His Name Is Paul

Remember back when Saint's Row was a GTA knock-off.  Those were good times.  And I say "knock-off" in a good way, since I like Saint's Row but I don't like GTA.  Still, all in all, I think it works better as a Crackdown knock-off.

Patch AhDou

Dear Player,

We would like to inform you that the announced patch for Dynasty Warriors 8 is all a lie.  The soul-crushing slowdown and the tendency for the game to freeze just as you beat Guan Yu at Fan Castle are not flaws, they are intentional design decisions.  All of this is to punish you for being a foreign devil.  We see no potential profits in globalization and do not want your filthy, foreign hands sullying our game.

Sincerely,
Omega Force

Round Up

Okay, so first things first, most of my creative energy has been directed towards a different blogging project.  Second, I got a new giant hard drive for my XBox, thus allowing me to download games pretty cheaply.  As such, instead of getting maybe two or three games a year I've been getting one or two games just about every month.  So, rather than writing a giant post for one game, here's a quick rundown of my thoughts on games I got but haven't written on.

Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Replaced Fallout 3 as greatest game to date.  And still holding strong.

Dynasty Warriors 7
The story mode is pretty good, but Conquest Mode gets tedious and grind-y.  Otherwise, it's Dynasty Warriors, so it's exactly as you expect.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3
An expanded roster and a vastly improved relationship system make up for the tiny, oft repeated maps.  Also, controlling certain fields now gives various bonuses to the holder, like launching nuclear weapons at enemy fields (there's your Antarctic Treaty at work).  Japanese language DLC means that Amuro Ray and Ribbons Almark can have a conversation right before you have an aneurysm.

Saints Row 2
Like Grand Theft Auto, but goofier and actually fun.  Territory control gives a meaningful sense of progress.

Red Dead Redemption
Like Grand Theft Auto, but with horses and actually fun.  I used to think I didn't like Grand Theft Auto-esque games, now I realize I just don't like Grand Theft Auto.

Mortal Kombat
Decades later, still not as good as Street Fighter.  But this latest installment is actually an entirely competent and enjoyable game.  I can't decide if the over-the-top violence crosses the line into parody or if it's just puerile.

Gears of War 3
Completely reversed my opinion of Karen Traviss.  Absolutely brilliant game if you're into cover-based shooters.

Gears of War: Judgement
Weak prequel.  Decently fun, but feels less like a full game and more like an old bonus Challenge Map Pack.  Tries way too hard to be Unreal Tournament when we already have that.

Dragon Age: Origins
I'm not really an RPG fan so much as a fan of very specific RPGs (like Final Fantasy V).  That being said, this game is the reason I plan on getting Dragon Age 2.  Not perfect by a long shot, but still pretty damn good.

FarCry 3: Blood Dragon
Pure 80's awesomeness.  Also the reason I got FarCry 3.

FarCry 3
Less awesome and more gritty than Blood Dragon, but still a great free roaming FPS.  My problem was debating if I wanted to actually save my "friends" since most of the characters seem to deserve what they get.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
The Random Number God hates you.  Great game, especially since there's no proper Front Mission games on the horizon and this has become the last bastion of turn based strategy.

Call of Duty: World at War
Tedious and unenjoyable.  The only thing I got out of it was the catharsis of setting Imperial Japanese soldiers on fire.

Modern Warfare 3
As a guy who actually liked the first two games, this was deeply disappointing and dull.  I blame the behind-the-scenes drama after Modern Warfare 2.

Maybe updates later.  Maybe not.

I Need My Opinions Validated

I'm posting this because Ace Combat fans are whiny little bitches.  Dear Namco, please take into consideration that the fans have a specific, predictable pattern.  Every Ace Combat game is the worst in the franchise until the next one comes out, at which point the previous one is an undisputed classic.  5 was terrible, and 4 was a classic.  Then Zero was terrible, and 5 was a classic.  Then 6 was terrible, and Zero was a classic.  Now Assault Horizon is terrible, and 6 is a classic.  You will never see the hardline fans call Assault Horizon a classic until the next game comes out, and they will say the newest game is terrible.  But on that day they will declare Assault Horizon a classic.

Do You Feel Like A Hero Yet?

Yeah, so Spec Ops: The Line.  I didn't get what "The Line" referred to originally, but you will get it at some point.  This is just a quick post telling you to play this game.  Like, now.  Put down League of Legends (you know who you are) and play this game.  Seriously.  And play it to completion.  Turn down the difficulty setting if need be, but finish Spec Ops: The Line.  Don't play for like an hour and say it isn't your thing or something.  I don't care if you hate the game, I don't care if you hate me for saying this.  Borrow it, rent it, steal it, whatever.  But play this game to the end.  You are still a good person.

Yer A Gear Now, Son

So much stuff, so much writing.  I've got about a dozen games to discuss, and more on the way.  And so I decided to entrench myself in another project that's taking up all my creative energies.  So, until then, I present the greatest hero of this console generation:

Note: Because Blogger has funny embedding issues, it's probably best to watch this on YouTube proper.

Defenders Of Irreverance

The folks over at Extra Credits officially came out against fun.  Okay, that's a gross oversimplification.  They want to see games develop beyond being "just fun".  I want to agree with you guys, I really do.  But then I think to every ass-hat with some pretentious vision finally getting the greenlight on his auteur project and... well, this is how the movie "The Room" got made.  In fact, I think it's time I addressed something the Extra Credits folks like: game schools.  They think game schools are great, barring the the fake schools that just take your money.  But I also tend to think of all of them as fake schools.  Game schools are like film schools; if you're going to film school, get your parents to take that tuition money and instead invest in a movie you're making, then make that movie.  Parent's not paying for it?  Then finance it yourself, that's how you were planning on paying for film school anyway.  The same should apply to game school.  What's more impressive: having a fancy diploma or actually having a solid game to your name?

How does this apply to the discussion on games being fun?  Because think to yourself how many great directors got their start in film school.  Spielberg, Scorsese, and I think Lucas.  Now think how many great directors got their start as cameramen, special effects guys, and script editors (before getting work as screenwriters).  Game schools are the same, the great designers all have traditional degrees in computer sciences and/or literature and classics (go back far enough and some of them never finished their degrees).  You're probably still asking what this has to do with expanding games beyond fun and into serious work.  Because it's not just that film schools (and by extension, game schools) have a low success rate for greatness, but look at what gets churned out by students.  Yet another knock-off of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.  The more you tell them to "be artistic", the more likely they are to start churning out pretentious crap that is trying to look artistic.  And with game schools (as with film schools) it will all look exactly like what the professor said was good in pre-existing works.

I think games can be more than fun.  I think they can be deep and engaging, in fact I can think of several games off the top of my head that fit those criteria (how Final Fantasy X got mentioned by Extra Credits is beyond me).  But the more we demand that games be "artistic", then the more assholes we'll get making reprehensible shit and defending it by saying that we commoners don't understand their vision.

EDIT
Statement: Video games should be about more than just fun.

Rebuttal: Heavy Rain