Yep, that’s Steel Panthers up there. Why would Hawkeye “Ben” Fierce, who just finished charting his head-on collision with the flight sim A-10C Warthog, want to talk about those guys? Listen to find out. And brace yourself for the dramatic outing of a secret identity!
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Look. That’s me dying up there. You know whose fault it is? Not mine. Nope. To Hitman_472, designer of Waterfall Caverns, I’d just like to say, “The fault lies with thee.”
I was humming along nicely is this cool little level. I always dig the underwater cave swimming stuff; I think the bubbles that restore your sackboy’s breath are so nifty. I was on my way to a death-free round, which I really like (who doesn’t?), when all of a sudden I was rocketed upward and impaled on spikes. Now I’ve got pretty good hand-eye, but there was no way I was avoiding those spikes on the first try. It happened way too fast. I call this little trap a Compulsory Death. And I’m none too happy about it.
You’re on notice, Hitman_472. Tell _471 and _473 they’re on notice too, just for good measure. I’m sure you guys all sit together in the cafeteria.
In the interests of continuing to keep it real, I am going to be straight-up honest with you and admit that I have no idea how the part of the game we’re going to talk about today works. At all. I’m not even going to pretend to understand by finding some scholarly quotes and then systematically demonstrating that War in the East does this particular thing better than some game no one has ever heard of. Instead, I’m just going to throw up my hands right now and say that if anyone can help a comrade out, I’d be grateful.
After the jump, anyone? Anyone? Glantz? Continue reading →
Try as I might, I can’t make myself love Dragon Age II the way I loved Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age II does almost everything right, hits almost all of its marketing bullet points, but never grabs you and refuses to let you go. Origins was buggy, sprawling, clunky; an old school paean to the glory days of Bioware and Black Isle and Infinity Engine RPGs. It suffered from the tired, played out Bioware formula of prologue, four quest hubs, and finale, yet never seemed boring or repetitive. For those of us who played the early days of computer RPGs, it was a promise to keep that style alive. Then Dragon Age II changed the formula, and as a result lost its chance to eclipse its predecessor long before it hit the market.
After the jump: Do games have a soul? Continue reading →
Something happened while I was playing tonight that made me start to think about the tipping point. Or the line of demarcation. Or the point of no return. One of those ominous phrases. What happened was I had an epiphany. Hold on a second. Don’t get excited. For while that term tends to carry with it an air of positivity and excitement, that’s not really going to apply here. I’m not sure this is a term, but I believe what I had tonight could be termed a ‘stupid epiphany’. Is that even a term? Did I just coin that?
I had been planning today to write about moving from the tutorial towns into the big cities of Pokemon White. I’m not going to do that, though, because of my stupid ephiphany. What is this stupid epiphany, you ask?
Sigh. I’m so ashamed to admit this. Deep breath. Oh well.
I was in the middle of a pretty nasty fight with some trainer in a hidden library in the back room of a museum when I realized it. I was trying to decide which Pokemon to send into battle after my electric horse fainted when I suddenly keyed on the gender symbols of my team. I’ve always been aware of them. I’ve never paid them much attention. Until now. My team is five males, and one female.
Team Tepig just became Team Sausage.
After the jump, the trading deadline Continue reading →
The story in Tactics Ogre is engaging, topical, and very dark. It’s also wonderfully written and executed. The plot centers around a handful of rebellious youths who wish to engage some knights responsible for sacking the village they live in. That turns sideways quickly and spills into a sweeping tale of treachery, war, and rebellion.
The core of the tale is your character and the choices you make as the game unfolds. Several times, you will be asked to make a choice, and several times those choices will be very hard. I had to put the PSP to sleep a few times and give some serious thought to how I wanted to proceed.
After the jump, decisions, decisions Continue reading →
