It's been a long time coming. I can't believe it took me almost a month to actually post anything about Skyrim. It has sucked my soul hard enough, you see. So before I change my mind and go back to playing Skyrim, let me post some screenshots.
My boyfriends dude friends have been asking me for Dragon Age 2 advice. I have little love for DA2 as compared to its giant predecessor Dragon Age Origins but I have finished the game a couple of times to be of help to them. Maybe I can be of help to you too.
When I got to look at the trailers before, my first thought was "Wow, did Nate gain weight?" He looked especially chubby around the cheeks. What? Yes yes, it's me being a girl but it looked weird for me okay?
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Just to get it out of the way, yes yes I was not satisfied with the ending either. This is coming from a girl who is usually forgiving when it comes to writers and their shortcomings.
Ah, the great dilemma. When I don't blog as much that means I'm playing twice as much. So needless to say, I've been playing a whole lot. I'm almost done with Chrono Trigger, and the post that's on the backburner right now is shaping up to be a goddamn Game Design Document. Trying not to trip all over my words. :(
Anyway. I'm about to go to bed now because... uh, work. So I STILL don't have time to blog. I thought of a quick and easy solution.
TA-DAH! A video! A video of excuses and incoherent rambling!
Oh by the way, I've taken control of this facebook page my coworker did for me. Will probably do all my game ramblings there because heaven knows my personal network is prolly tired of me posting Persona soundtracks every damn day.
I will just go on right ahead and say it: if you own a PS3, don't miss the chance of playing Journey. Just go, play it. Now. It is pretty damn amazing.
If you have been doing your reading, you would know that Journey by thatgamecompany has been inspiring a lot of awe and getting a lot of thumbs up from the gaming community. I got curious and as suggested by many writers, I stayed away from any review, game synopsis and game feature list online. I was told that it was meant to be experienced like a, well, like a virgin. *juvenile snicker*
And like a virgin, I went on that journey.
After going through it without any expectations, I would have to echo them. If you can, play it with no biases. No reviews, get away from metacritic, just go and play it now. This also means if you haven't played it and intend to go on a virginal playthrough, close my blog now. haha.
The Silence
One of the things that I appreciated about Journey is the lack of words. Both verbal and written. Usually when a game doesn't have voice acting, they compensate with a ton of written text and if a game chooses to not have a lot of written text, it's all voice acting for you. Don't get me wrong, I love words! I love dialogue! Especially wonderfully crafted ones.
But sometimes, words almost seem like a crutch; An in-your-face panacea that solves the problem of player involvement, immersion and emotion engineering.
So Journey doesn't have words. How about facial expressions? Maybe they can convey emotion through that, right?
I'm totally gonna cream you at poker
Nope, no facial expressions either. In this setting, in this context, I do believe that words will completely ruin it. I am glad that even though they put in that really nice multiplayer touch, they did not enable voice.
So why is this a good thing? Why does the lack of character interaction, conversation and dialogue, the game's big strength? How the hell did that happen?
The Movement
It's incredible how much we take movement for granted, especially in games. Getting from Point A to Point B is already second nature, we don't think about how it makes us feel anymore. That's exactly the thing. Moving makes us feel. How we move enables feelings. Journey got that. They got it.
Watch me flyyyy!
In Journey, you can walk, run, glide (sandsurf as my boyfriend calls it), jump, fly (or fall very very slowly). Movement gives you that feeling. How you move your controller and hold the buttons give you that feeling.
That first time you jump really high, the camera zooms out to show you just how high you are, to show you the beautiful expanse of land that you can actually explore in this awesome gliding fashion.
That feeling. It's priceless.
Whenever I skip upwards a banner, I find myself holding my breath, anxious to get higher, worried that I might fall. It's the fluidity of movement that lets me think that. And I love Journey for giving me those feelings.
The Music
Ah, here we go. We talked about how the lack of dialogue and words is the game's biggest strength. This is the third pillar that makes Journey a strong game. The game music arguably defines the identity of the game. We can forget how to get through a certain dungeon, forget the controls, forget the NPCs and the boss fights but when we hear something like this, you can immediately recall the game and the feelings that the it has brought to you.
Look at this and imagine the music swelling in the background
Journey has an excellent soundtrack. One that gets behind your brain. It doesn't scream for attention but rather, it blends with the movement and the scene in one cohesive entity that lends to the emotional experience. Austin Wintory did a marvelous job with the soundtrack.
Listen to the tracks and tell me it does not evoke rippling feelings in your chest.
The View
I can talk about how beautifully crafted this game is. Or I can show you screenshots and you can decide for yourself.
Let's go with the latter.
My personal favorite.
The static image does not do it justice but... imagine gliding through that sparkling sand while music ripples in the background. When I jumped and blocked out a bit of the sun, my boyfriend just whistled. "Of course you HAD to do that" he said. Yes. Scenes like these in the game, it encourages you to play around with the movement to get the most out of the experience. I love it.
The scaling. Clever.
How you measure up to the world is another clever thing that they did. Most of the time, you feel incredibly small in this big, beautiful world. But Journey throws in moments that makes you feel larger than life itself. It's pretty amazing.
Mystery and danger.
With what I've been showing you so far, you'd think Journey is... uhm, a walk in the park (haha sorry). But no, no dear friend it isn't. There are moments in the game that I honestly felt scared. Not because it's dark, that's too easy but because of the music, the shaking of the controller, the eerie glow from above and of course that creature. Without being completely aware of it, I was experiencing a whole gamut of emotions.
A test of will and perseverance.
You would find scenes like these. A bleak, desolate position that would discourage any sort of awe and wonder. What it encourages instead is perseverance. That will to get through this. I cannot tell you how many times I talked to myself saying, "Come on, you can do this. A little more."
Somehow the game makes a promise that the end is worth everything. And it is that promise that you take in your heart as you go through its many stages, steeling yourself to move on and to not give up.
I can talk about how Journey actually made me feel, right down to the part where I literally choked up and cried a little. I can also talk about how Journey is a direct counterargument to the folks who claim that games can't be art. But no, that's going to take me forever.
Instead, I would encourage you to play the game. Sit through it with an open mind and let it... take you on your journey. I am sure the experience won't be the same for everyone. My mind may have been blown away by it and you may just go, "Uh, it's okaaay." but I believe Journey should be given a chance.
I treated the past two days like a vacation. That means I played ME3 every damn minute. Did I shower? Nope. Did I brush my teeth? Uh, can't remember. Peed? Well duh of course! My point is, I was a filthy pig the past two days. It's insane really. I was wearing this big shirt with nutella stains (yes you read that right, NUTELLA bitchiz) and my hair was in a huge clamp that looked like a goddamn Reaper. (HAH!) I can't even begin to imagine what I smelled like.
I sincerely apologize for using TBBT as a peg. Too lazy to google photos.
It was only last night that it fully dawned on me how much of a pig I was. So I finally decided to take a proper bath. And this morning I went out, had my nails done and bought some girl stuff that I've been meaning to buy. Going out meant that I had to dress properly and wear a little blush on my face. Words cannot describe how good it felt to actually fix yourself up after two days of pigging out. haha.
I passed by this stall that sold those sponge curler things. I have always been intrigued by them.
They look like macarons. Mmmm... macarons.
I didn't choose the strawberry variant because I don't like strawberries, not even as a hair sponge curler thingy. besides, I like the color yellow.
So I tried it out and immediately regretted my decision to buy just one pack. My long, thick hair prolly needs three packs of this shit. Oh well. I'll buy another set tomorrow. For now I'm testing it out. And hey look. I got a quad on my head. (LOLOLOLOL)
Everybody knows Krogan have four!
Jiggly sponge balls on my head!
Anyway so yeah I'm giving it a shot for the lulz. Not sure how my hair will look like afterwards but at least I can rest easy knowing that once in my life, I had balls dangling around my head.
Just to get it out of the way, yes yes I was not satisfied with the ending either. This is coming from a girl who is usually forgiving when it comes to writers and their shortcomings. You can talk all you want, hate all you want but I won't be mentioning a thing about the ending here, I've seen enough fallacies to last me three lifetimes. So yeah, no.
Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the good stuff!
Most of the things in this list pertain to story and characters. The gameplay is another big improvement that deserves a post of its own. However, it is important to note that I am still angry as fuck that they made the X button do all the fucking work. Heck knows how many times I died because Shep kept rolling at a wall instead of taking cover.
Let's begin.
1. Drunk Tali and Drunk Ashley
One of the things that made Mass Effect 3 so great is that the characters seem more alive. They aren't cookie cutter, plastic figurines with programmed responses anymore. In this game, they actually do shit on their own without your permission and it's that little thing that makes a big difference in how the game feels.
Can't believe they actually included Drunk Tali
Who says Tali has to stay in the Engineering deck all the time staring at consoles and punching through numbers? She can get depressed too! And when she does, she relies on her Emergency Induction Port to carry her through booze nights.
Awwww look at you. haha
James can give Ashley some hardcore booze if he wants to. He did. Now, being Ashley, she chugged it all down like a boss. And hey look, she's actually wasted! How fun is it that you can troll her while she lies down wasted on the ground?
These characters, acting on their own, without your consent or knowledge makes you feel like you're travelling with actual people and not just NPCs that stand waiting for you to trigger responses.
In addition, I think it's pretty damn awesome that BioWare went the extra mile to put your companions in various locations. They're not pinned down on their 'assigned area' anymore. It's even more awesome that you can run into them while they're in the middle of a conversation with your other companions. Really cool.
2. It had to be Mordin. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.
The BioWare minds that concocted the Genophage conflict and Mordin Solus as a character deserve a thousand internets. I have never played a game that seriously made me think of morality as much as the genophage did.
Mordin in Mass Effect 2 is easily one of the most likeable characters in the whole franchise. It's not just the quirks and the singing but because of his perspective about life and balance.
The best scientist salarian
In Mass Effect 2, Mordin can stare you down and tell you to chill the fuck out, he knows what he's doing. You can bombard him with questions about the genophage and even openly call it out as genocide but Mordin will always have a logical reply that can shut you up.
I can imagine that Mordin's death on Tuchanka will be one of the most talked about 'Saddest Video Game Scene' for a long time. If you picked the renegade options through your final conversation with him, you will hear him cry out in painful desperation, "I MADE A MISTAKE!"
And that my friends... is one of the most powerful moments in the game. Hearing Mordin (especially Mordin) say that he made a mistake brought chills down my spine. In that exact moment you realize how much the genophage has been clawing through his insides. And in that moment, that last conversation, you realize that Mordin will give his life for the Krogans just as you would for the whole galaxy.
I lost it right there and cried like a baby.
3. The Reaper at Rannoch
Admit it, you felt pretty damn awesome being the only target of a Reaper. When Shepard decided that "No, no I won't take this shit sitting down. This ends now." then you tell everyone to take cover while you stand in front of the Reaper alone, admit it, it was pretty awesome.
Pretty badass.
It was one of the many moments when you are one with Shepard, when you feel in your veins that resolve to do anything, ANYTHING it takes to take these sons of bitches down. This is what makes you Commander Shepard. This determination is what makes (made?) you a legend and why the whole galaxy believes in you.
This is why you believe in Commander Shepard.
4. EDI asks about Self-Preservation
When EDI told me that she was going to have some questions that Jeff was a bit uncomfortable in answering, I knew her questions were going to be tough. When under scrutiny, Organics usually look pretty bad. Driven by emotion and disregarding logical calculations, we are usually inclined to do really stupid things that are embarrassing in hindsight.
However this conversation with EDI actually made me feel proud to be human.
Also, when she said, "The Reapers are repulsive" somehow it really hit my gut. It's like seeing your youngest daughter suddenly grow up in front of your eyes. It was one of the moments that contributed to my final stand regarding synthetic life.
5. No nicknames, okay James?
James is surprisingly a likeable character. At least I think so. At first I thought I'd ignore him just as I ignored Jacob "But The Prize" Taylor but I found myself amused by him. Hell, I'm even considering to romance him on one of my playthroughs.
He's the stereotypical marine, and perhaps that is his greatest strength. He's cocky about his abilities sure, but there was something in the way it was delivered that made it tolerable enough to be amusing.
I especially like Shepard's first private conversation with him. It's a refreshing take on the ol' NPC conversation. Plus it fits his character well.
I also like that one time he was in your cabin and he was complaining that the place was too soft for his taste. My Shepard said, "The bed is harder than it looks."
"Are you flirting with me lola?" he teased.
It, again, caught me by surprise that I had to stifle a giggle. Then my Shep crosses her arms. "I'm goin, I'm goin" James said. It was actually kind of cute. In a ship where everybody practically worships the ground you walk on, it's a refreshing change to see someone try to push your buttons just for the lulz.
6. Failing in Thessia
This was one of the hardest parts in the game. Everyone in Thessia helped you to succeed. Lives were sacrificed just so you can reach the temple. Heck before you even got out of Thessia, you can hear some of the Asari talk to each other on the radio while inevitable chaos consumes them all.
"Did Shepard get in the temple?"
So when Kai Leng beat me to the punch, when the dawning realization came that they did everything they could to help me and yet I still failed, it broke my heart and my ego.
It is also the first time that you, as Commander Shepard, really failed. Of course one can argue that there are things beyond one's control but still it doesn't change the fact that you failed, and a whole world fell because of it.
They placed their faith in you and despite the chances of them dying they still went on ahead and got your back. And in the end you failed them all. It really hurt.
7. Thane > Kai Leng
Thane has always been cool but to see him fight Kai Leng elevated him to another level of awesome. Maybe because Kai Leng just looked really ridiculous as an assassin. And I hate him.
I think Kai Leng looks too bulky. He's always crouched like a crab. Assassins in my mind are slick and lithe and graceful. Kai Leng looks as awkward as a bull compared to Thane.
It's also equally awesome how Thane scoffed at Kai Leng as an assassin. Even though he did die in the end, you just know Thane is more skilled. Perhaps it's the way he talks and how his beady eyes seem to express death.
8. Does this unit have a soul?
Mass Effect made me think about synthetic life in ways that no philosophy discourse can. I would even go as far as saying that it changed my views on synthetic life. In writing, we are often told that our main goal is to make our readers believe. If you fail that, you ultimately fail as a writer. In this matter I guess, (discounting the endings) BioWare won.
I never thought I'd care about synthetic life as much as I do now. When Tali was desperately begging me to "choose her people" over the geth, to actually destroy the geth, I had to pause and think because for that moment, the geth ceased to be just machines for me.
My decision on the Geth-Quarian conflict solidified my stand on synthetic life. It was in this moment that I decided I will do whatever it takes to protect ALL life. Synthetic or Organic, everyone deserves to live, everyone deserves a chance.
As my Shepard always says in tight situations, "No one else will die today."
I bet you can guess which ending I picked, no?
9. Garrus, meet me at the bar
There are very few characters in games who can gather the admiration of both the male and female audience. If your Shepard is a man, Garrus is the best wingman. If your Shepard is a lady... well...
Them scars drove me CRAZY HOT. hahaha
That final conversation with Garrus is one for the books. BioWare did an amazing job. You know what, before going back to Earth for the Final Conflict, my Shepard was already resolved. She knew she was going to die. I was okay with that. By the time I got to Earth, I cared about all these people I gathered for the army that I will do anything in my power to drive the Reapers away and let everyone live.
For their future, I was resolved in sacrificing my life.
But when I talked to Garrus...
.... suddenly I wanted to live. Suddenly, I had this massive desperation to not die. It was a moment of selfish weakness. This scream inside my head that says, "You must live! For the turian-human babies!"
Seriously though, Shepard choking on her last few words was enough to make me dangerously doubt my mission. I wanted to live for him.
10. The Last Sprint
Much has been said about the inadequacy of the ending but the suspense that was built leading to it was incredible. Everything in the Final Conflict screams of desperation. And there is no better manifestation of desperation than making one mad dash to the Citadel beam.
Think about it. You have worked your ass up to this last minute and now your vehicle breaks down. There's a few meters separating you from the beam. You don't know what the hell the beam is going to do to you, you don't know exactly what to do, but you run. You run because the fate of the galaxy rests in your hands.
We're so close!
Looking at that empty space that separates you from the Citadel scared the shit out of me. You're so close and yet so many things can fuck up in that empty space. You and your crew run towards the beam, all of you risking your lives, all of you doing all that you can do.
It's particularly moving how everyone runs towards the beam. It made me feel that I wasn't alone. That we were in this together.
There are a LOT more awesome moments in Mass Effect 3. These are the things that I remember at the top of my head. Share me your awesome moments!
[Updated]
SPECIAL MENTIONS:
1. Grunt Wants Something Eat
Grunt has always been a favorite of mine in ME2. This scene where he throws himself at the Ravagers and seemed to die only to come out bloody with the words, "Has anybody got something to eat?" made me cry so hard.
Just recalling that now brings tears to my eyes.
Perhaps it was the feeling of losing so many friends already. I was just so tired, I didn't want to lose anyone anymore so when Grunt reappeared I just cried, relieved that I didn't lose him too.
Oh hai. I'm Nikki. I'm 25. I like videogames and graphic novels and paperbacks and D&D. I like vanilla and vanilla-scented things. I am this boy's geeky girlfriend.
I will put an end to my make-believe world someday and it will involve undead dragons, some magic and a catapult. Read More
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