Once Upon A Time, yada yada yada?

In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap I am through the Elemental Shrine, which is after the second dungeon, Cave of Flames. At the very start of the game, when the story was being prefaced, I was sort of rolling my eyes. Ancient evil, light force, special sword, victorious hero of faded legend, cutting to Link awakening in his bed. Been there, done that, in like almost every Zelda. The game proper starts, Zelda shows up wanting Link to accompany her to the Picori Festival that only happens once every hundred years. Link's grandfather, Master Smith, has a sword he needs delivered to Hyrule Castle to be awarded to the winner of the competition at the festival, so it's okay. Off they go. Link sees the sights of the festival, delivers the sword, and sticks around for the ceremony. The badguy shows up, Zelda is turned to stone, and only Link can save her. So the King sets Link off on the path to go about doing just that. All of this is the first five minutes of the game. At this point I'm starting to think about how many times can you dip into the same well before it runs dry. After all, this is like the tenth Zelda game, with number eleven on the way. We've done this before. A lot. Is it good enough now? A couple of issues seem to come up here. One being, is Nintendo helping or hurting with the tactic of including the ever expanding cast of extras in each game of the series. The Gorons, those carpenters, the mailman, Malon from Lon Lon Ranch. Is this a negative or a positive? I'm not entirely sure. I like the inclusion on one hand, and I do see it starting to wear thin. Another aspect that might not be helping is the stuck in once upon a time storytelling. It is a fairy tale being told, but can't it be a dark fairy tale? Does it need to be so golly gee and swell? The story hasn't been fully told so it might not be fair for me to judge it so already. It is showing signs of trying. Ganon, up to this point doesn't seem to exist. And it's not going to be Koume and Kotake this time around trying to bring him back either. We might be heading somewhere new, but it's still golly gee and swell. They have changed the device in gameplay each time, but storytelling hasn't really changed. In form or style. I'm really starting to think it needs to change drastically. Storytelling has never been the reason we play this series. The gameplay here still rocks. But storytelling has sort of become the great neglected or just also ran aspect to the series. Wind Waker put more emotion into the story with its graphic style allowing for facial animation in the vein of Skies of Arcadia and Suikoden 3, but the actual story was the same old same old. With everything else so refined, this unrefined section is just more glaring over time. The next Gamecube title appears to be going graphically more dark, more adult for lack of a better word. Hopefully the story gets more than a bit of shadow tacked on to help it fit the visuals. Go somewhere new. Take a chance. Change things up, please...

Next time should be about puzzles.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap -- First Impression.

I'm currently working my way to Mt. Crenel in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. That's after the first dungeon, Deepwood Shrine. You have the gameplay style of A Link to the Past and the other portable Zeldas mixed with attempting to mimic Four Swords Adventures graphically. The game looks great. Crisp, bright visuals. It sounds about as good as GBA games can. You have the main theme, some versions of classic tracks, some Four Swords music, and all the classic "Item Get" type sound effects and musical chimes we all know and love. They've added in new creatures among the Keese and Octoroks. New locations to Hyrule, while incorporating old locations, like Lon Lon Ranch. A cast of new characters mixed in with the likes of the mailman from Majora's Mask and the carpenters Ocarina of Time. New gameplay elements like the Gust Jar in with the old like Bombs. The big thing they've added for this one is shrinking, which is facilitated by your talking hat named Ezlo. Ezlo also serves as this game's Navi. He's there to prod you in the right direction. "Hey, we're supposed to be meeting so and so at such and such a place." He's not as intrusive as Navi was. They've also added Kinstones. Kinstones are items that have various shapes. People and creatures all over Hyrule have half Kinstones, and you want to merge your half with their half. Fusing Kinstones will cause a bunch of various things to happen throughout the land. For example, this thorny overgrowth blocking the entrance to a hollow tree will be removed, allowing you access to whatever may be inside. I have a feeling completing this aspect may become maddening. I'll get into everything in more detail as I go along of course, but right now it just seems like it's classic Zelda, slightly tweaked, as they all have been.

Next time should be about story.

Resident Evil 4 -- Final Opinion

I'm currently in Chapter 3-1 of my second play-through of Resident Evil 4. That's right, I'm replaying it immediately after completion. And not really for the unlockable features and extras. It's just that good. It's just that fun. Capcom set out to redefine the genre they popularized. They succeeded wildly. They fixed what was wrong in combat and more importantly, the camera system. The graphics are amazing. The character models are great, both in game and in cutscenes, for the most part. Capcom has never been able to do eyes that look alive. Everyone still has that dead glassy-eyed look to them. The sound is very well done. Better than any other in the series. They've redone most of the sound samples for this game. Only one instance I can think of where they used an actual sound sample from the previous games. The music is still very much the traditional horror film score approach. They've altered how they've employed it though. There is a slight Silent Hill sound and use to the score. There are tracks to let you know it's safe, or that you're not alone. The story is actually well done, while still retaining the cheese the series is famous for. I like the character of Ashley quite a lot. They included an updated version of Resident Evil 3's mini-game The Mercenaries. This was the genesis of what would later become one of the best games ever made, Dino Crisis 2. They also added in special costumes, a ton of extra weapons, and harder difficulty to increase replay value. They included Assignment Ada to help flesh out an aspect of the story that's rather clear in the main game, but hammer it home for those who are oblivious. This bit further ties the game to the series' past, and tells of the series' future. They didn't really need to add all of that for people to want to play this one again. The game itself is its own best reward. Not everything was entirely perfect, especially the collision detection, which bothered me from time to time. All-in all though, the game delivered way beyond my expectations and even my hopes. I'm giving it a 9.5. Would this have been my Game of the Year for 2004 had it made it out on time? Quite possibly. Will it make it for 2005? Hard to tell. How much will it being a January release hurt it? We'll see. Bring on Resident Evil 5, and Los Illuminados' plan B.

Next up should be initial impressions of another Capcom game, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

Things That Don't Go Bump in the Night.

I'm somewhere in Chapter 5-3 of Resident Evil 4. There are a two kinds of scary. The first kind is the jump scare. The tension of the expectation that something is going to jump out of the darkness and get you. The second kind is far more cerebral, far more personal, far more irrational. The second kind is purely messing with your head. The second kind has been employed by the Silent Hill series. Resident Evil as a series has always stayed away with attempting to mess with your head. They've gone the way of the jump scare. I'm not so sure they've even truly attempted to continue this in Resident Evil 4. Having played through most of the game at this point, I can only point to a couple instances of the jump scare employed. And the major one is more a nod to the series' past than anything else. The fear this time around comes in the action. You're not worried about anything jumping out so much as you are worried about making a mistake as more enemies appear to compound your problems. Fun? Yes, very much so. Great fun, even. Scary? No, not at all. Does it matter anymore? I'm not so sure...

Next time should be the wrap-up on the game itself.

Cinematic Gameplay Done Right.

I'm somewhere in chapter 4-1 of Resident Evil. One place the game absolutely excels is in cinematic gameplay. The Resident Evil series has always been extremely cinematic. The series' old prerendered backgrounds allowed for great use of highly stylized camera angles which helped to build tension. Resident Evil 4's realtime 3D graphics don't allow for such camera angles. Capcom has found a way to keep things intense. The combat and enemy AI play into this. As does their use of gauntlets for you to run through and set-pieces. The initial foray into the village is a perfect example. It's on rails, and it's not on rails. The AI shines here as does Capcom's forethought. Depending on what you do, and where you go, from house to house, room to room, they have the AI primed for specific events. It gives you the illusion of reality. Yes, I understand I'm talking about a non-zombie zombie survival horror title. Games started out giving you path A in action gameplay, and just path A. You had to do it one way. No other options. They evolved into offering path A, and path B. The people were amazed. Capcom's design gives you the illusion of more paths in action gameplay than we've seen before, in this genre especially. It gives the impression things are free-flowing and not on rails. They've carried this design over to the bosses. Using environmental and situational set-pieces. The Gigante is a perfect example of this. The area in which you fight him is littered with items he can use against you if the situation arises. If you lead him near the trees, he can uproot them and use them to strike at you. Same thing with the boulders in the corner. He can roll them at you from across the level as if he were bowling. The shacks there can be destroyed if you hide in or behind them. There is a wolf that will come into play depending on your actions earlier in the game. Everything the boss does is reactionary depending on your actions. All of it is cinematic in nature. It's still just avoid and attack, but again the illusion of it being freeform and flowing is in full effect. It's very successful. The future of gaming is glimpsed here. I am thoroughly impressed with this aspect of the game.  

Next time will probably cover the scare factor...

A Headshot is a Headshot is a Headshot, except when it's all random.

I'm somewhere in the middle of RE4's chapter 3-1. The locked animation issue I spoke of earlier remains. I'm still taking some hits I shouldn't be. This seems to be dependent on what weapon you're using and the distance from the enemy.  Guns like the shotgun seem to be immune to this. The shotgun knocks the enemy back. The knife and handgun don't fair as well.  The action commands that appear situationally can be a bit spotty which adds to this issue. I often find myself reaching through enemies swiping at them with the knife. Which puts them within range to grab me. Their grab animation is the worst offender. Some of the chainsaw wielding enemy animations are also particularly up in the air as to whether you'll break them or not. There is a whole lot of randomness going on here. Most of it is by design. I can't tell how much of the randomness in combat is intentional. The headshots are certainly designed to be random. A headshot is a headshot is a headshot, but not all headshots are created equal. Blowing the head off an enemy is not determined by your accuracy, but by whatever odds system the game engine employs. That's a tad frustrating given the game's redesigned in-combat aiming system. They put you in control, but don't reward your skill truthfully. Shooting an enemy in the arm to cause them to drop their weapon also works on this same random system. It's strange where Capcom decided to cheat, so to speak. Some enemies have unlimited sickles to throw at you. Shooting one from their hands is sort of futile. He'll soon replace it. One place the randomness works is in the items you collect. You break open boxes and barrels, or the enemies drop items.  What comes up is entirely random. It could be money, herbs, ammo, treasure, or it could simply be empty. This plays into the strategy of conserving your ammo and health items. You could be riding high from the wave of randomness, and quickly find yourself desperate for something specific. The game has set item drops in there to help you through certain spots. So the randomness in items isn't broken.  It works. It really isn't broken in the combat either. It's there to help keep things intense. It just sort of irritates me from time to time. It's certainly nowhere near a deal breaking issue.  

Next time I believe I'll talk about cinematic gameplay and boss battles.

Storage Space & Spawning.

I'm through chapter 1-3 in Resident Evil 4. One of the more notable changes deal with item storage. Gone are the item boxes from the series past. They attempted to change the item storage system with Resident Evil 0 and failed miserably. The item boxes were magic. They stored whatever you put in them and transported the items around to whatever box you happened to be at. Apparently Capcom felt they needed something more realistic. So in Resident Evil 4 you have an attache case that has only so much space. It's broken up in squares. Each item takes up a specific number of squares. So if you want to carry that shotgun along with you, you'll need to use up the twelve squares it occupies. That leaves only so many squares left in which to place your green herbs, your extra ammo, and grenades. So you have to decide what's important enough to make space for. And where to actually place the item in the case. You move them around trying to maximize the space as to carry the most possible. It's an interesting system that works well in my opinion. I won't mind seeing it carried over to whatever comes next in the series.

One thing I'm not so sure works well is the spawning of the enemies. It's a little cheap. You clear an area as you go and for the most part everything remains honest. Certain sections of the map are set up as gauntlets you have to survive. They're cleverly disguised for the most part. I've noticed waves of enemies coming out of the structure I had just cleared. They weren't in there before. They didn't come from somewhere else. They're spilling out of it now though. Why? Challenge, of course. They're trying for something rather cinematic in gameplay. I'm not sure how avoidable this might have been. Right now it's a rather minor flaw. I need to see if it gets any worse.

Next time I think I'll talk more about the combat, what's right, and what's wrong with it.

Resident Evil... FOUR! - First Impressions.

I have played through section 1-1 in Resident Evil 4. The first thing apparent is that Capcom is trying hard to change things. Which reminds me of the old adage, the more things change the more they stay the same. The realtime 3D graphics are new. The control isn't. It's entirely the same control scheme. The voices are much improved as far as the series goes, but that Capcom cheese remains.  They apparently can't help it. They've gotten rid of the ink ribbons, but you still save on typewriters. They've added in a support system right out of Metal Gear Solid. That's not the only game they've borrowed from. The non-zombie zombies come at you with style that puts them slightly ahead of the on rails enemies of House of the Dead. The AI so far has proven to be pretty smart, but marred by not so much poor collision detection, but rather locked animation. You're taking hits you shouldn't be because they can't break their animations. They've also implemented Shenmue's Quick Timer Events into the game. Needed button presses to survive a cinematic scene. The story hasn't advanced beyond the silly premise so I don't have much to form an impression on there. My initial impressions would seem to point to a game with great potential for real fun in spite of some flaws in combat. I need to see where it goes and how I adjust to things. I will get into more detail on everything as I play through the game of course.

Suikoden 3 -- Final Opinion.

The final save for Suikoden 3 was at eighty-one hours and forty-two minutes. Long game. I finished with all 108 Stars of Destiny and saw the actual ending.  The main ending features the standard immediate wrap-up of the events, and the roll call of the Stars of Destiny. Informing you of what they'll be doing with the rest of their lives. That alone is a rather satisfying ending. For those who do manage to get them all, you're treated to an extra chapter. You get to see the major events of the game from the badguy's point of view. Some of his view reveals very interesting tidbits and takes you to a few new locations. You'll even visit the Crystal Valley from Suikogaiden fame. You'll get to hear the conversation that Geddoe and Alia were eavesdropping on, and even have an extra duel to fight. The story was great and is well served by the main ending. This extra chapter however is a great bonus and actually very rewarding. If you ever play Suikoden 3, make the effort to earn this extra chapter. It's well worth the effort needed. The story of the game is its main appeal. It's well thought out and the characterization is great. The combat is journeyman workhorse. It gets the job done with little flair or grace. The music is good enough without any real standout tracks. The graphics are a mixed bag. Lackluster villages and fields and dungeons mixed in with great character art and facial expression. Overall I'd say it's a successful RPG with accessibility issues that should reward most who reach the end and like a good story. I'll give it an 8.5 out of 10 on the strength of the story.

Resident Evil 4 and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap both shipped, but only Resident Evil 4 has arrived. So I'll be going back into survival horror for my next game. Initial impressions coming soon.

Progress Reports, and the Timing Game Extended.

I'm sixty-nine hours into Suikoden 3, and in between chapters four and five. Chapter five being the last chapter. It's all about the final push now. The major surprises of the game have been revealed. I know who the badguy is, and I know who Chris' father is. Genuine surprises both.  A few final battles and I should be watching the end credits roll.

The timing game has been extended here. After some complications with Game Stop, I'm still awaiting the arrival of Resident Evil 4 and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Both shipped today, and should be here Tuesday. Oh, the joy. So now I'm stalling. I'm building up my characters in Suikoden far more than they need to be built up. This is almost worse than having nothing to play at all.

Next time should be the final opinion on Suikoden 3.

Strategy, The Timing Game, and Exclusive Strategy.

I'm fifty-nine hours into Suikoden 3, and in chapter four. The multi-character view system has ceased and the game will unfold from the single point of view from here on in. The series' biggest flaw has always been its strategy battles. The duels and army battles both serve one true purpose. Advancing the story. The illusion works in the duels, fails in the army battles. They both are not so disguised games of Paper, Scissors, Rock. The duels work because on a personal level, one-on-one, that system provides enough strategy to be viable. Attack beats Defend, Deathblow beats Attack, and Defend beats Deathblow. On the other side of things, the army battles, that's not enough. Suikoden 3 added in automated battles of the actual units. There isn't any real strategy in them. There never has been. It's all just a grand illusion to advance the story. The strictly followed story. So even if I have the strategy to decimate the enemy, I can't, because I'm not allowed to. It's all fake. It's all for show. It's the only true flaw in the series. It's the one thing they really need to fix.

The timing game is something that most gamers play. I'm obviously currently playing Suikoden 3, but Resident Evil 4 and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap should be shipping today.  So I'm playing the timing game. Deciding if I need to power through or ease up in how I'm playing Suikoden as to time its completion perfectly for what's about to arrive and be next to go into the system. You don't want end up with three or four days to kill and nothing on your shelf that would fit that window. There is no fun in that.  I'm sure some gamers don't play the timing game. They can float in and out of games and mix them and overlap without any concerns. I am not one of them. I don't like to muddy the waters, so to speak.

Today Rockstar North announced their new Grand Theft Auto game for the PSP. Winning strategy, that. System exclusives to draw the casual gamer in droves. Nintendo has gotten off to their standard great start. Sony hasn't even really begun to push at this point. Can Nintendo lock down exclusives the way Sony can and will? I mentioned Resident Evil 4, the one great exclusive the Gamecube had. As we all know, the game hits the PS2 this year. I'm not waiting for it, of course. But people will. A lot of them even.

Playing with Missing Pieces to the Puzzle.

I'm forty-nine hours into Suikoden 3 and well into Hugo's third chapter. The Suikoden games are all tied together telling one much larger story. The story of the twenty-seven true runes. In 1999 Konami released Suikogaiden Vol. 1 and Suikogaiden Vol. 2 in Japan. They were never released in the US due to essentially being graphic novels or for having Choose Your Own Adventure type play mechanics. They came out after Suikoden 2. They told the story of some of what came before Suikoden 2, and a little of what came after it in the region of the Crystal Valley. They gave some further insight into what became of key characters. Jowy, Pilika, Neclord, and more. At the time, them not being translated wasn't considered any great loss. What a difference a third game in the main series makes. Around the second chapter of a few of the playable main characters' games you start hearing references to the events of Crystal Valley. Character's start appearing from those games. I've noticed at least ten references to events, and at least seven character's making actual appearances within Suikoden 3. Konami has always been one of the best companies when it comes to the effort put forth in translation. As such, they've left these in the game. So you have characters making references to past events, and scenes of noted pause for the character's knowing looks. It's more than slightly irritating to note these moments. You know you're supposed to get something there, and it's frustrating not getting it. I can't really blame Konami here. It would have been nothing but costly fan service to have released the Suikogaiden titles here.

Next time should deal with the homestretch, and timing.

Virgin Territory and 3D Combat

I'm forty hours into Suikoden 3, and in virgin territory. I've gone further than the point where I stopped the first time around. I quit in Thomas' chapter two. I have now completed everyone's chapter two, and have started in on Geddoe's third chapter. The story is shifting gears and the major players are learning truths that are causing more questions. I'd say I'm hooked now. Great depth of story and characterization. Makes me wonder just what was going on the first time around. Was it really just the timing of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and me being burned out on the genre that allowed me to miss the point the first time? I don't know. I'll have to consider that one a bit.

The first two games were in 2D. Which meant the combat was in 2D.  This allowed for one of, if not the fastest RPG combat system. They created the illusion of everyone attacking at once. It's essentially the 2D precursor to the same illusion being used by Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. There would be a couple characters jumping out to attack, and as they're falling back into place, two others are leaping to attack, and as they fall back, the archer fires and the spellcaster lets the magic go. The enemies attacked the same way. This greatly sped up the combat. In moving to 3D, certain issues arise. Mainly the concept of spatial relation and how that would apply to combat. You can't have people jumping through each other in a 3D combat engine. They shouldn't be able to leap through other enemies to reach a specific enemy. 2D allows you to cheat this way. 3D doesn't. What this results in is characters having to move around the battlefield and position themselves correctly. This slows down the pace of the battles from the previous games considerably. They had to deal with magic in the same way. It now has a blast radius. Characters caught within it will be hit. Enemies and friends alike. For certain magic anyway. It does add more of a strategy element in considering who is attacking which enemy, and how, from where, and when. More depth, slower battles. Fair trade? Good or bad? Unavoidable, I'd say. 

I think next time I'll cover missing pieces to the puzzle.

Progress Reports & Birthday Wishes.

I'm thirty-four hours in on Suikoden 3, completing Chris' chapter two, and Hugo's chapter two. Things are still going strong as far as me enjoying the game. I haven't yet reached the point where I stopped last time, but I'm nearing it. The story is starting to kick in. The story is actually very well written as far as characterization is concerned. Previous Suikoden titles, especially the first one were really nothing more than "Hello, my name is [insert name], and I'm a [insert fighter type], and I want to help you defeat the Empire. Let's go!". Suikoden 2 added character depth to core characters. Suikoden 3 has expanded the depth out to a few more of the supporting characters. This offers up an expanded set of colors from which they can paint the story of political intrigue. What I'm enjoying most are the personal relationships being explored amidst this political backdrop. Chris dealing with Salome, Percival, Borus, Roland, Leo, and Louis all being in love with her in their own ways and her being their captain. All the while trying to figure out why the Council is lying to her. Hugo and Sergeant Joe's student-mentor type relationship. While Hugo deals with responsibility while trying to figure out what the Zexen's are doing. Geddoe dealing with hiding his past from his team. Queen, Joker, Ace, and Jacques dealing with each other while just trying to do their job. It's in these areas the game really shines. Story wise, I believe I'm hooked. I'll get into the combat, and how the shift to 3D has effected it next time.

 

Happy Birthday wishes to the one who has a birthday today...