Momiji's Gamer Blog

Final Fantasy 13-2 review

2012-03-12T22:19:00.001-04:00

Final Fantasy XIII-2

XBOX360, PS3

Review

By Matt Sharp

Let me start by saying that I am a die-hard Final Fantasy fan; I have had a special little spot in my heart for the series since I played the original Final Fantasy for the NES back in ye olden days. I say this because it makes the fact that I absolutely love Final Fantasy XIII-2 even more shocking because this entry is drastically different from any other in the series, except for maybe Final Fantasy X-2 which is also the only other direct sequel in the series.

Final Fantasy XIII received its share of scolding from Final Fantasy fans because of how much it changed from past entries. I personally thought it was fantastic despite its glaring flaws; and I actually thought its “flaws” were in some ways just evolutions in the series that the old stubborn fogies from the Midgar Retirement Community saw as pure evil, just like any other change. XIII-2 basically took everything players didn’t like about XIII and either completely changed it, or at the very least made it bearable.

The game begins three years after the events of XIII, and oh what a beginning it is. I was immediately captivated by the game from the very start; I don’t think I’ve felt that way since playing the original Kingdom Hearts back in ye slightly less olden days. You start the real part of the game as Serah, the younger sister of XIII’s main character, Lightning. I think she is a fantastic choice for a lead protagonist mostly because she was a main axis for the story in XIII even though she was not a playable party member. Soon into the game you meet the other protagonist, Noel. His backstory is pretty easy to explain—he is Trunks from Dragonball Z. For all three of you reading this who don’t know what I’m talking about, he is a time traveler who came back in time to alter a devastated future where humanity is nearly extinct. I personally can’t stand Noel. Personality-wise he is a mix of two Final Fantasy characters I can’t stand, Tidus and Snow; needless to say I pretty much hated him from the start, but of course that’s just my opinion. When Serah and Noel met I was expecting to feel an emotional connection between them like I did with Zidane and Garnet, Squall and Rinoa, or one of the many other romantic pairs in the series; I didn’t. I know that they weren’t going to because she was engaged to Snow, but they could have at least had a more believable friendship. Their journey together never quite felt genuine, it just kind of seemed like your usual meaningless “let’s travel through time and save the world” relationships we all had as kids. The sad thing is that it wasn’t just Noel I felt that way about, I never really cared about any other characters except maybe Serah, Yeul and sometimes Hope. The character I was most disappointed in was Mog, a Moogle who accompanies Serah and transforms into her bow and sword. It sounds absolutely wonderful, but he really just gets annoying to be honest--the main reason being that he talks in full English but has to add “kupo” every couple words; sure it’s super cute in text, but in a game with voice acting…it’s annoying.

Your journey begins and you set off on an adventure through time and space to find Lightning and save a barren future. You use the Historia Crux to choose which area and time period you are traveling to. It’s not like Chrono Trigger in which you can go to a time period and explore the world as it was or will be in that time; each node on the Historia Crux is a specific place in a specific time. The whole system seems great, and don’t get me wrong because I really liked it, but I almost feel like it was made to disguise the fact that you’re really only going to maybe ten locations throughout the entire game. The locales are interesting and breathtakingly gorgeous, but they really don’t vary that much throughout their different time periods or even in their alternate realities, so the game tends to get stale after a while.

The pacing had some major issues. The beginning was amazing, then some interesting things would happen, then nothing would happen, then more awesome things would happen, then more nothing. When the awesome things were happening though, they were really awesome. The game is very episodic, meaning each node you go to on the Historia Crux feels like its own little game similar to travelling to separate levels on a Mario game. This sounds cool, but unfortunately when something is not part of the main story there is usually not that much going on that’s worth remembering. Then came Chapter Four in which Square-Enix needed some pointless filler to make the game longer, and they send you on an obnoxious, multi-part fetch quest. It’s the same thing Metroid Prime did near the end of the game where you are required to go find a certain number of items placed arbitrarily around in places you’ve already been before you can move on in the story. Take note developers: this is poor game design; I’d rather a game be two hours shorter than have this kind of mess to deal with.

There’s really not that much to say about the visuals in this game aside from, “it looks unbelievably gorgeous.” Square-Enix has always had a knack for making some of the best looking games for a system, and I haven’t seen much that compares to XIII and XIII-2. The individualized body language and facial animation really brings life into each character and monster you come across. It’s not only the characters, but the environments themselves are breathtaking; and it’s not just how pretty and shiny stuff looks (which seems to be the standard now days), but the actual design of structures and landscapes are enough to make an architect weep with joy. Square-Enix has also done some visual sorcery with not just the graphics themselves, but also with fantastic lighting and screen coloration effects that I haven’t really seen in any other game.

If the visuals aren’t enough to grab you, the music will be. I have never played a game with this much variety in the soundtrack; sure, some of it is just plain terrible, but the majority of it is fantastic. One minute you’ll be running through a gorgeous forest listening to some Americanized J-pop, and then you’ll be in a fight with a giant tomato set to screamo rock (that’s not a joke by the way). Some tracks are pretty “out there” and some don’t even seem like they should be in a Final Fantasy game (or any game for that matter), but I don’t remember any track ever feeling out of place in the context. Let me just say that this is the first video game soundtrack I have considered buying since Chrono Cross’. It’s not only the music that’s wonderful, but the voice acting as well. There is a lot of voice acting in the game; there isn’t one scene or even simple NPC dialogue without voice acting, and it’s actually good!

Love it or hate it, the Paradigm battle system is back. I personally love it. Basically, there are six “roles” Serah, Noel, or your third party member (I’ll get to that a little later) can take on. For example, Commando is an offensive, damage-dealing role, while Sentinel is a defensive role which focuses on protecting the entire party. A “Paradigm” is any combination of the roles; you make up to six Paradigms from the main menu, and you can switch between Paradigms on the fly in battle. For example, you can have a Commando-Commando-Ravager Paradigm to deal damage, and then also have a Sentinel-Medic-Sentinel to switch to when you are getting low on health. Your other two party members are controlled automatically, and even though there isn’t much at all in terms of customizability like we had in Final Fantasy XII, they still pretty much do all the stuff I would have done anyway if I was in control, and to my embarrassment they usually do things smarter than I actually would have. The third party member I mentioned is reserved for monsters which you can collect from battles. If you’re like me, you think you’ll hate it but then end up loving it. It all works smoothly when you get the hang of it and learn how to set up proper Paradigms; and while some people are desperately terrified of any change, I think anyone who plays or even watches has to admit that it makes the battles much faster, more interesting, and streamlines pretty much everything that makes up a Final Fantasy battle system.

Then I finished the game. And it was the worst ending I’ve seen. In any game. Ever. I refused to believe the reviews warning about the horrible ending, and then I saw it and I couldn’t be in denial any longer. They claim that it is going to be “fixed” later with mini-sequels in the form of downloadable episodes, so let’s just hope they do that…because it’s bad. I really don’t want to get started talking about downloadable content, because I think it is disgusting and an excuse for companies to be lazy, as well as squeeze more money out of people who are already paying $60 for a game; so I’ll just get off the topic before I write a five page rant.

Square-Enix took a lot of risks with Final Fantasy XIII, and even more risks with XIII-2. Even if you disagree with everything I’ve said, or you hate Final Fantasy or Square-Enix, or you’re just a grumpy 80s gamer who hates everything you play now days, we should all commend the company for taking such risks and attempting to innovate in spite of an industry somewhat scared of change. Their production values were through the roof making a sequel to a game which generally wasn’t even received that well, and they listened to what fans wanted and acted on it.

Overall, I constantly switched between loving and hating the game. I would say a good 80% of the time was spent getting lost in a beautiful, fantastic, and fresh experience, and the rest was being frustrated or bored. I would highly suggest any gamer at least rent this game and play it with an open mind, if anything just for the experience of seeing what kind of innovative, interesting experiments are being done, because really there’s no other game like Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Zelda: Skyward Sword review

2011-12-08T23:06:00.005-05:00

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Nintendo

Wii

You’ve probably heard of The Legend of Zelda at some point in your life. A good majority of you probably think that Zelda is “that elf boy with the dorky green hat.” We already can’t be friends. Anyway, The Legend of Zelda is actually a long-running series in which each game is its own entity, similar to Final Fantasy; in other words, you don’t have to play any of the other Zelda games to understand this one. Almost every entry stars a young boy named Link who ends up having to save the Princess Zelda from some great evil, usually a man named Ganon or Ganondorf. That’s right, the series is named after the useless princess who always gets kidnapped (even though she clearly has strong magical powers) instead of the brave hero, Link, who goes through intense trials and fights powerful monsters to save her. Excuuuse me, Princess!

Skyward Sword is about a boy named…can you guess? Again, if you said “Zelda,” get out of my face. Link and Zelda grew up together in a beautiful island town called Skyloft. Oh, and instead of the island being in the ocean it’s actually a floating mass hovering high above the clouds. Small detail.You find yourself at the start of the Wing Ceremony where Link is competing with his peers to gain the official title of “Knight,” which just basically means he can ride his goofy looking duck thing—called a Loftwing—freely around the skies. Eventually Zelda ends up falling through the clouds to the mysterious surface world which, for some reason, no one really seems to know anything about.

There is some great plot and character development leading up to the real start of the game, and I particularly enjoyed seeing Link and Zelda’s close friendship since in most games in the series Link doesn’t even really know who Zelda is. This whole opening section of the game can drag on a little, and it might turn off some players who, like me, really just wanted to get their sword and start killing stuff; but it was very nice to see a solid and cinematic story in a Zelda game. All this is expressed with beautiful character animation and a breathtaking orchestral score. I only wish they would have done full voice acting instead of the usual grunts and noises we are familiar with from the series. Even though the dialogue is very well-written, it would be nice to hear it spoken so they wouldn’t just be awkwardly moving their mouths like something you’d see on Sesame Street.

Let’s talk about the visuals for a little bit. I’m not a stickler for HD graphics, and I never have been. I firmly believe that animation, stylism, imagination, and presentation are all vastly more important than just making something look shiny and realistic; I can look out my window to see something realistic. I love the idea of the visual style in Skyward Sword, I really do—the impressionistic style of things in the distance, the way all characters, monsters, and even plants all seem to actually live and breathe, and the previously-mentioned fantastic character animation. However, I feel like the whole visual style is stuck in some odd place in between the absolutely gorgeous cell-shaded look of Wind Waker and the more realistic, dark style of Twilight Princess. I still consider Wind Waker to be one of the most beautiful games ever created, and I don’t just mean “good for its time,” I mean to this day, even on the Gamecube, it still actually looks good. Personally I think the reason Wind Waker still looks so great is because Nintendo chose to take a risk and commit to a visual style, taking it as far as they could. If you look at the artwork for Skyward Sword you will see an astonishing impressionistic art style; maybe if the game were on a more powerful system the rendered graphics could look as close as possible to that artwork, but Okami did something like that on the PS2 so it can’t be blamed on the hardware. Please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying, the bottom line is that this game is absolutely gorgeous and easily one of the most colorful, best-looking games of the year even if it isn’t HD. And hey, as long as they don’t try to make the next game’s visual style match that of the Philips CD-i games then we’ll be fine.

I know that what everyone really wants to know about this game is how good the gameplay is with the Wiimote. Short answer: fantastic. Whether you like it or not, this console generation has unexpectedly become a motion control generation; Nintendo pioneered it and the others followed. So far even the best of the best in motion control gaming haven’t really been that great, or they could have easily done without the motion controls. Most of my favorite Wii games barely use motion controls, if they even use them at all. Finally, after five long, junk-filled years of motion control games I can officially say that there is now a definitive game that has actually made me think, “Wow, this is how games should be played.” I never want to go back to button-based gameplay with this type of game, at least not with a Zelda game.

You have to go into this game realizing a couple things about the controls though. One of them is that this is an adventure game, not a realistic swordfighting simulator. I’m not saying it’s not accurate, it really does feel like 1:1 movement—whatever you do with your Wiimote, Link does with his sword. You can move your sword around at will, but you are actually limited to nine types of attacks—eight directions of slashes (up, down, left, right, and the four diagonal directions) and a forward thrust; you also have a horizontal and vertical spin move. I say you are “limited,” but actually this just tightens up the gameplay and makes it feel very solid. I had some occasional control issues, but most of them were my own fault. I could have done without the motion controls for flying and especially swimming, but that’s a minor complaint. Also, keep in mind that this game does not use the sensor bar at all, so it has no idea where the TV is; when you need to use anything besides the sword, wherever the Wiimote is pointing becomes the TV’s center. If it feels off when going into first person mode to aim a slingshot, shoot a bow, or just look around all you have to do is press the down button on the d-pad and it will re-center. You will have to do this a lot, and it seems burdensome at first, but it becomes natural after a while and it makes sense why you have to do it once you understand the technology and how it is working.

Another thing to keep in mind is to swing your sword deliberately. Don’t panic and wildly swing your arm hoping to “button mash” your way through fights. While this can work occasionally, normally you’re going to end up losing over and over again with this ‘method,’ particularly to bosses. Each fight, even with normal enemies, is a strategic and engaging battle, and being smart about the way you fight is just as important as your reflexes. Enemies literally watch your sword’s position and they will block and attack accordingly. An example of this is the boss of the first dungeon in which you are basically having a one-on-one sword fight with someone and the only way to hit him for the first part of the battle is to distract him by holding your sword in one position, then quickly slashing from the other direction. Speaking of that boss, that was the first time I can remember in a very long time that I have actually been truly challenged by an enemy in a Zelda game; it took me several tries to defeat him. Once I finally defeated him I felt something that I don’t really remember ever feeling from a video game—I felt a sense of real, tangible accomplishment from using skill with more than just my thumbs to defeat an enemy. The game is challenging but never overly difficult; it never holds your hand and forces you to move on, but there is always very informative help available if you get lost or forget what you are supposed to be doing. Skyward Sword makes you feel good when you finish something not only because you are excited to see what’s next, but also because you feel proud of what you just did.

Usually a Zelda game works like this: there are maybe seven to ten dungeons which make up the core of the game. In a dungeon you’ll get keys to open doors, a map, a compass to show where chests are; then you will generally fight a miniboss which gets you a new tool you will use to make your way further into the dungeon until eventually you get to the end and fight the big boss. Once you finish, you will have to do some sort of quest or use your newfound item to make your way to the next dungeon. Repeat until you beat the game. Skyward Sword basically follows the same pattern, except somehow you don’t even notice it and they made it feel much more natural and less like you are being rushed or forced down a straight path. While it is far from a sandbox game like Skyrim, there is a lot more freedom and depth than we normally see in the series.

Dungeons feel very natural and fit in perfectly like they actually belong as part of the world, and the field sections in between, while much more open, require as much problem-solving and skill as the dungeons do. The dungeons show off some of the best level design I’ve ever seen in any game, and they are truly astonishing at times. I noticed that just looking at the map they look a lot smaller than in past Zelda games. This scared me at first and I thought they were going to be quick and boring. I was wrong. Each dungeon is intricately designed, and each has an entirely unique individuality that sets them apart from any of the other dungeons in the entire series. It’s hard to explain, but the dungeons have been simplified yet the complexity is higher than anything else I’ve seen from the series.

The pacing of the game is generally great; even though there are occasionally times I just wanted to finish what I was doing to get to the next part, but these moments were rare and short. Looking back on the entire experience I can really see character and world progression that is hard to find now days in the gaming industry. Link never even talks throughout the game, but I see the boy I started with and the boy from the end of the game as completely different people. That is impressive. I feel like I was there with Link on his jourey, learning and growing along with him.

As for world progression, even though there are only three main areas in the game—Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano, and Lanayru Desert—each has so much variety and depth to it that I never dreaded going back to any of them because I knew I would either be going to a new part of that area, or if I was returning to a previously visited section I would be doing something completely new. That is how the whole game is, you are always experiencing something different and fresh.

The only thing that got old for me was traveling on your bird. Personally, I think the whole travel method was either an afterthought or an incomplete gameplay element they decided to put in anyway. It was incredible at first—jumping off a sky island and calling your bird to catch you, diving off your bird high above a piece of land and positioning yourself for a good landing Pilotwings style, and simply exploring the open sky. Maybe I’m the only one, but I thought the section you could explore was, just like with Wind Waker, one portion of an entire world map and you would be able to open up new areas over the course of the game. I was wrong. Aside from a small exception, that small airspace you can explore is all you get for the rest of the game. It doesn’t help that there are really only four or five notable pieces of land that have anything on them besides chests. I think a quick travel method would have helped, at least that way I wouldn’t have to keep doing something that reminds me of a tragically missed opportunity for something great.

I’ll try not to spoil anything, but at one point in the game I was also teased with time travel. I was unbelievably excited thinking I was going to be able to explore an alternate version of the world I had come to love, similar to the Dark World in Link to The Past. I was wrong again. I don’t want to say any more out of fear of spoiling the game for you, but I’ll warn you right now to not get your hopes up the same way I did.

Skyward Sword takes many conventions from the series, and video games in general, and either perfects them or completely twists them into something wonderful and fresh. An example of this is the time-shifting stones which when hit transform everything within a certain radius into the way it was hundreds of years in the past; that was enough innovation to give me an excitement I haven’t had in a long time, but then later on in the game they took that idea and progressed it and evolved it even further into something unbelievably interesting (but I won’t spoil how they do that). There is nothing in the game that doesn’t have some sort of innovative twist to it.

Not only have the items themselves been changed up, but they can all be upgraded using parts gathered from monsters. For example, the Slingshot can be upgraded to the Scattershot which, when charged up, shoots a wide spray of ammo. The items also have expanded past the usual one-purpose simplicity and can generally all be used in more than just one situation. One of the new items, the Hook Beetle, can be used as a scouting device, pick up items for you, or even pick up bombs and drop them onto enemies or objects Link wouldn’t normally be able to reach. All the returning items also have twists to them. Sure you have bombs just like in every Zelda game, but have you ever been able to roll them along the ground like a bowling ball, and even twist your wrist to give it spin? Maybe in real life, but not in a Zelda game.

Conclusion

In a time where people gladly pay $60 for a game that lasts ten hours, it’s refreshing to see a $50 game that has thirty to forty hours of fun, innovative content without pointless filler. I have some issues with Skyward Sword; the game is never actually bad, I just felt like there were so many missed opportunities to make an astonishingly wonderful game even greater. Fortunately nothing ever really takes away from the fantastic experience. The entire game, from start to finish, just flows seamlessly, and you never feel like you are simply moving on to a new level.

Absolutely gorgeous visuals, a beautiful orchestrated soundtrack, and innovative gameplay all supplement an epic adventure filled with great story-telling, interesting and lifelike characters, level design that is unmatched, and an exciting world that is constantly evolving. There is never a dull moment, and everything comes together in a near-perfect way. Nintendo has proved that they can still make games for the hardcore gamer, yet still make them accessible to the more casual audience. They have also proved that motion controls can be used for more than just party games, and not just as a good supplement or replacement for button controls, but as a completely new and possibly better way to play to play video games.

There isn’t really a way to express in words how it feels to play this game. It is not just a game, it is in an experience, a story, an adventure, and (I can’t resist) a legend. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this is the best game ever, or even the best Zelda game, but it comes pretty darn close.

My first publicity! (Sort of....)

2011-11-03T14:57:00.002-04:00

I was on Youtube and just happened to come across a video of two guys doing commentary on my game...needless to say I got super excited :3

These guys are hilarious too btw.

Lucid Awakening 2 - Train sequence sneak peak

2011-11-03T14:53:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone! It certainly has been a while....

Here is a little sneak peak video showing off some of my progress on Lucid Awakening 2. I hope you like it!

LA2: DEMO!!

2011-01-20T02:24:00.002-05:00

It's about time. I would call this a "story demo" instead of an actual "demo-demo," because some of the technical elements aren't quite there yet, especially the battle system. I'm putting this up mostly for fans of Lucid Awakening who have probably given up on me because it's taken me so long to put out anything concrete since the release of the first game almost two years ago.

Notes about the demo:

This is a PRE-ALPHA demo, which means it isn't even in Alpha stage yet...which means, not everything is fully functional. This demo was mostly made just as a STORY DEMO.

You can report bugs if you want...but chances are, I already know about them (i.e. in Redstone all the locations are available from the start and Fountain and Bazaar don't even work).

I DO want feedback, but please try to keep it to story, design, and content feedback. Like I said, most technical issues are going to be resolved later on.

I'm trying as hard as possible to make this game understandable to newcomers to the series, but also have a LOT of stuff to please fans. As you may have guessed, this is a very hard thing to balance.

This is pretty much exactly how the beginning of the full game will be. However, the end of the demo when the logo comes up is basically where the full game will REALLY begin.

I apologize for not having the awesome job change system functional in this demo...but again, this is a STORY demo.

Pay attention at the end of the demo in the last scene before the logo comes up, there are some pretty cool little details you will probably like if you played Lucid Awakening. Hint: returning character working with new character, and two transformations.

I'm sorry for the large file size...I used MP3s instead of midis, which is actually where a good 80 - 90% of the bulk comes from. I really feel like having quality music in a game adds SO much. I think for the full game I will also release a "lite" version that will use all midis to cut down immensely on file size. Anyway, here it is:
Lucid Awakening 2 Demo

Also you will have to install this font (put into C:\\Program Files\Windows\Fonts):
Font

LA2: First continent of world map

2011-01-13T00:24:00.000-05:00

Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. This is the first continent of the world map for Lucid Awakening 2. It's nothing special, but it shows that I'm actually still [slowly] working on this game.

Of course there will be more to the finished world map than this, but for the first demo this will most likely be the only place you'll be.

And speaking of demos...I'm pretty sure I will be putting out a brief demo near the end of this week. Unfortunately it probably won't have a working job change system in it, which is disappointing because that is kind of the whole crux of this project. I just want to release something to let fans of Lucid Awakening know that there really is a sequel coming out; also, to prove to the RPG Maker forums that I'm not dead since I haven't been nearly as active as I used to be.

Well, the next time I post will probably be to post a demo! =]

Review: Sonic Colors (Wii)

2011-01-01T18:02:00.004-05:00

Sonic Colors

Nintendo Wii

Sega

When Sega first released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis in 1991, it was something totally unique and fresh. Instead of trying to make just another inferior Mario clone like most companies, they basically created their own sub-genre of platformers that hasn't been matched to this day.

In case you don't know what the Sonic games were about, here's a summary: run to the right really, really fast and don't die. Okay, so it was a little more than that, but that's the basic shell of the game. It wasn't as if you would just hold the right button on your controller and sometimes jump; at least half of each level required patience, accurate jumping skills, and good timing--not too far off from what you would expect from a Mario game. Looking back, the level design in Sonic games was incredible. If you didn't just blaze through the levels and took time to stop and look for different ways to go or secret areas, you would realize that the levels were actually gigantic and complex. Also, the music in the series was always fantastic.

Somewhere along the road Sega lost sight of what made Sonic so special. They tried to give it more storyline and add new playable characters; for a series that is all about speed, all this did was slow things down. I had heard good things about the latest Sonic game, Sonic Colors, so I thought I'd give it a chance and I added it to my Gamefly queue.

Finally it came, and I was ready to revive a dead passion for Sonic. I was expecting a lengthy, terribly voiced, boring series of cutscenes once I started a new game; I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was thrown directly in the beginning of a level just like in the old Sonic games. It felt a little weird as I tried walking around in 3D at first, but once I actually started running something strange happened--I smiled because of a Sonic game. It felt completely natural and nostalgic as I rushed up and down hills and plowing through enemies.

After I played through two exciting levels, then came the cutscene. I thought "oh boy, here we go..." To my surprise, I was entertained by the cutscene. The voice acting was great, the characters were well animated, it didn't drag on, and there was some funny dialogue. Of course, I turned the voice acting to Japanese once I saw that it was an option, so I can't really say how great the English voice acting was throughout the game; from what I saw it was very good though.

My favorite part about this game is that it combines various gameplay styles, but unlike past epic fail Sonic games, they are all variations on the same style of gameplay. Sometimes you are running fast with full 3D control, other times you are running really fast from a sidescrolling perspective, other times Sonic runs automatically and you just have to control his "quick steps" left and right to dodge obstacles. All the gameplay styles flow into each other seamlessly and it makes for incredible and exciting levels. Oh and you have a boost button which consumes your boost bar; it makes you go even faster, like, seizure-inducing faster.

I understand that a game shouldn't be just running really fast the entire time, but I did find that some of the more conventional platforming and exploration sections of the levels really slowed it down. It felt a little like when you are in a hurry to get somewhere and you have to stop for a red light. I am almost starting to think that Sonic games should just be running really fast the entire time, almost more like a racing game. The platforming stuff is better suited for plumbers anyway.

There are also these cute little aliens called Wisps in the game. They are part of the plot, but they also help you in the gameplay. There are Laser, Drill, Rocket, Spike, Nega, and a green one that makes you fly (I can't remember the name). They are pretty cool, but I feel like some of them also slow down the game at some parts.

The game looks fantastic too, it has something that most modern games do not have--color. You will probably forget that you're playing on the Wii most of the time. The level design is outstanding; and especially considering how fast you are going through them as well as all the things going on in the background and foreground, I am surprised that the Wii can run it so smoothly. The music is generally incredible and goes very well with the pace and structure of the game. All levels in a world have the same song, but each level has its own variation of that song. P.S. Is it wrong that I love the theme song? (Video on the right)

Overall it is an amazing game. The only real issue I have with it is that it didn't even take me six hours to beat. No matter how great it is, I would never pay full price for a game this short. Rent it, you will love it for the one or two days it takes to beat.

Gameplay - 7/10

Visual - 8/10

Audio - 7/10

LA2: Towns

2010-12-30T02:58:00.001-05:00

Towns in Lucid Awakening 2 are different than the ones in most RPGs. For me, towns are some of the most memorable parts of RPGs; I think of the ones from Final Fantasy 6 in particular. But there was always something about towns I didn't like--my OCD would kick in and I would have to talk to every NPC in the entire town and check every barrel, crate, and pot for treasures. While this is something exciting and memorable, there was still a feeling of anxiety that would come with visiting a new town--"Oh no, I'm going to have to spend 15 minutes doing everything I can in this new town...."

In Final Fantasy 12 towns were different. The cities were absolutely huge and the amount of people there was more than I'd ever seen before in an RPG, yet something made them much less stressful for me--not all NPCs had something to say; only ones with a mark above their head were ones you could talk to. I used this as inspiration as I started making my very first town today on LA2.

I've always had trouble with towns and NPCs when making RPGs, but I think I finally did what's just right for me as a developer and designer.

Travel
Instead of being able to explore an entire town, there will be important locations in the town that you can visit via a menu; also, you cannot visit a location until you have learned about it from an NPC or story event. For example, in the town I was designing today you begin in the pub. Your character asks the bartender where a good place to sleep is, and the bartender tells him the Redstone Inn (which is marked in red, signifying that you have just learned a new location). When you leave the pub you are on the outside of the building and even though it may look like a typical RPG town, it's not. Once you step onto a crossroad next to the Pub, a menu pops up that lists all the locations you know about. Choosing a location will instantly take you there.

NPCs
This is where I borrowed from FF12. There are a lot of NPCs, but very few are ones you can talk to. This saves the player from a lot of meaningless chatter. The NPCs you can talk to will usually be standing still. The ones you can't talk to will be moving around, and not just wandering aimlessly, they have a set path and when they appear is random.

Look at the screenshot. That flying black bird comes up from the bottom and makes a noise as it flies over the inn. That old couple comes out from the right side of the screen and walks down another path. That blue haired guy is waiting for his girlfriend, when she comes they talk for a little, and then walk off to the right. That one is different from the others too, because the guy is standing there from the beginning, but when his girlfriend comes is random. Also, all the other ones can repeat, but the guy and his girlfriend won't happen again until you leave that location and come back.

Summary
I really think that these things together make a beautiful town that seems huge, real, and living. I feel that doing it this way gives me the ability to make each location seem like a beautiful painting, or a small snapshot of a much larger picture. It's important to leave some stuff to the imagination. The player can imagine the stories behind each NPC and why they do what they do; the player can also imagine what the entire town looks like as a whole, since I'm not mapping the entire town, just several locations within the town.

P.S. I have about 20 minutes of gameplay for LA2 done...I think a demo isn't too far off =]

LA2: Sentries

2010-11-17T14:56:00.001-05:00

Sentries are a new type of enemy in Lucid Awakening 2. They serve one purpose in battle, and that is to protect the other enemies. Sentries can greatly weaken the strength of your attacks, put debuffs on your party, constantly drain your HP, and all other kinds of nasty things that can make winning the battle almost impossible. Obviously, the only real way to win a battle with a Sentry involved is to do everything you can to destroy it before even attempting to defeat any other enemies.

Sentries also protect themselves, but each Sentry has a weak point. Most will require a specific type of ability to destroy it, fortunately you will be able to see what Sentries weak points are outside of battle so that you can properly equip your party before the fight.

For example, a Sentry's weak point may be its back. The way to take it out would be to have Zeke change to the Acrobat class and use his Leap attack. Once the Sentry is destroyed you can continue the battle as you normally would.

Battles in Lucid Awakening 2 can sometimes be like puzzles. A lot of times you really have to think about the battle instead of the "Attack-Attack-Attack-Heal-Repeat" cycle you see in many RPGs. Sometimes there can even be multiple kinds of Sentries in one battle. You may have a Sentry that guards against back attacks, and a Sentry who is weak against back attacks; the only way to solve this battle would be to take out the first Sentry with its weakness first so that you can attack the second Sentry in the back.

Lucid Awakening 2 - My dream coming to life

2010-11-11T22:25:00.003-05:00

I guess you could say that development of Lucid Awakening 2 has officially started. I have a very talented artist, who I've never met, doing work for me. He has been doing a lot of character concept art for the three main characters of my game, Zeke, Silas, and Terra.

This is concept art for the lead character in the game, Zeke. In Lucid Awakening he was the main character Damian's little brother who got sucked into the dream world with him. He had a bigger role in the game that you didn't really find out about until much later in the game near the end; I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't finished it yet. It is amazing to me to be able to see people from a world that I've created grow up and change; it's a feeling that can't be explained with words.

Maybe this is just poor story-telling technique, but when I make a game I tend to simply make it up as I go along but according to a basic outline in my mind. I think that I have a gift for writing and creating stories based on this: sometimes as I'm making a scene in my game, I am actually shocked at what happens. That happened to me several times throughout the creation of Lucid Awakening--I would be making a scene and be surprised at what I had just wrote. Whether that is a smart technique or not, I find it very interesting that even as the creator I cannot wait to find out what happens.

I do not plan on making a prequel to Lucid Awakening, however, there is a lot of untold story and mysteries that still need to be solved pertaining to the events leading up to the "disaster" that split the universe (referred to as "The Complete") in two parts creating the "real world" and "dream world." Lucid Awakening 2 will serve as a full sequel, but will also be serving a kind of double duty as it will be telling a lot about The Complete world as well as Damian, Elise, Sereth, and others' stories of their past lives. Putting that into consideration, that makes Lucid Awakening the "in between" story in a way instead of the first story, which I find interesting.

In Lucid Awakening 2 there are only three main characters that are playable--Zeke, Silas, and Terra. Silas was a sort of antagonist/ally for about the first half of the first game, and you later found out that he was the son of King Sereth, the main antagonist, in The Complete. We never got to know Silas very well, see what he was like when he was a human, or know all the details of his role in the events that led to the splitting of The Complete. Of course, this will all be a big part of Lucid Awakening 2. We will also find out how he managed to "erase himself from existence" and how he made everyone related to him completely forget about him, as well as why he is still alive and why he is human in Lucid Awakening 2.

In case you are wondering why you don't recognize the name Terra, it is because she was not in Lucid Awakening. She is a completely new character, but this doesn't mean that she has no relation to the stories of the first game or The Complete. She is my favorite character even out of the Lucid Awakening characters. I can't tell you much except that if anything makes you cry in the series, it will be her story. She does play a big part in The Complete and events before the first game.

Sorry for my scattered thoughts and ramblings. I'll conclude this post by saying that from now on any blog post relating to Lucid Awakening 2 will start with LA2 in the title. Note to self: get to work!

Omega Twilight, my abandoned RPG Maker VX game

2010-11-01T02:18:00.000-04:00

Two heroes must take their stand against the rising evil that threatens to destroy the world. Kain, a boy from a small island village; and Maria, a priestess of the church of Reijin. Though they may never meet, they will become the strongest allies in all history.

That was the story synopsis for my first real project in Enterbrain's RPG Maker VX, Omega Twilight. I had created Lucid Awakening using a ~~legal~~ version of RPG Maker XP, the predecessor to VX. Even though fans, as well as my own passion for the world and mythology created in Lucid Awakening, demanded a sequel, I had other ideas brewing around in my head which is constantly bubbling with all kinds of nerdish delights. These ideas were too different from the groundwork set in Lucid Awakening to implement them in the inevitable sequel--not in terms of story, but from a gameplay perspective.

Quest System

While Lucid Awakening was a very straightforward, linear, story-driven RPG, the game that would eventually be called "Omega Twilight" was a quest-based, world-traveling RPG. This doesn't mean that the story would be unimportant or non-existent, it just means that the world, its inhabitants, and the player's interactions with them were the focus of the adventure.

I had developed a system which allowed the game to have a structure and pseudo-linearity that was masked by an entertaining illusion of freedom.

The game would have two main characters, Kain and Maria. As one would be playing as Maria, the player would feel right at home as her sections play out as a straight-forward RPG where she is generally getting from point A to point B with plenty of fights and puzzles in between; however, when the gameplay switches around to Kain's sections the gameplay systems are also switched around. For most of the game you are automatically switched between the two at certain key points in the story, but later on you would be able to switch at will as long as you were at one of the many swap-spots.

Kain has a special journal that fills itself in with details about people who need help with various tasks and jobs as soon as he enters a new area. Kain cannot progress past certain "Gates" that are blocking his path forward until he has met the Gate's QP requirements. Kain gains QP by completing a quest from his journal; the QP is added to that specific area's QP count, as well as into a total GQP (Global Quest Point) count. Kain cannot progress through the game as easily as Maria, he has to gain QP to open more quests as well as to open the Gates in his way.

The "illusion of freedom" I mentioned earlier simply meant that while playing as Kain, one can choose which quests to do and where to go, but the Gates, their requirements, and requirements to unlock new quests as well as main story quests all are crafted by me, the creator, to create a linear, structured experience while the player doesn't feel completely constricted.

Story

The Omega Twilight demo I released was intended simply to show the gameplay aspect of the game. While I wanted the finished product to have a story just as moving and deep as Lucid Awakening (if not more), the demo had a very rough, cliched story that I didn't spend a lot of time planning; it was a kind of make-it-up-as-you-go type of story. In my opinion it wasn't bad, it just didn't have anything that set it apart from other games, or that moved the player or caused any kind of emotional attachment.

After a long period of doing no RPG Maker work, I decided to completely reboot my Omega Twilight project. For all of my fans from forums, this is an example of why you have to read my blog because I never talked in this much detail about the "reboot" on the RM forums. While I hadn't done anything with Maria's story yet, I had completely rewritten the beginning of Kain's story...

Yami, Goddess of the Underworld, is shown giving someone a choice of whether they want a second chance at life or not. The conditions are that he has to do some things for Yami on the surface world and that his memories of his past life would be erased. After being begged by the young man, Yami allows him to keep only one memory--his first name, Kain.

Kain is transported to a strange place where a butterfly appears. After stumbling around as if this is its first time ever flying, it reveals itself to be a kind of spirit guide sent by Yami. Gonzo introduces himself and explains that this butterfly body is not his normal form which explains his erratic, unstable movements. After the two stubborn characters argue, Kain eventually realizes he has to follow Gonzo to get out of Sheol--the pathway from the Underworld to the surface world.

After following Gonzo for a bit, control is handed over to a young girl named Alma, her demi-human companion Tira, and a dark necromancer named Saul.

Tira complains that she doesn't want to be in a place like this, while Saul tells her that she doesn't have to be here if she doesn't want to. Tira obviously has a quick temper. Alma explains that they need a "Sentinel" and that coming to this place is the only way to obtain one. She also mentions a prophet telling her that "the gods themselves would be against her," and that the only way for her to have proper protection to fulfill her mission is to have a Sentinel.

Control is shifted back to Kain as he follows Gonzo. Kain's attention is diverted when he sees a large door with a glowing blue center. (Gonzo thinks that Kain is right behind him). When Kain asks about the door, Gonzo says that the Summoning Gate hasn't been used in hundreds of years, and that when it is active it will be glowing blue. To Gonzo's surprise, it is glowing blue. Kain touches the door, against Gonzo's warning. The screen fades and the story is shifted back to Alma.

Alma, Tira, and Saul step into the "Summoning Room" where an identical Summoning Gate is located. Alma places a gem in the Gate (which then starts glowing blue just like Kain's Gate), cuts her hand, and places her bleeding palm on the gem to make a "blood pact" to become a "Caller." Apparently the Sentinel she enters in a contract with is Kain. Saul states that this is the most human-looking Sentinel he has ever seen, which hints that Kain was not supposed to be her Sentinel, and that this was an accident and coincidence. Kain also realizes that for some reason he has lost his ability to speak so he has no way of explaining what happened to him. He decides that his only real option is to go with them for then.

Alma's mission is to destroy all of the Guardian Spirits (something Kain was trying to stop in the initial demo story). Maria will be trying to stop Alma from doing this, which means in this story the player would be controlling two people who are working against each other, which could be very interesting to play through.

Another main story point is that Kain and Maria would not meet throughout the story. I wanted to emphasize having two heroes who would never actually meet. In the end, however, they would finally meet and this would be the climax of the entire story.

Closing

I would still love to one day complete Omega Twilight. It is just another project floating around in my head, and it is a matter of setting my priorities so that I can set my attention to just one project so that I can complete something. Right now I have more of a passion for Lucid Awakening 2, so once I start getting back into the rhythm of developing a game that will be the project I work on.

Here is a download of the initial demo of Omega Twilight. It has approximately two hours of gameplay to it. However, the Quest Log in the game does not work properly; do not use it or it will crash your game.

DOWNLOAD OMEGA TWILIGHT DEMO

Lucid Awakening [Complete RPG Maker XP Project]

2010-11-01T00:28:00.000-04:00

A world once whole, now torn apart.
A great evil now wishes to bring the worlds together once again.
If the worlds merge, both will fall to ruin, and all life will be turned to darkness.

Game Download
RTP Resources (Required to play)

Instructions:

Download both files provided above.
Install RTP package to computer.
Extract Lucid_Awakening_V1_2.zip.
Install font, BLACKCHA.TTF, included in Lucid Awakening zip file.

(Drag BLACKCHA.TTF to C:\\WINDOWS\Fonts.)

Play Lucid Awakening.

Here is a review for my game: CLICK HERE

Interacting With Our Lives and Culture

2010-10-27T01:00:00.001-04:00

I wrote this back in April of 2010:

I'm really glad I'm making these decisions in my life to take risks. To some people it sounds like a childish dream to say "I want to make video games."

I've been doubting myself lately too, thinking the same thing--that maybe it is just a childish dream that has no purpose. Something very small that just happened is changing my mind though.

As I had all my music on shuffle, a song from Final Fantasy 7 came on. It is a song that plays during a couple touching scenes, I seem to remember it playing when Cloud and Aeris are riding a cable car at a festival or something.

Anyway, just hearing this song from a video game that I played when I was young is triggering all kinds of memories and feelings. It brings me back to a time in my life where things were very simple and free.

For some people, like me, video games are a big part of their lives. They are therapeutic and can be very soothing. They are also a sort of "landmark" form of entertainment. On a personal level for the players they can become ingrained as a trigger of a certain time in a person's life (hence, "landmark").

They can also be a landmark for something bigger.
Video games, their stories, their characters, and everything about them represent a time in history. Most video games are based on a creator's feelings, whether conscious or subconscious, on current events in the world or in their personal lives.

All forms of entertainment (video games, music, movies, books, paintings, etc.) are an important part of human culture and history, and no one should have the right to say that one is less meaningful than another. Some people say that video games can't be art, but that is that person's opinion and we shouldn't let that get in the way of something that we believe in.

I want to be a part of history, even if that is just 5 seconds of my name in the credits of a video game. In the same way I felt when I heard the song from Final Fantasy 7, there will be young adults thirty years from now who will feel that same thing about a game that I helped create.

Doing for the future generation what great game creators have done in my life will be more than enough satisfaction for me to know that I've done something worthwhile with my life.

Thank you to everyone in the video game industry!

P.S. The song is called "Interrupted by Fireworks" by Nobuo Uematsu in case anyone was wondering.

Wii Vitality Sensor: WTF or WTAwesome

2010-10-10T23:24:00.001-04:00

If you have no idea what you are looking at right now, you're not alone. This is a Wii peripheral Nintendo showed off almost a year ago; strangely though, we haven't heard anything else about it since. It is called the "Wii Vitality Sensor," although I would have named it the "Wii Finger Nom" if I had the choice.

Apparently, you simply clamp your smooth, CGI finger into the device while holding the Wiimote like you normally would in your main hand. From what I know, it basically just reads your pulse. You might be thinking that Nintendo is reaching for an even older, sicker demographic than they already have been. In my opinion, this is partially true; consider this:

Case 1: An older gentleman wants to play a crazy new game where Link and Mario team up to fight off hordes of zombie Pokemon [I already have a patent on this idea, so back off, Nintendo]; the only problem is that he fears a game as stressful as this wouldn't bode well with his heart condition. His sadistic, bratty grandchild finally convinces this aged individual to try out this [incredible] game.

The game boots up. The amazing title screen flashes on. [Grandpa is already feeling a little nauseous]. Pap Pap decides now is a good time to choose "Grandpa Mode" on the main menu. The game prompts him to mush his wrinkly finger in the device and close it. [Grandpa is a little claustrophobic]. The game takes a brief reading of his stress level, then proceeds to the game.

"Grandpa Mode" is a mode designed for Grandpas in case you didn't figure that out. This means that the game will adjust its difficulty and level of things happening on screen to keep Grandpa's stress level at a safe place. When five zombie Pikachus attack Grandpa his stress level goes way up; the next wave only consists of three zombie Pikachus and one Pichu because it realized that five was too stressful.

But enough of Grandpa Mode, it's time for Cardiac Meltdown Mode.

Case 2: Now little brat wants to play Pokemon Zombie Apocalypse (commonly called PZA in Japan). He wants to go hardcore so he chooses "Cardiac Meltdown Mode" from the main menu. This mode is meant to give you the most intense gameplay experience you have ever had. In this mode there are tons of zombie Pikachus, Charizards, Dragonites, Wartortles, etc. all charging you at once. If the game sees your heart rate decreasing past a certain point, it kicks it up another notch by providing even more stressful situations until your heart rate is up in the "Hyper Beam State."

This keeps the game exciting and never lets you get bored with what is happening.

Remember when rumble was just a neat, gimicky add-on to games that wasn't really a big deal? Remember the last time you played a game without rumble and wondered why you didn't feel the things you were doing in the game? Why can't something like this become a standard in games?

Rumble seemed like a strange, small touch that wouldn't add much to gameplay, but I personally feel like something is lacking if I don't get that force feedback. I mean, when I play Winnie the Pooh, I want to really feel that rumbly in my tumbly...who doesn't?

I would like to play an action game such as God of War where the music, my character's abilities and fighting style, strength of attacks, etc. would all change depending on how my body is reacting to what is happening. You know when you are fighting a really hard boss on a game and you do a swift dodge followed by a killer combo and you get that awesome feeling in your stomach? I think that would feel even better if that was followed by a rewarding powered-up state caused by your increased heart rate.

I would also love to see a remake of Rez (a techno-y rhythm shooting game) or something similar where the music and level design changes with your heart rate. I have tons of ideas for this thing, but I want to stop before people start getting the idea that I'm a nerd or something.

In summary: kids are brats, Grandpas shouldn't play Pokemon Zombie Apocalypse, and I LOVE Winnie the Pooh games. I just can't wait to see Sony reveal their innovative "Sony Finger Nom", or Microsoft showing off their "Fingerless Pulse Reader" where you don't even need to put your finger in to have your pulse read.

©"Wii Finger Nom" all rights reserved.
©Pokemon Zombie Apocalypse

Welcome!

2010-09-10T01:45:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, welcome to Momiji's Gamer Blog! A friend suggested I start blogging, so here I am.

I'm not a professional writer and I don't plan to be. This blog is just a place for me to vent, rant, and explain all of my feelings on things that are happening in the ever-evolving video game industry.

It seems like every day I am in a state of utter excitement over something new, whether it be a new game that was just announced, a surprise sequel no one saw coming, or something as simple as a new character announced for a game roster. It also seems as if every day there is something new that gets me in a state of rage, or maybe just strong dislike.

The video game industry is constantly changing and transforming at such fast rate that it is hard to keep up; I'm here to keep you up to date by offering a point of view on every topic from someone who has grown up as a gamer all his life.

If anyone has any questions, or a topic you would like me to research or elaborate on, just send me an email or Facebook message and I will either respond to you via messaging or post a new blog entry about it.

Thank you everyone, and I hope you enjoy this gamer's point of view.