Casually gaming my time away
Jay Is Games will be the end of me. Fortunately, I'm quickly running out of games to play. Unfortunately, I have a lot of games to finish and am eagerly awaiting more. In the meantime, I'm going to post about the ones I have played. (Spoilers virtually non-existent.)
Before, I never really understood the appeal of eastern-style, turn-based RPGs. I get it now. They are like crack. I played Mardek and Mardek 2 for hours, most of which consisted of wandering around dungeons punctuated by random encounter battles. I'm still plugging away for the sake of finding out how the story plays out. I'm thinking that, for RPGs, the writing is one of the most important things about the game, since the gameplay is not all that engaging. It really helps that Mardek takes a humourous and tongue-in-cheek look at itself and RPGs in general. I don't know if I can handle an RPG that takes itself completely seriously.
The gameplay is not bad; like I said, not very engaging, but at least I can do it (as opposed to bullet hell shooters, which I'm still terrible at). With this kind of RPG, it's mostly menus. Some games will also feature action commands you can execute during the turns; those appear to keep the player occupied during the times when you don't have control. Mardek is one of those games, by the way. There is really only one action command, but it is an action command all the same.
(I've realized that playing RPGs requires some math. If one is not calculating with actual numbers, then at the very least one is demonstrating awareness of fractions, with regard to health bars and the like.)
Between Mardek and Ge.ne.sis, however, I'm pretty sure I like the latter better. It's a tactical RPG, in which the player moves their characters across a gridded playing field, like in Fire Emblem. Some characters have summons, which do nifty things once you call them onto the battlefield. And you can adjust your character's attributes when they level up.
Ge.ne.sis is really well put together, and the music's great. I think I just really like tactical RPGs, because I love this game and eagerly anticipate the sequel.
But wait a minute! Text-based, choose-your-own adventure games also count as RPGs. Three of the best games in this particular genre belong to the Choice of series. They are, in order of release: Choice of the Dragon, Choice of Broadsides, and Choice of Romance.
What's really great about all three games is that you can take your average heteronormativity and elect to alternately toss it out the window and poke it with sticks. Meaning that you can be any gender you want and pursue any gender you want! That's a perfectly valid option and nothing bad happens to you if you choose it! I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate this. These games are quite open to this, since depending on which options you choose it switches nouns and pronouns around for you. Because of how it does it, there are some limitations; you can't choose to pursue more than one gender in one sitting, for example. But the game doesn't include your sexuality in your stats, so just play the game again and be as queer as you want. :D
In Choice of the Dragon, you play as... a dragon. You can be as vicious and bloodthirsty or as even-tempered and nonviolent as you wish. Also, you get to decide which areas to specialize in (e.g. agility, intelligence, honour, etc) and how much wealth to accumulate. Personalizing your dragon has never been easier! It can have any name, any colour (if I remember correctly), and any gender (including 'none' or 'does not apply to dragons, fool'). And if you so desire, you can kidnap all the princes and princesses you want, for a variety of purposes.
All in all, the game's well written and quite fun.
In Choice of Broadsides, you play as a young naval officer. You decide which are your strengths and weaknesses (e.g. combat, steering the ship, leadership, or patronage) and can choose to cultivate various traits (e.g. honour, tact, courage, etc). You will proceed to make some key decisions that will shape your career and confront various situations, like mutiny and battle at sea. You can also choose to pursue a relationship and/or get married, if you want. Broadsides's atmosphere is fantastic and filled with nautical elements while still remaining accessible. It really feels like you're the captain on an 18th century/early 19th century battleship. And remember, you can be a female captain on an all-female ship (this is, quite obviously enough, what I opted to do :D).
Also, it's my favourite of the three and I'll be writing up my first playthrough very soon.
In Choice of Romance, you play a young noble in a fantasy, Renaissance-Spain-inspired land. Your traits this time are along the lines of intelligence, charm, spell-casting, and social savvy. Your aunt and uncle bring you to the royal court for a Season, where you can meet interesting people, get involved in some politics, and get a first-hand experience in how courtship works in your time. Catching the eye of the ruling monarch is a distinct, scandalous possibility, but for a wedding to result is a challenge, as s/he is already married. The Gender-is-No-Obstacle rule still applies, by the way.
Now, this game is just as gorgeously-written as the previous ones, and given its setting, is a very sumptuous affair. However, I would have preferred more choices of suitors (and they are suitors, regardless of their gender. In this world, the older and wealthier person courts the younger). The personalities of the ones we get are, while nuanced and rounded out by flaws, predictable. The results of choosing them are mostly predictable, too. Also, I get the feeling that this game wanted to be a royal court intrigue story with optional romance/marriage, as opposed to the inverse. Still, though, Choice of Romance was quite good and I will be playing the sequel once it comes out.
I didn't talk about puzzle games, escape-the-rooms, or shooters, but rest assured, I did play some of them, and they were quite enjoyable.
(EDIT: Are they tactical games or not?! What is the classification?!)
(EDIT 2: Pinned down the time period on which CoB was based.)
Before, I never really understood the appeal of eastern-style, turn-based RPGs. I get it now. They are like crack. I played Mardek and Mardek 2 for hours, most of which consisted of wandering around dungeons punctuated by random encounter battles. I'm still plugging away for the sake of finding out how the story plays out. I'm thinking that, for RPGs, the writing is one of the most important things about the game, since the gameplay is not all that engaging. It really helps that Mardek takes a humourous and tongue-in-cheek look at itself and RPGs in general. I don't know if I can handle an RPG that takes itself completely seriously.
The gameplay is not bad; like I said, not very engaging, but at least I can do it (as opposed to bullet hell shooters, which I'm still terrible at). With this kind of RPG, it's mostly menus. Some games will also feature action commands you can execute during the turns; those appear to keep the player occupied during the times when you don't have control. Mardek is one of those games, by the way. There is really only one action command, but it is an action command all the same.
(I've realized that playing RPGs requires some math. If one is not calculating with actual numbers, then at the very least one is demonstrating awareness of fractions, with regard to health bars and the like.)
Between Mardek and Ge.ne.sis, however, I'm pretty sure I like the latter better. It's a tactical RPG, in which the player moves their characters across a gridded playing field, like in Fire Emblem. Some characters have summons, which do nifty things once you call them onto the battlefield. And you can adjust your character's attributes when they level up.
Ge.ne.sis is really well put together, and the music's great. I think I just really like tactical RPGs, because I love this game and eagerly anticipate the sequel.
But wait a minute! Text-based, choose-your-own adventure games also count as RPGs. Three of the best games in this particular genre belong to the Choice of series. They are, in order of release: Choice of the Dragon, Choice of Broadsides, and Choice of Romance.
What's really great about all three games is that you can take your average heteronormativity and elect to alternately toss it out the window and poke it with sticks. Meaning that you can be any gender you want and pursue any gender you want! That's a perfectly valid option and nothing bad happens to you if you choose it! I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate this. These games are quite open to this, since depending on which options you choose it switches nouns and pronouns around for you. Because of how it does it, there are some limitations; you can't choose to pursue more than one gender in one sitting, for example. But the game doesn't include your sexuality in your stats, so just play the game again and be as queer as you want. :D
In Choice of the Dragon, you play as... a dragon. You can be as vicious and bloodthirsty or as even-tempered and nonviolent as you wish. Also, you get to decide which areas to specialize in (e.g. agility, intelligence, honour, etc) and how much wealth to accumulate. Personalizing your dragon has never been easier! It can have any name, any colour (if I remember correctly), and any gender (including 'none' or 'does not apply to dragons, fool'). And if you so desire, you can kidnap all the princes and princesses you want, for a variety of purposes.
All in all, the game's well written and quite fun.
In Choice of Broadsides, you play as a young naval officer. You decide which are your strengths and weaknesses (e.g. combat, steering the ship, leadership, or patronage) and can choose to cultivate various traits (e.g. honour, tact, courage, etc). You will proceed to make some key decisions that will shape your career and confront various situations, like mutiny and battle at sea. You can also choose to pursue a relationship and/or get married, if you want. Broadsides's atmosphere is fantastic and filled with nautical elements while still remaining accessible. It really feels like you're the captain on an 18th century/early 19th century battleship. And remember, you can be a female captain on an all-female ship (this is, quite obviously enough, what I opted to do :D).
Also, it's my favourite of the three and I'll be writing up my first playthrough very soon.
In Choice of Romance, you play a young noble in a fantasy, Renaissance-Spain-inspired land. Your traits this time are along the lines of intelligence, charm, spell-casting, and social savvy. Your aunt and uncle bring you to the royal court for a Season, where you can meet interesting people, get involved in some politics, and get a first-hand experience in how courtship works in your time. Catching the eye of the ruling monarch is a distinct, scandalous possibility, but for a wedding to result is a challenge, as s/he is already married. The Gender-is-No-Obstacle rule still applies, by the way.
Now, this game is just as gorgeously-written as the previous ones, and given its setting, is a very sumptuous affair. However, I would have preferred more choices of suitors (and they are suitors, regardless of their gender. In this world, the older and wealthier person courts the younger). The personalities of the ones we get are, while nuanced and rounded out by flaws, predictable. The results of choosing them are mostly predictable, too. Also, I get the feeling that this game wanted to be a royal court intrigue story with optional romance/marriage, as opposed to the inverse. Still, though, Choice of Romance was quite good and I will be playing the sequel once it comes out.
I didn't talk about puzzle games, escape-the-rooms, or shooters, but rest assured, I did play some of them, and they were quite enjoyable.
(EDIT: Are they tactical games or not?! What is the classification?!)
(EDIT 2: Pinned down the time period on which CoB was based.)