Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII and Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain are two of the most polarizing games released in years. FFXIII is a drastic departure from the traditional JRPG style of the series and fans are torn over the gameplay style. It’s definitely different, but the production values are insanely good (minus Reona Rewis). Heavy Rain also has gamers split. Some can’t stand its gameplay style, while others view it as a landmark in interactive storytelling.
Today I wanted to see which game is more polarizing to you. Make your choice in the poll and explain your answer in the comments section if you have time.
In the last few years, a lot of music artists have told stories that went a little something like this: “These kids came up to me and I said that they never heard of the band until Guitar Hero III. They dug our music in the game, went out and bought our music, and now they’re coming to our shows. It’s amazing!”
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Tiger Woods’ latest “apology”, why America doesn’t care about Wladimir Klitschko, or the countdown to opening day, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
In the last few years, a lot of music artists have told stories that went a little something like this: “These kids came up to me and said that they never heard of the band until Guitar Hero III. They dug our music in the game, went out and bought our CD, and now they’re coming to our shows. It’s amazing!”
My friend Paul and I were talking about this the other day and couldn’t come up with a similar situation from our experiences. I guess the closest I can get to it is “Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult. I’ve heard of the band and enjoyed some of their music, but I’ve never heard that particular song (which is odd, because I was a huge Godzilla mark as a kid). I heard it in the game and loved it!
Today I wanted to see if there are any songs, bands, or solo artists that you’ve come to love thanks to music games. Share your stories in the comments section (please)!
Amazon is featuring videogame deals today in its special “gold box” section. Dante’s Inferno for $38.99 is the all-day deal, with specials appearing at 9AM, 1PM, and 4PM PST. Tekken 6 for $17.99 is the current deal (expires at 1PM). Check out Amazon’s gold box video game deals now (please)!
As many of you know, I’ve been playing the Dragon Age: Origins Awakening expansion pack for the last week…sometimes at the expense of sleep. Most Dragon Age fans will love it, but newcomers should stick to the original. While I had loads of fun playing it and enjoyed it so much that I decided to give it a second run instead of getting back to Final Fantasy XIII, it definitely had some issues. Using Augustine’s binary system, here are some thoughts (not a review!) on Dragon Age: Origins Awakening.
Good: That characters are fantastic. Oghren steals the show with some outstanding humor. I also enjoyed what Anders, Justice, Nathaniel, and Sigrun brought to the table from a storytelling perspective. The only character I didn’t care for was Velanna. She trumped Morrigan in the “angry magic bitch” department, but didn’t possess any of her sultry charm. For the most part, the writing and voice acting behind the companion characters was extremely well done.
Bad: There are no romances for you to enjoy in the game! Courting Leliana and Morrigan was so much fun in the original Dragon Age. If you’re into bisexual elf assassins or bastard nobles, you could get with Zevran or Alistair. I was extremely disappointed that there are no romances available in Awakening. Perhaps “taming” Velanna would have made her more interesting.
Good: The new specializations, skills, and talents are fun to play around with. While I didn’t think much of keeper and legionnaire scout specializations, the rest were pretty fun and useful. As for skills, being able to craft runes is pretty cool and I like that there were some quests that required rune crafting/potion making. All in all, the expansion added plenty of great ways to expand your characters. Oh yeah, the new “flicker” talent for rogues is totally boss.
Good: The “Manual of Focus” item is a godsend. At the end of Dragon Age, I was just picking skills and talents I didn’t really want because I maxed out on all the ones I needed. With a bunch of new ways to develop your character, being able to totally redo all of your specs is just awesome. It lets you correct any mistakes you made while leveling up or totally change your character’s focus. It’s perfect for players that started the game haphazardly assigning skill points and talents, but really got into the system later and regretted their leveling decisions.
Bad: From what I understand, the dagger/dexterity issue has not been fixed, even though I was told it would be when I saw the game at GDC. Thankfully, my rogues (Raymond and Keebler) are cunning based, but it’s still annoying that this longstanding problem persists.
Bad: The expansion pack is full of bugs. In my first run in Awakening, I encountered more bugs and glitches than in all five of my original DS playthroughs. Some of the bugs are pretty bad — certain quests disappearing, armor not appearing properly, etc.
Good: Sir Pounce-a-lot!
Bad: No Sandal (Enchantment!).
Good: Managing Vigil’s Keep adds a new layer to the game. Deciding on what part of the land to defend and settling domestic disputes brought something new to the DA experience. The cool part is that if you’re not into tasks like that, you can let your seneschal take care of them.
Good: There are some nice cameos by Alistair, Wynne, Herren, and Wade.
Bad: There were not enough cameos. I especially missed Leliana and Shale. It would have been nice to have seen them again.
Bad: Aside from items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, you can’t use DLC items in Awakening. That just sucks. I really wanted to import stuff like blood dragon armor, the Helm of Honnleath, etc.
Even though this expansion pack has some warts, I still loved it. While I was impressed with the originality, graphics, music, and storytelling in Heavy Rain, I enjoyed my time with Dragon Age: Origins Awakening more. If any of you are playing it or considering picking it up, I’d love to hear what you think!
Ah, the story that keeps on…irritating. Remember those two kids from VGChartz that pissed me off? Aside from insulting my web site, my story, and me, one of them has started spreading false information. So in addition to making libelous statements, senior editor Nick Pantazis is lying to sites like Southern Fried Gamer where he’s quoted as saying:
The way he obtained his information, as he explained it to me, was that he walked around the show floor and asked people in booths what they knew about it. I’m not privy to all embargoed information nor all information under NDA, but in my experience at the events I’ve gone to (including this one), people you are able to talk to by simply walking up to booths are generally PR reps, and not developers as he claimed.
The funny part is that I never said anything to Pantazis about getting my information from company booths at GDC. For someone that accused me of making up a story, it’s funny that he made one up himself. It’s especially hilarious when you consider that I spent less than an hour on the GDC show floor. Most of my time at the show was spent in private meetings and informal networking chats.
I just rechecked my email exchange with Pantazis. I made it very clear that I got my information from developers. I said nothing about asking people in booths anything. I just don’t get this kid. What’s wrong with him? Is he crazy? Is he slow? Should I call up RPadholic jpkmets and sue VGChartz/Pantazis/Zucker for libel? Or maybe I should just take an Advil.
This article on Dragon Age: Origins Awakening contains spoilers on Anders, Justice, Mhairi, Nathaniel, Oghren, Sigrun, and Velanna. You’ve been warned, now let’s get to it! I’m just about done with my second run on this fine Dragon Age expansion pack. In case you’ve been wondering about the new characters, here’s a quick write-up on each of them (and Oghren too!), along with the gifts they like. I’ve graded them based on how useful they were to my party and how much I enjoyed their dialogue. Your mileage may vary depending on your play style and personal tastes.
Oghren: Everyone’s favorite angry, drunken dwarf returns in Awakening and he’s better than ever! Players that are looking for a DPS (damage per second) warrior will love Oghren. He’s built for dealing heavy damage with a two-handed weapon. The writing and voice acting behind Oghren is more powerful than anything he could do with a sword, axe, or hammer. He provides brilliant comic relief no matter who’s in your party. Whether he’s trading barbs with Anders, hitting on Sigrun, or questioning Justice on the sex drive of a spirit inhabiting a decaying body, his lines are hilarious. In my first run, my party didn’t need a DPS warrior, but Oghren’s lines were so good that he stayed with me for most of my adventure.
Items for Oghren: Any alcoholic beverage (duh) and the toy horse.
Grade: Oghren steals the show with his dialogue and he’s great at doling out heavy damage. B
Anders: You would think that an apostate with wise-ass tendencies wouldn’t survive very long in Ferelden, yet Anders has made a record-breaking seven escapes from Circle of Magi and appears in fine health when you fist encounter him. Anders is a great healer that can provide buffs or offense depending on how you level him up. He has the abilities of Wynne matched with an Alistair-like personality. While his dialogue isn’t quite as funny as Oghren’s, Anders is no slouch in the humor department — particularly if you give him a pet cat (which he promptly names Sir Pounce-a-lot). I loved Anders conversations with Justice. The spirit thinks Anders has an obligation to help fellow apostates, while Anders feels that he has an obligation to not get killed.
Items for Anders: Kitten, bell collar, gold earring, scarf, book on phylacteries, and silver bracers.
Grade: Anders provides an outstanding blend of skills and entertainment. A
Nathaniel: Remember that prick Arl Rendon Howe from Origins? Well, here’s his son! Nathaniel went to Amaranthine to get revenge on the grey warden that killed his father, but had a change of heart. The good news is that you can recruit him and his lethal bow skills to the grey warden cause. In terms of gameplay, he’s just like Leliana — outstanding with a bow and useful for chests/traps. Although he learns that his father was a devious prick and warms up to you, he still has all the annoying personality traits you’d expect from someone with noble blood. His exchanges with Sigrun are particularly interesting; the contrast between a noble human and a casteless dwarf are pretty cool.
Items for Nathaniel: Howe bow, Delilah Howe’s letters, whetstone, locksmith’s tools, and sextant.
Grade: His bow skills are outstanding, but I usually don’t get along with rich people and he made miss Leliana. B
Sigrun: For someone that was born without a caste and ended up in the Legion of the Dead, Sigrun is a pretty perky lady. She has a bright personality, with some surprising deadpan humor thrown in. If you close your eyes, it’s almost like you’re adventuring with Janeane Garofalo. From a gameplay standpoint, her specialization makes her a great strength rogue with good survivability. Personally, I prefer cunning rogues for melee and dexterity rogues for archery. While I didn’t find her too useful in the game, I enjoyed her conversations on class with Nathaniel, watching Oghren hit on her (the payoff is awesome!), and watching her pickpocket Justice.
Items for Sigrun: Spyglass, potted plant, snow globe, warrior’s book, toy chariot, and soap-on-a-rope.
Grade: She’s a sweetheart, but I preferred Nathaniel as my companion rogue. Plus her personal quest is currently glitched on consoles. C+
Velanna: Replacing Morrigan as the party’s “angry magic bitch”, Velanna has that Dalish chip on her shoulder. If you like offensive mages — and they are ridiculously powerful in the game — Velanna is your girl. Although her specialization isn’t great, there are so many other offensive spells that more than make up for it. All that great wizardry aside, I just didn’t dig Velanna. She angrier than Morrigan and not nearly as sultry. When Justice was lecturing her on the wrongness of her actions, I was hoping that he’d just give her a shield bash after the third conversation. Some of you will dig her sharp barbs, but she just didn’t work for me.
Items for Velanna: Elven runestone, elven trinket, carved greenstone, shiny malachite, blank journal, discarded journal, and ornate silver bowl.
Grade: Incredible magic accompanied by an annoying personality? I’ll stick to Anders and Sir Pounce-a-lot, thank you very much. C-
Justice: The most unique playable character in Dragon Age, Justice is a spirit that got pulled into the physical world and placed in the partially decayed body of a dead grey warden. Unfamiliar with how things work in the “real” world, he’s struggles to understand things, but grows to appreciate the beauty in humanity. All that aside, he’s an awesome tank. Whether you prefer dealing damage as a DPS warrior, a backstabbing rogue, or a spell-hurling mage, it’s always good to have a tank to distract enemies and soak up some damage. Justice’s stats and specialization make him perfect for the job. Since his views are so alien, his interaction with the entire party is interesting.
Items for Justice: Elven prayer book, verses of dreams book, lyrium book, lyrium ring, Kristoff’s locket, and Kristoff’s mementos.
Grade: He’s an awesome tank with a background that’s very different from the others. A-
Mhairi: BioWare pulled off a nice swerve by promoting Mhairi on the official Dragon Age web site and during its media tour. The sound of a female tank appealed to some players, while others liked the fact that she’s essentially a grey warden fangirl. Unfortunately for everyone, Mhairi doesn’t survive the “joining” ceremony and dies early in the game. So why am I including her in this article? Well, for the past week the search terms “Dragon Age Mhairi dies” and “Dragon Age Mhairi dead” have been leading to some nice traffic. Maybe her corpse will provide another week of decent hits.
I’ll most likely beat Dragon Age: Origins Awakening tonight. I should get back to Final Fantasy XIII when I’m done with DA…but I won’t. I’m going to play the expansion at least one more time. There are some issues with the Awakening (I’ll write about them soon), but I’m mostly loving the gameplay and dialogue. Some of the new skills and talents are awesome. The new characters are well done and Oghren is funnier than ever. I will eventually get back to FFXIII, but for now it’s all DA baby!
I played Dragon Age: Origins Awakening until 5:30AM this morning. Part of it was because I intend to write two stories about the game this weekend. Part of it was because this bug pissed me off and I lost 90 minutes of game time (I wasn’t saving religiously *smacks head*). Most of it was because I was enjoying the hell out of this expansion pack.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, your favorite news from SXSW, Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne) turning 27 today, or your baseball team’s spring training results, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I played Dragon Age: Origins Awakening until 5:30AM this morning. Part of it was because I intend to write two stories about the game this weekend. Part of it was because this bug pissed me off and I lost 90 minutes of game time (I wasn’t saving religiously *smacks head*). Most of it was because I was enjoying the hell out of this expansion pack.
Due to my ridiculous play session, I was a little late for secret project and today’s Coffee Talk is more about your lunchtime beverage than your morning one. Still, I don’t regret it. Secret project is on my own schedule, so it’ll just be tighter to meet my goals for today. I am sorry that today’s column is late, but that’s really BioWare’s fault. Ha!
Has a game ever made you late for work or school? Share your stories in the comments section (please)!
It looks like the Xbox 360 will be getting USB mass storage support in Spring 2010. That’s the story from Joystiq, which obtained some nifty documentation and screenshots that show the console supporting USB storage. Here are some additional details:
According to the document, the USB mass storage device must be at least 1GB and the system will do a compatibility check. “The system partition occupies 512 MB of space, and by default the consumer partition occupies the remainder of the device capacity, or 16 GB, whichever is smaller.” Upon inserting a blank USB storage device, “consumers are offered two choices: ‘Configure now’ or ‘Customize’.” The “Configure now” option will use “the entire device capacity, up to the maximum of 512 MB plus 16 GB” meaning, regardless of the overall size of the device you’re using, the Xbox will only enable 16 GB of usable, non-system storage.
It’s great that the Xbox 360 will be supporting standard storage, but it kind of sucks that it’s limited to 16GB. It would have been nice if gamers could buy a standard USB hard drive instead of the proprietary and overpriced units sold by Microsoft. Looking on the bright side of life (always do this), at least overpriced memory units will soon be obsolete, hey?
What do you think of the upcoming USB storage support? Will it be useful? Or is 16GB of storage not enough?
Are there any videogame companies that you miss? There are several ways to answer that question. When I asked myself this question yesterday (yes, I sometimes talk to myself), I thought of two companies — one that’s still around and one that’s been gone for years.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, why the hell Tim Urban is still on American Idol, March Madness, or the Google Nexus One on all four major American mobile carriers, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Are there any videogame companies that you miss? When I asked myself this question yesterday (yes, I sometimes talk to myself), I thought of two companies — one that’s still around and one that’s been gone for years: Sega and Working Designs.
I miss what Sega used to be. The company rocked me with early Sonic games, Toejam & Earl, and so many others. I loved the end of the Saturn era with Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Shining Force III. The company was cutting-edge cool during the Dreamcast years with Jet Set Radio, Samba De Amigo, Seaman, Space Channel 5, and more. Sega was a creative powerhouse and these days it’s…a serviceable publisher.
As for defunct companies, I miss Working Designs. The company brought so many cool Japanese role-playing games to America. I loved that I got to play titles like Arc the Lad, Alundra, Dragon Force, and Lunar thanks to Working Designs. The company also served up the best “collector’s editions” in the world back in the day. The packaging and goodies were top-notch. They really made you feel like you were buying something special.
I better stop before I get all misty…. How about you guys and dolls? What are some of the game companies you miss?
now (please)!
