Dragon Age 2 - Review

I was initially ready to pass over Dragon Age 2, after having not been truly impressed by the original Dragon Age: Origins.  Let's just say that I had a few complaints about the first in the series that I wasn't looking forward to facing in the second.  But Bioware put out a demo, and I tried it, and enjoyed what was there, so I decided to pre-order and try it out.

First off, I understand the game and what kind of story it's trying to tell.  You start off as a refugee and work to make a name for yourself, and then solve two of the city's major problems, deeming yourself to be a hero.  I'm on board with the premise, even if I do feel that there wasn't enough of an overall wrap up to the story.  There was something, but I just didn't think it captured me enough.

Did anybody think Hawke didn't look badass enough?

You play as Hawke, a pre-defined character that has a family history, moods, attitudes, and enough badass to back them up with.  Hawke's tones change as you converse and make decisions, and adds a lot of personality to the character you're playing.  I ended up with a smart ass, but could have easily shifted to either side of the spectrum, and in some cases did.  I was happy to play as him and part of me wants to go back to see what other choices I could have in the game.

The choices are very interesting this time around.  There's very little black and white, but differing shades of gray.  Some of them seemed dull while going through the game, but later on I would see a scene and wonder what would have happened in that scene had I made a different choice before.  For example, without spoiling anything, there's a point where you save the lives of two different mages by making two different decisions.  At one point they're both on the screen, one being the captive of the other.  How would that scene have happened if I had chosen to let one of them die?

Either way, I'm sure there would have been a lot of blood.

Combat is handled differently from Origins, in that it's much more interactive.  Instead of having auto combat, and then turning on abilities, you press a button to swing - every time that you want to swing.  You have to keep focus on the task at hand, which was great for a player like me who was playing for the story, but if you're a traditional Baldur's Gate / Neverwinter Nights (Origin's original market) type of player who likes to micro manage their party, this would make you want to just stop playing and curse them for selling out to the consoles.

Push me over and over to win!

Finally, we come to the level design.  You're going to enjoy it for the first couple hours.  After that it sinks in.  "Didn't we just kill a band of smugglers here?"  "Why is there a door here?  There wasn't last time, and it won't open now."  There's only a handful of actual locations in the game.  Every cave, every warehouse, every house is the exact same, and to try to keep you from noticing it, they block off different areas.  Sorry guys, it didn't work, and it feels horrible to "explore" the same area over and over.  Not only that, but since you stay in the same location, you have to go back and RE-explore the same areas over again because new resources spring up over time.  The whole design of it feels lazy and half assed.

So, was it good?  For the most part, yes.  I enjoyed playing through and had a tough time putting it down.  I'd like to see Bioware clean up some of the problems in this game, namely the level design and lack of world exploration, but I think they're on the right path for console players.  I also think they're going to need to bend back to the PC gamers in their follow ups, or at least offer them some options to play the game like they played the first.  There's no doubt that this is going to be one of their continuing series, so let's see what Bioware has in store next for us in their story.  Until then, Happy Gaming.

VG30 Celebrates its One Year Anniversary

About a year ago, I was driving home from work, thinking about becoming 30.  I thought about what it meant that I, and many others I knew, still played games at this time in our lives.  Board games, video games, card games, whatever we could sit around and talk and play.  Then I wondered if anybody would be interested in reading about my life as a 30 year old gamer.  An idea was born: Video, Gaming at 30.  My tag is Video, you can combine Video with Gaming and come up with Video Gaming, I thought it was clever at the time.

My first article went up a year ago tonight.  It was short, who I was and a promise to take you through what it was like to try to keep life juggled with a love of gaming.  Unfortunately, I'm not that clever or funny to have kept it going on a regular basis. What did happen, though,  was that I began covering games and reviewing them from the perspective of somebody who doesn't have all the time in the world to figure out what they should play and what they should avoid.  Reviews from the vantage point of somebody who had to pay for a mortgage and the latest console.  And not just video games, but all kinds of games, and places where we could go play games too, like GenCon (still one of my most popular articles).

Over the last year, the site has evolved into what it is now.  Once or twice a week, something new is added.  Whether it be a new game review, something that's been around for awhile, an article about what's coming out next month, or just how to be a better gamer, they're all born from my perspective, our perspective as adult gamers. 

Thank you, to all of my followers.  I love seeing how people find the site.  I've attracted Magic players, Indie Gamers, True Dungeon larpers, console and PC gamers, and who knows how many more.  I love seeing all the countries they come from, and all of the search terms used that somehow find something here on this site.  You all give me reason to keep writing, and so I'll be here for another year, gaming at 30(ish), sharing my experiences with you all.

Happy Gaming.

- Video

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Beyond Good and Evil HD - Review

Beyond Good and Evil was a title released in 2003 and failed to capture an audience despite reviewers giving it fairly positive reviews.  I even remember walking into a Circuit City, seeing the game for the PS2 for $9.99, and still not giving it a chance.  Well, fast forward 8 years later, and I get a second chance to try out Beyond Good and Evil HD on the Xbox Live Marketplace for their House Party celebration.

Jade in all of her reporter glory

You play as Jade, a photographer who can't pay the electric bill. After finding out that she can take pictures to earn some money, she and her man-pig friend Pay'j set out to snap some shots of animals and get drawn into a rebellion, revealing a kidnapping plot that is a little out of this world.

I say that because you'll eventually end up in space

The first thing that I noticed when playing the game is that the control is just god awful for people who invert the Y-Axis.  If you want to invert it, you also have to invert the X-Axis, which as a strictly Y-Axis person, is just plain dumb.  I eventually got used to it, until I actually got a flying ship where you would push up and go up, contradictory to any flying ship I have played in since Top Gun on the NES. 

The story and world oozes 90's adventure game.  There's only enough in the world to make it feel like it could be populated, and whatever it is that you're looking for seems to always be right where you want to find it.  There's two primary ways to get around in the world, first, you pilot a hovercraft to sections in a small bay like area, and once you reach your destination, you dock and explore on foot.  Jade isn't very strong, but is small and can crouch and sneak around pretty easily. 

I never had a problem controlling Jade aside from the camera, she would always do what I wanted her to do outside of combat.  Once in combat, all bets are off.  Sometimes I can do back flips, and swing her staff weapon around with relative ease, sometimes she would dodge awkwardly and still get his by a nearby explosion.  Her special ability, a move that lets her twirl around in the air firing projectiles, takes too long to charge up and is forgotten through most of the game.  Combat overall feels weak without enough emphasis placed on it.

Typical fight that is in no way shape or form hard to win

The other side of the spectrum is stealth, which a much heavier emphasis is placed on.  Sneaking behind guards with no room for error becomes frustrating quickly.  It is worth noting, however, that no two of the sneaking areas felt the same, so there was always something new to try to figure out. 

Finally, somewhere in the middle, are various mini games that challenges that you can try to complete.  Not all of them are necessary, but you're going to need to do at least some in order to finish the game.  These include Hovercraft Racing, a version of Air Hockey, animal photography, and chasing down looters (also in hovercraft).  They were a fun side mission to complete, but would often take you out of the story for too long while you had to run around the world collecting items to upgrade your ship to get to the next area.

One final complaint, the last boss is pure combat and precise combat at that.  Nothing in the game prepares you enough for the choreography that you have to follow in order to beat the final boss, and players are left up to their own discoveries on how to do it.  Here's a hint, his attack pattern repeats because you screwed up, you have to get every hit on him without him hitting you to beat him.

In conclusion, it was a pretty alright game.  It was interesting enough to hold my attention and be added to my very exclusive 100% achievement complete list, but dull enough to make me wish I was playing Dragon Age 2.  I'm glad I picked it up, though, if only to see what everybody says was such a tragedy to never get the recognition it deserved.  Well, BG&E, I wouldn't have paid the $50 you originally retailed for, but I probably should have snagged you when you were in that bin at Circuit City.  Give it a try if you're looking for something to do over a weekend.  There's worse ways to spend your time.

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer - Review

Ascension caught my eye at GenCon 2010, unfortunately their booth was always packed and there was always a new person to run over and talk to about their latest and greatest, so it wasn't until just about a month ago that I was able to sit down and try out a game of it.  It's another take on the deck building games that are currently cropping up, designed by Justin Gary, an ex-Magic The Gathering Pro Tour player.

Everything has its place in the box

So how does this one work?  Well, players receiving starting decks consisting of attack power, and magical power with a heavier emphasis on the magical.  They deal themselves a 5 card hand and then set out to build their deck to accumulate points by either playing magic cards to get new heroes, equipment, or constructs, or by playing combat cards to defeat the monsters that appear on the board.  Only 6 cards are available at a time, and once one is removed, it is immediately replaced with a new card, keeping the game fresh and exciting at all times.

Based on the number of players playing, there is a set amount of points that can be earned before the game ends.  Once the the last points are taken, the round completes and then players add up their accumulated points as well as any points that appear on cards that were taken such as the heroes or the very point heavy constructs.  The player with the highest score at the end wins, simple enough.

A typical board state

Of all the deck building games out there, there's a few things that set this one apart.  For starters, games are always close and always up in the air.  Each game that our play group has played has been a matter of mere points separating the players, where it was felt that anybody could have taken the game.  Secondly, there's very little player interaction.  There's a total of one card in the game that will allow you to steal cards from other players, and it's a monster, so once it's beaten, it goes off once and is gone from the game. Finally, there is always something to do, there's no such thing as a wasted turn in this game, even if it's just attacking the always around cultist for a quick point.

We say we're punching him in the face

Our play group had the very awesome chance to sit down with Justin Gary and play the yet to be released expansion as well as ask him some questions about what direction he was taking the game in.  The big reveal for the expansion are cards that when they come up in the center row, automatically trigger an effect for all players.  Mostly good effects, like draw a card, but there is one bad effect that I won't spoil that the monsters can do.  The points per player in the game has been revamped, and our play group went through most of the deck while trying to score them, so the games do last a little bit longer.  On the plus side, the expansion also upgrades the game to allow for 6 players, to larger play groups like mine can rejoice.

So if it wasn't apparent, we're big fans of Ascension:  Chronicle of the Godslayer, and recommend it for anybody looking to get into fantasy style deck building games.  It's easier to learn than Thunderstone, but having all of the cards in the deck makes for less strategy (but still lots of fun).   We're looking forward to the new expansion, slated for this summer, and the iPhone version of the game, coming out this May for $4.99.  Additionally, you can visit Board Game Geek to pick up The Rat King promo cards, as well as the Ascension website to get any promos that were given away during game days (we here at VG30 are big fans of companies that make their promos easily attainable).  Give this one a try, you won't be sorry.

The Ones to Watch - March 2011

March is upon us, and with it, like every month, a new batch of games are coming out.  So let's take a look at the ones that are worth keeping an eye on.

Rift - PC - 3/1/11

Rift is a new MMORPG being put out by Trion.  They've been trying to compete directly against World of Warcraft, but it's likely just a means of getting attention.  The company says that they can spawn events anywhere at anytime because of the nature of the "Rifts" that they can open in the game world.  We shall see.


Fight Night Champion - Multi-Platform - 3/1/11

The first Fight Night game to receive an M rating due to violence, EA tries to take the series into a more realistic world where haymakers don't win every fight.  The M rating might work against the title, so it'll be interesting to watch how sales for this title fare against previous games.


Pokemon White and Pokemon Black - DS - 3/6/11

The Pokemon juggernaut continues rolling forward and is a large reason that Nintendo is still the king of the handhold game kingdom.  Interesting that they decided to put out this game, knowing what was coming out later in the month.  Hmm..


Dragon Age 2 - Multi Platform - 3/8/11

I was ready to dismiss this game entirely until I tried out the demo.  The active combat system really brings the fighting alive and makes me feel more involved in the game.  The previous game was definitely written for the PC market and then ported over, but this one is much more console oriented, much to the chagrin of PC gamers.  Bioware seldom disappoints, so expect something good here.


Homefront - Multi Platform - 3/15/11

Homefront is if Red Dawn met a FPS.  America has been invaded, and it's up to a rag tag group of freedom fighters to help get supplies to the army, while battling the invaders every step of the way through their own backyards.  It looks like it could be interesting, but may also fall into the "just another FPS" category.  The ratings will be sure to reveal where it belongs.


Yakuza 4 - PS3 - 3/15/11

It's hard to completely dismiss the Yakuza series.  Sega is a very... spirited developer these days and can come up with very interesting environments and, well, flat out Japanese type games.  Yakuza's well known for it's very open world that allows you to take part in many different activities between killing rivals, and that's kinda cool, right?


Okamiden - DS - 3/15/11

Okami on the DS where you can finally control things with a stylus, the way you should have been able to the entire time.  'Nuff said.


Crysis 2 - Multi Platform - 3/22/11

Crysis is well known to be a beautiful game that seriously tests the limits of your PC.  They claim to be raising the bar with what home PCs and consoles can do visually, and, well, the Crytek engine has got some real stuff to prove after a lack luster showing on the demo.  Maybe we'll hear more as we get closer to the 22nd.


LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars - Multi Platform - 3/22/11

Fans of the LEGO series have something new to look forward to now.  The latest imagining of the Star Wars universe, modeled after the Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network, is hitting home consoles.  From what we hear, missions are taken directly from episodes in the series, so everything will feel right at home for the fans.


The Sims Medieval - PC - 3/22/11

For the Sims fans in our lives, EA is putting out a new take on The Sims, called The Sims Medieval.  It touts enhanced graphics and reworking the core game elements of the main series into leveling up adventurers and sending them on epic quests.  If you ever wishedfor the Sims to be in a fantasy realm instead of modern day, this is your game.


Nintendo 3DS - 3/27/11

Rather than go over all of the launch titles for Nintendo's new hand held system, we'll just sum them all up here.  The 3DS is already completely sold out in Japan and is making its US debut later this month.  The steep $249 price tag may be too much for Nintendo's traditionally younger and casual audience, or the system may be dismissed after launch as a gimmick.  It's likely to sell well initially, but is this Nintendo's next big thing, or next big flop?  Time will tell, and Sony will be watching very carefully.  I won't be able to give an accurate opinion until I get my hands and eyes on it.


April is a mere month away, and looking pretty bad for the first half.  Fortunately some very beloved sequels will be hitting shelves in the second half, and we'll all be able to celebrate with some nice delicious cake.