Impressions #28: Far Cry 4

By the time this piece is published, I will have already completed Interactive Friction's season of Far Cry 3. When taken with my article comparing it to Wolfenstein: The New Order, my opinions of that game cannot be made any more clear. That said, I have always had a fascination with Ubisoft's products. They always manage to make enough good and bad decisions that excellent conversation can be had. Though I have many complaints regarding Far Cry 3, I enjoyed it enough to purchase and play the sequel. This week, we will discuss Far Cry 4.

Those who played Far Cry 3 will find themselves right at home. In that respect, the game is fairly iterative. Players take a trip to an exotic landscape that would feel at home in the pamphlet of a travel agency. Once there, they do the things that have become so deeply linked to the typical Ubisoft game. Enjoying the fight against hordes of nameless, faceless soldiers, climbing towers, conquering outposts, and hunting animals and collectibles are all the order of the day here. Nobody should be particularly surprised by this. In this way, the game is just as derivative as one can expect. The fundamental gameplay loop is the same, with no real big changes occurring. Because of this, most gameplay-related criticisms that have been made of a AAA-game published by Ubisoft in recent years could be levied towards Far Cry 4 and be just as accurate.

What distinguishes Far Cry 4 from the rest of Ubisoft's big games are smaller, less visible changes. The game is less of a unique title in the lineup and more of a refinement of the formula that has been used repeatedly for the past few years. Some of these updates are a step up, while others have more mixed results. Exploration in particular has been vastly improved for this sequel, with the new helicopter allows for more freedom and verticality when traveling around the map. Even without it, the wingsuit from the previous game can be purchased very early on, which allows the player to safely jump off of high cliffs and move huge distances. Autodrive even removes the tedium of driving from waypoint to waypoint in order to get to different objectives.

The story is also much more bearable than what was present for Far Cry 3. Unfortunately, it is not because of the characters the player will spend most of their time interacting with. Honestly, most of the major characters come off as either one note or bland. Despite my intense loathing of Jason Brody, at least he does have some character, if not a great one. Far Cry 4's lead character, Ajay Ghale, is a blank slate. He comes to the fictional country of Kyrat in order to burying his mother's ashes there, completing her dying wish, getting swept up into the politics surrounding the region. Taken by Pagan Min, the king of this nation, Ajay soon finds himself rescued and recruited into the Golden Path, who oppose his rule.

The Golden Path is headed by two people. Sabal, the man who rescues Ajay from Pagan Min, believes that sticking to old customs and traditions, including the status of woman as second-class citizens. Counter to his ideals is Amita, who wishes to abandon tradition and take a more progress stance towards Kyrat's future, funding it primarily through the trade of illegal drugs and narcotics. As the third man, Ajay is often forced to make binary moral choices in support of one person's plans over the others. I found the whole affair painfully dull. Although they are the two characters that players interact with more than any other, they are the least interesting part of the entire game. There is simply nothing else to those two aside from their chosen stances on how Kyrat should be ruled. One could even make a drinking game out of the number of times Sabal uses the word “tradition” in his dialogue. As the player avatar, Ajay is robbed of whatever chance he had of decent characterization because of this dynamic of being the mediator between two uninteresting paths.

And that is a real shame, because the rest of the supporting cast is much more interesting. First and foremost, the chief antagonist, Pagan Min, steals the show whenever he is on screen. Voiced by Troy Baker, Pagan is very clearly aware of his role in the plot. He chews the scenery in every appearance, which is why he ultimately comes off as strangely likable compared to the other characters in the cast. Min is the bad guy. He knows it and is willing to let loose and have fun with it. Regrettably, the man only makes a scant few appearances in a plot which is, at least in theory, all about taking down his regime. The plot twist regarding his history with Ajay's parents also recontextualizes the main campaign in a way that is oddly self-aware, to the point where one could say it openly mocks the video game conventions that the rest of the plot takes for granted. Even if he is not Vaas, and does not make many appearances, the game is made better for his character.

Most of the side-quests are given to the player through characters with unique views and idiosyncrasies. The quests to hunt legendary animals for the game's carrying cases is delivered to Ajay by a fashion designer who believes that garments can only be truly beautiful if they are practical as they are stylish. A radio DJ with a tendency to just say whatever inane thoughts come to mind gives the player the side objective of shutting down Pagan Min's propaganda centers. The local weapons dealer is also a missionary who needs someone to help him atone for his past crimes by killing the people who still commit them and reclaiming their ill-gotten goods. Not only do these characters entertain the player, but they also serve to contextualize many of the side-missions in a way that Far Cry 3 never really did aside from the radio towers and outposts. I understood more clearly in this game why my character would have a vested interest in going out of his way to do these things, and the side-cast was instrumental in that.

Which is great, because those smaller characters are part of what make Kyrat such an interesting playground. The other big draw is the land itself. Taking a helicopter and flying high over the terrain reveals impressive and beautiful vistas. Though I am not one for graphics, there is no denying that these moments make the game look fantastic. The nation also has a very interesting and well-written backstory, especially when compared to the islands from Far Cry 3. Ajay's parents, the previous king, Pagan Min, and the Golden Path all have detailed and rich histories with each other, which helped flavor the game so that it felt like players were in a living, breathing place. Kyrat is as much a character as the rest of the game is.

Unfortunately, despite the praise I have for the game, I do have one serious complaint. Somebody at Ubisoft needs a stern talking to with regards to collectibles, because the sheer amount of them in this game is absurd. Some of them, specifically the letters from an 18^th century explorer and pages from the journal of Ajay's father, provide interesting reasons to explore the world by giving the player stories to discover. However, the rest of the collectibles are pointless. They consist of spinning wheels, shooting evil(?) masks, and tearing down propaganda posters. Not only are the reasons for doing these activities unclear, but there are so many things to collect that most of the game's roughly 40 hour playtime comes exclusively from these innocuous trinkets. The propaganda posters are particular egregious because there are an excessive 150 scattered throughout the game. Eventually, someone at Ubisoft is going to wizen up to the fact that artificially injecting length with pointless collectibles does not make gathering them up fun. This revelation will sadly come too late to help Far Cry 4.

Far Cry 4 is, for better or worse, an upgraded Far Cry 3. If you enjoyed that game, you are going to enjoy this one. It is very similar in terms of how it plays, and the new location offers a bit more freedom in how players explore the world. What sets it apart mostly is how much more self-aware the writers of this game seemed to be compared to the writers of the previous game. Despite using similar tropes, this new awareness makes the plot a lot more tolerable, even humorous, than it otherwise would have been. That said, if Ubisoft's standard formula for AAA games has begun to wear you down, Far Cry 4 is not going to do you any favors. It is a good game and a fun experience, but you have to be aware of that before you dive in.

Impressions #27: Outlast

Out of curiosity, I decided to try out this whole “scary game” thing again. With Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3 out of the way, “horror” games are apparently something I do now. For this reason, and sheer curiosity, I decided to try out Outlast. Originally released on PC in 2013, moving to consoles almost a year later, Outlast is an indie-developed survival horror game. Developed by Red Barrels, the game chronicles the adventure of journalist Miles Upshur. Armed with only a notepad and a camcorder, he investigates a tip about an insane asylum doing unethical experiments. This week, I discuss how it both succeeds and fails its intended audience.

As the game began, I admit that it scared me in a number of ways. The initial scenes all to their best to set an atmosphere of creepiness. The tension runs high and, while I was aware that eventually I was going to get scared, I did not know in exactly what way. For a fairly long stretch, the game built tension without attempting to cache it out. It is subtle in the way that it began to unsettle me in those opening scenes. When the scares finally began to happen, that tension amplified them beyond what would be normally expected.

Unfortunately, the horror began to fade quickly the further I progressed. The game tried to give the player a brief reprieve every chapter, in order to help restore tension between encounters. Sadly, none of them are as long as that first moment. Furthermore, they grow shorter and shorter with each successive chapter. Without that tension, it just never gets as scary those initial scenes. Events are no less disturbing, and remain gruesome throughout, but the illusion of danger fades along with the suspense. Compounded by the predictability of the encounters, horror is the first feeling to get invited, but leaves before the party is over.

Fortunately, the game offers more than just that. Even when the horror fades, there is a noticeable thrill in the act of playing the game. This is because the protagonist cannot confront enemies. He has no combat ability, so in a straight up fight against the insane asylum patients will result in a swift and painful death. In order to stay alive, he has to either hide, stay out of sight, or run circles around them to get to his objectives and get out.

This means that there are generally two strategies when going through one of these encounters. The first one is a bit more slow and methodical, along the lines of a traditional stealth game. Players slowly move about in the shadows, watching inmate movements and trying to stay out of sight. Hiding under beds or in old, rusty lockers can help facilitate this idea. Since the protagonist's camcorder has a nightvision mode built in, the player has a slight advantage in that he can see better than his pursuers. In the ideal world, the player will be able to find whatever item they need to precede, usually a key or something, and get out before any is the wiser.

But, that rarely ever happens. As a result, most players will inevitably shift to the other possible strategy. That is, they will run as fast as they possibly can. Since there is no stamina bar, no penalty will in incurred for just sprinting aside from all the noise that is generated. Even more fortunately, Miles Upshur runs faster than most of the enemies in the game. This makes it entirely possible to just rush through a given segment by sprinting through the level, gathering everything needed before the inmates even get a chance to blink. Once players realize that most enemies will take 4 hits to kill Miles, 2 for stronger ones, this tactic becomes more viable. After all, it is perfectly acceptable to take a few hits while sprinting. Even if things get bad, it is easy to break line of sight and hide in a locker to recover for a bit. This is part of why the game gets less scary, but just narrowly escaping a powerful foe by outwitting him is exactly why it becomes more of a thriller.

There are also a number of collectibles scattered throughout the game. By recording events with the camcorder, players can unlock notes detailing the protagonist's opinions on the events of the plot. Documents located in various places also provide detail regarding the purpose of the asylum. Lastly, since using nightvision requires charge (but not the act of simply using the camera normally), the player can collect and store up to 10 batteries to reload into the camera and restore charge. The notes and documents provide some mildly interesting reading, even if the story is fairly forgettable in and of itself. On the other hand, the batteries can be fairly scarce, particularly in the early game, so picking them up will be almost required.

Speaking of the story, it is very bland. You, the reader, probably groaned at the premise that I mentioned at the start of this article. Honestly, it does not get much better than that. If you have watched a movie, you can predict the twists and turned that you will encounter in the story. None of it is bad. However, nothing stands out from other, more well-known pieces of horror-themed fiction. Secret government experiments, horrible mutations, evil ghosts/monsters, and other devices have all been used before. This is also true of the the trope of the intrepid reporter risking his life for a major scoop. Though players will get through the game, it will not be at the forefront of their minds once they finish.

That can almost be said for the game itself. It is fun to play, and does its job. However, it does not do enough to stand out among its contemporaries in the horror genre. After beating it once, it is highly unlikely that it will be remembered for long. As a smaller, more independent game, this can forgiven. I would even recommend a playthrough for people who are desperate for a horror fix. With that in mind, most people will not be losing much if they skip out on it. Though good, it is not great and the players who are likely to enjoy are just as likely to have played better.

Impressions #26: Final Fantasy VI

Like many gamers in my age group, Final Fantasy served as my entrance into the JRPG genre. Before my initial playthrough of Final Fantasy X at a cousin's house, I had never really given them much thought. Since then, I have been gradually playing the other Final Fantasy games whenever the opportunity arises. With my new-found mass of free time, I decided to use this chance to play through the 6th of the franchise's numbered entries. Aside from the 3rd, it was, until recently, the only non-MMO main-entry that I had yet to play. Because of many of the old school fan-base call it the best game in the entire series, I was more than interested.

Released in 1994, Final Fantasy VI was originally released for the SNES in both Japan and the United States. Back when the US first got the game, it was the third Final Fantasy game released in the region, so it was titled “Final Fantasy 3”. To this day, there is still a degree of confusion born as a result. However, subsequent releases have attempted to correct these errors by giving the game its proper title, now that Final Fantasy has become so well-known throughout the world. The version I played for this article is the version for the original PlayStation, obtained from the PlayStation Store and played on my PlayStation 3.

What I found most interesting about Final Fantasy VI is how much darker in tone the story was compared to previous entries. This is especially true since the 5th entry in the franchise is known to be one of the most light-hearted by far. The game is not shy about killing off very prominent story characters (but no one in the main party). In fact, the protagonists learn magic by holding onto the corpses of magical beings called Espers, turned into gemstones called Magicite. The villain is also one of the most well-known for being the only Final Fantasy villain to ever succeed at destroying the world. Though it may not be the darkest game in the franchise, it is definitely one of them.

And of course, the tale would not be anywhere near as good if it did not have a excellent cast of characters. This is something that Final Fantasy VI has in spades. The game is interesting because it is one of the few in the series that does not have a true protagonist. Some of the party members are less vital to the story than others are, but none can be truly said to be the driving force of events by themselves. The story is more about how all of these characters, from different regions and with their own unique backstories, gather together under a common banner to fight the evil empire.

As villains, the Gesthal empire serves its purpose well. Particularly, Kefka is one of the franchises most infamous villains. In a nutshell, he is what one would get when combining the joker with the resources of an organized military and immense magical power. Callously destroying many villages and ending countless lives, Kefka serves as a great motivation for players to keep playing. Furthermore, thanks to the superb translation, his dialog throughout the story will just as often entertain as much as it will horrify. He has so many memorable quotes that there are pages dedicated to them. The cast of characters work, and are a massive part of why the game is so well-loved.

The other reason the game is notable is because of what it did it terms of design. In the beginning, Final Fantasy VI plays like any other Final Fantasy before. Though the map is large an open, players traverse it in a linear fashion, from point A to point B. Later on, after an extremely important plot event, the party gets separated. From then on, the world is much less restrictive. Taking the role of one particular player character, the goal shifts to gathering up the party in preparation to challenge the final boss. It is made clear at this point that who the final boss is and where they are hiding. At this point, it is possible, though difficult, to skip the rest of the game, head directly to the end, and finish it.

Alternatively, players can try to find and retrieve all of the old party members, deal with their baggage, and prepare them to come together to tackle this challenge. In essence, all of the content aside from the last dungeon at this point consists of side-quests. Those missions are about 15 hours of the game's roughly 40 hour playtime. Fans of modern-day RPGs like Skyrim and Mass Effect 2 probably will not be too impressed by that. However, since this game originally came out on the SNES, this was an extremely bold and revolutionary move at the time. Honestly, it is a little surprising that this style of RPG took so long to become mainstream. The transition from linear JRPG-style play to that more familiar to us in the west was handled smoothly, and the game is better for it.

Despite how much I enjoyed it, the game does have some noteable blemishes. Unfortunately, these flaws have much more to do with circumstances than any real measure of quality. First, at least on the PlayStation version, I noticed an issue with loading times. About 2 or 3 seconds are required to transition between scenes or to go to the menu to use items or manage characters. While that does not sound like much, having this same slowdown compounded over the hundreds of times these events will happen in a given playthrough can become a major nuisance. Since I had this same problem with the PlayStation versions of other sprite based RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy V, I suspect it had more to do with technology than anything else. It is nothing Square could help, but it is nonetheless a source of frustration.

The other issue, at least for me, comes from the time in which Final Fantasy VI was originally designed. Back then, random encounters were seen as one of the best, and most well-known, ways to make sure that players always have the opportunity to strengthen their party before a boss fight. Given how much game design has evolved since then, I can no longer subscribe to the thinking that random encounters are a good game design decision. Personally, I find them quite frustrating, especially when I am in the middle of navigating a dungeon, among many other grievances the typical method in which they are implemented. Again, it is hard to blame an SNES game from 1994 for following standard genre conventions of the time (especially when it challenges others), but it can be a detractor for people who subscribe to modes of thinking similar to my own.

As a total package, Final Fantasy VI is a classic game that is definitely worth completing at least once if you have even a cursory interest in the genre. There is good reason to consider it one of the best entries in the Final Fantasy franchise. In some ways, it can be seen as an experimental game, and a precursor to the more open-worlds we see in video games today. Even from a modern perspective, it aged more gracefully than many of its contemporaries, serving as a good example which budding game designers can learn from. In all, it has earned its place among the pantheon of legend RPGs, but you are probably not surprised by that.

Impressions #25: Dead Space 2

Some time ago, I had written about my experiences while playing Dead Space 3 with a partner. At the time, it was free on PlayStation Plus, so I had no monetary loss from the experience. Going on record, I said that the game was so terrible that no matter how good the franchise may or may not have been before it, any interest I had for the series was irreparably destroyed. In more recent history, a couple of conversations with friends of mine, who were fans of the franchise, convinced me to give earlier games a try. So, when Dead Space 2 went on discount during a sale, I bought it. Now that I have had the chance to start going through games on my backlog, I went ahead and played it from start to finish. This week, I talk about my experience with it.

The first thing I noticed when playing Dead Space 2 is how the game benefits from the inclusion on specific ammo types. Due to how Dead Space 3's weapon crafting system was implemented, ammunition was universal. Every weapon took from the same ammo pool. Assault Rifle or Plasma Cutter shots could just as easily be used in a rocker launcher. This gave the player no incentive to switch weapons over the course of the game. I had one weapon that I built in the first 3 hours, that I kept using until the end.

Going back to Dead Space 2, I noticed an immediate difference in way weapons and ammo contribute to the overall experience. Unlike its successor, Dead Space 2 gives every weapon in the game its own distinctive ammo type. Plasma Cutter shots cannot be used for the Line Gun, and vice-versa for each pairing of weapons. Furthermore, ammunition for any one weapon was fairly scarce, even if, as a whole, there were more than enough bullets to go around. As a result, the game frequently demanded that players change weapons and tactics to both suit the necromorphs out on the field and the weapons which they have ammo for.

An element of resource management is created as a result, and not just in ammo conservation. Though money to spend on equipment is plentiful, at least on Normal difficulty, it is no less finite. Wasteful spending will get punished later on. In the event that a given player wanted to stick with one weapon for longer, it was still possible to purchase more ammo for it. However, this would mean that money is not spent on purchasing Power Nodes and armor. Power Nodes have two uses. First, they can used at workbenches to upgrade both Issac and his weapons. Second, they can be used to open locked doors that contain large supply caches and schematics which unlock new items in the store. Each of these resources feeds into the other resources in some way. The need to constantly balance the use of equipment, Power Nodes, and money is a large source of the game's tension, which was lost in the translation to Dead Space 3.

Back when I played Dead Space 3, my partner and I talked through almost the entire game. With our constant bantering, to both coordinate our movements and comment on the game, any attempt to raise tension was completely lost. Furthermore, if either one of us died, the other was quick to resurrect them, reducing the game's ability to provide any form of challenge. It felt more like an action-heavy third-person shooter than a game attempting to play with my emotional state. Neither one of us felt like the game was particularly scary or difficult.

Now, while I would hesitate to call Dead Space 2 scary, it is an extremely tense game. Enemies can, and often will, come out of nowhere. Even after a player defeats all of the necromorphs in an area, more will begin to spawn if they linger too long before proceeding onward. As a result, the player is rarely ever truly safe unless they are near a save point and/or vendor. Even when opening a locked door with a Power Node, the player will often be ambushed on their way back to the main path. When the need to carefully use resources, this further compounds the tension of the game. The player knows that they need to collect resources, but spending too much time doing so will require them to spend what was just gathered. This generates a delightfully nerve-wracking balancing act between the player and the designers.

Even better, the enemies both demand that the player is both swift and accurate. As many people are already aware, the primary enemies in the Dead Space franchise are the necromorphs. Unlike typical video game foes, they can only be defeated by dismembering their limbs until they are unable to move anymore. They are also fast, moving quickly into melee range. This results in a need to move quickly, while precisely aiming to slice body parts off of enemies. Failure to remember this will result in the use of copious amounts of ammunition and health kits. With a limited inventory, complications arise if the player is not careful.

While not bad for the game, this created difficulty for me towards the end. I found myself dying repeatedly to the same encounters. After a certain number of deaths, tension gives way to frustration. I will not deny that in the interest of avoiding said frustration and saving time, I began to start switching to easy mode for some battles and then switching back to normal after the battle was over. I would be willing to believe that this had more to do with my lack of skill then the game, but it is nonetheless important to make note of.

Lastly, the levels feel like they had a lot more variety in this game then in Dead Space 3. Most of Dead Space 3 felt very same-y, due to the fact that most of it took place in a tundra, while the rest was in a few sci-fi industrial buildings. Combined with the need to backtrack often, it was difficult to ascertain one area from another without the use of the game's path-finding preventing players from getting lost.

Though most of Dead Space 2 also occurs in sci-fi industrial hallways, the game does use set design and lighting to add variety. Medical areas have all sorts of first-aid and medical equipment scattered throughout the area. Churches and theaters have lush red carpets and candle-lights and engineering bays will have mechanical equipment. Furthermore, the games makes good use to lighting by giving different areas their own colors. With these few additions, players are given a sense of progress and forward movement as they continue the game's story.

Speaking of, the story makes a little more sense than Dead Space 3's nonsensical tale of confusion and scatterbrained characters. The main cast had a clearly defined motive for wanting for wanting to prevent the villain from continuing his research. Furthermore, their relations feel a bit more natural, with both protagonist Issac Clarke and deuteragonist Ellie Langford go from grudging working together to something resembling more of a close friendship. Although the villain's ultimate plan and motivation are at best vague and at worst nonexistent, the relationship between the primary cast is strong enough to carry the game's writing.

Playing through Dead Space 2 hammers home exactly how much of a step back Dead Space 3 must have been to franchise fans. I can only imagine the disappointment of people who went from games like this to whatever they turned its successor into. That said, I can really see why fans of slower, more tense experiences flocked to Dead Space. There is a lot to like with the franchise. What really astounds me is that it is clear Visceral Games know how to create good experiences. So what on earth caused such a terrible transition. I would have loved to be a fly-on-the-wall when they designed each game.

Impressions #24: Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition (PS4)

Every once in a while, I find myself playing a multiplayer loot-fest, where the main point in the game is to grow stronger and acquire better equipment as the game goes on. I am not entirely sure why this is the case. Though I rarely ever get as much fun out of them as other people do, they keep ending up on my queue somehow. In this particular instance, a friend of mine requested that I play Diablo 3 with him, so I got the PS4 version and did just that. Somehow, we managed to make it through both the base game and the Reaper of Souls expansion that came with the Ultimate Evil Edition. While a great game, I feel that Diablo 3 had a couple of big problems that I am not entirely sure how to address.

Initially released in May of 2012, Diablo 3 released to great controversy. The original title included several criticized new features, like always-online DRM and the auction house, in real-money and in-game currency varieties. Others disliked the lower drop rates of items in the first release. Slowly, over time, most of these issues were addressed in updates to the game, to the point where most of the old fans were at least satisfied by the end result. Many new features, like Paragon leveling and PvP, were even added in. The PS4 version I played came out in August of 2014. My version of the game is, as of the time of writing, complete with the only expansion to ever have been released for the game.

As a port, the game is very solid. Though I have no experience with the PC version, the game looks quite good. While it will never be a spectacle in graphic prowess, each area in the game is memorable in its own right. The characters are also quite distinct from one another. At a glance, it was extremely easy to tell my character apart from both my partner's character and the enemies on screen. Furthermore, I enjoyed the use of color in the game. Looking at screen-shots of the first 2 Diablo games, I noticed a very gray and brown palette. Though Diablo 3 is just as dark in its world design, the extra color and style they injected helps it stand out from other games. With loads times rarely, if ever, exceeding a single second, Blizzard definitely gave the PS4 the royal treatment when it came to porting Diablo 3 to the machine.

At the same time, I did find that I had some issues with controlling the game. For those unaware, Diablo presents the player and up to three of their friends with many enemies to fight, and most fights consist of repeatedly clicking on enemies (on the PC) until they die. The PS4 lacks a mouse, so movement and direction have to be handled using analog sticks. For this reason, precisely aiming some special attacks is an impossible task. For example, as I was playing a Wizard, Wizards are given a move where they can summon a black hole that pulls enemies towards itself. There were a number of occasions where it went in the direction I was aiming, but was either too close or too far to my intended target because it was auto-aimed at the wrong enemy. I do not have an easy solution to this problem, because it is inherent to the controller-interface. They may have been able to alleviate it by using the touch pad as a mouse, but I imagine that would have similar issues to using a mouse pad on a laptop computer. It is not an easy fix, but still an issue that needs to be pointed out.

The other control-based issue I had was a general-discomfort from prolonged play. Typically, my co-op partner and I would play for roughly 3 hours in a single game session. At the end of our sessions, we would often experiences soreness in our fingers and thumbs. This mostly came from repeatedly holding down the X button on the PS4 controller for minutes at a time to use our characters' basic attacks. I would even have a switch fingers mid-battle a lot just to make myself feel a bit more comfortable. Like the issue with precise aiming, I feel that this might just be an inherent problem to putting a fundamentally PC, keyboard-and-mouse-oriented game onto a console, because a mouse button is more comfortable to use for extended periods of time. However, unlike the issue of precise aiming, it is less of a minor annoyance and more of a genuine complication. It is difficult to enjoy a game that literally hurts to play at length.

The other interesting thing I made note of when playing is the unique way in which the loot system creates a form of competitive-cooperation. For the unaware, the main method by which Diablo 3 engages players, enticing them to press on, is through a positive feedback. In the version of the game I played, as players defeat monsters, complete quests, and open treasure chests, they will obtain equipment and experience which can be used to further strengthen their characters. After acquiring new more powerful gear, they can tackle more challenging content and obtain even better items. Though there is a story and campaign, this feedback loop is at the core of why Diablo is effective.

When playing with friends, the best thing that Diablo does is give each player their own separate loot drops. In the event that an enemy or treasure chest leaves a piece of equipment behind, each player will have their own items that only they can see. No other player will be able to take them, nor can they take the drops of other players. This neatly skirts a common trap that is often seen in games like Borderlands, where every player sees all the loot. As a result, teams will not have to compete with one another to strengthen their characters. I refer to this as “negative competition,” where the desire to outmatch others results in a dissolution of the team dynamic when the rewards start flowing.

Instead, I found that my co-op partner and I experienced what I would call “positive competition.” We still constantly tried to one up each other in a form of an arms race to see which of us was the stronger character. However, since we both obtained new equipment at the same rate, and could not worsen each others chances of obtaining good loot, we could more easily cooperate towards a common goal. By working with each other, we could maximize our rewards. Afterwards, we would attempt to one-up each other by showing off the items we earned. We would even engage in trade and item exchanges if it meant that our team was more effective overall. Though we were essentially competing with each other, the systems utilized that and channeled it into a cooperative force.

On the other hand, there is an interesting problem that I discovered as I was playing. That is, it became hard to pick a difficulty that was exactly challenging enough to keep me interested in the game, but not enough to make the enemies extremely time-consuming to kill. Since enemies scale to the party's level, the only way to truly control both how tough they are, and how good their loot drops are, is by adjusting the difficulty. Rarely does increasing difficulty ever make the game “challenging,” in that it requires more tactics and use of evasive/defensive skills, unless the player is fighting an elite or boss character. Rather, what usually happens is that the enemies take significantly more time to kill. Not only does it exacerbate the sore-thumb problem from earlier, but it can also really start to bore the player if they go too far. Finding this equilibrium is the real difficulty, not the actual fighting.

Diablo 3 is a great game for those with the correct disposition. Those who adore loot-fests like Borderlands or Torchlight probably already have Diablo 3 at this point, enjoying their experience. Though it entertained me enough to stick with it to the end, I would not have done so without the encouragement of my co-op partner. It is very much a game that works better with friends. The single-player will not find as much value here. Though there is a story, it only does its job by justifying the dungeon-crawling and loot gathering. I think that may be why I find myself quitting these games often. It is difficult to routinely gather a group of friends to play one game. Those who can gather a reliable group will have great times here. Solo gamers need not bother.

Impressions #23: inFamous: Second Son

The inFamous franchise has always been a popular one for owners of the PlayStation 3. Developed by Sucker Punch, the creators of the Sly Cooper franchise, inFamous used many common superhero tropes to create its own universe and world. Both of the games on the PS3 followed protagonist Cole McGrath, also known as “The Electric Man” and “The Demon of Empire City,” and his desire to grow and develop his powers in preparation to face “The Beast”. Those who played those games know that his story, in either of the second entry's two possible endings, comes to a very definitive end. Of course, that did not stop the creation of a new entry in the franchise for Sony's relatively new PS4. This sequel, inFamous: Second Son, is the subject for this week's article.

InFamous: Second Son is an interesting game, because it is one of the exclusive games that came out extremely early in the new console generation. As a result, it occupies this unfortunate space between superhero-sandbox game and PS4 tech demo. It also presented a large change in direction for the series in terms of tone. Though the game still feels very distinctly like an inFamous game, it seems like many of the best elements of that franchise were diluted somewhat. This all combines to create a game that, while satisfactory, does not quite live up to its predecessors.

But before we get into that, it is important to discuss the story of the inFamous franchise as a whole. In the world of inFamous, certain people are born with abilities that may or may not awaken. Referred to as “conduits”, these people, if their latent talents manifest, have fast healing, enhanced physical prowess, and the power to channel a particular material. This material can be anything in particular, even man-made. At the end of inFamous, the protagonist, in the canonical Good Ending, sacrifices his life and the lives of all conduits in order to save all normal people from a terrible, and highly lethal, plague.

Second Son takes place after this event. As it turns out, not all conduits were killed, only most of them. After these random people began to manifest all sorts of strange and powerful new abilities, governments began to fear them. Later on, the United States government began to take steps to fight against these “bio-terrorists.” As a result, the Department of Unified Protection (DUP) is formed. Headed by a concrete-wielding conduit named Brooke Augustine, and armed with technology to detect and combat conduits, the DUP have absolute authority to imprison or eliminate anyone who possesses the conduit-gene.

This is a remarkable change in tone from previous inFamous games. The PS3 titles were very comic book-inspired. It was mostly about people with superpowers going up against other people with superpowers. Second Son, on the other hand, is extremely heavy-handed with its political commentary. Allegories to the modern-war War on Terror are overt, obvious, and all over the place. Furthermore, these concepts are linked together by imagery of the police state, like an Edward Snowden-inspired social commentary. While I am not against politics in video game, in fact I often encourage it, the game seems almost afraid that the player will not understand the message they are attempting to make. I strongly feel that it would have better for Sucker Punch to be more subtle with the way they introduce and comment on these issues. Social commentary is far more likely to make a lasting impact when it does not sound, to the audience, preach-y.

Of course, being an inFamous game, the karma system makes a return. As the game progresses, players are given good and/or evil karma based on how they play, what they do, and what decisions they make in the story. Starting at neutral, Delsin Rowe will shift, over time, towards either a Good or an Evil alignment as karma is accumulated. Though the plot will follow the same rough path regardless of these choices, events will be altered to reflect karmic alignment. Further, certain upgrades to the player's powers will be either unlocked or blocked off depending on which side of the spectrum Delsin stands on. This is nothing new, and behaves much like it did back in the old inFamous games.

For a couple of years, I have been a major critic of this karma system. Back then, these choices were always between childishly-binary extremes. For example, in the original inFamous, one of the moral choices is to decide whether to inform someone that their wife died so that they will let allow the protagonist to advance, or to just kill them to get them out of the way. In the immortal words of Yahtzee Croshaw in his Bioshock review, back when these systems were more commonplace, “You can choose to be either Mother Teresa or a baby-eater, with no apparent middle ground.”

Some of the choices present in inFamous: Second Son still have this degree of cartoonish morality. On the other hand, many of the decisions that affect moral standing do not really seem to be all that different from each other. In a few scenes, Delsin comes into contact with other people that have powers. When his brother, who is a police officer, attempts to bring them into custody for crimes they have committed, the protagonist is given a choice. He can free the conduit, setting them on the path to redemption for good karma. Alternatively, he can free the conduit, allowing them to run-free on society and show the world how strong they are for evil karma. In either case, the player makes the exact same action. However, the only difference is in the logical reason behind the action.

Fortunately, the game plays well. Like the PS3 inFamous games, it is mostly an open-world sandbox where the player is free to use their powers as they see fit. The city contains many side quests, which players can undertake in order to wrest the city of Seattle, Washington, where the game takes places, from the DUP, much like the territory side-quests from old games in the franchise. However, there does not seem to be as much as there was in those entries. In fact, the game feels a lot shorter. It can be beaten, 100%, in a single weekend. Some franchise fans might be put off by that. However, with my busy schedule, and the various side projects that I have going on, I appreciated the fact that the game was a bit more succinct.

Unlike Cole McGrath, Delsin Rowe is not an electrical-conduit. In fact, he channels a very unique material. He channels others conduit powers, with the ability to absorb and use as many abilities as he can find. The first power he acquires is Smoke, followed by Neon, Video, and lastly Concrete.
Each power controls similarly, with different properties and upgrade paths keeping them apart. That seems like a missed opportunity, given that they could have made each power feel unique, and not just a small twist of familiar mechanics. The player can change these powers by absorbing the appropriate element, like smoke for smoke powers. I found myself more heavily relying on Neon, as that power allows one to run up walls and dash infinitely. Furthermore, neon signs are plentiful in the environment. Others may find more use from other powers, but I am willing to bet that most chose similarly, especially since Concrete does not become available until the game's final boss fight.

As I said in the introduction, Second Son feels much like a tech demo. Specifically, the game makes used of the PS4 controller's motion controls and touch pad in a way that strongly resembles the forced SIXAXIS integration seen in early PS3 games. Two large examples come to find. First and foremost is Delsin's desire to tag walls with his spraypaint art. In a couple of optional missions, Delsin can find a suitable wall and make the choice to paint it with happy, blue art for good karma or angry, red art for evil karma. In either case, the player will have to tilt the control and move it around to paint the picture, using motion controls. I would personally rather just use the analog stick as this just felt cumbersome. I even experienced hand cramps from holding the controller sideways a few times.

The other example comes from the liberal use of the touch pad. Some of these uses are good. For example, context-sensitive actions are all mapped to pressing the touch-pad down as a button. This is simple, intuitive, and easy to understand. The more damning use fortunately only occurs one in the game. In order to pass through a DUP checkpoint, players will, early on in the game, need to use the touch pad to move their thumb into position so that a machine can take a blood sample and test Delsin for the conduit-gene. (Spoilers: He gets detected.) Again, it feels forced and does not really work as well as the designer intended. It took me a few minutes to figure out how the mechanic worked, and it only occurs exactly one time. Aside from that one time, players will never need to use it to get through any content, mandatory or otherwise. In these respects, it feels like a tech demo, despite being an otherwise solid game.

As a fan of the inFamous franchise, I cannot help but be disappointed by Second Son. Though developed by the same people, and in some respects improving upon the controls of the PS3 games, many parts of this game feel forced. The story heavy-handedly attaches social commentary to a setting that makes it seem weird and out-of-place. Portions of the gameplay are very gimmicky, strongly resembling that of a tech demo, and not a real interactive experience. Lastly, the game seems unsure of itself when reusing the moral choice system of its predecessors. Fortunately, it does enough right to justify playing it at a discounted price. It is not a bad game, it just does not live up to what I come to expect from Sucker Punch. It is a good game to get for someone who already has a PS4, but not worth getting a new console for.

Impressions #22: Deadly Premonition: Director's Cut

I play games of all manner of strips. Platformers, shooters, RPGs, and many other genres. As a result, I have acquired many unique tastes. No game represents “unique tastes” any more than Deadly Premonition. Developed by Access Games, this title was, and is, the brain-child of Hidetaka Suehiro, more commonly known as SWERY. It embodies a style and tone all its own, distinct from almost every other game I have ever played. Though it still has flaws which cannot be overlooked, it is truly a gem of a game.

Taking place in the fictional town of Greenvale, Washington, Deadly Premonition follows the adventures of FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan. He has put himself on the case of the murder of an 18-year-old waitress named Anna Graham. The reason is that it possesses an alarming amount of similarities to an unusual string of killings he has been investigating across the continental United States. Through many trials and tribulations, York must gather clues from various crime scenes to solve the mystery behind these deaths.

Like in Persona 4, I found the murder mystery hook worked extremely well for me. I love analyzing all of characters and clues to see if I can piece the puzzle together myself. This game has plenty of that. If the player pays careful attention to the story, characters, and clues, it is entirely possible to deduce the culprit early on. In that sense, the writing is extremely fair. The game does not cheat by holding back key elements of specific scenes until the last minute. Despite that, I did not completely figure everything out until the big reveal. I was personally quite impressed by the game's writing.

Another aspect to the game I give it credit for is its cast. Though I have never watched the show, I have it on good authority that the cast of characters was heavily inspired by Twin Peaks. Every character in the game has their own unique quirks and traits. In their own way, every one of them is memorable. At the same time, and I am still unsure if this is intentional or not, they all have something “off” about them. Either in the way they speak, their personality, or in their animations, the entire cast each have some way to invoke the feeling of the Uncanny Valley. As a result, while the town is memorable, and players will begin to slowly feel more and more at home as they play the game, there is an inescapable “creepy” feeling. During my playthrough, I found it oddly compelling.

This is especially true of York himself, who might be the most quirky. After all, the player does not even truly play as York. Rather, they assume the role of Zach, the personality inside York's head that gives him advice and helps to guide him in his cases. This persona helps by giving York someone to explain his thought process to, and a way to elicit response and interaction from the player. In a very real sense, Zach is a player cipher. Having said that, he has a history and background with York, that also gets explored through the course of the game. It is a very interesting tactic to bring players into the world, one I think could be applied to other games.

In terms of play, Deadly Premonition is very much like a life-simulator in many respects. As time marches on, Agent York grows more hungry and sleepy. The player is tasked with making sure that he eats and sleeps at regular intervals, to avoid exhaustion or starvation. Furthermore, story events only take place at specific times. For example, a character who needs to be interrogated will only appear at their location from 10:00 to 17:00 (the game uses military time for arbitrary reasons, just go with it). If the player does not arrive at the specified destination in time, they will have to try again the next day. Should they get there early, they will have to come back within the mandated timeframe. On the surface, it appears that this is to grant the player free time to explore the area. However, since I did not really have an interest in side content, I had my character pass the time in the menu. None of this is difficult, and food is pretty cheap, so it mostly serves as a way to become more invested into the town of Greenvale. To the game's credit, this endeavor is largely successful.

The other aspect of gameplay seems wholly unnecessary. That is, whenever York enters a new crime scene in order to gather evidence, he is accosted by what appear seem like zombies. These scenarios are never difficult, as most of them will die in a few (easy to make) headshots. Furthermore, although these segments are easy, the controls feel very clunky. York cannot even move and attack at the same time unless he uses a melee weapon. Should the player take the melee route, they should know that weapons degrade as they are used. Fortunately, defeated zombies have chances to drop melee weapons and ammo for ranged weapons, and the default pistol has infinite ammo. It appears to try to invoke many common horror tropes. At the same time, the player never seems to feel like they are in any actual danger. Since these areas also seem to take place in some alternate world, York does not even get hungry or tired in these sections. They just seem very tacked on.

At the same time, they do offer one good element as well. As York collects the clues in an area, he will continually profile the events of the crime. Initially, the profile will be very fuzzy. However, for each clue, portions of the profile begin to fill in. Once all of the clues are gathered, York will then have a complete picture of what happened, which will further the investigation and reveal new leads to progress the story. These scenes help the player to better understand York's deductive method, by observing the wheels turning in his mind. Though I do like this, this same level of immersion could be achieved better by removing the unnecessary combat.

Ultimately, Deadly Premonition is not a game for everyone. It has some minor flaws, but they are not what makes the game so difficult to recommend. What does make it difficult is the fact that it is so unique that it has the potential to off-put people looking for a more traditional experience. That said, some people, like those who appreciate Telltale's brand of storytelling, will feel right at home with Deadly Premonition. Others who enjoy a good murder-mystery inspired by Twin Peaks will also enjoy their time. So give it a try, but be warned that it may not necessarily be to your liking.

Impressions #21: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep HD Final Mix

Since I finished Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, via the Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMIX, it is only natural that I go on to the other playable game in the collection. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep came out during an interesting period in the history of the franchise. During this phase, there was no sign whatsoever of the appearance of another main-series game. In order to serve the duel purposes of expanding on the franchise lore, and to capitalize on its popularity, Square-Enix kept releasing side games. Despite their status as side stories, many of these games tied quite strongly into the main plotline seen in the numbered entries. Games like Birth by Sleep on the PSP and Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS, among others, are some of the games I am referring to.

Though originally a mere PSP game, Birth by Sleep is still considered to be a very important game in the franchise. So important that, combined with its status as a prequel, gives it the common nickname of “Kingdom Hearts 0”. Not it only does it give context to what Sora and company need to do in the eventual Kingdom Hearts 3, but it explains many of the plot elements from previous games, and how they are woven together. Questions like “How did Kairi make it to the Destiny Islands?” and “Why was Riku the keyblade's chosen one?” are answered in the narrative of Birth by Sleep.

And on that subject, the narrative is also interesting for how it compares to other stories in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It is told from the perspective of three different characters: Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. The three of them begin the narrative as close friends, training in the Land of Departure to become Keyblade Masters. Through circumstances out of their control, they each find themselves investigating the appearance of a mysterious new group of monsters, collectively referred to as the Unversed. Each of them set out separately to look into the phenomena, and each of them have their own perspective on the events at hand. The only way to fully understand the plot is by playing each character's campaign from start to finish, then the Final Episode afterward.

Which transitions nicely into one of my biggest problems with the story. Though I really like the way the story is told, and I find the concept of playing the same story from multiple perspectives interesting, the plot strongly hinges on the fact that the three main characters do not speak to each other. Without spoiling the events of Birth by Sleep, the villain's grand master plan relies heavily on the characters simply not telling each other about dangers they are already aware of. If at any point in the game where the characters meet up with each other, they just said “Let's stop to review what we've learned so far,” the villain would not be able to gain any headway whatsoever. Had they simply compared notes, none of them would have been caught off guard by what occurs in the finale. Even when the group realizes what is coming, they still opt to let it happen.

That aside, having three different playable characters is an overall boon for the game. Since each character has a different playstyle, the game naturally varies the gameplay just by forcing the player to play through each campaign to get the full story. Terra, while slow, is the heaviest hitter in terms of physical damage. His exclusive moves tend to lean towards the Earth and Darkness elements and powerful physical strikes. On the other hand, Ventus takes a more balanced approach with regards to physical and magical attacks, with a larger focus on speed. Lastly, Aqua is in the middle of the guys in terms of speed, but she is easily the best at magic. Though the campaigns can be technically played in any order, it is most recommended that Terra goes first, followed be Ventus, leaving Aqua for last. This is because Terra's lack of defensive/evasive options makes him significantly less fun to play than the others. Furthermore, the plot seems written with this order in mind, as they seem to visit the various Disney worlds in this order.

One of the more clever things they did was have each character visit the same worlds as the other characters. However, they all visit the same world at different times. As a result, each world's plot, like the plot of the overall game, can only be fully completed by going through it with each character. Generally speaking, Terra tends to visit worlds first. As the dark-hero of the three, he often gets hoodwinked into working with/for the villain of a given world. Ventus tends to follow after him, helping to clean up the resulting mess. Aqua then shows up last to tie-up loose ends. Some worlds follow a slightly different pattern, but that order is true for most of them. This gives off a very natural sense of progression with each world's writing. And each scenario tends to more naturally tie into the themes of the main story and/or the friendship between the three leads, which fixes a major problem I had with Kingdom Hearts 2.

On top of that, when there will occasionally be scenes where multiple playable characters are present. However, the player will only witness the part of the scene that the character they are playing as saw. Meaning that even when re-watching a scene from a new character's point-of-view, there will be a new take on it, which is a very nice touch that can be easy to overlook. Each campaign is also only about 10 to 15 hours long, so combined the game will last about 30 to 45 hours for story completion, depending on what difficulty it is being played on. This is about the length of a typical Kingdom Hearts game, so the developers managed to avoid the common trap of allowing multiple campaigns to artificially lengthen the game. On top of that, the three characters develop separately, so what one does with one character will have no effect on the other two. Overall, the presentation is excellent, and the game is very well paced as a result of splitting up the plot between three heroes.

The game also plays very well. Despite originally being on the PSP, it feels like a full-fledged Kingdom Hearts title. As one would expect, fights occur in real-time. The big twist with Birth by Sleep is that skills and spells do not cost MP to perform. Due to the memory limitations of the PSP, the game utilized a Command Deck system. Players could set up to 8 commands in their deck to be used at will. After using a command, there is a cooldown period before it can be used again. New commands can be acquired as enemy drops and in treasure chests. Old commands can also be fused into new ones. This allows players to better customize their character's layout and skillset.

The other new addition is the Shotlock system. Along with the commands, each character can also equip one of many possible “Shotlocks”. Then can then use this command to lock-on many targets at once, and shoot a volley of projectiles at all of them. The player character is also invincible during a Shotlock's execution, so it has defensive purposes as well. Though many of the bonus bosses have moves to reduce their effectiveness, shotlocks are a mechanic I found frequent use for across my entire run of the game.

Now that that 2.5 HD ReMIX has placed it on the PS3, the game controls better than it ever has. Since a PS3 controller, unlike a PSP, actually has a right analog stick, direct control of the camera is now possible beyond simply locking-on to targets. Another addition to the controls is that the L2 and R2 buttons, which are again not present on a PSP, can be used as an alternative to the directional buttons for scrolling through commands, making it easier to scroll through the Command Deck while moving. Furthermore, all of the Final Mix content, like the Secret Episode unlocked after playing through all three campaigns and beating the Final Episode, is included as well. Along, with the Secret Episode, the addition of Critical Mode, the equivalent of Super Hard mode in other games, allows skilled players to replay the game with a new challenge.

The other well-known pieces of new bonus content are contained within the aspect of the game that was significantly worsened by the HD ReMIX. One of the biggest feature touted in the PSP release of Birth by Sleep was the Mirage Arena. In this location, players could join up with others, via Ad-Hoc connection, and either work together to complete arena missions, or compete against one another in combat or one of the minigames. The bonus bosses, Armor of the Master, Monstro, and No Heart, are additional co-op missions that were included in the Final Mix.

The PS3 version of Birth by Sleep: Final Mix made some changes to Mirage Arena. Because the designers wanted to divert more resources towards developing Kingdom Hearts 3, they opted to not even try to get online multiplayer working in the 2.5 ReMIX. In fact, there is no multiplayer included whatsoever. Mirage Arena is now a 100% Single Player experience. As a consumer who purchased the collection, along with a friend, partially in order to play Birth by Sleep online with other players, this came as a supreme disappointment. In fact, it pretty much erased any desire I had to fight the bonus bosses. I understand the reasoning behind the decision, but I cannot deny that what once felt like a major feature being reduced to an afterthought really hurts the game in a big way, especially since much of the game was structured around its presence.

Despite this glaring omission, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep HD Final Mix is a wonderful addition to the 2.5 ReMIX. Though I would recommend purchase of the 1.5 HD ReMIX first, Birth by Sleep does serve as a pretty good entry point for the franchise, as it takes place before any other game in the series. Along with Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, and the ability to watch Re: Coded without actually having to play that terrible game, the $40 price tag is easily justified for series fans. The two collections combined contain every single game released in the franchise aside from Dream Drop Distance. As a result, they are a great way for people trying to play catch-up to get the most bang out of their buck.

Impressions #20: Shin Megami Tensei IV

And now, we have reached the end of a long, long “Season of ATLUS”. After investing untold hundreds of hours playing ATLUS games and subsequently writing about them, we have reached the end of my queue. The last game in my list also happens to be one of the first I purchased for my 3DS: Shin Megami Tensei IV (SMT IV). Released in May of 2013, SMT IV attempted to bridge the gap between the classic feel of Shin Megami Tensei and the burgeoning market growing as a result of the success of the third and fourth entries of the Persona franchise. The end result is something that intriguingly shows how ATLUS has grown as a development house over the years.

As a Shin Megami Tensei game, many of the franchise staples have been brought back in full force. Players recruit demons into their party and use them to fight against other demons. The Press Turn System, which I have discussed several times before, makes a return as well. In order to make sure that the player party is as strong as possible, it is also necessary to regularly fuse demons together to create new ones. None of this will be surprising to anybody who has played an SMT game or read about them. These are classic elements one fans have grown to expect.

However, a lot of these elements have been retooled in order to improve the overall accessibility of the game. In particular, the fusion system received a huge update. Previous SMT games had the player go to a specific location in order to fuse demons together. They could also register demons in a compendium to be re-summoned later for a fee. When fusing, old games had a menu displaying all the demons possessed by the player, and it would display the expected result of the fusion. Skills inherited by the result would be semi-random, determined by a compatibility algorithm. Though serviceable, a lot of more casual players bemoaned how difficult is was to learn and master this mechanic. Since it was necessary to do this in order to remain stronger than the enemies, it was a valid complaint.

SMT IV greatly improves the usability of demon fusion, with the intention of giving players a greater degree of control. First off, instead of needing to go to a specific location, players can perform fusion at any time by accessing the main menu. The other major improvements is that the resulting demons skillset is determined by the player. Given the list of the demon's initial skills, and the list of every skill the parents know, players can select the skillset of the result.

Such changes are already a massive upgrade over the old methods, but the improvements extend further. Rather than having to laboriously go through every possible combination to figure out what players want to fuse together, SMT IV utilizes a search function. When the player enters the fusion menu, a list of options appears on screen. These choices all represent all the possible filters that can be used in the search. They range from the inclusion/exclusion of specific demons in the fusion, to specific races, elemental affinities, or skills. It is even possible to include demons from the Demonic Compendium in the list of fusion fodder. The results will be listed in the form of what demons can be made, given the current criteria, and the list of all combinations that will lead to each possible result. Once the fusion combination, and the result's initial skill set, have been determined, then the fusion will commence. As a result of all of these changes, players have a large degree of freedom in how their party develops, more so than in any SMT game before SMT IV. This turning away from random number generators in fusion grants great leeway in how the system works, and even unskilled players will quickly be able to make useful demons in this manner.

Other anti-frustration features include the ability to save anywhere, without needing to find a dedicated save point. At the same time, the game only gives the player two save slots, so some discretion must be advised on how often and where one saves their game. And even should players die in battle, that may not necessarily mean game over. For a small fee, the ferryman Charon will return the protagonist to the world of the living, just before they died. Should the fee be too high, it can be placed on a tab. Upon another death, if the player does not have enough money to pay off the current death, along with the tab, it will be a Game Over. The game is willing to give players leeway, when this is taken into consideration along with changes to demon fusion. However, because of that, it demands more from them in the middle of a fight.

While this is a very accessible SMT game, it is still an SMT game. Battles will often be decided quickly and decisively, thanks to the Press Turn System. Like in previous entries in the franchise, this system rewards smart play and punishes mistakes by giving or removing turns to both the player and the enemy. In order to further this reward/punishment dynamic, a mechanic was added called “Smirk”. If the protagonist or one of his demons exploits an enemy weakness (or blocks/dodges an attack), there is a chance they will smirk. When that happens, their attack power, accuracy, critical chance, and dodge rate are all greatly increased, and any attacks against their weakness are an automatic miss until their next turn. While this bonus is powerful, enemies and bosses can (and will) also gain smirk when they exploit the player's weaknesses. In this way, it becomes even more crucial for players to both discover and exploit enemy vulnerabilities while covering their own.

In any case, most battles, even boss battles, do not take very long. It is relatively easy to see whether or not the player is likely to win a battle by just looking at the state of the battlefield. It is interesting how the convenience features both have the potential to attract many new fans to SMT from the likes of Persona, while also having a chance to alienate them if they come unprepared. Likewise, classic SMT fans may pridefully scorn the convenience features, but enjoy how battles play out.

The story also has the potential to be equally divisive. While the actual story is not worth talking about too much, one of the important factors is that the player is regularly forced to make choices during dialog. Each of these choices shifts their alignment more towards Law, representing a desire to maintain the status quo, or Chaos, representing a desire to impose great change. The three companions that join the protagonist for most of the adventure each represent a viewpoint along this scale: One of Law, Chaos, and Neutrality. Whatever the player's alignment is at the start of the endgame will determine which ending is attained.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this idea, as archaic as it is. However, the execution has a major flaw. Said flaw is that there are many events in the game, required to complete the story, that affect the alignment of the protagonist. For example, accepting one quest as a part of the main plot moves the player closer to Law. However, if the quest is refused, the quest giver will simply tell the player that they will be here if they change their mind. No progress can be made until the quest, and resulting alignment change, is accepted. On the whole, the sum of these events skews heavily towards Law, which means one practically needs a walkthrough in order to be Neutal. For Chaos, it is necessary to heavily commit to Chaos at the start of the game. Since, like most SMT games, Law and Chaos are both different forms of suck, Neutral is clearly the only good ending. This leads to a lot of needless frustration.

On top of that, the characters themselves rarely ever feel like nuanced, dynamic people. Even in the case of the protagonist's friends, most NPCs in the game act more along the lines of caricatures, designed to embody and spout their given life philosophies. For players used to the type of characterization seen in Persona 3 and Persona 4, this can be very disappointing. However, classic SMT fans will probably come in expecting this. Combined with the impact on alignment, the story is very hit-or-miss. I did not mind it, but nor can I say that I thought it was particularly good.

Overall, Shin Megami Tensei represents an intriguing and enjoyable compromise between the notoriously difficult SMT games, and the more approachable Persona games. As someone who enjoyed both, this was a game that entertained me thoroughly. The fusion system is, hands down, the best fusion system that has ever been in an ATLUS game, with a great combat system to boot. Having said that, it is not for everyone. Fans of one franchise looking to break into the other franchise, or those simply looking for an alternative to more slower-paced RPGs, will find themselves welcome. If you consider yourself in any one of these categories, I would strongly recommend giving this game a try. Who knows? It might hook you as much as it did me.  

Impressions #19: Soul Calibur 2 HD

So, how did this happen? How did I go from talking nearly nonstop about Shin Megami Tensei games to an HD remake of a PS2-era fighting game? Well, I remember playing Soul Calibur II a lot as a child, and the HD remake went on sale for $5 on PSN. It really is that simple. Placing my “Season of ATLUS” on hold temporarily, I decided to take some time to reconnect with the game, looking at it from a modern perspective. In light of recent trends in fighting game releases, Soul Calibur 2 is actually a nice breath of fresh air, aging surprisingly well. This week, I will tell you why that is.

First released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and original Xbox, Soul Calibur II is the direct sequel to what many had considered to be one of the best games on the Dreamcast. The basic premise of the game is that there are two very powerful swords. The first is an evil sword named Soul Edge, which takes over its wielder and devours the souls of those it kills. The second is a holy sword named Soul Calibur, which is constantly at odds with its evil twin. Fighters from all over Europe and Asia covet these blades for various reasons. Some seek to possess them, others to destroy them, and so on. This sets the stage for all of these warriors to travel across the world and fight each other over these weapons.

Each of the various consoles had a guest character join the cast as well. Tekken's Heihachi Mishima made his cameo on the PS2, since Tekken was a major Sony-exclusive at the time. Nintendo gave permission to allow Link to make an appearance in the GameCube version, because he is the most logical Nintendo character to bring to a 3D weapon-based fighter. As for the Xbox, they got Spawn because Namco and Todd McFarlane really needed to get out of that contract they had with each other. (That is not a joke.) The HD rerelease of the game, released in 2013 for both the PS3 and the 360, brought both Heihachi and Spawn to the game. Link was not present, since there is no way Nintendo would allow it. A bit of shame, since he was obviously the best of the three, but understandable.

As for the game itself, it is still as fun to play as ever. One of the things that I enjoy about the Soul Calibur series is that the mechanics themselves are relatively easy to understand, compared to other fighting games. Most of the commands are generally simple to pull off. In general, spending ten minutes or so with a given character will teach a player the basic gist of that character. Some fighters are obvious more or less difficult to use than others, but on a fundamental level it has more to do with the properties of their attacks and how their combos work, and less to do with the execution of any one move.

It is also nice to play this game when taken into context with its sequels. Many franchise fans, myself included, would say that it was the series's pinnacle. Soul Calibur III was not a bad game, but it did feel a bit like a step back. Because each character had more health, fights took longer. Furthermore, the discrepancy between the power of each individual fighter felt significantly greater. Soul Calibur IV added in the Soul Gauge mechanics, which punished more defensive playstyles. Players who continue to block attacks would get broken, which allows the aggressor to perform an instant kill. The power differences between characters in Soul Calibur III were also felt in IV as well. The ultimate culmination of this downward spiral was Soul Calibur V. SC V turned the franchise into a low-rent Street Fighter IV clone with swords. Everything about that game was awful and better left forgotten. This is one of the few franchises where “Taking a few steps back” is actually a really good thing, and Soul Calibur 2 HD best demonstrates why this is the case.

The other great aspect of Soul Calibur II, that in hindsight makes it such a great game, is its vast stores of single-player content. Weapon Master mode, with the possible exception of the campaigns in either the Mortal Kombat reboot or Injustice: Gods Among Us, is what I would call one of the best single-player campaigns in the history of fighting games. It puts the player directly into a story where they are a warrior seeking Soul Edge. During the journey, the player undertakes a series of missions, each taking the form of a battle. As they progress, they unlock new characters, weapons, and modes to play with.

However, these are not just typical battles more often than not. Usually, special conditions will be imposed on the battle. It is these constrictions which inject variety into the campaign. For example, one mission will make it so that the enemy will only take damage while he is in the air, but he will fall at a slower rate when launched upwards. Another mission will make the enemy invisible, with the exception of his weapon. Not only do these requirements add to the variety, they help teach players about the many mechanics of the game in a non-competitive, relatively safe space. Since the difficulty of these missions greatly increases the more players progress, it is safe to say that someone who gets through it all, while maybe not be the best player out there, is equipped to hold their own against other players.

Even outside of Weapon Master, there is still much that one person can do to get more out of the game. Arcade Mode is standard to fighting games, but there also options like Time Attack, where the goal is to fight through every character as quickly as possible. Other modes include Survival Mode, where players see how long they can last in a series of matches, with only limited healing between each match. Team Battle allowed players to form up to 3 character teams to fight in a series of one-on-one matches, where team members would fight in sequence. VS Team Battle allowed two players to pit teams of 8 against each other. “Extra” versions of these modes even allowed players and enemies to use the weapons unlocked in Weapon Master mode in battle. All in all, even someone who cannot regularly play with friends can get much out of the game.

While Soul Calibur 2 HD is still really good, it is far from flawless. For example, although the game now offers online play, and the net-coding is solid, it feels extremely limited. It is only possible to engauge in standard versus mode online, meaning players can only go against friends one-on-one, without using any weapons they unlocked. For a game that has such a diverse set of weapons for each cast member, and so many different modes of play like Team Battle, this comes off as overly simplistic and downright disappointing. I was hoping that my friends and I would be able to create our teams of characters and go against one another with our own custom assortments of weaponry. It would make sense to have Ranked matches be this limited, but when playing Unranked, these options would have been greatly appreciated.

Further, while the balance is much better here than in the sequels, there are some noticeable balancing issues. The people who originally purchased Soul Calibur 2 for the Xbox must have been really disappointed by Spawn. Now that I have had the chance to play him in the HD remake, I am astounded by how bad the character is. Unlike Heihachi and Link, who both fit in well, Spawn feels so much like an afterthought that I am honestly left dumbfounded. There had to be some other character they could have used. Along these same lines, the character of Necrid, who was also designed by Todd McFarlane, is also pretty terrible. Whoever in Project Soul worked on these characters seems to have a grudge against McFarlane, because his characters are some of, if not the worst in the game.

Overall, Soul Calibur 2 HD is a great game for both newcomers and veterans to the fighting game genre. Compared to many other fighters, it is very easy to learn. On top of that, there is a wealth of content available for single-players. I am sure there are those who would disagree with me on this point, but Soul Calibur 2 is my favorite fighting game. The HD remake does well to bring the game to more modern consoles. It is definitely worth your time and money.

Impressions #18: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Lately, I have been going back and playing old Shin Megami Tensei RPGs that I, for various reasons, missed back in the day. Dubbed the “season of ATLUS” by yours truly, this has been dominating much of my free time. The most recent game I completed in this process is Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Released in 2003, Nocturne (Lucifer's Call in Europe) in pretty infamous in the JRPG community, with a very noticeable cult following. Like other SMT games, it has cultivated a reputation for difficulty. Though some will find it more or less difficult than others, my experience lends more credence to this reputation than other SMT games that I have played.

But before we get into any of that, I want to take a minute to discuss the game's plot and premise. A shadowy organization has decided that the current direction taken by humanity has resulted in a bleak and depressing existence. To that end, they take steps to end the world, using it as a basis to form a new one, in an event referred to as The Conception. This is where the protagonist comes in. The player assumes the role of a Japanese high school student who, by some blunder of fate, managed to survive The Conception. Afterwards, Lucifer (Yes, THAT Lucifer) takes an interest in him, and implants in him what is known as a Magatama, a parasitic life form comprised of pure demonic power. As a result, the protagonist is transformed into a half-human, half-demon entity called the Demi-Fiend.

In the Vortex World created by The Conception, demons are allowed to roam freely. There are only a few lucky humans who remained alive. It is these humans who have the ability to create the new world. In order to do this, certain steps need to be taken. First, they must resolve themselves to a philosophy on which the new world will be based on. This Reason, as it is known, can be taken from another person or conceived as an original belief. Then, enough creation energy must be gathered by them in order to summon a deity, to represent that Reason. After every represented Reason has battled it out, the winning belief will be used to create the new world.

Since the protagonist is a demon, he cannot create a Reason of his own. However, he is free to choose to support or oppose any Reason that has already been established. The player, in this capacity, will determine which, if any, of the Reasons will emerge victorious. Through the choices made, and the alliances formed, they gain and lose reputation with the various three factions, each representing their own Reason. At the end, it is this which determines whether or not the protagonist is in support of any Reason. Should the player decide to reject all three reasons, then their personality, as represented by their choices, is what will determine the new world.

While this may have been an interesting concept in 2003, most modern gamers are already extremely familiar with the concept of narrative choice. It worked, but it honestly was not all that interesting. This was from a time when such ideas had been relatively unexplored, so this is to be expected. Still, people playing Nocturne from a modern perspective might find this whole plot disappointing. Even the characters are not really that well written. Most of them are jerks and most of them have absolutely no reason to be. The story had potential to go in some really interesting directions, but failed to do so. Ultimately, while there are some interesting elements, the plot is mainly used to justify the gameplay and dungeon crawling, barely able to stand on its own.

As for the combat, SMT: Nocturne was the very first game to utilize the Press Turn System that most SMT games would come to utilize at some point. I have already detailed the basics of this system in my Digital Devil Saga Impressions articles. Playing this game, it becomes apparent that this is only the start of a system that would be greatly refined and reinterpreted in many ways. Unlike Digital Devil Saga, turn order is determined purely by the Agility stat, with the fastest going first and so on. Further, the combination attacks that proved so useful in Digital Devil Saga were noticeably absent here. Aside from that, I have discussed the system enough, and have no real need to talk more about it. Nocturne served as a great proof-of-concept for the system, which would later become a fundamental groundwork for combat in ATLUS RPGs.

Another interesting note of comparison lies in the way character and party development works in Nocturne, compared to other SMT games. Unlike Digital Devil Saga (but like most), the player party consists primarily of demons. In order to get these demons to join the party, it is necessary to negotiate with them. During the course of the battle, on the turn of either the protagonist's or a demon with a conversation skill, the player can attempt to talk to a demon in the enemy party. In the first phase of the conversation, the player will need to convince the demon to like him. Should that be a success, then the demon will make requests. Appease it, and it will either join the player, give an item, or retreat from battle. Failure will result in an enraged demon, causing the enemy's turn to start. In this way, there is always an element of risk involved with negotiations. Mitigating and accepting this risk by eliminating enemies before striking up conversation is as important as the actual act of talking.

Having said that, the demons gained through conversation are still pretty weak. The true way to gain a powerful party is through Fusion. At special locations referred to as Cathedrals of Shadow, the player can combine two demons into a new one. The result will have their own skills, but will also inherit some of its predecessors'. During specific times, a Sacrificial Fusion can also be done. Along with the original two demons, a third can be sacrificed. Depending on the strength of the third, the result will rise in power. Skills from this final demon can also be inherited by the result. Like in other SMT games, this process of Fusion is the key to maintaining a strong party throughout the game.

However, there are elements that clearly demonstrate the dated nature of this particular beast. For example, as earlier SMT games were known to do, Nocturne tends to rely far too heavily on random number generators. The specific skills that a fused demon will inherit is determined by a roll of the dice. I often found myself deselecting and reselecting fusions over and over in order to attempt to get the skills I wanted on my party member. Old SMT gamers probably will not mind that. On the other hand, people who have grown accustom to selecting inherited skills in games like Persona 4 Golden might be less inclined to go back. For better or worse, it is a very noticeable throwback.

As a demon, the protagonist also develops his own skills, albeit at a much faster rate than others. However, he does it differently. Throughout the game, players will acquire different Magatama, which confer different resistances and skills to the protagonist. Upon level up, should the protagonist be at a sufficient level, he will learn a skill from the Magatama. Like other SMT games, only 8 skills can be equipped at a time. To learn a new skill, one of the previous ones needs to be forgotten. Unlike Digital Devil Saga, there is no going back. Once a skill has been unequipped, it cannot be relearned. This can often result in making difficult decisions, because making the wrong choices on not only what skills to keep, but in what order they are learned, can quickly put the player at a disadvantage. The freedom to choose from any previously learned skills did not yet exist. Again, the dated-ness of the design very clearly shows.

And that is the ultimate problem with Nocturne. While it was a fantastic game at the time, and still continues to be very fun, it has been succeeded quite thoroughly by later works from ATLUS. It is a game that over 10 years old. Showing that age, it serves as an interesting data point to compare other JRPGs with. Moreover, classic SMT fans, eternally looking for challenging and varied battles against demons, would be well served playing Nocturne. I myself would be lying if I said that I hated the game. I enjoyed my 60 hour playthrough. Though a second playthrough seems unlikely, I would not completely rule it out. That said, people who have come to know the modern conveniences of ATLUS design in games like Persona 4 Golden might be put off from the old school design philosophies that went into it. This is what one would refer to as a “niche” game, even by ATLUS standards. Keep that in mind if you intend to try it out.