In the wake of the success of Obsidian's Project Eternity Kickstarter, supporters are eagerly watching the stretch goals to see what promised goodies will be put into the game. Meanwhile, I am hoping to see one thing left out: voice acting. Done correctly, voice acting can significantly improve a Japanese RPG. However, recording voices for characters diminishes a Western RPG, regardless of the reading's quality. For this reason, I feel that Western RPGs should avoid having voiced dialogue.
Extra Credits has an interesting two-part discussion about the hero’s journey, a concept explored by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Thatgamecompany’s Journey is the game example featured here (along with The Legend of Zelda) but this seems to be a concept exploited in all entertainment genres.
What do all of these big-name games have in common? They were all worked on by a studio you might not recognize—Demiurge. After helping the big boys with these heavy-hitting titles, they've stepped out of the shadows with Shoot Many Robots, their own original IP.
And you thought the worst that could happen to a Pokémon in a fight was that it might "faint." No sir, in fact there are repercussions that could come back to haunt you.
Caution: Crude language
A funny thing happens to a person when he or she gets older. The person remembers how things used to be, or, at least, how they used to be for that person. There have been times over the past few years where I've become increasingly more frustrated with video games in the current time, and I feel that my reasons are fair… but I might be unfairly basing my dissatisfaction and disappointment on my own perspective and memories of how I remember video games as I grew up.
The guys at Extra Credits take a look at "power creep." For those that don't know, power creep is when elements introduced in a game grow in power compared to when the game was originally launched. Or something like that. Given how prevalent persistent worlds have become and how common it is for games to be patched with new areas, features and items, power creep can become a huge issue for the loyal fanbase. This Extra Credits video takes a look at power creep and solutions that would fix it—or at least keep it at bay.
After playing Hitman: Absolution at PAX Prime, I felt a lot more confident about it and decided to put $5 down at Gamestop in order to play the Sniper Challenge demo level.
So I've been thinking a lot about this Steam Greenlight thing for a couple of days, trying to come at it from a few different angles. I had originally written up a blog post about it, but after discussing it a little further with some (very smart) friends of mine, I decided to do something else.
My first event of the day was one of my most anticipated—Dishonored, from Bethesda. When I sat down with the game, I asked Seth Shain, one of the developers, to show me all the highlights and details that I might miss walking into the game cold. He was happy to oblige, and I hit him with every question I could think of.
My second day at Seattle's biggest gaming convention began with an upcoming XBLA/PSN title called Harold. I spoke with pleasantly French game designer Loris Malek, who talked me through the inception and creation of the game. His energy was infectious, and it was a real joy to see someone so excited about their project.
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