing out.  It's a great little episodic story game that manages to improve on a relatively new genre.  There are several mechanics that make Life is Strange different, and in some ways more satisfying, than some TellTale stories.  Being able to rewind time might seem cheesy, but it has made me think about my decisions so much more than simply being rushed into a decision that I might not have time to fully consider.  There are also so many smaller, more intimate moments that give players much more insight and feeling related to the characters in the game.

Life is Strange has made me realize a few things.  Firstly, I am really glad that I am not a teenager today.  Yes, I'm getting older and I'm reminded of this every day, but I don't know if I could survive in a world where everything is connected and documented.  All your ridiculous teenage mistakes are easily accessible for a much wider audience.  A large part of the plot in the second episode revolves around some serious bullying of a specific student.  Kate Marsh is presented to players as a character who has strong religious values and tries to promote those values.  As Max prepares to start her day she runs across a group of particularly mean girls who are trying to spread a viral video of Kate at a party.  Players can choose to support Kate and try to keep the video from spreading or to simply ignore what is going on.  This situation didn't exist when I was growing up--no one carried around a video camera to record every event.  Today recording everything has become commonplace.

Small moments like a bus ride are memorable.

I am also enjoying the smaller, more laid back moments in the game.  The fact that you can choose to have Max lie in bed and listen to a song or have her sit in Chloe's junkyard wasteland and ponder the situation is something unique in a game.  The soundtrack for the game has been very carefully chosen and gives a nice vibe to moments like riding the bus into town or hanging out in Max's room.  The scene in episode two where Max and Chloe were walking on the train tracks and talking made me feel nostalgic for old friends who I haven't seen in years.

Life is Strange is taking the episodic story genre into a much deeper and enjoyable direction.  I like only occasionally being rushed into my decisions and being able to change my mind.  The game has run so smoothly that I think TellTale needs to start taking notes--no annoying save game bugs, no horrible technical problems, and only a slight delay to the release date.  I'm rooting for you Life is Strange!

Are War Games Realistic?

I enjoy the occasional FPS.  I will admit to not being a big FPS player especially when you think of the genre-defining games of today--Call of Duty or Battlefield.  I've played a few of the CoD games, but never the newer ones.  So I don't know that I could call myself a real fan of FPS war games.  An episode of PBS's "GameShow" questioned if war games, like CoD, are an accurate depiction of warfare.  Here is the episode if you're interested in watching it.

After viewing this episode I realized that I agree with many of the points that Jamin is making.  One of the reasons I, and probably most other people, like playing these games is because you do get the feeling of being a "one man/woman army."  It's very rewarding to run around wreaking havoc and putting your enemies in their place.  Part of the fun of video games is that you get to be a hero--you can easily take down scores of bad guys and withstand huge amounts of damage.  Yeah, it's not realistic, but it's fun.  But maybe that's part of the problem...are games glorifying war a little too much?  I've never been in combat and hope I never have to be in a situation that remotely resembles actual combat.  Is making it seem fun a bad thing?  I have to say yes.  In real-life there is no life-meter, you can't withstand getting shot numerous times and you most likely aren't by yourself running across a battlefield filled with enemy soldiers.

Jamin also points out that there are different types of war games--there are the FPS's which put you on the field in the position of a simple soldier and then there are the more command-oriented games which put you in the shoes of a general with a more top-down view.  I've played both and can't really say if either are a more realistic depiction of war.  Maybe the command type of games are more realistic?

I like many of the ideas that Jamin put forward to make war games more realistic.  The idea of having a fixed amount of ammo would really force players to think about the shots that they are taking.  As a fan of cooperative games I also like the idea of promoting teamwork to accomplish something rather than a simple "lone wolf" type of scenario.

I'm not really sure what the answer is to making war games more realistic.  How can developers keep it real and not sacrifice the entertainment factor?  This seems to be a difficult balancing act that no one can master.

Multiple Characters or One?

I have run into a bit of a conundrum in my recent return to Diablo III.  Should I focus on one level 70 character or should I just mess around on several?  I have no intention of trying to earn any special place on a leaderboard and I just mostly play for fun.  My crusader has come along nicely and seems decently geared.  I also have a level 70 monk who is really fun, but could use some shiny new legendaries.  So how do you roll?  Do you focus on one set class or do you choose from a set?

I really like my monk.

If I roll one toon:

1.) Better chance of gearing up a character and increasing the difficulty level resulting in better loot.

2.) More practice with one specific class.  Gain a more thorough understanding about class abilities and how to most effectively use them.

If I roll with multiple toons:

1.) Grinding becomes less stale.  Simply switching classes makes things feel different.

2.) More experience with different classes.  I'm not expecting to play multi-player anytime soon, but understanding other classes is good.  I've always enjoyed learning every class in games.

3.) Spread the wealth--gear up multiple toons with drops.  Choose the best for each situation.

Or, the random thrid option is to look into the whole seasonal play.  I haven't tried to make a seasonal hero yet, but as a fan of levelling I could see this as a valid option.  As a casual player I wouldn't expect to get much out of it--I won't be on any leaderboards.

These are my Diablo dilemmas.  /sigh.

The Joy of Grinding

I'm generally not a huge fan of games that involve seemingly endless hours of grinding.  It takes a certain degree of patience to want to complete the same actions over and over with the hope of some "phat lewtz" at the end.  Strangely I've been enjoying the Diablo III grind.  My little crusader who started out as a fun side project has turned into a hulking mass of holy destruction.  I'm not going to be topping any leaderboards, but I'm having fun.

The dominion of the greed demon.

I made the decision to turn up the difficulty a few days ago and am finding that this has really paid off.  I have seen significantly better loot drops and have managed to amass a decent amount of gold.  One really fun event happened the other day purely by accident.  A treasure goblin popped up and I desperately chased it all over the map.  I finally managed to corner it and proceed to pound on it like the loot pinata that it is.  In my frenzy of clicking I somehow managed to enter the mysterious portal to the realm of the greed demon.  If you haven't managed to get into the portal you're missing out on a fun experience!  Inside the portal you find yourself in a vault that is filled with riches--tons of gold (plus, it's 100% bonus gold and XP right now) and more treasure goblins to kill.  At the end of a maze of riches you enter the inner sanctum and face-off against the greed demon.  The demon wasn't a very difficult fight for my crusader, I just has to make sure that I avoided the charge attacks and falling loot chests.  Once you've downed the demon you are rewarded with a huge chest of loot.

Besides downing the elusive greed demon I also found my first greater rift keystone.  I don't really know much about these keystones other than they unlock rifts that function as a sort of challenge mode.  The goal seems to be to unlock more powerful rifts by completing them quickly--there is a timer that runs continually and the rift guardian must be defeated before the timer runs out in order to advance to a more difficult rift.  If you beat the timer you earn a loot reward which also includes the option to earn a legendary gem.

It's nice to have some fallback games that I can enjoy while I'm waiting for new releases.  Grand Theft Auto V is next on my playlist and it has already been delayed a few times.  In the meantime I'm going to keep grinding out some loot in Diablo III.

Are Games Like Goat Simulator Brilliant or Stupid?

Here in Oregon it is spring break.  As a teacher I get to enjoy some relaxation and mentally prepare myself for the end of the school year.  Part of that relaxation has included trying to catch up on my backlog of games and gaming videos.  I've mentioned PBS's GameShow before and it is one of my favorites.  Yesterday I watched a video about a game that is most likely far off of anyones radar, Goat Simulator.

I first heard about this strange little game prior to its release on April Fools day of 2013.  As much as I hate to admit it, I was intrigued.  A game where you play as a goat?  The choice of using a goat is great.  Anyone who has ever browsed YouTube for even a short amount of time has undoubtedly come across a hilarious video of goats screaming like humans or goats doing something ridiculous.  Goats are funny, who wouldn't want to play as a goat?

Then I decided to check out the trailer.  It features a goat rampaging across a fictional city causing massive destruction.  Ummm, alright.  So I took it a step farther and checked out a "let's play" of the game.  I watched and giggled as the hosts headbutted humans and used the tongue of their goat to latch on and drag objects around.  Then, to cap it all off they climbed the goat to the top of a tower and managed to jump on a hang glider.  But what was the point of all this?  To simply do stupid things in a game as a goat?  I'm pretty sure that's not worth $10.  Maybe I'm wrong.

I partially believe that Goat Simulator is brilliant.  It's the kind of game where there are very few rules and you can do whatever you want.  You can't die and can perform all kinds of crazy stunts with your goat.  The only limitations to what you can do are in your mind!  I think it also serves as a great example that almost any idea can work in gaming, even one this ridiculous.

Another part of me thinks Goat Simulator is a waste of time and money.  I couldn't believe it when the game was released and it topped the bestseller list on Steam.  Sure, it looked like it offered a few laughs, but it also looked like the kind of game that is a novelty--you play it once or twice and then it sits in your library collecting virtual dust.

My final classification of Goat Simulator is that it's brilliantly stupid--a game world where the sky is the limit and there are no rules.  If getting some laughs is your goal then you can't do any worse than this.  It's not my cup of tea, so I'll content myself with watching goofy videos of goats wearing a jetpack and blowing up gas stations.

Life is Strange--Episode 2

Max and Chloe rekindle their friendship.

The second episode of Square Enix/Dontnod's episodic story game Life is Strange was released two days ago and I've finally completed it.  I gotta say, for a game that I picked up on a lark I'm really enjoying it.  There are some great plot elements--a missing student, a long-lost friendship that is revived, weird supernatural phenomenons, and modern teenage angst.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole thing actually plays out.  They are definitely giving TellTale a run for their money in the episodic story genre.  (Spoilers ahead.  If you haven't played it, don't read.)

But back to episode two of Life is Strange.  If you remember back to the ending of episode one (which, unlike Tales from the Borderlands, wasn't delayed for months so is much easier to remember) there were a bunch of weird things that were happening in the fictional town of Arcadia Bay.  Max, a high school student at a prestigious school, discovered that she possessed the ability to rewind time.  At the end of episode one Max and Chloe are hanging out at a lighthouse and discussing Max's new ability.  It's then that Max blacks out and has a vision of a huge tornado coming to destroy the town.  When she wakes up she makes the decision to inform her friend Chloe about her powers.  Then it starts to snow....when it definitely shouldn't be.

There's something strange going on in Arcadia Bay and unfortunately episode two doesn't really delve very deeply into those things.  The beginning of the episode sees Max back in her dorm room sleeping.  A voiceover reveals that she stayed up almost all-night reading books about quantum physics in an attempt to understand her powers.  She still doesn't really understand where they come from and much of this episode deals with Max learning more about them.  Max then receives a text from Chloe asking her to meet up at the local diner.  You navigate the dormitories at Blackwell academy and learn that Kate Marsh, the quiet religious girl from episode one, is being relentlessly bullied.  Rumors are swirling of a video featuring Kate at a party looking very drunk and making out with a bunch of random people.  These rumors are being circulated by Victoria and her posse of mean girls.  Throughout this episode Max can choose to support Kate or to leave her hanging.  I opted to help her and made sure to choose every option that involved trying to prevent people from watching the video or sharing the link.  Kate also reveals to Max that she thinks she was drugged at the party and that Nathan Prescott, the rich kid/drug dealer from episode one, might have taken her somewhere and assaulted her.  Kate asks Max what she should do and you are forced to choose between informing Kate that she should go to the police or that she should try to find evidence first.  This is a tough decision because Nathan Prescott appears to be threatening Max over the bathroom gun incident that happened the day before.  You want to support your friend, but you also don't want Nathan to harm anyone.

After Max leaves the dorm she heads out to meet Chloe at the Two Whale's diner.  Chloe finally shows up and that's when things get interesting.  Chloe is very interested in testing Max's rewind ability an formulates a series of tests.  One test involves guessing exactly what is in Chloe's pockets.  Another test involves Max predicting a series of events that take place inside the diner within a short time period.  You pass the tests and Chloe is very impressed with Max's superpower.  She decides that they should take a trip to one of her "secret lairs" and really get a sense of what Max can do.  Before you leave the diner, Kate calls Max.  Players are given the choice of answering the call, much to Chloe's dislike, or ignoring the call.  It's obvious that Kate is having a really hard time and that Max is a source of support.

Chloe takes Max to her "secret lair" which is actually a junkyard filled with rusted out old cars and signs of Arcadia Bay's decay--broken signs from closed businesses.  At the junkyard Chloe decides that she wants to do some target practice and sends Max searching for beer bottles to use as targets.  Max wanders through the junkyard finding bottles and also finding more evidence that this was a place where Chloe and Rachel Amber, the missing girl from episode one, had hung out.  Max manages to find the bottles and returns them to Chloe.  Chloe sets them up and whips out the pistol she stole from her stepfather, the Blackwell security guard David Madsen.  She asks Max to use her powers to help her aim.  Chloe shoots and then Max rewinds time to tell her how to alter her aim.  It's here that Max starts to feel her nose bleed and realizes that using her powers all the time may not be a good idea.  She still doesn't understand how they work but it's obvious that she can only use them so much before she starts to have problems.

As Max and Chloe are leaving the junkyard they are confronted by a strange man.  It turns out that this man is the person who Chloe owes money.  At this point Chloe has handed the gun to Max in an effort to get her to try shooting.  Chloe and the man, named Frank (owner of the weird RV from episode one), get into an argument and Frank pulls out a knife and threatens Chloe.  Max holds up the pistol and tells him to step back.  Here players also have a tough choice--you can opt to have Max shoot Frank or to have her hold off.  I chose to have her hold off and the result was that Frank took the gun.  So now Frank is armed with a gun and is clearly out to get Chloe.

There are some really nice moments as Chloe and Max balance on the railroad tracks and talk like old friends.  Their friendship seems to be slowly getting repaired and you are given a sense of the unbreakable bond between them.  It's here that things start to go wrong.  As Chloe and Max are laying on the tracks and reminiscing, Chloe realizes that her foot is stuck under the tracks.  Max has to figure out a way to help Chloe avoid getting squashed by a train.  Fortunately there is a shed with tools nearby and players are able to rewind time in an effort to figure out how to free Chloe.

After Chloe is freed, Max decides it is time to return to school to attend class.  Chloe drives Max back to school and continues to expound on Max's new powers.  Max then enters the school and heads off to class.  On her way to class she witnesses Kate talking to the photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson, and telling him about the video.  Mr. Jefferson informs Kate that there is nothing she can do about the video and Kate runs off, clearly very upset.  Max tries to talk to Mr. Jefferson, but their conversation is interrupted by a phone call.  Max enters class and is forced to face off against Victoria and Nathan who have taken over her desk.  The bell rings and Mr. Jefferson enters the room.  He starts teaching the class but is interrupted by another student who runs into the room announcing that there is something going on at the girls dorm.  The students run out of class and toward the dorm.

Once Max arrives at the dorm she sees what is going on.  Kate is standing on the roof and she looks like she is going to jump.  Max tries to rewind time and realizes that she has nearly spent all of her ability while messing around with Chloe.  With great effort she manages to stop time and reach the roof.  On the roof Max realizes that she can't rewind any more and that she has to talk Kate down without making any mistakes.  Fortunately I had paid close attention earlier in the episode and knew what to say to convince Kate to back down.

The next scene opens with Max in the principal's office being interrogated about Kate.  Max explains what is happening but is forced to pin the events on someone.  You are again forced to choose who should take the blame--David Madsen, the security guard who seems to be stalking Kate, Mr. Jefferson, the teacher who did little to help her, or Nathan Prescott, the devious rich kid who may have raped Kate.  I desperately wanted to pin it on Nathan Prescott but instead opted for David Madsen.  This is one decision that I am regretting.

The episode ends with Max and Warren sitting in front of the school discussing the events of the day.  As they are talking they notice that there is a solar eclipse happening.  Warren remarks that it is unscheduled.  Are Max's powers changing the entire universe?  The game closes with a montage of events--the principal talking to Mr. Jefferson in his car, Kate lying in a hospital bed, Chloe sitting by the lighthouse smoking a cigarette and texting Max to ask her if she's alright.

I enjoyed this episode and thought that the most significant part of it was the exploration into Max's powers.  It's very apparent that Max needs to use them sparingly as they are limited and can cause her to have severe pain or to even black out if she overuses them.  I'm not so sure that David Madsen is the jerk that he appears to be.  As a middle episode it left plenty of room for the story to grow more.  The very brief preview of episode three looks to have Max and Chloe investigating the school directly.  It appears that they have broken in at night and are looking for clues...and that they are being pursued.  Can't wait to see what the rest of the story brings!

Virtual Reality--Is it the Future of Gaming?

It seems like I'm always running into articles about virtual reality and how it could change the way we think of gaming.  I haven't tried it yet, but think it sounds interesting.  How fun would it be to play an FPS and actually be in the middle of the action?  Or to play a simulator type game and get a more accurate simulation of something like flying a plane?  In theory it sounds unbelieveable, but I want to see it in practice.

I've read that VR can take awhile to acclimate to--some people who are more prone to motion sickness have difficulties playing and can experience nausea.  I am one of those people and would like to avoid throwing up while gaming as much as possible.  And what about support?  Since VR is in it's early days are there many good games either being developed or being converted to use with different headsets?  I'm also not completely sure how they work.  Do you have to turn around in real-life to see what's behind you?

So while I'm curious, I'm going to hold off on running out and buying a shiny, new VR system.  I think I'll wait awhile and see if it really catches on or if it's just a fad of newer technology.  I'm leaning towards fad--think of how many other "virtual reality" or other gaming products were advertised as something revolutionary, but which never caught on.  We'll just have to wait and see what the future hilds for VR.