tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post1613013165826852887..comments2024-03-26T17:54:54.592+01:00Comments on Speculiction...: And the drop is due to...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-42207467114997578802017-07-25T02:39:52.054+02:002017-07-25T02:39:52.054+02:00The Walking Dead is a great piece of interactive f...The Walking Dead is a great piece of interactive fiction which I think a lot of gamers misunderstood; I see plenty of complaints about how your choices "don't matter" because they don't affect the overall narrative, i.e. you still end up in the same place at the end of the game. Which misses the point that life & fiction are about the journey, not the narrative. You can get to the end with a group of people who hate each other's guts, or a solid group of friends, or (most likely) a difficult mix of both. It's far better than anything else in the TWD franchise, or any zombie fiction at all, and has some of the best character writing and voice acting in any game in years.<br /><br />Dishonored is a series which a) I think is objectively good on a lot of levels, but also b) is just totally up my personal alley. So I'm biased. Its story is nothing to write home about, except perhaps in gameplay terms - I was very impressed when I messed up at the climax of the final mission, expected to reload from the last checkpoint, and instead got one of the multiple endings and saw the credits roll; I can't think of any other game that treats failure as a valid narrative outcome. But its art design is unparalleled and it creates a magnificent sense of place in Dunwall, the crumbling Victorian-era city stricken by the plague. The box art and promo stuff for Dishonored is very much geared towards a teenage boy audience, with all the Kickass Death Mask Assassin junk, but the game itself is generally very subtle and thoughtful.<br /><br />Re: your concerns about fantastical elements, I guess it's sort of Game of Thrones-ish in the sense that magic is known to exist but is rarely seen, and widely hated and feared. You're granted your powers by a devil or trickster god figure whose worship is outlawed and power up by finding whalebone relics scattered around hidden shrines, often with scraps of story about how the previous owner was arrested or went mad from the magic. Personally I thought it fit well and completely dig the mix of 19th-century industrial revolution + secret forbidden devil worship, but I've known some who didn't. Interestingly, in the sequel, you can choose to reject the offer of eldritch powers entirely and play the game as just a regular old roof-jumping assassin.Mitchhttp://www.grubstreethack.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-59744214492247722542017-07-24T20:13:37.549+02:002017-07-24T20:13:37.549+02:00Indeed, I've been ignoring The Walking Dead. ...Indeed, I've been ignoring The Walking Dead. But now I'll take a second look. Dishonored caught my interest for a moment, but the reviews made it look a tiny bit like Bioshock - a game that I generally enjoyed playing, but have no desire to play again. To be specific, the gameplay looks quite solid, but the mix of fantastical elements looked a little too wild or chaotic for the setting. For example, walking around Bioshock I kept asking myself: Am I a wizard shooting fire from my fingertips? The developers never sold me on the 'plasmid' thing. Seemed more an excuse to electrocute or burn people like Gandalf than actions that were a natural offshoot of the game's premise. And I fear the same of Dishonored, that the main character's capabilities serve the interest of gaming more than the game... But I very easily could be wrong and will look a little deeper at the reviews now that you've recommended it.Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-39092804657906686272017-07-24T16:29:58.063+02:002017-07-24T16:29:58.063+02:00Weirdly I also got a PS4 last year after many year...Weirdly I also got a PS4 last year after many years of not playing video games, and weirdly the first game I played on it was also Black Flag (and I agree, sort of fun and visually great but ultimately meh.)<br /><br />That feeling you describe: "...suck me in until the wee hours of the morning, desperate to play more as sleep beckoned." That addictiveness. That's what I miss a lot about playing video games as a teenager, although back then I obviously had a lot more spare time on my hands. But I do love when a game is so compelling that I think about it all day and want to play it as soon as I get home; which is not always the same as being an objectively great game, but is often a good sign. Being totally sucked into a fictional world like that, just as I was totally sucked into books when I was a younger kid. I've had that feeling about games as completely different as The Sims and Final Fantasy IX and Skyrim.<br /><br />The Last of Us (besides being just a brilliant game in general) is probably pretty perfect for somebody who hasn't played games in years, since it's "cinematic" in that sense that it takes you on a firm narrative journey. (I was spoiled on the ending beforehand and assumed it would be one of those video game choices they like to give you - but of course it's not, because you're not the player, you're Joel, and Joel would never consider it a choice or a decision at all.) If you're interested in recommendations, two very different games I'd recommend looking into are The Walking Dead (yes, I know, but read the reviews) and the Dishonored franchise. Both really excellent games which give you more control over the narrative in the way that only games can.Mitchhttp://www.grubstreethack.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-52235633154360331022017-07-18T16:46:02.247+02:002017-07-18T16:46:02.247+02:00It's a rabbit hole for sure (just not the same...It's a rabbit hole for sure (just not the same rabbit hole from twenty years ago :).Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-37390011721459629762017-07-18T16:01:57.620+02:002017-07-18T16:01:57.620+02:00I enjoyed reading this, Jesse, and you have furthe...I enjoyed reading this, Jesse, and you have further convinced me that I need to stay far away from these games... :)Kat Hooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16960395513096788865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-50623649988815421112017-07-14T21:33:16.680+02:002017-07-14T21:33:16.680+02:00I played Bioshock infinite first. Then I tried the...I played Bioshock infinite first. Then I tried the first Biochock but only played the first copule of levels. It didnt grab me as much. Infinite blew me away. It's very different from those first games, it's a folating city set in the 1912 alternative history. I think I will replay it one of this days. <br /><br />Mc Ferrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06868836870181655517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-76198198844244779602017-07-13T06:38:01.942+02:002017-07-13T06:38:01.942+02:00I'm playing Bioshock the first installment at ...I'm playing Bioshock the first installment at the moment, about 3 hours in. So far not as good as Witcher 3 (if I can reduce it to such a simple comparison), but still worth it.Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-45115241431871438712017-07-12T19:22:57.466+02:002017-07-12T19:22:57.466+02:00Hey man, video games are great! I'm myself a p...Hey man, video games are great! I'm myself a pc gamer. I have The witcher 3 installed and yet to finish the main story -that game is massive!. I would recommend you: Bioshock Infinite, Dishonored, Gta V. This are great history based games.<br />Keep it up.Mc Ferrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06868836870181655517noreply@blogger.com