My dad bought me a copy of Star Ocean: The Last Hope as an early birthday present for me yesterday. I played it for about 2 hours so far; the graphics are great, the music fits the whole Space Odyssey thematic, but the one thing that's struck me so far is the game's story: man destroys the planet earth in a cataclysmic WWIII, then builds a huge space station in the hopes of colonizing other planets...reminds me of the Tower of Babel story from Genesis (which I just happen to be studying in my Old Testament class at Loyola!) Man constantly tries to make himself into a God, and constantly fails (and the story of Star Ocean thus far is demonstrating that all too candidly!)
I hope to have more on this game in the coming days (no pun intended!). St. Kasimir, pray for us!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Player Diary: Persona 3
I bought this game off of Amazon as an early Christmas present to myself at the beginning of this month. I'm usually not one for purchasing much of anything online, but as any gaming buddy of mine will tell you, my normally fiscally conservative spending habits tend to buckle when my eyes spot a critically acclaimed Japanese role-playing game. When it's only $19.95 plus shipping and handling and comes with a free soundtrack and art book, well, even my rather obstinate and unreasonable case of online shopper's stigma is eradicated almost instantaneously.
I finally popped the game disk into my ps2 this morning, and I played for a good, oh, hour and 30 minutes or so. It was enough to get the general gist of the game's storyline premise, but that's about it. There's alot of in-game cut-scenes thus far, and not very much of anything else. Frankly, given how long I played, I'm surprised I remained as engaged as I did - usually, the first hour or so of role-playing games tend to be dominated by tutorials, and I 've grown to expect this over the course of many years as a gamer. I know when I can "zone out" without missing anything crucial. There really hasn't been any point so far where I've really "disengaged" in this way, and given how the game has done very little to engage me in terms of actual gameplay so far, I'm downright impressed.
Basically, you play as a high school transfer student who discovers that his dormmates are part of a secret school club dedicated to defeating people-eating monsters called "shadows." These shadows only appear during the "dark hour," beginning and ending at 12:00 midnight - the "hidden" time between one day and the next. How do you fight these shadows? Well, you take an "evoker" - a pistol - and shoot yourself in the head (!!!!) to summon a "persona" - a physical manifestation of the psyche that takes the form of some mythological god/goddess. When it's not "the dark hour," you attend school as a student, and the academic performance in classes and relationships your character develops with your friends effect your persona(s) ability to battle. When that "dark hour" comes again, it's time to take the fight to the shadow's nest - Tartarus, a gigantic skyscraper that just happens to render itself directly atop the school building where you attend classes during the day. The school, then, plays an crucial role in the game, an irony that is not lost on this college student currently enjoying respite from the drudgery of grueling schoolwork.
In summary, my Persona 3 experience thus far: its very Japanese, an interesting combination of two video game genres, very Japanese, and most assuredly deserving of it's "M for Mature" ESRB rating. And very Japanese.
Obviously I can expect suicide to be a prominent thematic in the game's story. Whether or not it retains the morally problematic depiction shown thus far (suicide as a way to unleash "inner power" is so unabashadly Nietzchean) remains to be seen. I'm a firm believer in not finishing games if they are not worth my time, and if the game communicates nothing but a morally evil message, well, it's certainly not worth my time. But whether or not that's the case with Persona 3 remains to be seen.
I finally popped the game disk into my ps2 this morning, and I played for a good, oh, hour and 30 minutes or so. It was enough to get the general gist of the game's storyline premise, but that's about it. There's alot of in-game cut-scenes thus far, and not very much of anything else. Frankly, given how long I played, I'm surprised I remained as engaged as I did - usually, the first hour or so of role-playing games tend to be dominated by tutorials, and I 've grown to expect this over the course of many years as a gamer. I know when I can "zone out" without missing anything crucial. There really hasn't been any point so far where I've really "disengaged" in this way, and given how the game has done very little to engage me in terms of actual gameplay so far, I'm downright impressed.
Basically, you play as a high school transfer student who discovers that his dormmates are part of a secret school club dedicated to defeating people-eating monsters called "shadows." These shadows only appear during the "dark hour," beginning and ending at 12:00 midnight - the "hidden" time between one day and the next. How do you fight these shadows? Well, you take an "evoker" - a pistol - and shoot yourself in the head (!!!!) to summon a "persona" - a physical manifestation of the psyche that takes the form of some mythological god/goddess. When it's not "the dark hour," you attend school as a student, and the academic performance in classes and relationships your character develops with your friends effect your persona(s) ability to battle. When that "dark hour" comes again, it's time to take the fight to the shadow's nest - Tartarus, a gigantic skyscraper that just happens to render itself directly atop the school building where you attend classes during the day. The school, then, plays an crucial role in the game, an irony that is not lost on this college student currently enjoying respite from the drudgery of grueling schoolwork.
In summary, my Persona 3 experience thus far: its very Japanese, an interesting combination of two video game genres, very Japanese, and most assuredly deserving of it's "M for Mature" ESRB rating. And very Japanese.
Obviously I can expect suicide to be a prominent thematic in the game's story. Whether or not it retains the morally problematic depiction shown thus far (suicide as a way to unleash "inner power" is so unabashadly Nietzchean) remains to be seen. I'm a firm believer in not finishing games if they are not worth my time, and if the game communicates nothing but a morally evil message, well, it's certainly not worth my time. But whether or not that's the case with Persona 3 remains to be seen.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Gaming Marathons...for Charity!
"Speed gaming" refers to repeated attempts to complete a game in the shortest amount of time possible. It ain't exactly my cup of tea; I have enough trouble finishing games without racing against the clock. The guys and gals over at www.thespeedgamers.com, however, are clearly of another disposition, and they've found an interesting way to make their hobby more fruitful: they organize "gaming marathons" to benefit various charities. At the time of this writing, they're trying to catch all 491 Pokemon (hard to believe it's that many now!) in the Pokemon games for the Nintendo DS within 72 hours, with proceeds going for Autism care and research. Speaking as a Pokemaniac myself, I can say with certainty this is not an easy task. Here's hoping they make it...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Christmas Break!
As of Friday I have been granted a temporary reprieve from the academic burdens of my vocational discernment. This gives me an opportunity to focus on my emotional, physical, and spiritual obligations, especially those that I've neglected over the second half of the semester, this blog included.
Despite the new game releases that accompany each Christmas season, I haven't interest in any of them save Chrono Trigger DS, which I'll hopefully get as a Christmas gift. Soul Calibur IV has proven to be surprisingly popular with my brother seminarians, and while I can't say that the game possesses any particularly endearing value beyond sheer entertainment of the absurd (who wouldn't want to see Yoda fighting an Elvis look-alike with nunchaku?), that alone has been a welcome respite from the strenuous workload that too often characterizes college life.
Since I've been back home, I've rediscovered that I have the Pokemon gene - embarassed as I am to admit it, I can totally understand why the game has been so successful and popular. Organizing a team of virtual critters to fight and trade with friends makes for an undeniably fun game. This game and Pope Benedict XVI's Spirit of the Liturgy will ensure that my living room sofa is occupied for long stretches of time for this 3 and a half weeks of Christmas vacation. The book is certainly a bit on the "heavy" side - I find myself re-reading passages just to glean everything I can from the text - but my gaming hobby and Spirit of the Liturgy are proving to be far more complementary than I would have ever thought they would or could be. Being a video gamer, the "play" theory of liturgy (though Pope Benedict does ultimately deem it as "insufficient") resonates deeply with me. The idea of play being an excape from the confines of the world is an idea that many video games take and "run with," so to speak, but in the end, it ultimately becomes just another part of the world we live in, as the rules and confines established by the game transform the game from being "another world - a counter-world or a non-world - to being a bit of our world with its own laws." Games provide a fleeting escape from reality at best; they can't transport us to our higher calling, even if they can indirectly help us on our way there. It's a good reminder for video game enthusiasts (including yours truly) not to let these games become idols - they aren't the Savior whom we await during the Advent season, and we certainly can't offer ourselves to them expecting any sort of true fulfillment.
That's not to say that games don't provide something of value - Aquinas, for one, echoed Aristotle's thoughts that the relaxation from games provided a good - but in the age where many (myself included) spend inexorbinant amounts of time with video games, Pope Benedict's reminder is one worth noting.
Despite the new game releases that accompany each Christmas season, I haven't interest in any of them save Chrono Trigger DS, which I'll hopefully get as a Christmas gift. Soul Calibur IV has proven to be surprisingly popular with my brother seminarians, and while I can't say that the game possesses any particularly endearing value beyond sheer entertainment of the absurd (who wouldn't want to see Yoda fighting an Elvis look-alike with nunchaku?), that alone has been a welcome respite from the strenuous workload that too often characterizes college life.
Since I've been back home, I've rediscovered that I have the Pokemon gene - embarassed as I am to admit it, I can totally understand why the game has been so successful and popular. Organizing a team of virtual critters to fight and trade with friends makes for an undeniably fun game. This game and Pope Benedict XVI's Spirit of the Liturgy will ensure that my living room sofa is occupied for long stretches of time for this 3 and a half weeks of Christmas vacation. The book is certainly a bit on the "heavy" side - I find myself re-reading passages just to glean everything I can from the text - but my gaming hobby and Spirit of the Liturgy are proving to be far more complementary than I would have ever thought they would or could be. Being a video gamer, the "play" theory of liturgy (though Pope Benedict does ultimately deem it as "insufficient") resonates deeply with me. The idea of play being an excape from the confines of the world is an idea that many video games take and "run with," so to speak, but in the end, it ultimately becomes just another part of the world we live in, as the rules and confines established by the game transform the game from being "another world - a counter-world or a non-world - to being a bit of our world with its own laws." Games provide a fleeting escape from reality at best; they can't transport us to our higher calling, even if they can indirectly help us on our way there. It's a good reminder for video game enthusiasts (including yours truly) not to let these games become idols - they aren't the Savior whom we await during the Advent season, and we certainly can't offer ourselves to them expecting any sort of true fulfillment.
That's not to say that games don't provide something of value - Aquinas, for one, echoed Aristotle's thoughts that the relaxation from games provided a good - but in the age where many (myself included) spend inexorbinant amounts of time with video games, Pope Benedict's reminder is one worth noting.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
C.S. Lewis: The Video Game
What a cool idea!
Like many, I only wish that is was real. I hate MMORPGs, (including the tacky, Lord of the Rings-inspired ones nearly devoid of what made Tolkien's signature works so great: Catholicism!) but anything in the vein of C.S. Lewis can't be that bad....right?
(h/t Mark Shea of Catholic and Enjoying It!
Like many, I only wish that is was real. I hate MMORPGs, (including the tacky, Lord of the Rings-inspired ones nearly devoid of what made Tolkien's signature works so great: Catholicism!) but anything in the vein of C.S. Lewis can't be that bad....right?
(h/t Mark Shea of Catholic and Enjoying It!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Audiosurfin' USA
Anybody familiar with the gaming community/network Steam has doubtlessly heard (if not already a proud owner) of Audiosurf, a rhythm/"music" game with an interesting twist.
The megapopular mainstays Guitar Hero and Rock Band rely on a system of colored "bars" that more or less function as musical "notes" on a scoresheet. (Those unfamiliar with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc. are probably already lost at this point: take a gander at the Guitar Hero video review here for a glimpse at what I mean). In Audiosurf,, these on-screen colored cues aren't notes on a scoresheet; they're cars on a highway, and rather than tasking the player with matching these colored bars to buttons a joypad or controller to "play" a song, Audiosurf needs no newfangled, awkward insrument-shaped controllers: you need merely the arrows on a keyboard or a computer mouse to navigate your vehicle as you traverse the musical highway...crashing into as many cars as you can along the way.
Well, sort of, anyway. Think of this game as "musical Tetris": the color-coded "cars" on the highway don't cause your vehicle to crash immediately; they are stored in one of three columns (each column corresponding to a lane on the highway), and by placing three cars of the same color in either a row or column, the player not only scores points, but like in most "falling block" puzzle games, the blocks (or cars, in this case) disappear and the columns are emptied. Likewise, if the columns are filled, the car crashes and the player loses points.
Keep in mind that the "cars" that appear on the "highway" correspond to musical notes of a song; the game also marks changes in the rhythm of a song with sudden sharp turns and uphill climbs. The best part? Audiosurf doesn't use a pre-set song list like most games of its type; any music file on yor PC harddrive, music CD, mp3 file, etc. can be used! Scores are tracked online, as well, if you wish, and it was quite a shock to see that I had racked up a 15,000 point score on the Salve Regina highway only to find out that someone had outscored me! Apparently I'm the only one who's been travelin' down Fr. Groschel's The God of Mercy and You freeway, though. No surprises there...
With a $10 price tag, I can't recommend this game enough. I'll never understand how I missed Audiosurf when it released earlier this year, but I'm sure I'll be playing it for many years to come.
The megapopular mainstays Guitar Hero and Rock Band rely on a system of colored "bars" that more or less function as musical "notes" on a scoresheet. (Those unfamiliar with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc. are probably already lost at this point: take a gander at the Guitar Hero video review here for a glimpse at what I mean). In Audiosurf,, these on-screen colored cues aren't notes on a scoresheet; they're cars on a highway, and rather than tasking the player with matching these colored bars to buttons a joypad or controller to "play" a song, Audiosurf needs no newfangled, awkward insrument-shaped controllers: you need merely the arrows on a keyboard or a computer mouse to navigate your vehicle as you traverse the musical highway...crashing into as many cars as you can along the way.
Well, sort of, anyway. Think of this game as "musical Tetris": the color-coded "cars" on the highway don't cause your vehicle to crash immediately; they are stored in one of three columns (each column corresponding to a lane on the highway), and by placing three cars of the same color in either a row or column, the player not only scores points, but like in most "falling block" puzzle games, the blocks (or cars, in this case) disappear and the columns are emptied. Likewise, if the columns are filled, the car crashes and the player loses points.
Keep in mind that the "cars" that appear on the "highway" correspond to musical notes of a song; the game also marks changes in the rhythm of a song with sudden sharp turns and uphill climbs. The best part? Audiosurf doesn't use a pre-set song list like most games of its type; any music file on yor PC harddrive, music CD, mp3 file, etc. can be used! Scores are tracked online, as well, if you wish, and it was quite a shock to see that I had racked up a 15,000 point score on the Salve Regina highway only to find out that someone had outscored me! Apparently I'm the only one who's been travelin' down Fr. Groschel's The God of Mercy and You freeway, though. No surprises there...
With a $10 price tag, I can't recommend this game enough. I'll never understand how I missed Audiosurf when it released earlier this year, but I'm sure I'll be playing it for many years to come.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
An Echochrome Player Diary in Pictures
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With most puzzle video games taking the tetris rip-off route, It's refreshing to see something of the "sit-down-and-think" variety appear on any gaming platform.
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