I have recently started this blog in order to vent some of the ideas, realizations, and qualms that I feel over the gaming industry as a whole. I am tired of all these companies presenting games in order to fulfill deadlines, make profit, and most importantly, cater to mediocrity. What happened to making games for the love of gaming?
Let us begin with the age of the “next generation console”. The introduction of the now current three industry “Big Dogs” has created a mass monster that is continually eating away at the gaming cake. Overall, the idea for the next generation consoles has been to incorporate gaming into the masses, spreading out the possible market share of these consoles.
The console who has most successfully climbed the mountain of public adoration is the Nintendo Wii. Released slightly after its competitors, the Wii has brought casual gaming to an entirely new level, and its release has brought in millions of gamers trapped in slumber by the Triforce. All of these people rave over the Nintendo Wii as if it is some miraculous gift from a divinely ordained gaming “god”; however, the sad truth of the matter is that people are unable to realize the true purpose of the Wii: to dumb down gaming in order to make it accessible to the general public.
Most of the games enjoyed by Wii owners (yes I am one as well) are quick fix or party oriented games. There is nothing present to even remotely cater to the hardcore or even non hardcore gaming community. The pathetic attempts of the Wii to hide the fact that it is a casual gaming system only are overshadowed by the sheer number of people I hear talking about it on a daily basis. I was recently sitting in a classroom during summer school at my university, and I was appalled to see a group of elitist sorority girls talking about playing Super Smash Brothers. The irony of it was, they had no clue whatsoever how to actually play the game, and they were delighted more by the idea of consuming alcoholic beverages than playing the game. Not only this, but they spoke of the hopefulness of bringing boys over to play with them. Apparently, gaming is being used as an aphrodisiac these days. Maybe Nintendo should change their advertising to fit all the single nerds out there. “The Nintendo Wii: Our Mediocre Games are Made, You get Laid”. It has a nice ring to it.
I shouldn’t only pick on the Wii, the other two consoles are just as guilty as it. Particularly, the Xbox 360 has brought down gaming just as much as its contemporaries. First let’s look at the primary problem with the system: you are continually worried your $400 investment is going to spout the three rings of doom. The first time it happened it was almost as heartbreaking as when I discovered Raiden was the primary playable character of Metal Gear Solid 2.
Since when have gamers had to develop ulcers because they are afraid their system is going to spontaneously explode? Does Microsoft have some under the table agreement with the fan distributors in order to generate profit? Did they get together and decide “Hey, let’s make a crappy system that breaks all the time, offer free repair for it although the gamer himself must wait over a month for its return, and finally advertise on a plethora of ‘fixes’ for this. We will make millions alone off of the fans!” The sad fact about it is, the Xbox 360 is the platform of choice for most hardcore gamers of today.
This is the true depressing point of the industry, with the induction of gaming into popular pop culture, publishers have followed the “desires” of the general public. This desire can be summed up in three words: Blow $%#@ Up. People want to be the hero, save the day, and most importantly, find the rocket launcher in order to completely obliterate their buddies. This trend can be seen in the hundreds of first person shooters (FPS) out on the market or currently in the development stage. Developers know you want one thing, and one thing only, and they have no problem catering to this mass crowd.
I honestly can’t blame them. When games sell millions of copies just because you can blow something up in a “new way”, there is a huge margin of profit for mediocrity. This is exactly why we see the eventual downtrend of games because people continue to buy and support mediocrity because they can blow things up. Not only that, but they can do it in a matter of minutes after booting up their system. So, not only can you save the world by being the Master Chief (or his hundreds of copycats), but you can do it instantly.
As if the “Blowing $%#@ Up” category weren’t enough, there exists yet another genre of games catering to the new gaming population, Sports. If you don’t want to melt your friend’s face, you sure as hell can slam dunk over him. Or you can spend hours designing your playbook on Madden in order to feel like your the accomplished coach all of us will never be. Seriously, sports gaming offers just another quick fix for the masses. People will buy it simply to be their heroes they see on TV every Monday night (O wait sorry, every Sunday thanks to John Madden). As the saying always goes, if you can’t blow their faces off with a rocket launcher, score a touchdown.
Sports gaming, while it has never appealed to me, does have its place. The primary problem is, at least for me, the “fun-factor” of the game is generally overlooked in order to provide true “realism”. I admit, am not a sports gaming fan. I enjoy these crazy things called “fun games”. However, if you feel that scoring that game winning touchdown after two hours of flipping through your playbook in order to beat that twelve year old over Xbox Live is fun, then sports gaming is definitely your cup of tea. And, game developers know this. They regularly release these yearly installments of the same game with some new added gimmick to make you drop another $60 on essentially the same game. It’s pure genius.
The Sony Playstation 3 is guilty of most all these faults found in the 360, with the exception of the breaking. Apparently Sony could not cut a deal with fan distributors. While Sony does bank on the FPS and sports craze, they stay a bit more elitist claiming their system is technologically superior with its Blue Ray capabilities.
First of all, no one knew what Blue Ray was until about a year ago, and second of all, Sony has been trailing third in the console race for quite some time now. The reason for its poor sales? A better made system and games not catered towards the mass idiots. A recipe for disaster if you ask me. That is the sad state of the gaming world, we praise mediocrity while slamming quality. Sony, while not completely innocent, has attempted to cater the most to its demographics from the Playstation2 era, to its own peril.
Clearly the head of SCEA should realize that in order to be successful in the commercialized world of gaming today you need one of three things. You need to dumb down games so all the sorority blondes can play, you need to design bigger imaginary guns that your competition (I’m still waiting for a WMD launcher to replace the rocket launcher), or you need to sign the next big athlete to grace the cover of your Madden recopied edition, I mean 2009.
With all this taken into account, I fear for the future of gaming. As long as we continue to embrace this mediocrity, like the overwhelming sales of Madden another recopied game, and disgrace quality games, such as Mass Effect, we will continue to see our industry fall to the masses.
Something needs to be done about this. Some one needs to realize that EA cannot just buy every company and make it crappy. Microsoft needs to realize that game systems need to work. Sony needs to deliver some more dumbed down games, and Nintendo, well Nintendo is fine as is considering they are the leader in console sales. I weep for what is to come.
That’s all for now.
-The Gaming Guru
If anyone you’re anything like me, you have gamed for almost all of your life. If you’re one of the older generation, your Childhood was filled with scores of memories sitting in front of your television. The screen would light up, and a joy would overcome the heart. We were serenaded by the sweet sounds of annoying jumping sound effects as well as poorly orchestrated theme songs, and we ate it up like kids at a candy store.
As the original gaming generation grows older, the industry continues to change around us. Gone are the days of simplistic, yet annoying, boss fights. Save codes (if you don’t know what these are you aren’t part of this generation) are an archaic technology, and the brutally unforgiving games of old (MegaMan X brings back memories) can no longer stand toe to toe with the new age of gaming. But, where has the industry taken its ideology?
Gaming today presents us with pretty graphics, engaging battle systems, and hordes of enemies for us to mow down. With the continually changing technological time bomb that is our society, gaming has severely altered its face. It is undeniable that people, especially as they grow older, are unable to devote the hours we put into games in our childhood. Work, marriage, family, and life itself have taken over our passion, yet the gamers of new and old still crave the same adrenaline rush. Therefore, games have been catered towards a new audience, an audience that no longer wishes to spend hours on a single boss. The same audience that wish to only play for 20 minutes at a time. People that have what the real world calls “lives” (I know, it’s a term I myself only learned recently).
With this new change in audience from the hardcore to an entire market of new gamers, the industry has altered the games being released dramatically. Games are being developed that put you right into the action; instant gratification is a must. Games are designed to be shorter, easier to beat, and overall more enjoyable from the casual standpoint, which is a severe turn from games of old. No Mario does not count. It wasn’t that hard back then, and it isn’t hard today. If you must see an example of what I’m talking about, go dust off the old Game Gear and play Sonic 2. You’ll soon succumb to the pain we masochistically brought on ourselves (when Sonic games were actually good).
So, with these new age games catering towards what some “hardcore” gamers consider to be “noobs”, is the industry taking a turn for the worse? Most oldschool gamers, myself included, will tell you that games today are too easy and cater towards the non-gaming community, but in reality, all the industry is doing is adapting to the influx of the “new age gamer”. These “new age gamers” can range from any age range, and all demographics. They include anyone that wants to sit down and enjoy something they cannot do in real life, and these kinds of gamers will play games that are easy to pick up and not brutally unforgiving. They are the epitomy of the social aspect of gaming. “New age gamers” go to social gatherings, have parties for games, and generally only enjoy playing with friends, and by parties, I don’t mean those Goldeneye parties we all enjoyed as kids. These social gatherings usually consist of simple games including Wii Sports, Super Smash Brothers, and Mario Party.
With the induction of these players to the industry, gaming as a whole has simply changed to fit the demographic that it now serves. The “new age gamer” desires only to be mildly entertained as a form of diversion from life. They lack the passion that many of us “Hardcore” gamers so loudly boast (probably a bit too loudly at times). It’s not their fault, however, because they are only treating the medium as everyone treats anything entertaining in the world of today. It is only something mildly interesting, and it can easily be cast aside at the influx of anything even remotely as enjoyable. This is the sole reason that so many developers make their games short, intense, and easily understood. Complexities work against developers. The harder, more complex, or generally less easily accessible a game is, the less it will be accepted by the “new age gamer”. Although this does seem to enhance overall “fun factor” of games today, it detracts from one key item that all gamers (yes all) play games for: Role Playing.
Now before you start foaming at the mouth about how you hate RPG’s and would never play such an abomination as Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, or Grandia, let me explain exactly what I mean by “Role Playing”. All gamers play games for the effect of doing things we could never accomplish in real life, and this can range from entering a fantasy world, saving the world, or simply picking up a gun and blowing our friends up. When we play games, we play the role of whoever it may be. One day I am the Master Chief saving the universe from the Flood, the next I am a simple warrior in a fantasy world populated by thousands of others on the internet, and the final day I am a rockstar playing my guitar for hundreds of people cheering for me. The point is that we all play games to do something different, assume another role.
As games become more and more catered towards casual play, we are unable to immerse ourselves in this role, and inevitably, we begin to view the game as just a fun item that takes up a small amount of time. Yes, for “new age gamers” this second point is exactly for what they search, yet a problem is arising because of this. Developers realize that these “new age gamers” make up a significantly larger portion of the market, and when deciding what changes they must make during the development of a game, they must take into consideration what profits will arise. Although we would all like to believe that developers create games simply for the love of it, we would be naive to assume that they do not wish to have profits. There then arises the dilemma of making a quality game that will most likely not be accepted by the general population or making a game that caters solely to “new age gamers”.
There are quality games that do achieve legendary status amongst all gamers, yet it cannot be denied that generally more poorly made games provide huge sales than quality ones. This can be from a number of reasons ranging from uninformed status of buyers, cheap developers, or better advertising; however, the fact remains that developers must usually decide what demographic they are shooting for when designing a game. Because profit drives business, companies will continue to choose to cater towards sales rather than quality, and this movement of sales is changing the industry slowly before our eyes.
Although it may not be apparent as of today, the game industry has taken a sharp turn towards catering to the masses. While I welcome this new addition to our market share, I am afraid of the changes it will bring forward. I fear that quality games that bring forth a quality story and great gameplay are fast being replaced by cheaply made and mass produced copies.
One of two things will eventually happen. Quality games will continue to be made regardless of their sales and overall acceptance in the population. Developers will realize that their endeavors to make engaging, exciting stories goes thoroughly appreciated by a good size portion of the gaming population. Or, the trend towards catering to the “new age gamer” will continue until it has ruled out all quality game developers through the process of competitive behavior, and this will change gaming from an art to a tacky media of diversion from reality.
That’s all for now.
-The Gaming Guru
Introduction
Assassin’s creed, what an interesting game. First of all this is not a fanboy review. I did not hype up Assassin’s Creed (from now on will be displayed as AC) for myself. I found out about the game through a friend and got it the same day. AC seemed interesting enough to me, and the pretty graphics were more than enough to convince me to buy it. Looking back, I might have made a different choice after playing it.
Graphics 9/10
First and foremost let’s get this out of the way. AC looks great! I use a 40″ HDTV, and I couldn’t be happier with how the game appears. The frame rate is amazing, the textures superb, and the characters (especially Altair) come to life. I spent a good 20 minutes just admiring how cool Altair looks during the tutorial. It really is quite amazing to see the game in action, it does feel alive.
The Cities are just as good as the characters as well. All of them are relatively large with hundreds of NPC’s that mostly look as good as Altair himself. The landscape looks great from all of the bird’s eye view points (for those that do not know you need to get to these “viewpoints” and scan them in order to find objectives throughout the game). Even as I load the game up now, the graphics continue to amaze me. This is the first game I’ve seen that made me feel like I was actually falling during the “leaps of faith”.
The only reason I didn’t give this section a 10/10 is because at times the game can glitch causing a very awkward world. In fact, one time the entire ground disappeared and I found myself running through buildings for a good 2 minutes before the game corrected itself.
Story 5/10
Ok here we get into the beginning of the problems for AC. I went into this game hoping for an engaging story. I mean, the game even comes with a warning for those that might be offended by its historical setting (Jerusalem during the crusades). But, I was greeted with something a bit underwhelming. I started out the game listening to every word intensely hoping to gain some incite into the story, yet as the game progressed I found myself feeling saddened by the apparent lack of story. The game can essentially be played with little or no interaction or knowledge of the story. I found myself sometimes wishing the characters would just shut up so I could get on to the more exciting parts of the game. Don’t get me wrong, I love stories and am a big fan of heavily story based games, but AC just didn’t deliver the cinematic, engaging experience I had hoped for it.
Gameplay 4/10
What a disappointment. The game could have been so much more than it is. The combat system, while it seems engaging and fun, becomes unbearably repetitive after a couple hours. Once you gain the ability to counterattack, there really is no reason to do anything else unless you feel like amusing yourself with other attacks. I have been surrounded by over 10 guards before and just sat there counterattacking each one, all of who conveniently await for their comrades to die by my hand before taking their turn to strike at me. It almost felt like the enemies drew a number before the fight and waited their turn to attack. And, as I said, the counterattack solves all of your problems for combat. It simply just becomes a repetitive show of mass murder by Altair after the first couple of fights because the same animations for counterattacks are highlighted throughout the entire game. I just didn’t feel compelled to even try to fight the guards after my third or so assassination, as I felt it more fun and challenging to just run away.
This is not even considering the Assassination missions that are also a big flop. Each assassination comes in 3 parts, the investigation, the assassination, and the escape. Two of these three parts are ridiculously repetitive, and the third is over so quickly it just isn’t fun. The investigation involves you finding out information about your target. While this sounds fun and new, it is far from that. Each assassination has investigations that have you doing the same actions in different cities. One of these investigations even has you collecting flags around the area in a specified time period. A master assassin running around collecting flags? I’m sorry this isn’t some kiddy platform game. That especially was a bad call by the developers. Sadly, even the more fun ones just become a chore after you’ve done them 4 or so times for each assassination.
The Assassinations themselves again could have been so much more engaging. Initially I took my time surveying the areas with my targets and planning out an escape path. It was thrilling at first, but I soon realized that it didn’t matter at all. You essentially can just bum rush your targets and hack them up with your sword. Don’t worry if guards attack you because as I stated above they are easily dealt with no matter how many are on you.
Finally the escapes are just as, if not more, repetitive than the investigations. After you’ve killed your target, and listened to a 5 minute dialogue with Altair and the target’s “ghost?”, you just need to either fight off the army of guards attacking you or simply run away. Never fear because running is just as easy as fighting. You just need to run far enough away from guards that your indicator tells you its ok to hide, then just sit on a bench, jump in some conveniently placed hay, or hide in a booth. I found it sad that guards would be in my line of sight and still be unaware as to where I had disappeared.
Overall, the gameplay could have been so much more. The assassinations and the combat system seems just tagged on to a pretty game in order to make it somewhat playable.
Replayability 2/10
If you’ve saved 1 civilian, you’ve saved them all. All of the objectives throughout the city are easily done and become tedious more so than fun. I got really bored saving all the civilians because each time the fights were uninspired and the civilian dialogue just bored me. The other objectives, including finding more…you guessed it, flags, didn’t inspire me to keep trying. The most fun I had was finding all the viewpoints throughout the game, and even then, that became repetitive and boring.
Don’t worry, redoing the assassinations doesn’t matter because they all turn out the same way, whether you hack up your target or actually assassinate them the way Altair would. Sadly, I felt no incentive whatsoever to boot up the game after the 20 or so hours I spent on it.
Overall 6/10
AC was a beautiful game with a story and gameplay tagged on the side. The game definitely could have been so much more than it is. And for all those perfectionists out there, the game will keep you occupied much longer than it did me. The problem is the game just doesn’t compel the gamer to try at all. I felt like I was watching a movie with a great cast that I just couldn’t force myself to care about. The game fails on some key issues that force its score down.
Rent or Buy
I bought it, but I wish I would have gone with my initial instinct to rent it. The game is a DEFINITE rental at best. The eye candy will keep you entertained for a couple hours before you realize the thin game underneath.
Sorry Altair, your game just doesn’t deliver. =(
Reviewer’s Score: 6/10
Mass effect
I had been interested in Mass Effect (from now on will be known as ME) for quite some time since I heard that Bioware was developing it. I’ve loved Bioware since I played KotOR but knew that Mass Effect could not just be a KotOR clone in order to be successful. Luckily, it does not disappoint.
Graphics
Amazing. The character models look amazing, the environments are superb, and the entire package just comes together to look almost as if its real. Shepard, or your own creation of him, really comes to life in the in-game sequences. This proves to be very engrossing and is great for role-playing fans such as myself. The ships, people, and planets never cease to amaze in terms of visual eye candy.
However, certain flaws do come up throughout the game. One major flaw is texture loading. Throughout the game you will notice that certain environments, characters, and insignias do not load immediately with the game and will come out somewhat blurred for a couple of seconds. This does take away from the immersive nature of the game because I was staring at a claymation character rather than the usually crisp creations I had come to know and love. Also, the framerate can come to a slow at times throughout the game, making gameplay sometimes awkward.
Graphics 8/10
Class System
The Class system, while it seems overwhelming at first, really is not as complicated as you’d think. There is the soldier, the engineer, and the adept as well as a mix of all these, bringing the entire class count to 6. Each one has its strengths. The soldier is a great play through for first timers and FPS fans because really its a run and gun type of class. The engineer and Adept start out more difficult than the soldier, especially on harder difficulties, but prove to be far more powerful come endgame because of their powers.
While the auto leveling system does an ok job for people that do not wish to micro-manage their Characters, the game really stands out with the customization. Players are able to shape their characters into the abilities of their classes that seem most powerful. This allows the RPG fans to make balanced teams that cover all weaknesses, which really displays its power come endgame when a well balanced team wreaks havoc through the entire last level. To add to this, each class has a subclass that becomes unlockable later in the game, which adds further to specialize your Shepard into however you see him.
The class system suffers from some minor flaws in the fact that many of the classes share the same abilities, making them seem repetitive. This can be remedied by the individual skills that classes get, but does not offer a totally differentiate experience for hybrids from the parent classes.
8/10
Gameplay
Now KotOR, at least in my opinion, had an underwhelming gameplay, which in turn gave me qualms about ME. But, ME does not fail like its predecessor did. The entire game is very playable from start to finish. The controls, while not set up like the standard FPS, are still very fluid and allow the player much flexibility in terms of gameplay preferences. The combat system, which I had MANY doubts about previously, turned out to be a surprise hit because of its fast action element that combines with the RPG nature of the game. You are able to pause the game at any time to select your biotic or tech abilities, change your weapons, or to just get a look around your environment. This helps the Die hard RPG fans that may be turned off by the fast combat that seems similar to Halo. No this is not a Halo clone. No you cannot just run up to people and shoot them down like you can in Halo.
Overall, I can’t really complain about the gameplay. The Conversation system is a superb improvement over KotOR, and adds to the already engrossing combat system. The choices do not directly affect gameplay in the same terms that KotOR did. No you cannot change the course of the entire plot based on your actions, but you can affect several subplots as well as the characters your travel with. The choices are tracked by a Paragon and Renegade meter that are displayed on the character screen. These meters do nothing more than to indicate how good or rogue’ish your character has become.
The Combat and Conversation systems work very well throughout the game. They do have minor flaws, such as the occurrences where Shepard says the same thing regardless of your choice, but the game really shines on these two systems.
9/10
Story
Superb. The story is one of the few games that has drawn me in for years. ME starts off with you as Commander Shepard, a human Alliance marine with varying background based on the players decisions upon creation. Which is ME’s strongest point. Role-Playing fanatics will be in heaven with ME. The game offers so many roads for the player to take with their individual Shepards that each player will have a unique play through each time. What really comes to life is not only the main plot but the several side quests that involve minor plot elements, including the backstory that you chose for your Shepard.
The story overall is fast paced and interactive. It does have its slower points, especially after the initial mission on Eden Prime, but afterwards the main plot does not cease to draw the player in. To describe the story with no spoilers: You are Commander Shepard and your job is to stop the “bad guy” from destroying the galaxy. I don’t want to ruin it for those that haven’t played but the story is not as simple as it may seem. There are many facets that just cannot be revealed in a review without spoiling it.
The story, while remaining truly spectacular especially at the end, is a bit short and causes the player to wish the game were not over so quickly. Also some of the side quests do become repetitive and boring at times, causing the game to be a chore more so than a game. Sadly these minor flaws bring down the overall great story.
It should also be known, the story is very much so adult at times, involving vulgar language as well as some strong sexual themes (including a suggestive sex scene between Shepard and one of two possible candidates).
8.5/10
Replayability
The game does offer some harder difficulties, which I played because I enjoy challenging games, but there is no real reason to play the game again other than to have a harder time and choose different conversations. The different classes do offer a variety of playstyles, but they tend to become repetitive since many classes overlap each other.
The side quests offer little to no replayability as they become repetitive, especially since each planet tends to look the same after a while, and the bases for many of the side quests use the same map layout, taking away from the role playing aspect of the game. I can’t count how many times I found myself thinking “how convenient that all these smugglers have similarly designed bases so that I can plan my attacks for all of them.” The game is only going to be a good replay for die hard RPG fans like myself.
6/10
Overall
The game has many sublime moments that drew me into the story, but many minor flaws start to add up over time. I didn’t even mention the horrid controls of the mako (the vehicle you will pilot while traversing alien planets) which handles like a pregnant grandma. The game feels unpolished to me and could have been a 10/10 if some of the rough edges had been smoothed out.
Bioware, I have hopes for the sequel, and regardless of its flaws, ME is still one of my favorite games of all time.
Final Score: 8.5/10
Lost Odyssey
I began my journey into Lost Odyssey (from now on referred to as LO) with a mixed bag of emotions. I have been a huge Final Fantasy fan for many years, and I always hold a special place for the RPG genre in my heart. The game does deliver on several of the major points it claims to have, yet I just do not feel the dazzle that I should from the legendary creators of Final Fantasy.
Graphics
The graphics in general are very solid, and run at a surprisingly smooth framerate. I was overjoyed to see that the in-game graphics are primarily used in the cutscenes sans a couple instances where a prescripted, glossy movie is implemented. However, overall the graphics look beautiful. You can watch all of your characters hack away, talk, and fight through this epic story that transcends all of our modern lives. From the smooth facial features to the elaborate costumes and weaponry, LO does not fail to deliver on the graphical eye candy department.
Although I do praise the game for its graphical appearance, I cannot ignore the slight glitches I noticed while playing through the game itself. I always wondered how at times the faces of the characters seemed to appear a bit disfigured at certain angles. This primarily was a texture issue, but it was not something to be so profound as to be labeled as game-breaking. Occasionally there would be minor hiccups in lag that always brought back awful memories of the Red Ring of Death. Fortunately, these minor glitches were not symptoms of the fatal disease, and I was glad to see that they seemed to only appear rarely.
Graphics Final Score 9/10
Sound
The musical score is amazing as it always is with Final Fantasy games (Yes, this is a Final Fantasy game, it’s just on Xbox360). I felt compelled by the music throughout the story, and often times it motivated me to gain goose bumps. Many of the character themes, Gongora especially, pleased me as they seemed completely fitting for the general motif that each character represents. The music did not seem to overpower the game itself, but I did feel that it guided me through several sections of the game, lifting my interests and enhancing the story.
The only downside to this is the repetitive nature of some of the music. I cannot say enough how tired I got of the random encounter tune. The few times throughout the game that I spent grinding levels for my characters(which by the way is not really necessary, I just did it for completion sake), I could not bear to stand the music. Many of the musical soundtracks are reused throughout the game, which I felt hurt its overall effectiveness because their originality seemed to lose value as the game continued.
Sound Final Score 8/10
Combat System
If you are not at least introduced to JRPGs (and if you don’t know what that means, you most likely are not introduced) at this point, then I can say that you will most likely not enjoy the combat system of LO. It follows the traditional system of turn based combat given to each side. Each round gives you a turn to order out your commands to your party, and then all of these commands are executed based on a certain amount of variables. For example, your character’s speed, the enemy’s speed, and the speed of the particular command are all taken into account when deciding what commands will take precedence over others. To make matters even more complicated, enemy attacks will slow down certain abilities your characters are using, and as many who are familiar to turn based RPGs know, positioning of abilities during critical moments can make or break a fight. In fact, several instances in LO severely annoyed me because of this minor problem.
To further elaborate on this point, let me explain what I mean. In one instance, I found that my primary party healer had been killed in combat. While I continually used items to bring her back to life, the “boss” would take a turn AFTER my items took effect, which usually resulted in the repeated death of my healer. This is because item usage takes precedence over actual attacks, and this forced my party to be stuck in a perpetual cycle of reviving my healer and watching her die. Needless to say, it was excruciatingly aggravating.
However, despite these unusual instances of annoyance, the turn based combat is a very welcoming addition to the game that I was overjoyed to play.
The other portion of the combat system takes place in the usage of rings. Each party member can equip a ring that will enable them to gain some sort of effect as a result. These effects vary from status changes to extra damage, and to make it a bit more involving that traditional RPGs, LO allows players to use these rings in combat via the right trigger. It is a very simple mini game that just requires the holding of the right trigger until both rings have lined up. Once the trigger is released, a rating appears of either good, bad, or perfect. Although at first it is a bit difficult, I found it to be very easy to master through practice.
Overall, the combat system has a few new tricks up its sleeve from more traditional RPGs, but I do feel that it is very much so centered around JRPG style.
Combat System Final Score 8.5/10
Story
The story of LO is very well written and brings in several RPG elements that I feel have been missing from Xbox games. Most of the characters in the game are very deep and have interesting back stories, with the exception of a few. The characters are all enjoyable to watch, and I was captivated by a few of them. What I really enjoyed about the game was the large variety in character personalities that seem to apply to all audiences. For example, Kaim and Jansen represent two complete opposites on the personality spectrum, yet they manage to mesh well together and offer a good variety of dialogue that caters to all gamers.
Without ruining the story itself, the idea of immortality plays a significant role and theme throughout the game, as does connections with others. I thoroughly enjoyed the connections made between the characters throughout the game, and I identified with many of them on a personal level.
Although the story is very compelling, one area in which I felt let down was the dream sequences. Originally I had been very excited over these additions to the main story, hoping to gain some interesting back story for all of my characters, but I was sorely disappointed to see that many of these dream sequences are simply not necessary. Also, I felt that many of them became repetitive as they continually regurgitated the same sad state of emotion and depression for Kaim and his companions. Adding insult to injury, a LARGE majority of the dreams are not necessary to actual gameplay or the primary story, which further takes away from their value. Add in the fact that these must be read, and many times I felt the dreams were more of an added length to the game rather than an enhancing factor.
Story Final Score 8/10
Replayability
The game does not offer much in terms of replayability. Once you have seen the primary plot points of the story, there is no real reason to go back and replay it. Yes, there is a new game plus mode, but it does nothing more than allow you to use your maxed out characters right from the get go. There are several mini games to complete and secret bosses to unlock that add to the replayability, but if all you are looking for is story, then you will be satisfied with a single playthrough of the game.
This however, I do not feel is a major defining factor for the game as almost all RPG’s do not give a real reason to replay the primary campaign.
Replayability Final Score 5/10
Overall
LO delivers on all of the nostalgic RPG points that I have come to know and love. If you are a JRPG or for that matter any RPG fan you will more than likely thoroughly enjoy this game. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get lost in a fantasy world unlike anything they have ever dreamed. Yet, I do see a few flaws throughout the game, and I feel that the game was lacking in the dazzle department. Therefore, I do not feel that it lives up to the legendary hype of the likes of Finaly Fantasy.
Final Score 8/10
Hope you’re all ready for the Gaming Guru!