Graphics vs. Game play

Throughout the years I have enjoyed playing many games but more recently I have found that rather enjoying the game I’ve just found it visually stunning. Though it is a good thing that games are getting better visually once upon a time it was about playing the game and enjoying it. I am an artist and I love high-res HD graphics but it’s always been a pet hate when I play a pretty game to find it boring and the plot lacking.

Back in the time of the original Playstation there were many games there were failures but a lot shone through(if not more so for plot). This for me has become a less recent occurrence. Recently I have found games to be boring if not lacking a good plot but visually stunning.
I remember back on the Playstation owning Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2. Back then the graphics were brilliant, good old pixilated triangular boobed Lara in all her glory climbing cubed rocks and swimming through turquoise waters. It might not seem so brilliant now but back then it was astounding. Not only were the graphics good for the time but the plotline was brilliant. You played Lara Croft an archaeologist who with two pistols and a shotgun (plus many other guns) went on a long journey through many levels around the world to get to some form of epic treasure to defeat the bad guy. Sure these days the games might have the same basic plotline but now the game run time is a lot less and though Lara looks good in Denim with her now rounded boobs I don’t want to go around pulling levers to make her arms stronger to go through a door. The only recent success Tomb Raider had was in a remake of the original game for the PS2, great graphics and a sound plotline.

Another example of how graphics have outshone the game play was the most recent Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XIII. Never had I seen such attention to detail in some skin. It was such a visually stunning game but when playing the game I found that it felt like I was playing through some form of artist showcase. The game play was appalling, there were some good ideas but they were thrown together so badly nothing fitted and worked well. The characters were unlikeable too. Maybe it was just the company at fault, trying to prove they could bring something new to an old series but after playing a lot of Squares prettier games I find myself losing faith in the games industry.

A lot of Final Fantasy fans these days want a remake of Final Fantasy VII after seeing the Playstation 3 demo. Square refuse to do this though because making it with the same quality graphics as XIII would mean it would take over 5 years (according to them). At least if they had a go at making it they would have a sound plot in place rather than the terrible stories they’ve started throwing out.

After playing quite a few games recently I’ve found that I’ve enjoyed the most a fighting game called Blazblue: Calamity Trigger. Sure it’s a fighting game meaning minimal plot but a plot still exists, the characters are likeable and to top it all off it’s a 2D sprite fighter.

I also seem to be enjoying playing my hand held games recently which have never really been good for graphics but on occasion have thrown out some brilliant plots.

The evolution of a great game series...

This one is just for you Mike!

And so as the release date for Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver starts coming into view I’m going to dedicate a blog to this epic game series.

Way back in 1996 Nintendo decided to create a game which was based on insect collecting, a hobby which the creator Satoshi Tajiri had as a child. This idea obviously evolved and became a game about collecting imaginative creatures rather than collecting insects.

Pokémon (or Pocket Monsters) is a game where the player becomes a Pokémon trainer, going on a journey to collect and train all the Pokémon they can find. Along the way they have to beat a selection of strong opponents who are gym trainers and after beating these trainers the Pokémon trainer can fight a group of elite trainers to gain the title of Pokémon master.
Technically the story of the game ends there but you can continue and fight people online, trade Pokémon and more recently compete in competitions.

Originally the game was released back in 1996 as two versions Pokémon Red and Green. Since these two proved popular an enhanced Blue version was released and this was then later reprogrammed with Red to become the international release versions in 1998. After these versions were release another version, Pokémon Yellow was released. This version had slightly enhanced graphics but the biggest change was in the plot. Rather than being the exact same game they changed the characters and certain scenes to try and mimic the anime which was fast becoming more popular than the games at the time. These games were classed as first generation only having the first generation of Pokémon in them (the first 151)

The second generation was released in 2000 as Pokémon Gold and Silver. These games took the new Pokémon total to 251, adding 100 new ones into the mix. These games made use of a time system in which the game kept track of time, turning the game to day or night depending on the time that was set, this effected Pokémon and certain events. The graphics were also better than the previous game having more range of colour in them. An enhanced version of the games called Pokémon Crystal was released later.

In 2003 the third generation was released. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire was released bringing with it 135 new Pokémon to the mix. As popular as the games were they were criticised for leaving out certain features like the day-and-night system which was in the previous game. Again an enhanced version of these titles were released called Pokémon Emerald.
After the release of Ruby and Sapphire remakes of the original games were released. These were named Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. The game boasted better graphics but again was criticised for simplicity like Ruby and Sapphire.

The fourth generation debuted in 2006 called Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. These were for Nintendo DS. An additional 107 Pokémon were added to the mix bringing the total up to 493. These games were a lot more complex than their predecessors, boasting touch screen technology and a lot better graphics. A more enhanced version called Pokémon Platinum was released.
In 2009 Nintendo announced remakes of Gold and Silver for the Nintendo DS. They were released in September in Japan and are to be released later this month everywhere else. They also announced earlier this year that a new game was in development and it is to be the fifth generation.

In Japan and throughout a lot of the world Pokémon is a popular franchise spawning not just games but anime, manga, card games and toys. The anime is just as popular as the games these days, running for as long as the games have. It has been running for 12 seasons now, spanning over different generations of Pokémon and regions. There are also 12 films to go along with the anime and a thirteenth set for release in the summer.
Though Pokémon might not suit everyone’s taste you have to admit it’s had a good run and it will probably continue until a new even more ingenious game with weirder creatures is released but until then remember, gotta catch ‘em all!

Final Fantasy XIII review

Today is a very awesome today. Today is the official Final Fantasy XIII release and since I’ve wanted to write a game review for a very long time I’m going to write one about Final Fantasy XIII and whether waiting 3+ years was worth it.

Final Fantasy XIII is the latest Final Fantasy title to be released by Square Enix. It is a Fantasy Japanese roleplay game with a fast paced action twist. It has both good and bad points so far and this is what I think so far of it.

STORY
It’s a sci-fi fantasy style story based in a world called Pulse, a beautiful utopia that looks like something out of James Cameron’s Avatar (which is quite funny since Square want to sue him for stealing their environment). On this world there is some really powerful beings called Fal’cie’s who can ‘curse’ humans into becoming L’Cie. The L’cie are given focuses by the Fal’cie which if they don’t complete something bad happens and if you do then the reward isn’t so great (basically a lose lose situation). You play a group of humans turned L’cie who have to save their world etc etc etc.

Basically like every Final Fantasy it’s all pretty much japans RPG dribble which includes curses, magic, monsters with fancy names and some form of emotional main character with hair issues. The story isn’t as amazing as previous ones. One thing which annoyed me mostly about it was after playing about 3 hours I suddenly started to realise that I was replaying Final Fantasy VII, the intro story and the characters are nearly enough identical. Square probably decided to do this after realising Final Fantasy VII was their most liked game out of the series.

All in all I found the story to be pretty poor (especially compared to previous attempts) but it was definitely not the worst aspect of the game.

CHARACTERS
As usually Square has created a crazy cast of characters with over-the-top hair and clothing but this time there is a bit of a difference.

When playing a Final Fantasy game I tend to end of becoming attached to at least one character, mostly the main character but this time no one has grabbed my attention. Sure they look great but personality is another issue all together. At the moment the characters are just socially inept morons with colourful back story. Maybe it’s because the opening few hours the game flitters from character to character meaning you don’t really get a main character. It could even be because of the voice actors.

In short awesome looking characters, pathetically thought out personalities.

BATTLING
One of the big things in Final Fantasy is the battle system. For roughly 10 games it was a action-battle-time-wait-for-bar-to-load-then-attack battle then suddenly it got to Final Fantasy XII and you only needed to control one character and you could set up all the other characters actions out of battle. Now in XIII the battle system is different again.

You control one character and they act as your main and you have two other characters in your group. Instead of setting the other two characters actions you set their style of fighting. Usually they go in as “Ravagers” which means they’ll just constantly attack but then within battle you can change their style via a funky shift-changing thing called a “Paradigm Shift”. Your characters can then be changed into Medics, Saboteurs, Synergist etc. This is less time consuming then setting them up outside of battle but there is a downside.

The styles have no middle ground, when you are in that style the character will stay doing what it is told to do until you’ve switched again, for example a medic constantly heals even when all characters health are full and in order for the medic to attack their style must be changed, changing all the other characters in the process. Now this would be perfectly fine but since Square seems to have wanted to speed up game play and make the battle scene look rather messy by having characters flip around none stop it’s very distracting and so shifting becomes a second thought until half your parties dead.

Basically very messy/distracting battle scene with a switch system which could probably do with being more refined to keep up with battle speed.

VISUALS
The one thing Square Enix is best at. The best thing about the game so far has been the nice high definition graphics. They are simply gorgeous.

Since the world is fantasy based the palette is very vibrant. At the moment it’s been mostly dominated by greens and blues and very harsh light tones. The environment is very much like James Cameron’s Avatar mixed with Tron in places.

The graphics are the best I’ve seen within a game. So crisp and detailed. The Skin textures are amazing, mottled slightly and filled with pours. The hair is probably not the best hair I’ve seen in a game but still amazing and the eyes seem somewhat lifelike.

Definitely a thumbs up from me though I do prefer my more Final Fantasy IX styled worlds to this one.

As much as I could continue babbling on about the game and the good and bad points I’m going to stop myself and give a general overview.

To me the game is a set of brilliant concepts that just don’t fit together. It seems as though Square don’t know if they’re making a roleplay game or a fast-paced action game (the two don’t really merge which is a shame). It’s one of the better games I’ve played this year though on the Playstation 3. Reviewing the game as a Final Fantasy I would say it’s probably one of the worst ones they’ve made to date even if the intro story was the exact same to Final Fantasy VII.

On the bright side this game is one of three and definitely not the one I’m pinning all my hopes on.