Showcase Pick

     Was thinking of letting people try out one of two games at the next meeting. I brought my Wii and I have two remotes with a nunchuku and classic controller. The games I had in mind were Sonic Colors and Xenoblade Chronicles. My question is does anyone have a preference over which one I should bring first?

     On a side note, hope you all enjoyed your Spring Break.

Thoughts on Portal 2 and Naruto Ninja Storm 3

     Not everyone was able to attend our most recent meeting, but we still had some fun seeing how these two games would fare for a potential tournament. For those of us who did get to play, what did you all think of Portal 2 and Naruto? 

     To me, the two are big contrasts of each other. In Portal 2, players are working as a team to complete their objective. If anyone dies, it is usually the fault of that player, not his buddy. There are those instances that somebody inadvertently kills the other player, but I'm sure those are just coincidental. As for Naruto Ninja Storm 3, players fight each other for the thrill of high speed battle and the glory of victory! It's an easy to pick up fighter with simple controls and a satisfying combat system. 

     I really enjoyed my time with both games. I do have a leaning towards Portal 2 as I would rather work WITH a companion rather than fight against them. You have no idea how many friendships can be broken over a simple fighting game.

Exploration

     What is exploration? It is the action of getting lost for the sake of adventure and wonder. At least in my definition. No clue what a dictionary might say, but that is how I see it. Now most of us likely aren't secret archaeologists who venture into temples and plunder treasure Indiana Jones style. We still might hold this desire, though. Games can fulfill that desire through simulation. This is why I like games in the Point-and-Click Adventure genre or First Person Exploration games. But how do these games give us that feeling of adventure and wonder?

      They give us just one simple rule: do whatever you want. The rule is always implied through gameplay, but never explicitly stated. The object of the game is to explore everything. That is what makes Point-and-Click a fun genre for me. Take Machinarium for example. You start off as this little robot named Josef. You gradually discover what he can and cannot do. After you have all of that figured out, you learn to click on anything that might stand out. You also pick up items and use them with other items to see what happens. In some cases, you can come up with unlikely combinations that surprise you. These combinations can help you progress through the game and open up new areas to explore.

      In other games that take exploration from a first person perspective, it feels easier to be immersed in the world. As you look around, you see everything through the character's eyes, but it almost feels like it is your own vision. It feels as if you are doing all of the exploring. It's a wonderful experience.

However, incorporating exploration into a game that isn't all about the adventure is tricky. If the game is too linear, the player just feels like they should follow the rails and if there is a path they could branch off of, they almost never take it. It's almost like a form of “pseudo-exploration.” Branching paths is not a fun mechanic for discovering new things. It's just a hallway that leads to a somewhat useful object, and then turning around to get back on the rails again.

      I see Borderlands 2 as a big offender to exploration. Yes, it is a game with large maps and places to go that are not linear, but I have one big complaint about it: map markers. When you want to finish a quest objective, just follow the diamond shaped icon on the map and you will be there. It makes reading the text of questlines pointless. And when they offer one quest that does encourage you to get lost and actually go looking for something on your own, it feels insulting because it deviates from the norm the game has already established! That norm is the rule of “Go here to do the thing, then turn in to progress.” I still like the game. I just dislike the sense of exploration that isn't all there.

      The best form of exploration I have seen? Xenoblade Chronicles. If you own a Wii or Wii U and you haven't played this game, go buy it. The developers went through utter hell to get this localized for America. The game lets you roam anywhere you want so long as it is humanly possible to traverse the environment. As much as I want to trek that mountain, it's too steep. But that's alright! It makes sense that I cannot do that. When you have a job to take care of, the quest text tells you the general area to go, then you figure out the rest. It feels great when you find what you are looking for. The only bad thing about this is the text can sometimes be misleading. One quest directed me to go north when the actual objective was northwest. Took a very long time to find the objective because the quest text directed me to a specific area and I felt I was limited to searching THAT particular area, not any of the other areas that might be close by. Other than that, this game has incredibly good exploration and it feels like a world you would want to live in.

      In short, exploration's main rule is to do whatever you want, but only if it is possible within the game's conventions. It should also be careful in how it makes the player feel about what they can do. Telling the player they can look in a tomb and find a treasure of incredible value is just fine. It might obviously be located at the back, but to the player it could be anywhere! Telling the player exactly where something is just ruins the whole experience. Making up for that failure much later in the game by telling them to “just find it” just messes with the player's head.

Music: How it makes games considerably better

     There are many aspects that make up a game. The first ones we usually think of are graphics, the engine, programming, animating, playability, and even polish. There is one aspect I believe is highly overlooked: music. 

 

      Game developers will do either one of two things: they will either pay to have certain songs played in their games or they will make their own music. The ones that pay other artists to use their pre-existing songs almost feel like they get the rights to the song JUST to play that song. Even if it barely fits the moment, that song is in there. As for those who make their own music, sometimes they lack good composers. Often the music is just a short track that loops endlessly. 

 

      So what does good game music sound like? It sounds a bit like this:

 

     That was from a game known as VVVVVV (or just say “vee”). The style is chiptune and for an 8-bit graphic game, chiptune works wonders. Now imagine a game with higher end graphics. They likely require higher quality music as well. Here's another sample:

 

     That was from Dust: An Elysian Tail. It's one of the first soundtracks you hear when you start playing. What is so great about this track? It gives you this feeling of adventure and wonder. It sparks emotions you didn't even know you had! That is how you make good music. Didn't feel anything? Well then listen to this:

     This track alone almost made me cry because it's so beautiful. It fits the moment so well. Here I am running through this marsh during the daytime and I hate the place. It's foggy, monsters are trying to kill me, I can't figure out where to go, the soundtrack currently playing is “meh,” and I am starting to lose my patience. Then nightfall comes. The flora of the marsh begin to glow and shimmer with brilliant lights. The monsters go away. Then the soundtrack changes to this. It's so wonderful I can barely keep a straight face. If this doesn't invoke some form of emotion in you, then I don't know what will.

      The GDC doesn't exactly have a lot of Music majors, but it would be great if we could have their input on certain songs. If you do have an interest in music and video games, I would look into the works of Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimomura, and the legendary Nobuo Uematsu. They make excellent soundtracks for games.