Avid gamer for the past 25 years, I focus mostly on Survival, RPG, and adventure games. I write reviews, and also like to share my general opinion on the gaming industry and where it is headed.
Great introspect on choice in gaming. Should gamers be able to choose how their story resolves, or is it better to craft a story and let the gamer watch the outcome?
Probably most people’s first memorable sad moment in a game, Aerith’s Death in Final Fantasy 7 sets the tone for the rest of the game as a means of explaining her death, giving it meaning, and having a renewed pursuit in stopping Sephiroth. Aerith’s death aligns everyone’s motivations, opens up character building arcs and allows for a resolution other than “Save the World” when it comes to the end of the game. We have a vested interest in vengeance.
Originally, Sephiroth took control of Cloud to try and kill Aerith at the creation of the Black Materia with the ability to summon Meteor but was knocked out before being able to kill Aerith. When Cloud reawakes, Aerith has already run off to the Forgotten Capital in an attempt to summon Holy from her White Materia that she’s had tied to her ribbon. When Cloud and company reach Aerith, Sephiroth has his…
Son of Nor
I recently got the opportunity to spend some time with Son of Nor from Stillalive Studios. In this action adventure you take control of the elements and set out into the unknown. Tasked with protecting the last standing home for all humans, you quickly jump into the action.
Equipped with your power to control the elements, and it’s setting, I can’t help but be reminded of The Last Airbender when playing Son of Nor. The early tutorial section quickly gives you a glimpse at several basic powers. Taking advantage of the physics based engine, you control the earth, sand and wind around you. This allows you call rocks, broken branches, dropped weapons, even fallen enemies to your use. Throwing these objects at oncoming enemies, or at obstacles to clear them.
Call the elements, (and the leaves?), to your side
The early game play is quite simple, with your first quests having you aid the small starting town. Later you get to defend the town from it’s lizard like foes. Generally though the only danger comes from falling, or mishandling your powers and accidentally dropping a boulder on your head. The quick feel of power however is rewarding. There are several other powers and abilities to be gained as you explore the world. The power over fire and water for example. You can also combine these powers to make more powerful attacks. Flaming tornado anyone?
I’ve got a lot to learn
Visually Son of Nor isn’t the best looking game. There are many clipping issues, textures pop in and out, and the polygon levels are fairly low. This is early access however, so many of these issues are likely to be smoothed out in later updates. The overall vibrancy of the game is subdued as well, with mostly neutral colours in the pallet. Lots of browns, and beiges don’t add much life to your surroundings. The powers however work fairly well, and the control scheme is easy to adapt to.
All of the early scenes contain full voiceovers. This adds an element of polish to the game, however the voice over quality is a bit over the top and a little campy. The campiness goes along with the general storyline. There is a detailed story here, but it often feels like bits and pieces of other stories we have already played, or seen. What does come to the surface though is the developer’s sense of humour. There are a lot of silly, funny lines in the game, some characters often complaining about you terraforming the ground underneath their feet gave a few laughs for instance. I have only spent a short time with Son of Nor however, so I am hopeful that the story will improve as I dive deeper into the game.
Well, don’t mind if I do infact!
The overall sense of power early on makes Son of Nor a fun play. You get to smash a lot of stuff to your hearths content. As you earn new spells, this sense of fun continues throughout the game. The lighthearted comical nature of dialogue, though campy and sometimes overly silly often still adds to this fun. I hope that later parts of the game, are more colourful and vibrant than the early zones to encourage more exploration. I will definitely keep an eye on Son of Nor’s progress and check in when they next update.
It is pretty tall isn’t it?
Today, we collect our things and journey back into the world of Game of Thrones. The TellTale series continues with episode 2 leaving off right after the events in episode 1. Where the events previously the story was quite grim and dire, episode 2 of Game of Thrones lets us take our time a bit more.
The story again shifts between various members of the Forrester family. Life for the Forrester family is pretty tough after the earlier events we experienced. The choices you make reflect this urgency. This episode also introduces several new characters and locations. We journey across the narrow sea to Yunkai to meet Archer, and also to The Wall, where fan favourite Jon Snow is introduced.
Again in this episode, some of these introductions to known characters are clumsy. Jon Snow just happens to pick you out amongst the rabble of new recruits. Tyrion just happens to be in negotiations with the family pit against yours most directly. Though I am happy to interact with these characters, it sometimes feels forced.
What does this guy know anyways?
The action sequences in this episode are better spread out this time around. The quick time events are best in small doses and TellTale does a good job of not over using them. Dialogue and decisions are the bread and butter of these games, and Game of Thrones Episode 2 doesn’t lack here.
The story here revolves around pointing your family in a new direction and basic survival. The decisions made in this episode often fall as consequence to several actions you may have taken in episode 1. This connection to your previous choices adds weight to your new decisions. In my play through for example, the Whitehalls now truly feel like the villain of the story. Mostly due to the outcome of my characters decisions in my first play through. This made me generally choose the more aggressive interactions with them this time around. I wasn’t going to put up with any crap from them this time.
Looks like we are carrying our scars with us this time.
Though this episode of Game of Thrones still feels like a setup for future episodes, I like where I think it is heading. I am invested in the characters, and I want to see them successful in the future. I also want to see my enemies acquired in these two episodes stomped out into dust at some point. All of this has left me eagerly awaiting episode 3.
Check out the first video that I discovered of Weird Wizard Dave. The one that instantly had me subscribed to see more of his in-character playthroughs, and unique humour. Enjoy this episode of Medieval Engineers
Weird Wizard Dave’s play through of Medieval Engineers had me hooked. His wit and unusual in-character narration were both clever and endearing. You could also see the amount of time put into the game and editing, to present a very finished product to his viewers.
All of these are great steps to take in your own channels if you are starting off. Create a character and develop it’s charm. Balance this with your skill in both gaming, and editing to provide a solid product. Youtube videos are a dime a dozen, so the impact of this time spent is immediately apparent, and will set your channel apart from others.
It could still be bigger, I guess?
These steps will also give your channel more focus. Careful choice of the games you play to suit your character is the next step. Don’t stray too far out of your niche, and alienate your viewers. Build up your core viewers with consistent quality, and they will share your content on a regular basis. This will allow more freedom in your channel later on as your audience builds.
As a new regular feature here at MicBeMacBlog, I will be highlighting great up and coming youtubers, and indie developers. This week I will be introducing you to one of my favourite ‘new’ youtubers in Weird Wizard Dave.
Weird Wizard Dave began his foray into Youtube less than a year ago. His channel and fans have grown exponentially ever since. Weird Wizard Dave’s videos feature tight editing, great humour, and a lot of storytelling. This last point of style is somewhat unique among Youtubers. With some of his most popular videos featuring a string of stories to hold them together, it’s fun to binge watch to see where the adventure will lead us all.
“When I originally conceived this channel it was not as a gaming channel, as it is today, but as a vehicle for uploading trailers for android games I was working on at the time…”
Weird Wizard Dave doesn’t use a face cam in his videos like many other popular youtubers. He instead is able to engage the audience with his wit, and humour, and genuine enjoyment of what he is doing. This is not somebody screaming into a mic or awaiting the next jump scare in Five Night’s at Freddy’s. Weird Wizard Dave’s wit and charm are what is on showcase here. This wry wit, and solid editing keeps viewers like myself engaged throughout his various videos.
“The next step came after visiting family after christmas and a chance discussion with my nephew about gaming youtubers, the seed received a good dose of water and the sun came out.”
This commitment to keeping his fans engaged, took fruition in weekly updates. These updates open a door to his viewers on the goals and successes of the channel. This regular connection to us, the viewer, is a necessity for any successful channel. The results are most clearly shown if you decide to watch a few these “Just Talk” episodes in a row and really get an idea of how quickly his channel has grown. It his words, it set him apart from many other channels out there. If you are planning to begin your own channel, these examples are prime to look at for your own success.
“…A few subscribers had started appearing, and because I found myself wanting to talk about the channel and what I was planning on doing with it, I created a show I called ‘Just Talk’, little did I know at the time that this show would become one of the mainstays of my channel…”
This channel has gone from a mere 15 subscribers back just a few weeks ago in February, to nearly a thousand today. The importance of the connection that Weird Wizard Dave has made with his viewers is unavoidable. In a day where youtube gaming channels are a dime a dozen, this unique channel is a gem. The obvious care and concern for the quality of the product, and the wit and charm of it’s producer is its mainstay.
For a great look into the creation of this channel, check out Weird Wizard Dave’s 100th episode. Subscribe to him today
Or follow him on Twitter @WeirdWizardDave
Look for more feature videos from Weird Wizard Dave throughout the week
If I had to use one word to describe the experience of Never Alone, it would be beautiful, gorgeous, stunning… Oh wait. Yes Never Alone is both a gorgeous looking game, as well as a beautiful experience. Based around myth and legend of the Iñupiat, a native Alaskan people Never Alone takes us on a wonderful journey. You play as a young Iñupiat girl and her arctic fox after they are thrust on an adventure together when her village is destroyed by a mysterious man. The story that follows is both heartfelt, thoughtful and challenging.
Visualy I can’t describe how stunning Never Alone looks. The soft snow effects, and precisely detailed backgrounds come alive with each step, sometimes literally. Snow drifts around you and your parka, and ruffles it’s fur. Your characters react to changes in the wind, and lighting. Friendly Iñupiat spirits drift in and out of existence to help you along the way. The expressions on your character’s faces easily portray emotion as you struggle on and sometimes die after a misstep. Each environment feels alive, even in what may seem a bleak barren land at times.
Behind all the beautiful visuals, a solid, co-operative side scrolling platformer exists. You and your trustworthy fox must work together to traverse a multitude of different obstacles. While your main character is at first limited to running and jumping, your fox friend has several useful abilities. He can climb walls, or jump between them. He can also influence the various Iñupiat spirits around, which provide new platforms to use to get to different areas. Later as the puzzles become more complex you are gifted with various new abilities. A bola for the young girl, the powers of flight and spirit manipulation for the fox. These new abilities are doled out an even pace and give you new things to play with throughout your play through.
Though there aren’t a lot of major new concepts here, what is in play is very solid. Puzzles range from simple to challenging, and new concepts come at you regularly. The environments are imaginative, and their uses surprising. Boss battles can be tough, and you will die often as you figure out their patterns. It is very rare however that these encounters feel long, or get frustrating. Most of these tougher challenges involve you taking advantage of the environment around you. And they all make good use of the co-operative element.
Villains be villainous
Never Alone is built to be both a cooperative or solo adventure, both are enjoyable. As a solo player, it is easy for you to switch between characters, and the AI controlled character is generally smart enough to go where they need to go. Running solo lets you take your time to soak in the rich environments and beautiful effects. Playing as a duo however requires a decent amount of timing and communication as to not die often.
These insights are worth taking your time with
The story in Never Alone, though starting on a tragic note is wonderful to discover. Each environment you enter into tells a story, and as you explore you are given insights into the Iñupiat culture. These are delivered through both video snipets you can view, as well as behind the scenes documentaries. Between each story break, you are treated to animated versions of traditional Iñupiat drawings. These are presented in storyboard format and connect each story and environment together. Your reward for completing Never Alone, is just as beautiful and tragic. It is truly a rewarding arc to follow.
I can’t state enough how beautiful an experience Never Alone is. It’s visuals, unique setting, story and characters are all a joy to experience. The focal point on the Iñupiat people is both insightful and rewarding. With gameplay that is solid, though not groundbreaking it’s very hard to find anything to critizise here. Never Alone is a game you should take your time to experience, and enjoy.
Continuing it’s early alpha development, WarHorse Studios recently gave us some more to chew on in their upcoming Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Adding two new quests for us to try out in this version we get a look at alchemy and lock picking. Kingdom Come continues it’s quest here to give us close to realism in the gameplay.
Both the alchemy and lock picking require some skill, timing and patience. Lock picking for instance has you coordinate both hands to keep the lock pick steady inside the lock as you slowly turn the lock. Making good use of your coordination, this takes time and concentration to do correctly. We can also see how if given some pressure to complete this task under duress of someone finding you might be interesting as well. Alchemy has you tasked with first collecting the right herbs and ingredients. The mini game in this case tasks you with placing the ingredients in the right order, and leaving them in for the appropriate amount of time. Though in my practice the current game seems rather forgiving in both of these tasks, and I could rarely fail. The overall dynamic of alchemy however is very unique, and something refreshing from just watching a bar fill to get your potions.
I test my lock picking skills
This version also dives into some more detailed quests. In the minor quests we are given here, we have multiple choices on to how to resolve each problem that comes up. There are various routes to resolve each situation, either through manipulating people, impressing them with your charisma, or just being friendly. Though these early quests are quite simple, they still give a good inclination on how the bigger quests will favour multiple styles of gameplay.
Minor inclusions in this version contain some rudimentary voice overs, and various bug fixes adding to the overal polish of the game. The one big thing we are still waiting and hoping for at this point is the ability to dive into some combat and really test out this realistic world and what it offers. Here is hoping for the next update.
There was a lot of death involved in my first playthrough of Game of Thrones. When I say first playthrough yes I do mean I will be diving back into the story repeadetly. TellTale’s Game of Thrones follows their usual recipe of story moments, quick time events and tough choices, each of which reflects how your story develops. Based on the television version of Game of Thrones, you play as members of the Forrester house. A small family not mentioned in the show, but a part of the army from the North. Like the show, you shift from character to character and place to place in order to push the story forward. Throughout your play you are given choices on how to interact with other characters, or actions to take that will affect the story as it unfolds.
This first episode of Game of Thrones starts off during the sequence fans will know as The Red Wedding. As someone who is a fan of both the books and the show, it was interesting getting yet another perspective on these events as they unfold. Fans of Game of Thrones have seen the events of the various storied unfold through the perspective of various important characters, the game however allows us to see through the perspective of characters caught in fallout. Because of this the, choices you make early on lack some weight. We know that as minor characters our choices won’t have much effect on the overall story surrounding us. TellTale however, not unlike in The Walking Dead series, does a great job of developing your primary characters so that as you learn to know them more, each decision becomes harder, and harder. Unlike the Walking Dead series however, as the focus shifts through various characters, it does take longer to grow this connection.
Game of Thrones follows a similar art style to Telltale’s previous games, with an earthy colour palette, and painted on effect to each scene. Environments are incredibly detailed, and they often throw in touches directly from the show to connect the two medias. This is particularly fun in the in game recreation of the opening credits for the HBO show as we fly across a 3D map of the world. Death and injury are prevalent in Game of Thrones books, and this version doesn’t shy away from showing blood and gore. We even get to enjoy a closeup of our characters torn leg as a Maestor stitches us up.
Is this going to hurt?
Various characters from the HBO series show up prominently early on, and are voiced by their actual cast members. This gives the game a solid production value. Even the other voice overs for the lesser known characters are done well and show genuine feeling. Though some of these interactions feel somewhat forced in order to get some of these familiar characters involved in your story, it’s still fun seeing them in their animated forms.
Have I met you before somewhere?
With choice being at the forefront of this game, I do enjoy how your actions often have immediate repercussions. And I am very curious how the bigger actions and choices will affect the Forrester’s family outcome by the end of episode 6. The amount of choices available make you want to dive right back in to try the opposites to your original choices to see each outcome. I honestly had to question whether to dive right into episode 2 and live with my choices, or try again and see if I could get a better outcome. This replayability factor, and the overall look and playability of the game make this a must play for most gamers, and especially those who are a fan of Game of Thrones.
Life is Strange Episode 2: Out of Time was released recently and continues the story of Max Caulfield and friends. As in episode 1, you find you have the ability to control time for brief moments. The ability allows you to sometimes go a few minutes into the past and relive moments in time. The mechanic continues to work well in this episode, but sadly we are not introduced to anything gameplay wise that we haven’t already seen in episode 1.
The story leaves off shortly after our hero Max revealed her powers to her once bff Chloe. We are set loose immediately to continue investigating the strange occurrences around the small boarding school where most of the story proceeds. Unfortunately and ironically, the greatest weakness of episode 2 is its use of time. The pace of the game at this point seems to itself go back in time. Your first few missions involve very mundane tasks, and don’t often elevate the story, but rather give you something to do until an important event occurs. The game gives you another opportunity to test out your powers answering questions, then going back in time to get the right answers if need be. These small, tutorial style events were handed out often in the first episode, and feel a little out-of-place here. At one point the story nearly stops completely to have you blindly trudging around a garbage dump on an annoying, online RPG style collection quest. Direction at this point is unclear, and though through you’re searching some small tidbits and collectables are revealed, there is really no story here.
The pace of the game doesn’t really quicken up until the very end of the episode when you are given very heavy choices to weigh, where lives are on the line. Though one of these events again doesn’t really add much to the overall story. It really feels more like a puzzle that needs solving in order to extend your play through time.
One thing episode 2 does address well is the lack of consequence from episode 1. In episode 1 we made many small choices which I have not clearly seen the effect of in my current play through. Major decisions however do come back to haunt you or help you regularly. The other item of consequence that is addressed here is the effect of using your powers has on Max and her surroundings. In the first episode it felt as though there was no real way to fail, as you could easily reverse time and try again. Episode 2 does a much better job with this and gives you several major choices and consequences which directly affect future events.
Overall I spent just over an hour with episode 2, making its value feel short compared to the first episode. This is especially true with the amount of time I spent lost or confused as to where to go next. You only visit a few environments, and 2 of these we have been to before, so there is little pushing the player to re-explore these familiar zones. Many of the talking points are the same that were available in episode 1, and the environments themselves feel smaller and not as full of life as they did previously. The overarching story however still has me intrigued, but I hope in future episodes that the pacing is quicker and that there are less filler quests between story points. These story points usually have weight and emotion tied into them, but small in between actions we take as the player rarely have any pay off once we get there. Hopefully in future episodes we will be pushed more to explore and interact with our environments to effect change in the story, rather than to keep us in the game a little longer.
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