What Games Are You Playing: 2008

[Grefter]

Everything is massively improved as an Indie Rock Opera.  Resident Evil would even look non-laughable in that format.

[Cotigo]

"Jill the Master of Unlocking" needs to include a 15 minute prog harpsicord solo.

[Grefter]

I just want to hear 2 hours of Korobeiniki remixes (shamefully had to be looked up in Wiki)

[Cotigo]

I'm sure somebody's already done that.

Hey, at least you knew the song had the title.  I just called it "That Catchy Tetris Song"

[Grefter]

I have a couple of mixes of it, but none are Indie Rock mixes.

[Sierra]

El Cid:  Heh, sawblades are more fun.

Oh yeah. Didn't take long for this to become apparent. I spent a lot of the time in Ravenholm flinging things around with the gravity gun to conserve bullets, and those saw blades could tear through three or four dudes when lined up right. Good times. Also re: Ravenholm? Father Grigori is delightfully mad. Parts of Ravenholm freaked the shit out of me, but that stage was very well put together.

Poison Headcrab: Oh holy mother of god make it die.

Poison Headcrab Zombie: HATE.

[metroid composite]

By that logic, Jane Austen novels have worse plot than Michael Crichton novels, because they usually save the world in Michael Crichton novels, whereas Jane Austen novels rarely conclude with anything more epic than a double-marriage and never leave England.

If you're going to get into this, Jane Austin novels do have terrible plots just for that reason.

BS.

I can write a short story which ends in a marriage and it would have a plot of considerably lower quality to Jane Austen.  I can write a short story where someone fights a war that spans over nine thousand planets, and it wouldn't be any better plot-wise.

plot quality =/= list of events in the plot
plot quality = quality of writing/presentation/subtlety/character interaction/structure/attention to detail/et c.

For instance, I don't know how good the fan translation is in FE6, but I'll assume for the sake of argument that it's babelfish.  While FE6 plot, by most reports, has a better sense of purpose than FE7, and therefore better structure, I doubt I'd enjoy the plot near as much as FE7, whose translation gives it significantly better writing, and much more subtlety and attention to detail.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I'd also like to note: early Creighton is actually quite good. He just stopped caring once they made one of his books in to a movie that turned out to be (at the time) the third-highest grossing movie of all time. I think it has fallen to #5 since.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I remember really enjoying Andromeda Strain, at least.

Mega Man 9 - Beat this. Got about 38% of the challenges done on the first playthrough. Sadly, "use no E-tanks" was not one, although I did try. Wily was just a bit too badass for me. I'll have to work on that.

Overall... great stage design (second to MM8 maybe?), an excellent array of weapons without being truly broken, and oodles of replayability built in from the challenges, speed runs, etc. Very classy little game, I'm truly impressed.

Notes:

Order of boss challenge... I'd say Tornado > Plug > Concrete > Magma > Jewel >> Splash > Hornet >> Galaxy. Several of the boss fights are actually rather clever (Plug, Jewel in particular). Game didn't set any records for this, but it was good. Wily bosses is Wily 3 > that damn ship > Wily 1 > Wily 2 > Twin Devils > four spike balls. Pretty solid creativity in some of them, but Wily 1 is just annoying I found.

Weapon-wise, in rough order of my initial impression of their worth...

The great:

Jewel Sattelite was probably the best. Take Leaf Shield, let it block bullets, and let Mega Man move while it's equipped (firing it with direction + B). Aside from lacking Leaf Shield's disgusting power (and it does vanish if it fails to OHKO), and costing 4 WE, it's about as good as shield weapons get.

Laser Trident is a simple, strong, inexpensive weapon that pierces. Owns Sniper Joes and flying shields, but doesn't set any records for utility.

Black Hole Bomb has awesome aiming and incredible power/range, sucking up and one-shotting even some fairly powerful foes. Expensive and slow, however.

The good:

Hornet Chaser homes, and grabs items. It's slow, but at least you can fire a lot at once.

Magma Bazooka is what Atomic Fire wants to be. Charges faster, the first level is useful, the strong version still isn't too expensive, and it has a spreadfire effect. Just wish it were better at piercing; I didn't find myself using it much as a result.

Plug Ball's a faster, stronger Search Snake that can also traverse ceilings. Has a few spots where it is very cute and effective.

The "at least they're not Hyper Bomb":

Concrete Shot has a bad trajectory and costs 2 WE for some reason. Has utility applications in the last level.

Tornado Blow is a stronger Gravity Hold that costs SEVEN WE. Yeah, obvious trash (though an understandable nerf after how ridiculous some previous fullscreen weapons were), besides one level where it's needed.

More playthroughs of this most definitely await!

[Grefter]

El CId, if you haven't read it yet, you totally need to read Concerned after you finish.

[superaielman]

XF:  Chapter 1-5 done. Solid but good, prison escape was easy. Mmm, enjoying it, etc.

[DjinnAndTonic]

By that logic, Jane Austen novels have worse plot than Michael Crichton novels, because they usually save the world in Michael Crichton novels, whereas Jane Austen novels rarely conclude with anything more epic than a double-marriage and never leave England.

--

BS.

I can write a short story which ends in a marriage and it would have a plot of considerably lower quality to Jane Austen.  I can write a short story where someone fights a war that spans over nine thousand planets, and it wouldn't be any better plot-wise.

plot quality =/= list of events in the plot
plot quality = quality of writing/presentation/subtlety/character interaction/structure/attention to detail/et c.

While I don't argue that the term 'quality' is being defined here, I think it's hard to define 'plot quality' without incorporating the list of events in the plot. Sometimes just a truly innately-interesting or relatively unique event can be enough to evoke a reaction regardless of the rest of the structure of the story. It can certainly be made -better- by including skillful use of the other aspects of a story that you listed, but while those -effect- plot, they aren't what is being defined by the term 'plot'. The literary dictionary I'm using describes it fairly vaguely as 'the plan, or sequence of events rendered to convey a theme or emotion in a dramatic work, also called storyline'. While this seems like a loose definition at best, it seems to me that the main component of a plot is the sequence of events.

I agree wholeheartedly that a story can have a simple plot and be better for it due to the effects of 'quality of writing/presentation/subtlety/character interaction/etc.', but I'm not sure these aspects of a story are directly defined by plot.

Attention to detail and structure, yes, obviously are subcategories of plot (as well as other aspects of storytelling). And to an extent, so is character interaction (the actual events that are occurring while characters interact).

Perhaps what you're describing is 'quality use of the plot'?

But the term 'plot quality' would imply a literal comparison of the events of a story to me.

I'm not trying to argue semantics, I just read and reread your post so many times trying to figure out what about it was bugging me. This is the conclusion I have reached while typing this.

-Djinn

[Sierra]

El CId, if you haven't read it yet, you totally need to read Concerned after you finish.

I will take it under advisement. That is the webcomic that uses HL2 character models, no?

HL2: The bridge. Really cool stage; I always enjoy poking around in the infrastructure of large constructions like that. Also props to the tunnel sequence with the car wreck inside. Made me think of The Gunslinger...although, I killed all the zombies with a tire. Good ol' gravity gun. And then: suddenly, it's Tremors! Which gets us a new weapon: bugbait. ...ahaha. Ahahaha. Up next:

Antlion swaaaaaarm.

[Captain K.]

BvS:  Started Wasteland.  Got all 4 Sounds and Bones in 2 days.  Bwa ha fucking ha anybody who tries to do these missions without Survived the Impossible.

Also started playing this online fighter called Rumble Fighter.  Kind of Power Stone-ish.  Free, but if you want any interesting clothing options you have to pay money.  Probably won't keep playing, since I can't make a character that looks like Adray. 

[TranceHime]

Knights in the Nightmare: The gameplay is really unique, but as Niu covered, some parts are unnecessarily complicated and recruitment isn't all that streamlined as I thought it would be, you pretty much have to blow things up to get the key items required, and even then, you might not be able to get certain dudes in a scene because you don't have the key item for them. :| Still, Sting delivers a challenging game that fails to disappoint.

[Grefter]

Yeah that is the one El Cid.  It is really very good to read after having finished HL2.  Don't need any of the episodes (I don't think it did them), just HL2 vanilla

[Dark Holy Elf]

As the new sig indicates, started up my MMXCM replay today. HIPPOPRESSOR has fallen.

[Tide]

Persona 3: The speedrun - *waves white flag*

Okay, I pretty much ran into a brick wall and am discouraged as hell from continuing this. In the past 2 days, I've resetted the game at least 60 times. Yeah. 60. The purpose? Well the Naganaki Shrine has the Inari Sushi, which you can pray to for benefits. One of them is a permanent +4 stat bonus to a character.

Naturally, I'm trying to get this for Akihiko. 60+ resets later and NOT ONCE have I gotten it. I've pretty much gotten every OTHER result. Including, your money has been tripled with 0 yen in possession.

On top of that, something I didn't even realize. But in order to fuse a Helel and Satan, I need two high levelled Personas for the mix. This doesn't work well when the available persona to mix for Judgment can't be done via Single Link and has to be done in Triangle. I would need to have those Personas in those arcanum on hand after defeating the reaper to get it.

This thing is on indefinite hiatus for now. I may go back from time to time to try working at it, but I'm pretty much drained of ALL energy to continue it :/. No progress after so many attempts due to sheer bad luck and then finding out that the planning is half complete to top it all off has pretty much doomed me from continuing this project.

[Niu]

Knights in the Nightmare: The gameplay is really unique, but as Niu covered, some parts are unnecessarily complicated and recruitment isn't all that streamlined as I thought it would be, you pretty much have to blow things up to get the key items required, and even then, you might not be able to get certain dudes in a scene because you don't have the key item for them. :| Still, Sting delivers a challenging game that fails to disappoint. [/quote

You usually can get the key items before you met most characters. It just takes time to smash the objects over and over again until you find the right one. But then, I suggest you just speed run through normal mode first and put energy into the hard mode on second cycle, which secret stuff gets unlocked.

[TranceHime]

You usually can get the key items before you met most characters. It just takes time to smash the objects over and over again until you find the right one. But then, I suggest you just speed run through normal mode first and put energy into the hard mode on second cycle, which secret stuff gets unlocked.

That's the thing, Niu, I already have numerous key items for future scenes. I will take your advice about blasting through normal mode and then do another cycle on hard mode, then. But wow, it's pretty challenging...

[Rozalia]

BvS - Got myself a Magical wand (Adding to my perfect hair) and a darts board today. Oh and Captain K I agree with you on the wasteland part to an extent but nothing canbe as painful as burgerninja so I don't really mind.

[Cotigo]

plot quality =/= list of events in the plot
plot quality = quality of writing/presentation/subtlety/character interaction/structure/attention to detail/et c.

Uh.  Except not, and I think that's where our disagreement arises.

Plot itself is a different element of whatever work you're examining.  It's closely tied to character, setting, structural decisions, detail, and the like, I'll give you that.  That's fairly obvious--if a character acts in a way that is improbable or lacks believability for the sole purpose of moving the plot along (as happens in many of Shakespeare's plays... but I won't go off on that tangent now) then both the plot and the characters are poorly written.  But it is a separate element. 

When you're writing, you view plot as exactly what I've said: the events that happen in the story.  And maybe a little bit of structure (particularly dealing with time--flashbacks, flash forwards, and the like).  You cannot construct a plot by trying to take in all elements you've said at once--most come after several drafts anyway.  Regardless of what you think of Austin's style, or her characters (which I'll grant are believable and well constructed if incredibly fucking boring), her plots are quite simple, both in scope and in complexity. 

[metroid composite]

The literary dictionary I'm using describes it fairly vaguely as 'the plan, or sequence of events rendered to convey a theme or emotion in a dramatic work, also called storyline'. While this seems like a loose definition at best, it seems to me that the main component of a plot is the sequence of events.

Sure, but how do you define "event".  In a plot about an intergalctic war, nothing less than an assault on a solar system will be a significant plot point.  In a plot about a civil war, you're going to be looking at taking over a city as a significant plot point.  In a Jane Austen novel, handing someone a letter that changes their outlook can be a central plot point.

Now, generally speaking plots have multiple levels--in the intergalatic war they'll still follow the life of one individual soldier to add a personal element; so you have an intergalactic plot, but also a parallel personal plot.  With a bad transation in a videogame, you'll get the macro-level plot, just because of visual clues "hey, this planet is under attack", but you won't necessarily get the personal-level plot.

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...Anyway.  Played Subterranean Animisim Extra because I haven't been able to play it for three weeks (it was like the only Extra I didn't unlock while in Vancouver; hell I got closer to unlocking EoSD Extra, which is mind-boggling to me).  Beat SA Extra during my first attempt in three weeks. o_O

TF2 I feel like I jumped up to 80% of my normal skill level very quickly, and have sort-of been idling there.

Loco Roco I'm going thorugh and doing completionist stuff.  Not sure if I'll go back and finish FFT:WoL--in fact if anything I'm actually getting urges to replay WA:XF (thinking Chemist SCC, since it's a class that I recognized as good, but largely ignored anyway.  And by "chemist" I mean Gadgetter).

[Cotigo]

In a Jane Austen novel, handing someone a letter that changes their outlook can be a central plot point.

And that's my fucking point; Jane Austin's plots are small in scope and pretty damn uninteresting.  In a plot where "X gives Y a letter" is a major plot point, there's not much holding up the plot, so all the work in holding up the piece must be done by the characters.  This isn't by necessity a bad thing, and in fact most literary works are at fault of this.  Hell, half the stuff I've written is at fault of this, because the focus is not on the plot but on crafting believable characters with believable interactions.  That doesn't change the fact that the plot, the barebones sequence of events of the story, is boring.

Semantics arguments.  Woo.

---

For the sake of topicality.

KoL:  Man, it's amazing how much more quickly a normal (well, Disco Bandit Boozetafarian, so basically normal) Hardcore run goes than a Oxycore run goes.  I'm at most three more days away from ascending with my HC character but still a good two weeks I'd reckon from beating the Oxycore character's run.  And I've only been playing this regularly (as opposed to logging on, using all my turns at a trainer, then quitting so it wouldn't be a complete waste) for a little over a week.  In most cases the rewards for Oxycore aren't even that worth it, either.  Oh well, at least it keeps me from spending all my liesure time playing.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Golden Sun 2: Finally found and lit the Jupiter Lighthouse. Man, this game rambles on for too long before it finally starts its plot. The whole Felix's Team vs. Isaac's Team thing was pretty cool. Seems like an effective use of a sequel. The game seems to be setting itself up for a third part, but I guess it didn't make enough money since there's no Golden Sun 3 as far as I know.

Psynergy puzzles are still great fun, especially now that I have about 20 or so types of Utility Psynergies.

What's the deal with Sheba's history? Is she related to Ivan, too?

Isaac seems notable as one of the few RPG mains with two living parents who -aren't- legendary heroes. I can only think of... 2 other mains like this?

-Djinn