I present to you today’s level, Jet Storm: Customize your own Top-down Jet! And really, with a name like that, what more is there for me to say? I’m highlighting this level because I think it is the perfect companion piece to Hawkeye Fierce’s excellent Game Diary of A-10C Warthog. If you play that game and this level, I think you’ll see what I’m talking about.
And I’m on the pavement thinking about what the hell happened.
I just got my ass kicked for the first time in Pokemon White. And right properly. I feel my jaw clamp down. Now what?
In the previous entry I mentioned a tipping point. A point of no return. I was talking about building my team in that entry, an entry that was written in a time I like to call ‘the salad days’. We are past that now. Back then I was waxing cute about builds and choices and forgetting and whatnot. Back then, yesterday, I was winning every battle easily. And I mean every battle. Wild Pokemons. Trainers. Etc. Winning them all. I figured that’s what the game was about. Winning. [Don’t you dare go there Christien. I’m serious. Don’t you dare.]
After the jump, is you is or is you ain’t Continue reading →
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.
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 →
I’m a little weirded out by the name of today’s level for some reason. Flower Face Adventures. The name…I dunno…it just feels weird to me. I suppose I’ll have to look into that.
Good level though. Especially as a follow up to yesterday’s level’s intensity. The challenge here is minimal, but the music is soothing. I also really like the rain section. It’s minor, but the visuals and the sounds work for me. This level as a follow-up just feels right. Plus there’s this weird dissonance. I loved the way I got to use the grappling hook in yesterday’s level. I hate the way I have to use it in today’s. It’s velcro-annoying.
On the whole, a lovely level.
Right?
Uh.
I’m cruising by my son working at the computer the other morning. It’s early, before school. He likes to steal a few minutes in the morning to work on his drawings of Bionicles, these warrior toys put out by Lego. He’s got a bunch of the toys, as well as some of the newer lineup of toys called Hero Factory, also put out by Lego. These figures are made to be assembled by kids, then broken down and reassembled into new characters by swapping parts.
Anyone who has ever dealt with Lego toys will know what I mean. My kid is nuts over these things, so much so that he has researched the mythology that surrounds the Bionicles and their universe. He understands this mythology with a depth that I find astounding, and he is all about abiding by the rules of this universe in making his drawings of the Bionicles. He does sets of drawings. Each set has six characters. No more. No less. Each set is a team based on the fact that in the Bionicle universe, the Toas–basically warrior leaders of the Bionicles–represent elements over which they have power. Earth, Ice, Water, Air, Stone, and Fire. He may create new characters for his drawings. He may totally make up new names that aren’t official Bionicle names. But the teams will always be six and always represent those elements. Because those are the rules of that universe.
After the jump, you never studied Continue reading →
This is mainly going to be about gushing, because I really love today’s level, Refuse Ridge. I don’t care much for the theme of the level, which is the idea that your sackboy has landed in a dump, thrown away with a bunch of other toys and license plates. A sad toy race car with a creepy blinking eye tells you to escape by making your way to the puzzle horse. I thought this was a great start, even though it took me about a thousand tries to get a snapshot of that car with his creepy eye open. It was like he could anticipate whenever I would hit the start button, or maybe hitting the button caused him to blink. I don’t know, at any rate the trashed toys theme really doesn’t go anywhere meaningful. No matter, because the playing of the level itself is just great.
Part of it is this nifty Habitrail sensibility where tubes carry you from place to place and can launch you unexpectedly into danger with the use of hidden jump pads. I wonder how my childhood hamsters would have felt about that. Added to this element is the way the grappling hook is used in this level, as a tool for slowing down and avoiding as well as swinging. I loved that twist. Even the regular swinging had a different feel in this level. It called to mind Indy using his whip, or my fantasies of being Indy using his whip to get out of jams. The above picture shows my sackboy, having been thrown by swinging under a rising platform, in mid-air over an electrified column just before I grapple hook to the next platform which will rocket me up to a much higher area. That’s a thoroughly clunky way of describing a moment when I should just have used one word: exhilarating.
I played this level several times and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Now, you’ll have to indulge me with one more picture, because taking it took me forever.
After the jump, creepy eye Continue reading →
Team Tepig had a huge victory tonight. Huge. A major upset. I can’t really talk about it at this juncture, but let me just say we’re all pretty excited. Don’t worry. I will get to it eventually. Suffice to say, it was pretty sweet. For now, however, you should probably forget we had this conversation.
Hold on a second. Let me call up my Reader Screen. There. Now I’m selecting Forget. Wait another couple of seconds. There. You’ve forgotten it. No worries about that though, because I’ve replaced your Victory Excitement power with Reader Interest. I’m activating that now. Look at that! Your Interest just rose!
Excellent.
I don’t know if you can detect it here, but I’m feeling kind of guilty about messing with the heads of my Pokemons the way I’ve been doing. I’m feeling kind of oogy about it, and not because Team Plasma has been inundating me with all this liberation folderol. Those dudes are clearly abusive jerkwads and I have no intention of listening to them. If you’d seen the way they kicked around Munna you’d understand. I was there. I saw it. In fact, I intervened and now Munna is just fine. In fact, he’s an starter for Team Tepig and an integral part of tonight’s victory—
Crap. Now I have to use Forget on you again.
After the jump, I try to remember not to forget Continue reading →
If you’ve ever wondered what the raft escape from the crashing plane in Temple of Doom would be like, Snowboarding Down Mount Everest may be the level for you.
Call in the intervention squad. I’m starting to get hooked.
Actually, maybe ‘hooked’ is too strong a word. I can’t say I am going to keep playing this game the way I’ve kept playing, say, League of Legends. Since wrapping up that joint game diary with Kelly and Tom I have to say I’ve played that game fairly regularly. Or as regularly as possible. I cannot imagine that is going to happen with this game unless my kid somehow gets interested in it. We will see about that in the next few days. If I’m just considering myself alone, I don’t see it happening. It’s ugly and the learning curve looks too weird. Easy easy, la la la. Followed by, “That’s your team? Suck it!” From here it looks too much like the rocket ramp from When Worlds Collide.
Right now, though, the learning curve feels good. Right now, I’m picking up speed. I’m kicking serious Pokemon a–
After the jump, spamageddon Continue reading →
Getting a decent screenshot in today’s level, Eternal Abyss Platformer, was difficult. It’s a study in browns and dark textures, which is part of what I love about it, but also what makes it tough to capture in a picture. One of my favorite moments in the level, a timed jumping puzzle, ends up looking like a bunch of darkish rectangles. This is perfect for the sense I get from the level that my sackboy is working his way through the rotting wood of an old galleon, but not so good for making colorful post images.
I’m not really complaining. I like the design, in particular the sound design, and I’m never going to be able to capture that in a screenshot.
Sound design. I’m talking about sound design in a community level of a silly little puzzle platformer. It’s tough to convey how grateful I am for this fact. I can imagine, if I think about my experience in the story levels, how playing community levels might seem tedious to an aficionado of this genre. For folks with heretofore little more than a passing interest and scant experience, these levels serve as a welcome gateway drug.
Once again…grateful might seem a weird word choice. But there it is.
I really can’t get over how much Pokemon White does not want me to play it.
I’m trying to get past my early frustration with how much this game is about reading and hand-holding. I really am. I’ve never played a game like this, and my nature is getting in the way as I navigate this world. Wow. Look at that sentence. It’s only been a couple of days and already the game is starting to dictate the way I construct sentences. Conspiracy alert.
Here’s the thing. I had a moment a few game-hours ago when it seemed like Pokemon White was going to force me to think. A moment when I literally sat up in my chair and focused on my DS fully. My feet came down off my desk and everything. This moment came when I finally found my first gym leader. It took me forever to find that guy, and when I finally did he dismissed me by saying, basically, that I had chosen the wrong Pokemon as my first Pokemon. I had chosen a fire-type Pokemon, and that was going to mean trouble for me in matching up with him in the gym. Match-ups? Whoa. It’s bracket-time, ladies and gentlemen. You start me thinking about match-ups and you’ve got my attention. The possibility of having to strategize quickly wiped away my earlier frustration.
Now the game is going to challenge me. I smile, thinking to myself, It’s on. It’s on like Donk–
After the jump, it’s off Continue reading →
Simplicity. Sometimes a dopey arcade game homage is just the ticket. Especially when it reminds me to go and watch one of my favorite cartoons ever. Double bonus.
I look forward to the fiddler crab version of this level.
Welcome to this Pokemon game diary, Reader! I’m very happy to have you here. (B)
Here you will find your Hopes and Dreams discovered! Many adventures await. And any questions you have you can ask me at any time! (B)
Very good, Reader. That’s a great observation! Good question, and I’d like to say more… (B)
…but for now, just ignore that and shut up and keep reading. (B)
Honestly. (B)
This is a column. It’s not interactive. What, did you think you were playing a game? Silly Reader! (B)
After the jump, playing is not fundamental— Continue reading →
I don’t watch movie previews and I don’t understand people who do. I like to be surprised. One of the great things about playing the community levels in LBP2 is that this sense of potential surprise is perpetual. I hate to invoke a ridiculous Academy Award winning picture about a lucky half-wit, but these levels are like a box of a certain kind of candy. A lot of the time this means you’ll be biting into some terrible orange-chocolate abomination. That’s okay though. Knowing you’re going to find the rare dark chocolate filled with caramel from time-to-time makes it worth it.
Today’s level is one of those. It totally surprised me. It started off rather snoringly, with the only slight bit of interest being jumping pads installed on a bed, which I thought was a cute development. Not terribly interesting, but cute. So I took a picture of me jumping on a bed as a safety. I went on autopilot as the level seemed a rather vanilla bubble-collection exercise.
Then I got to the water.
Surprise.
I’ve played only a small percentage of the story of LBP2 so far, so I have no idea how swimming works in the story levels, if it does at all. Today’s level was the first time I really got to explore how my sackboy would deal with prolonged submersion. I’ve got to tell you, after a few happy moments jumping on a bed, I wasn’t expecting that. Nor was I expecting to experience some of those jittery sweaty-palm moments operating the controller in a goofy community level. But I did here.
Surprise.
