First things first: happy birthday to me! I didn't realize it when I started this back up that my birthday would've fallen on a Wednesday, but oh well! Another funny thing to realize about today: seven years ago, Grand Theft Auto IV came out on the XBox 360 and Playstation 3. I did not know this until earlier yesterday. But that's not what I'm going to talk about today. Instead, it'll be about the 2009 release of Tales of Monkey Island, Episode 1.
Title: Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 1 (Launch of the Screaming Narwhal)
Released: July 2009
Spoiler lie ahead, arr. You be warned!
For those who may not know Monkey Island is a point-and-click adventure game made by LucasArts for the PC during the Age of Adventure that came out around 1990. It is the misadventures of a lovable pirate wannabe by the name of Guybrush Threepwood and his rise to fame, or infamy as his friends and enemies would both consider. He meets his future wife Elaine Marley and his future rival LeChuck through the trials of becoming a pirate, and from there his future is set to always be intertwined around the two of them (sounds like a triad scheme similar to Nintendo, huh?).
Tales of Monkey Island was not actually made by LucasArts, though, or at least solely developed by them. Instead, this was another of the early titles that Telltale Games had their hand in, and I would have to say that it ended up helping them refine their tool for future games. You still follow Guybrush on his adventures across the oceans, but this time, it is an adventure so grand that it spans over five episodic content games (sound familiar to what Telltale is always doing?).
The brand of humor for this game series is still very much the backbone of the interactions between Guybrush and practically anything else in the environment, and being a point-and-click environment, there is often some seemingly inconspicuous items that can give you much humor in interacting with. This episode alone is quite amusing as it takes place on one sole location, the island of Flotsam. In trying to stop the pirate LeChuck from his recent voodoo plot, Guybrush ends up turning him human and exploding the boat that him, LeChuck, and Elaine were on. Washed up on the shore of Flotsam Island, the adventure lies in trying to get off the island and return to his beloved, or to deal with his arch nemesis, potentially both.
Dominic Armato is THE voice of Guybrush Threepwood. Since the third title took a leap towards a different graphic style and included voice acting, he has been at the front lending his unique voice to the series. There is something about his snappy quips towards everyone else that shows Guybrush's "Don't Care" attitude that I've grown to love, and I'm sure many others have found solace in that too. The way the game proceeds, the only way for him to leave the island leads him through a typical checklist of tasks. Sooner or later, he discovers that in turning LeChuck human, he has unleashed an evil voodoo pox on all pirates, and his hand is the most potent form of this infection. Not only does he still have to worry about leaving the island, but he has to focus on curing the ailments of his fellow pirates that he ended up causing.
I wasn't able to play it when it first started coming out, nor was I aware it was actually coming out around the same time (or a few weeks later) on the Wii. I know they ended up releasing it on the Playstation 3 later, but that's about it as far as my knowledge of it. In fact, I didn't even know about this game itself until last year, when I started watching some of it on YouTube through a longplay channel. It's so cinematic that I ended up watching most of it (skipping large chunks sometimes so I didn't ruin the entire game). I can safely say that, playing now, I am enjoying every twist and turn that I ended up skipping over, making the game all the more surprising. C'mon now. Tell me you wouldn't find it amusing that Guybrush attempts to call the Treasure Hunter D'Oro "D'Oro the Explorer"? Or that he plays around with an ill-gotten Porcelain Power Pirate by sacrificing it on an altar?
To be continued... arr...
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Press Start: April 22nd, 2015
Another release from my vault of the past, this one is a sequel to the Laura Bow point-and-click adventure game released by Sierra. Introducing: Laura Bow and the Dagger of Amon-Ra!
Title: The Dagger of Amon Ra
Released: 1992
~
Created three years after the first, this sequel has you controlling Laura Bow after she finishes college. Thanks to her father, she has a job waiting for her in New York, and she travels by train up to the Big Apple. All the way, mischief is brewing aboard the Andrea Doria, where an egyptian exhibit is being carefully unloaded for the Leyendecker Museum.
Laura Bow starts her job at the New York Tribune, who's Chief Editor, Sam Augustini, is real close with her father. Doubting her abilities as a reporter due to being a woman, he gives her a simple assignment to start: cover the opening of the new Egyptian Exhibit later that night at the Leyendecker. He also sends her off to her desk, where she can begin her story. This is how it all starts for the snooping sleuth now turned reporter.
The events of the first game don't make an appearance in this, however, she does make mention she's seen her share of death. Upon arriving at the museum, a dead body turns up, and it is from there that Laura's snooping lessons come into practice. With a large cast of colorful characters, and plenty of motive from all of them, it is up to you to browse through the museum and work up your article.
Sierra had done away with text prompts by the time this game came out, using the icon sets that many other adventure games used during this time. You had the Walk icon, which you used to get around; the Look icon, which is sometimes helpful for getting a closer look at certain things; the Touch icon, which was used to pick up items; the Greet icon, which merely started up a conversation with the person you used it on; and the Question icon, which allowed you to ask about anything you've learned. You'd come to use the Question icon a lot, in order to learn more about people or items you may have collected.
Originally, the game was released on a floppy, and due to this, it didn't have as much room as it did later on the CD. Therefore, the difference between the two versions is that the floppy had no voices (except for one song, still in the first act). The CD version gave Laura a country accent, which went along well for where she came from, and it was amusing to hear some of the other characters when they talked. Furthermore, the CD version threw away the copy-protection that worked its way in from time to time on the floppy version.
This was a major improvement over the first, but I can't help but realize it as a stand-alone game on its own. Laura Bow was quite a sleuth in those days, and it'd be much nicer if Vivendi picked up the series and actually continued onto it. I'm sure she'd have plenty more adventures, as well as fans, if they did. However, I'll leave this post with a link to the song in question from the earlier paragraph. The song's called "I Want to Marry an Archaeologist", and it was hilarious to hear this song randomly go on in the speakeasy of the first act.
Title: The Dagger of Amon Ra
Released: 1992
~
Created three years after the first, this sequel has you controlling Laura Bow after she finishes college. Thanks to her father, she has a job waiting for her in New York, and she travels by train up to the Big Apple. All the way, mischief is brewing aboard the Andrea Doria, where an egyptian exhibit is being carefully unloaded for the Leyendecker Museum.
Laura Bow starts her job at the New York Tribune, who's Chief Editor, Sam Augustini, is real close with her father. Doubting her abilities as a reporter due to being a woman, he gives her a simple assignment to start: cover the opening of the new Egyptian Exhibit later that night at the Leyendecker. He also sends her off to her desk, where she can begin her story. This is how it all starts for the snooping sleuth now turned reporter.
The events of the first game don't make an appearance in this, however, she does make mention she's seen her share of death. Upon arriving at the museum, a dead body turns up, and it is from there that Laura's snooping lessons come into practice. With a large cast of colorful characters, and plenty of motive from all of them, it is up to you to browse through the museum and work up your article.
Sierra had done away with text prompts by the time this game came out, using the icon sets that many other adventure games used during this time. You had the Walk icon, which you used to get around; the Look icon, which is sometimes helpful for getting a closer look at certain things; the Touch icon, which was used to pick up items; the Greet icon, which merely started up a conversation with the person you used it on; and the Question icon, which allowed you to ask about anything you've learned. You'd come to use the Question icon a lot, in order to learn more about people or items you may have collected.
Originally, the game was released on a floppy, and due to this, it didn't have as much room as it did later on the CD. Therefore, the difference between the two versions is that the floppy had no voices (except for one song, still in the first act). The CD version gave Laura a country accent, which went along well for where she came from, and it was amusing to hear some of the other characters when they talked. Furthermore, the CD version threw away the copy-protection that worked its way in from time to time on the floppy version.
This was a major improvement over the first, but I can't help but realize it as a stand-alone game on its own. Laura Bow was quite a sleuth in those days, and it'd be much nicer if Vivendi picked up the series and actually continued onto it. I'm sure she'd have plenty more adventures, as well as fans, if they did. However, I'll leave this post with a link to the song in question from the earlier paragraph. The song's called "I Want to Marry an Archaeologist", and it was hilarious to hear this song randomly go on in the speakeasy of the first act.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Press Start: April 15th, 2015
For anyone who hasn't heard, Child of Light is an active time battle role-playing game from the likes of Ubisoft. People may already be aware of the fact that Ubisoft is rather infamous with some things, but let's put that aside for right now and talk about this title.
Title: Child of Light
Released: between April to September of 2014
Story: You play Aurora, a little girl that has fallen ill. Apparently, the story itself supposedly leads you to believe that Aurora died, but it deviates in saying that, instead of dying, she ends up in Lemuria, a fantastical land different from the realistic world in which she came from. She is scared and afraid, unsure of where she is and how she got here, yet she is compelled to venture into the nearby forest. It is through here that she learns of a plight on the land and her immediate involvement. She has to recover the stars, the moon, and the sun of Lemuria if she wants to return back to her father, who has become bedridden with grief over the loss of his fair Aurora.
As Aurora journeys through the land of Lemuria, she encounters dark creatures, servants of the Queen of Night, who was the one that took the sun, stars, and moon out of the sky in the first place. In undoing what has been done on the land, she befriends the citizens and fights alongside them. What is unique is that most of the phrasing and script is written in a rhyming prose akin to traditional poetry. Of course, there are some characters that break that flow, but it adds some hilarity to the otherwise tense atmosphere that Aurora finds herself in.
Gameplay: The game plays out on a traditional 2D side-scrolling stage across several different locations. Once you interact with any of the shadow creatures, you are drawn into a battle with Aurora and, should you be far enough, your companions. It is a battle of two versus one to four enemies in an active time battle bar system. By ATB bar system, I mean that everyone's speed is gauged appropriately, and as they progress across the single bar to a specific point, it allows people to choose commands and plan accordingly. In fact, this is where battle strategy comes up, as it makes it so you have to plan your skills and their casting time accordingly to make the most of the battle in your favor.
Many of the battles and elements of combat are extremely repetitive at times, and it can be rather easy to level up. You might find that, even on lower difficulties, some of the bosses may still kick your butt around without proper planning and strategies, though. But from levelling, you're also given skill points to invest in stat increases, skills, and upgrades to those skills. You will have to rotate through your sidekicks as certain abilities can only be used by specific individuals, and the culmination of these abilities really makes the system that much more encompassing. Everyone gets equal time in a proper fight.
Sound: There really isn't a long list of music to think of with the game. The bits that are given music is very soft, very mystical and exotic, almost in a classical sense. If anything, classical music lends to this a more realistic approach to the ties it has in the real world, with Aurora able to glance upon her father repeatedly throughout the game. I actually liked this as opposed to some other type of music being played. The battle track does kind of get a bit repetitive though, especially when you're clearing the scenes out to try and level up. But the boss music is definitely epic and worth a listen every now and then.
Additional: The rhyming of dialogue and the story is definitely worth taking the time to read it, as it's not voice-acted, and the battle system is definitely taking an old-time formula and adding in a unique flair to the game itself. It does seem rather short, and you could easily breeze through the game and do everything within a few good hours, but I'd stress the importance of exploring everything, finishing every request, and just taking it slowly so you can truly appreciate this little gem. Child of Light is definitely something that is very promising, and perhaps we can see more games like this, if not from Ubisoft then from some other company. Give it a try if you can, and make sure you give it a long enough try before writing it off.
I've included a link to the soundtrack on YouTube, so you can take in the classical feel of the music that plays throughout the world of Lemuria for Aurora and her comrades.
Child of Light (Original Soundtrack)
As Aurora journeys through the land of Lemuria, she encounters dark creatures, servants of the Queen of Night, who was the one that took the sun, stars, and moon out of the sky in the first place. In undoing what has been done on the land, she befriends the citizens and fights alongside them. What is unique is that most of the phrasing and script is written in a rhyming prose akin to traditional poetry. Of course, there are some characters that break that flow, but it adds some hilarity to the otherwise tense atmosphere that Aurora finds herself in.
Gameplay: The game plays out on a traditional 2D side-scrolling stage across several different locations. Once you interact with any of the shadow creatures, you are drawn into a battle with Aurora and, should you be far enough, your companions. It is a battle of two versus one to four enemies in an active time battle bar system. By ATB bar system, I mean that everyone's speed is gauged appropriately, and as they progress across the single bar to a specific point, it allows people to choose commands and plan accordingly. In fact, this is where battle strategy comes up, as it makes it so you have to plan your skills and their casting time accordingly to make the most of the battle in your favor.
Many of the battles and elements of combat are extremely repetitive at times, and it can be rather easy to level up. You might find that, even on lower difficulties, some of the bosses may still kick your butt around without proper planning and strategies, though. But from levelling, you're also given skill points to invest in stat increases, skills, and upgrades to those skills. You will have to rotate through your sidekicks as certain abilities can only be used by specific individuals, and the culmination of these abilities really makes the system that much more encompassing. Everyone gets equal time in a proper fight.
Sound: There really isn't a long list of music to think of with the game. The bits that are given music is very soft, very mystical and exotic, almost in a classical sense. If anything, classical music lends to this a more realistic approach to the ties it has in the real world, with Aurora able to glance upon her father repeatedly throughout the game. I actually liked this as opposed to some other type of music being played. The battle track does kind of get a bit repetitive though, especially when you're clearing the scenes out to try and level up. But the boss music is definitely epic and worth a listen every now and then.
Additional: The rhyming of dialogue and the story is definitely worth taking the time to read it, as it's not voice-acted, and the battle system is definitely taking an old-time formula and adding in a unique flair to the game itself. It does seem rather short, and you could easily breeze through the game and do everything within a few good hours, but I'd stress the importance of exploring everything, finishing every request, and just taking it slowly so you can truly appreciate this little gem. Child of Light is definitely something that is very promising, and perhaps we can see more games like this, if not from Ubisoft then from some other company. Give it a try if you can, and make sure you give it a long enough try before writing it off.
I've included a link to the soundtrack on YouTube, so you can take in the classical feel of the music that plays throughout the world of Lemuria for Aurora and her comrades.
Child of Light (Original Soundtrack)
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Press Start: April 9th, 2015
Recalled from a past posting, this information is about Lost Odyssey, what I would say was the pinnacle of RPGs for the XBox 360. Granted, this is in an old format, so bear with it, please?
Game: Lost Odyssey
Released on: February 2008
---
"From famed creator Hironobu Sakaguchi of Mistwalker comes a revolutionary RPG experience rich in depth, emotion, and cinematic gameplay. In an age that has harnessed the dark power of magic, you are the mysterious, immortal Kaim - on a quest to reclaim 1,000 years of lost memories. Surviving violent wars and encountering friends, lovers, and enemies, you'll discover the true meaning of both sorrow and joy."
That's an excerpt from the back of the box. Really, this game is breathtaking as one of the true RPGs for the console. Mistwalker is a company that was founded by some of the original team-members from Squaresoft that worked behind Final Fantasy. At least, that's what I think I remember reading about, but anyway... Lost Odyssey has you control the immortal known as Kaim Argonar on the battlefields of the Wohl Highlands. A massive war between Uhra and Gohtza is being waged here, and your position upon the field is that of an Uhran warrior. Of course, halfway through the large-scale war, a terrible visage breaks through the sky, wreacking havoc on both sides and leaving Kaim the sole survivor of the ordeal.
Taking control of Kaim from there has you travel the world across four discs to learn about Kaim's past and his role within the world. Along the way, you'll acquire the friendships of others that share in your plight, or in your desire to see the world change through your actions. The story is really breathtaking, and the transition from one major area to another keeps the main plot in mind every step of the way. This is how all stories should shift, and the in-game cinematics make certain scenes absolutely brillaint.
The combat system is unusual, but it brings back memories from other games. There is especially a similarity in Legend of Dragoon, where you had to press a button just as the shape got closer to the center, only in Lost Odyssey, you hold down the Right Trigger, letting a thin ring close in towards the attack ring in the center. The closer you get it to fitting snugly within the outermost part of the ring will increase your damage. This only plays for physical attacks, and anything else, such as guarding, item usage, or spell casting are challenge-free.
Although you may be able to give out orders for your entire team at the start of each turn, the order they come in is shuffled accordingly to the speed of each character. If you have a slow attacker, or if the spell you're casting takes quite a bit of concentration, then you may be near the end of the attack order. Should you attack a spellcaster, or one of your casters get attacked when chanting a spell, their command will be delayed. This can only happen one to two times, if I remember correctly, and after that, any other attacks will just deal damage rather than delay you as well.
In combat, it is better to set your physical attackers up front, leaving the more frail casters in the back. This way, a static wall is formed, greatly reducing the amount of damage that is done to the casters, as long as the wall health is kept up. The wall's health is composed of the health of all attackers in the front, and it goes down as they lose health. With that fact alone, you can't recover the wall's health by actually healing the front attackers; you have to use special abilities, such as Wall, Walla, or Wallus to recover it.
Kaim isn't the only Immortal you will come to get for your team, and other than being able to revive after a few turns of being KO in battle, they also have another ability: Skill Link. When you have mortals in your active party, the Immortals can learn any ability that the mortal has presently learned. This only goes for abilities that the mortal would learn through leveling, rather than accessories, but Immortals can learn abilities from those as well. Using Skill Points that you gain from killing creatures, you would work towards completely learning the ability. When it is fully learned, you'll gain a message at the end of battle saying who has learned what, and that will mean they no longer have to set the Skill Link to it, able to use it themselves when it is set.
The Immortals don't have a specific set of skills of their own. Instead, they rely on Skill Link from mortals and accessories to create an ensemble of attacks or spell groups to customize them for almost any situation. At first, they don't have many slots to equip a lot of skills, but by the time you get near the end of learning them all, you'll have 30 slots for each Immortal, and that will give you plenty of room to be ready for any fight.
The areas in Lost Odyssey have quite a lot of detail put into them. From the Epsilon Mountains, to Uhra and many other locations all over the world, Mistwalker really did a number in creating such stunning visuals. To add further depth into exploring every corner of a map, they've also taken to adding in little interactions with the scenery, such as kicking trash cans, or ramming trees, to find hidden items. This can be a bit tedious, if you're going for every little item and may miss something somewhere. Don't fear, though; if there is anything locatable in a temporary dungeon, the Auction House, which opens up around the 3rd Disc, will be there to sell it instead.
One of the more promising notes to this game are the memories that Kaim and some of the other Immortals reclaim throughout the progress of the game. Called "1000 Years of Dreams", it starts as soon as Kaim first rests at an inn, and from there, many different things can spark a memory to come back, such as seeing a child's smiling face, or an old man speak of his younger days. The stories all relate to the Immortal's life in the world, taking place in many different locations, but sharing one same thread: the Immortal's inability to truly age with the mortals, and yet, seeing how they love, lose, and live their short lives in the way they wish.
Four discs of entertainment is packed into the game case, and not one second of it is wasted. This is truly an epic roleplaying game, and it should not be overlooked for its low-key developer. Mistwalker was also the group behind Blue Dragon. We may see more to come from them...
Game: Lost Odyssey
Released on: February 2008
---
"From famed creator Hironobu Sakaguchi of Mistwalker comes a revolutionary RPG experience rich in depth, emotion, and cinematic gameplay. In an age that has harnessed the dark power of magic, you are the mysterious, immortal Kaim - on a quest to reclaim 1,000 years of lost memories. Surviving violent wars and encountering friends, lovers, and enemies, you'll discover the true meaning of both sorrow and joy."
That's an excerpt from the back of the box. Really, this game is breathtaking as one of the true RPGs for the console. Mistwalker is a company that was founded by some of the original team-members from Squaresoft that worked behind Final Fantasy. At least, that's what I think I remember reading about, but anyway... Lost Odyssey has you control the immortal known as Kaim Argonar on the battlefields of the Wohl Highlands. A massive war between Uhra and Gohtza is being waged here, and your position upon the field is that of an Uhran warrior. Of course, halfway through the large-scale war, a terrible visage breaks through the sky, wreacking havoc on both sides and leaving Kaim the sole survivor of the ordeal.
Taking control of Kaim from there has you travel the world across four discs to learn about Kaim's past and his role within the world. Along the way, you'll acquire the friendships of others that share in your plight, or in your desire to see the world change through your actions. The story is really breathtaking, and the transition from one major area to another keeps the main plot in mind every step of the way. This is how all stories should shift, and the in-game cinematics make certain scenes absolutely brillaint.
The combat system is unusual, but it brings back memories from other games. There is especially a similarity in Legend of Dragoon, where you had to press a button just as the shape got closer to the center, only in Lost Odyssey, you hold down the Right Trigger, letting a thin ring close in towards the attack ring in the center. The closer you get it to fitting snugly within the outermost part of the ring will increase your damage. This only plays for physical attacks, and anything else, such as guarding, item usage, or spell casting are challenge-free.
Although you may be able to give out orders for your entire team at the start of each turn, the order they come in is shuffled accordingly to the speed of each character. If you have a slow attacker, or if the spell you're casting takes quite a bit of concentration, then you may be near the end of the attack order. Should you attack a spellcaster, or one of your casters get attacked when chanting a spell, their command will be delayed. This can only happen one to two times, if I remember correctly, and after that, any other attacks will just deal damage rather than delay you as well.
In combat, it is better to set your physical attackers up front, leaving the more frail casters in the back. This way, a static wall is formed, greatly reducing the amount of damage that is done to the casters, as long as the wall health is kept up. The wall's health is composed of the health of all attackers in the front, and it goes down as they lose health. With that fact alone, you can't recover the wall's health by actually healing the front attackers; you have to use special abilities, such as Wall, Walla, or Wallus to recover it.
Kaim isn't the only Immortal you will come to get for your team, and other than being able to revive after a few turns of being KO in battle, they also have another ability: Skill Link. When you have mortals in your active party, the Immortals can learn any ability that the mortal has presently learned. This only goes for abilities that the mortal would learn through leveling, rather than accessories, but Immortals can learn abilities from those as well. Using Skill Points that you gain from killing creatures, you would work towards completely learning the ability. When it is fully learned, you'll gain a message at the end of battle saying who has learned what, and that will mean they no longer have to set the Skill Link to it, able to use it themselves when it is set.
The Immortals don't have a specific set of skills of their own. Instead, they rely on Skill Link from mortals and accessories to create an ensemble of attacks or spell groups to customize them for almost any situation. At first, they don't have many slots to equip a lot of skills, but by the time you get near the end of learning them all, you'll have 30 slots for each Immortal, and that will give you plenty of room to be ready for any fight.
The areas in Lost Odyssey have quite a lot of detail put into them. From the Epsilon Mountains, to Uhra and many other locations all over the world, Mistwalker really did a number in creating such stunning visuals. To add further depth into exploring every corner of a map, they've also taken to adding in little interactions with the scenery, such as kicking trash cans, or ramming trees, to find hidden items. This can be a bit tedious, if you're going for every little item and may miss something somewhere. Don't fear, though; if there is anything locatable in a temporary dungeon, the Auction House, which opens up around the 3rd Disc, will be there to sell it instead.
One of the more promising notes to this game are the memories that Kaim and some of the other Immortals reclaim throughout the progress of the game. Called "1000 Years of Dreams", it starts as soon as Kaim first rests at an inn, and from there, many different things can spark a memory to come back, such as seeing a child's smiling face, or an old man speak of his younger days. The stories all relate to the Immortal's life in the world, taking place in many different locations, but sharing one same thread: the Immortal's inability to truly age with the mortals, and yet, seeing how they love, lose, and live their short lives in the way they wish.
Four discs of entertainment is packed into the game case, and not one second of it is wasted. This is truly an epic roleplaying game, and it should not be overlooked for its low-key developer. Mistwalker was also the group behind Blue Dragon. We may see more to come from them...
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