The funny thing is, I've already thought about this. And people I've known have talked told me this, too. I've been told I'm a mixture of:
Osaka from Azumanga Daioh
and
Konata from Lucky Star
Not that these are desirable characters to be. ;_;
Konata is your female otaku-gamer-girl type. She'd rather play video games, read manga, or watch anime than do homework. And most of the time, she does. The funny thing is that it's not like she's actually dumb, she just cannot apply herself to a lot of things outside of her interests. She's also incredibly sarcastic, something I love. There were more things that we were similar on, but for the life of me, I've forgotten them. It's definitely time to rewatch this series.
Osaka is your classic spacey-girl type. Again, not dumb, because she has shown herself to be rather profound when it comes to solving puzzles, but just spacey. A classic moment is when she's in class and she randomly starts to follow her eye floaters around with this big smile on her face. But beyond being spacey, she's also downright weird in a wonderfully hilarious way. However, I'll have to recommend the manga over the anime-- it doesn't do it justice. :c
So take the otaku-sarcasm from Konata, the weird spacey-ness from Osaka, and you essentially have me. A spacey otaku...
Few games have the ability to push the line of "No, they won't do that. They can't. Can they?" But in 2010, there was at least one game that left such an impact on this gamer. An interesting storyline, unique characters, and general badassery makes this game. Grand Theft Auto meets the Wild West meets... Kill Bill? This is Red Dead Redemption.
Now, while this game did have a nice emotional impact, that's not saying this game didn't have its faults. At times the story telling can be a bit weak and some controls take a bit getting used to. It can also be pretty preachy throughout the game, to the point that it becomes more of a political statement than a realistic story plot. So let's dive into this game and take a good hard look at it.
Overall Plot
Enter John Marston. There is no clean voice over or fancy opening that sums up the plot of the story; rather, there is an air of some mystery around this man that you control around the untamed West. There's a long amount of time spent watching John sitting in a train. Yes, the intro is essentially watching him listen to different people talk on the train about people who will have little bearing on the plot. Perhaps RDR is trying to set a tone of suspense, but it falls a little flat. I often found myself asking my friends, "Okay, so when is the game going to start?"
After a very long intro, the game quickly picks up. After the introductory chapter you learn that John is a former outlaw trying to reform his life. However, the federal government didn't just want to grant him immunity after killing rich folks (shockingly) and decided that he must round up his former gang members and, one by one, put a stop to them. If he doesn't, they will execute his wife, another former gang member, and his innocent son. The task of taking down these notorious outlaws is daunting in itself, but he also must do a series of tasks to get strangers on his side and help him. Sometimes he makes unshakable bonds, like with the MacFarlanes, and other times he makes horrible enemies, but you can pretty much see their heel-face turn coming a mile away.
While the whole redeeming one's self bit isn't exactly original and neither is having a morally ambiguous character, where RDR truly is original is that it's willing to go a step further than other games. It's realistic where others are more fairy-tale-esque; graphic where others are more vague. It isn't afraid to kill off characters central to the plot and doesn't make much of a side-show to drag out one's emotions along with it. The way the game plays to your emotions is very subtle, and it works. And of course, the ending was both expected and unexpected at the same time-- you suspected it was going to come, but you weren't sure if RDR had the balls to make it happen. Long story short: it does.
Fucking gov'ment scum.
However, for all its emotional subtlety, there are certain points that the story just drags out. You could make a drinking game out of RDR for everytime someone mentions how the government is interfering with people's lives. Granted, it IS interfering with John Marston's life, but he used to be a murderer, and technically still is depending on how amoral you play him throughout the game. But with everyone else it begins to get pretty annoying. In the final chapters, you also get a bunch of new points beat into your head, but I won't spoil it for you.
All in all, RDR's storytelling is varied. Too understated in some areas, and too strong in others. However the story still manages to tug on your heart strings (assuming you still have one).
Grade: B
Good story, but doesn't come without its own share of problems.
Script
Alright, the reason why I was so forgiving with the bash-you-over-the-head points is because I realized most of the problems ultimately laid with the script. While some of the points were stretched so far they became plot points, ultimately they were just a collection of problems with the script. For some reason the writers thought it was appropriate to repeat certain points over and over. One could argue that it was because these points were "important" and needed to be driven home, on the other hand it came off as pretty annoying and unoriginal.
The script's saving grace, however, is when the characters aren't trying to come off as innocent country folk, it's just fun to watch them interact with each other. I had so much fun I almost want to replay the entire thing; it's like wanting to watch your favorite movie over again. Luckily, this makes up for a majority of the machinima cut-scenes.
Side Note:
The side quests range from hilarious to down right disturbing, but they were all fun to do. Not many of them take a lot of time to do, either, so it's just a silly detour.
Grade: B
Some points are annoying, but it's generally fun to watch the characters interact with each other.
Gameplay
While RDR does have some problems with its script, the greatest problem it has is with its lack of challenging gameplay and awkward controls. Now, I am not very good with shooter games, and yet I breezed past most of the levels. Truly, if you have enough medicine, you can survive any encounter pretty easily. That is, after you get used to the awkward controls. When I say awkward, it's sort of hard to nail down what exactly the problem was. But once you play, you'll notice it from the moment you begin to move John around. And this isn't standard RockStar controls-- I started playing immediately after finishing Bully, another RockStar title.
Another problem I had was the amount of button mashing required to move around quickly. Was there really any reason to have a button to make the character run, and repeatedly tab to have them sprint? Can't you just have someone run that fast from the beginning, and hold down that button to sprint? I was genuinely worried about getting carpal tunnel at some point because of this.
But once you get used to how the controls move, the way you play is relatively simple: shoot your way through the bad guys and save the day. There isn't much of a challenge to it. So while it isn't broken, I can't say I actually enjoyed the actual gameplay of it. The collection and ambient challenges were neat, but what RPG doesn't have collection and in-game achievements nowadays?
Grade: C
Not broken, but not even really that good.
Graphics
I have to say, I really did like the look of this game. The starlit nights in Mexico were absolutely beautiful in HD, the animals looked realistic, as well as the people. However, there were a few glitches here or there, but for the most part, I was able to enjoy the story and not be distracted by bad graphics. The blood while skinning animals were a bit unnecessary but, you know. It's RockStar. It's going to be exaggerated.
John Marston. Cowboy. Vigilante. Flower-picker.
I almost stopped and said to someone, "Isn't this beautiful?" Before realizing it was a completely fake reality on a number of occasions. This is by far one of the best points RDR has to offer.
Grade: A
Music
Ahh, another point I really loved about RDR. Again, it was subtle, but when it was used, it really added to the tension. Instead of going into too much detail, I'll just share a song that was played as the final chapter began:
Grade: A
Overall
Yes, this game is not without its problems. But in the end of it, it was an excellent game. It'd hard to summarize what an emotional experience it was... so for once, I'm turning to a simple youtube comment, because it captures the feelings I had for it in a way I can't top.
Literally I pushed my horse so hard to get to Beechers Hope when I heard this song. One of the few times you just become full entangled in a game and the experiences of the character you play. I honestly, felt a desperation to get back to the Wife and child that I didn't have. -- PatInferno, from the video above.
I'm having a hard time returning this game back to the rental, because it means this journey will finally be over.
So, I caved, went into GameStop, and traded in a few games. Mostly stuff I had already played out for what they're worth: Fable 2, Fable 3, Assassin's Creed II, and a few other DS games (I lol'd at the fact that Time Hollow only got me 40 cents). I managed to get almost $100 in trades, so I grabbed De Blob 2 and Pokemon White. I'm absolutely thrilled with both of them so far, but I have a long rambling post about DB2 so I'll save that for a later time.
Well, I'm sure most of you have figured out that Nerdspiffy is becoming a big part of who I am lately. I mean, I spend a large amount of time reviewing things and playing new games for it. Plus, I'm starting a webcomic up, which is a big commitment in itself. And I'm starting up a new one, a fantasy drama about lesbians.
This means little-to-no cutbacks with Nerdspiffy. But I will have to cut out other projects I've been involved in up to this point. I'm not quitting a job or anything like that, since I certainly don't earn enough money from this website to support myself... yet.
Ghost Trick features a pointy haired protagonist on a quest for the truth,
a food loving girl you must save on a number of occasions,
a lovable oaf of a detective,
a young girl who has a parent in jail,
a dead mentor,
a lawman that will stop at nothing to have a perfect record
a wishy-washy minister of justice--
wait a minute
When I first heard that Ghost Trick was being made by the same man who was behind Turnabout Trial, initially I was a little worried. I was thinking that this meant there would be no more Turnabout games, no more Phoenix Wright, and bye-bye Edgeworth. Fortunately, I was very wrong. Turnabout Investigation came first, along with the announced Prof Layton vs Phoenix Wright game, and now there's a second Turnabout Investigation game being released soon. With this franchise growing strongly, it seems like Phoenix is still here to stay. So with those worries aside, I was finally able to suck it up and try out Ghost Trick.
Yesterday, I just blathered on and on about how much I love the Turnabout Trial/Ace Attorney games. My post gathered a mixed response; some folks liked the games, some folks thought it'd suck, and a large group of people were confused by the concept. I suppose that means I should dive a little deeper and actually review the game. Or games, rather. There are currently five games in the series, for a total of 23 cases. Twenty four victims, fifteen different defendants, five investigations to conduct, twenty three culprits to find. Every case is a Turnabout-- because you turn the case around against unbeatable odds to solve it. If you're into solving murder mysteries and being the underdog, this game is for you.
Platform: Initially GBA, Re-released for DS, Wii, and iPhone Company: Capcom Year: 2001 (Japan/GBA), 2004(DS), 2009(Wii, iPhone)
Certainly not my first MMORPG, but one of my favorites, is Mabinogi. A Korean game based on Celtic mythology, Mabinogi explores a world filled with monsters called Fomors and their war against the humans. Battle your way through the world as a human, elf, or giant; mage, archer, melee warrior, or alchemist; become a holy paladin or dark knight, and eventually become a god in this vast and ever-growing game. However, while having a wide and varied list of things you can do in this game, its over-expansion leads to some serious downfalls. It's clear that Nexon puts its best developers to work at cranking out new features while letting older and considerably more broken features lay to waste at the expense of their customers. Not to mention the notorious reputation the company that runs the game, Nexon, has with its customers... But every game has its flaws, right?
