Costume Quest (2010)

Costume Quest is an adorable and genuinely funny spin on the traditional RPG, made manifest by Tasha Harris of Double Fine Productions, which as many might know is the development studio of Tim Schaefer, legendary game writer behind Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, and several of the Monkey Island titles. Since the studio's last major console title Brütal Legend was more or less a flop (an underwhelming experience in my opinion), Double Fine decided to split into a quartet of smaller development teams, each working on a DLC title, and this is the first of these to see the light of day. The game is available on both XBox Live and PSN, and the version I'm reviewing here is that of the latter.

First off, I'd like to state that this is primarily a game geared towards younger players, which should be obvious from the art style. However, much of the humor and several of the references are also targeted at adults, and the very design of Costume Quest itself should be of interest to RPG afficionados, because it's quite wonderful. The urban, stylized RPG is not necessarily novel to consoles, not since Earthbound or Pokémon, but in truth, the setting here has a flavor far more reminiscent of the Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slicked Precipice of Darkness titles, with a dash of Psychonauts thrown in to the character designs. At the start, you select one of two siblings to play, Wren or Reynold, but the story deviates little aside from the text. You advance through the plot by performing quests, collecting various cards and candies, and doing battle with adorable beasties like Grubbins and Crestwailers, and a few bosses.

Fetch quests are a bane to some, but personally I found that it was simple enough to collect the various costume parts and cards, especially since the dialog in between is such a treat (pun intended). These are truly humorous characters well above their years, and the incorporation of robots, witches, mummies, ninjas and pirates are all bound to invoke nostalgia for both the player's childhood and the many vapid internet memes they've likely encountered. It's important to remain vigilant about what powers each costume provides for you, and also to the environment in each of the three game areas, because there are a few hidden bits that might seem perplexing until you've had a good look around. Then again, I rather appreciate that the game wasn't some 100% pushover, though it's far easier than most RPGs and there are no options to increase the level of difficulty.

Speaking of which, combat here flows pretty freely, with each of your party members essentially becoming a giant-sized version of the current costume he/she is wearing. You'll only get three at most in your party, so the battles are relatively small scale. You have a basic choice of attacking or using a charge up move (every few combat turns), or using an active ability from a Battle Stamp that you've collected. Most of the fights are similar, and once you've equipped the cards and costumes you are most comfortable with, it's not exactly rocket science to succeed. The game also becomes notably easier when you've got the third party member. Most of the costumes are adorable, so it's worth the time to put them all together (even the 1-2 optional suits) and mess with their abilities. Boss fights are slightly more complex but there are not a lot of tactics, so at most you'll possibly fail 1-2 shots before figuring it out.


I've seen a lot of complaints that the mechanics in Costume Quest are dated, the battle system too simple, but it's important to keep in mind that most of these hail from jaded console gamers who salivate over each new Halo or Grand Theft Auto installment released. I found none of their quips to be an obstacle to my own personal enjoyment. The game auto-saves you in certain places, which has dismayed a number of players, since you can't actually save after each battle, but the auto-saves are close enough together (as in, almost every event or upgrade throughout) that they were never an issue for me, and who cares? As for the difficulty, this is primarily a seasonal game for children. Creating headaches for the hardcore enthusiast was likely not at the top of Double Fine's 'to do' list. The only gripe I could make about the title is that the goals in each of the three areas were too similar (same amount of apple bobs to win the grand prize, same amount of kids playing hide & seek, etc.), but this also warmly allows the casual player to have some idea of what to expect instead of keeping them on their toes.

In the end, I had a blast with the game, and for what I paid ($15) the 4-6 hours I spent with it were well worth the investment. The story itself is rather shallow, but the clever interactions between the major and minor characters more than compensated for it, as did the interesting means through which the RPG conventions were applied to the idyllic suburban setting. Just don't go into this expecting some Bioware level of complexity, lighten up and enjoy the ride, and you'll find yourself immersed in one of the cuter and most unique gaming experiences of late, regardless of your age.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

http://www.costumequestgame.com/

Mount&Blade (PC, 2008)

“Here’s your lame horse, pair of worn pants, and a club. Welcome to Calradia! Enjoy your stay.”

Alright, that isn’t actually said anywhere, but it pretty much the standard start of a game of Mount&Blade. Mount&Blade is a game originally developed by a Turkish couple, although somewhere along the way the developing team expanded to few more people. It had been in development for several years, and boasted a unique financing system, where people could buy the game while it was still in development, for a reduced price, while their registration code would work for any future versions. Of course, the price went up the closer to finishing the game got. This worked surprisingly well, and when the game got picked up by Paradox Entertainment and was put up in Steam, everything started rolling. Mount&Blade is an indie success.

Now, many professional reviewers have given the game fairly average scores, but Mount&Blade is one of those games that boast the coveted “Civilization effect”, also known as “One More Turn Syndrome” or OMTS. It often occurs, that on a first try, the planned 30 min splurge into the game turns to realizing that it’s 4 in the morning. So, what is the game really about then?
Mount&Blade is something akin to a medieval version of Elite, where after character creation, you start off as a poor nobody in Calradia, which is a land with four warring kingdoms, populated with all sorts of scum and villainy. Your objective? Do whatever you want. You can start trading between the cities, you can become a hated rebel warlord, anything within the game’s capabilities, really. One thing is certain though; sooner or later you’ll encounter combat. And oh boy, if it isn’t fun.

Mount&Blade is THE game that got mounted combat right (should have seen that coming just from the name). Riding on the battlefield, with a couched lance which you handily land between a knight’s eyes at full gallop is satisfying, as well as riding past peasants and swinging them in the face with a battleaxe. If you’re bit of a Mongol, horse archery is brilliantly executed, and riding circles around your enemies while peppering them with arrows is great fun. You can also take the role of a commander, and let your troops do the fighting for you.

That’s right, you can also gather an army of your own, and fight massive battles, or siege and conquer castles and cities. All of this is horribly addicting, and the game manages to pull off something that many big titles fail at: It’s simple, good fun that you don’t really get sick of. Ever. I should have some idea, I’ve been playing the game on and off for years. The reason I’m reviewing it now, is due to buying the newest version on Steam.

“But it looks like shit!!1 Itt aint as purty as Haloz!11!” Yeah? Well, the game does have a… rustic appearance, but bear in mind that it was made by pretty much two people for most of the time. Besides, you won’t mind the graphics when you slam a guy off his horse in the heat of battle. Also, the game boasts an impressive amount of mods available, and it is fairly easy to mod, introducing anything from Lord of the Rings, Song of Ice and Fire, the 100 year war, flintlock guns etc. into the game, as well as graphical improvements.

The game is fairly easy to learn, and there are wikis online that have pretty much any information one might want relating to the game. There are problems, of course. The game feels slightly unfinished, and much of the diplomacy and quest system feels simplistic. The graphics might be off-putting to some, although I’ve never really been that big on graphics as long as they do their job. There is a feeling that more could have been implemented, and some other minor problems. There are no game-breaking discrepancies though, and you won’t mind these issues when cracking skulls for the fifth hour in a row.

It might also be of interest, that whispers in the ether suggest that there is an expansion on the way, boasting improvements to AI, graphical adjustments and… MULTIPLAYER! I can imagine the 32-player online death-match, and IT. IS. GLORIOUS.

Mount&Blade is a thoroughly enjoyable game, with plenty of replay value. We need more games like this.

If you can see yourself even possibly enjoying M&B, get the demo from their website. It’s the full game, although you’re restricted to a level 7 cap for your character.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://www.taleworlds.com/

Fallout 3 (PC, 2008)

Where do I begin? I could start with Ron Perlman saying his iconic line from the Fallout series like every other reviewer, or I could try to keep this short and simple without trying to sound profound (especially since I can’t pull it off). Fallout 3 is the newest installment to the Fallout franchise, which is no doubt familiar to most people who have grown up during the 90’s, and were exposed to computer gaming. The original two Fallout games were made by now defunct Black Isle Studios, and the rights ended up with Bethesda Softworks, known to most people from their Elder Scrolls series. Naturally, this made some fans uneasy, and has been the source of internet drama for a long time before the game was released. What now then? Well, let’s have a look at the game itself.

Fallout 3 is based, like the previous games, in a retro-future version of the United States. In this universe, the technology level peaked in a culture that resembles the 50’s of our world. Everything is nuclear powered, and the Cold War didn’t happen between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. , but U.S. and China instead. It also didn’t peter out over time, and eventually escalated to a full blown nuclear war. The Fallout series is set long after this war, and concentrates on adventures and survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Fallout 3 is based in an area outside and including parts of Washington D.C.. This area was hit quite badly in the war, and it shows in the environment. The landscape in Fallout 3 is mostly composed of varying shades of grey and brown, which seems to be a trend nowadays for “gritty realism” and whatnot, but it truly fits and, I dare say, is required for a proper post-apocalyptic vibe. Truly, the visuals of Fallout 3 are brilliant. From the retro design of cars to landscapes blasted by radioactive winds, to glowing dumps of nuclear waste, the world of Fallout 3 is quite beautiful in a weird way, and stepping out of the Vault for the first time is an eye-opening experience.

Oh yes, the Vaults. When the nuclear war happened, some people hid in underground Vaults, allegedly designed to keep them safe from the bombs and radiation. The player starts in one of these Vaults, and goes through a quick process of growing up, before having to leave. I quite liked the way the character creation was handled in this game, giving you a sense that your character has a history, instead of being just created on the spot. Even if on consequent characters it might be a bit irritating to go through the same process, the first time is delightful. Did I mention that your father is voiced by Liam Neeson?

Many people were worried that Fallout 3 might play like Oblivion, Bethesda’s previous game. In some ways it does, but in a good way. The combat is generally fun, and gets better the more creative you get. V.A.T.S. system developed by Bethesda for Fallout 3 replaces the old turn-based combat option from the previous games. It pauses the game, and you can select the enemy, and the body part to target. The game then uses your character’s attributes to calculate the likelihood of a hit, and plays it out. This can help those who are not used to FPS games, but it is just bloody good fun to watch your character blowing off limbs in slow motion. It has yet to get old, and I’ve been playing this game since the launch.

The game world is quite vast, full of hidden surprises, and things to explore. Unfortunately Bethesda has relatively few voice actors to voice all their characters, which occasionally leads to a feeling of déjà-vu, but this is nowhere near the levels encountered in Oblivion. The in-game radio channels are great as well, especially Galaxy News Radio, which plays old songs that are surprisingly good. It is also a surreal experience to waltz along in a wasteland, listening to Danny Kaye and the Andrew Sisters.

For the most part, the game-play is either fine or excellent, the visuals are beautiful, there’s plenty to do, and overall the game is well worth the money. It feels like some small part of the feel of the original Fallout games is missing, and there’s a pervading sense of Oblivion all over the game, but this still feels like a true Fallout game, albeit quite different to the previous ones. Definitely a GOTY contender.

Verdict: Epic Win

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/index.html

Fable 2 (2008)

There's a lot to be said about Peter Molyneux's latest baby, Fable 2. I'll start with the good things.

The meat of the Fable 2 is combat, plain and simple. Fortunately, combat in Fable 2 is actually quite fun. It almost feels like a Devil May Cry-lite, with surprisingly tight controls and highly enjoyable thwacks and bangs. To get the most out of the experience, you'll want to play a balanced character, which is good, because the game basically forces you down this path anyway. Headshotting Hollow Men with a flintlock pistol is a glorious thing, and combat is really the saving grace of the entire experience.

For all the speculation and pre-release hatred that the Dog was given, your Dog is fucking cool. It's great to put on an eyepatch and see your little pup grow a black patch of fur over their eye. It's even cooler when your pup limps around after taking some hits in battle and you feel a twang of pain in your heart, cursing the shitty "expression wheel" control scheme as you try and dig out your magical "heals all dog wounds forever" potion. You really and truly grow to love the dog in Fable 2, Molyneux wasn't blowing smoke on this at all. While I would've liked to see the dog morph a bit more, like your character, and maybe even adapt it's breed to match your ethos, it's a bit like asking for gold-flaked sprinkles on your already delicious sundae.

On the more average tilt, the "social" aspects of Fable 2 are pretty much as uninteresting as they were in the first game. Yes, having a wife that you can fuck and produce offspring with is fairly amusing for a few moments, but that's really all there is to it. Villagers crowd around to watch you fart, or dance, or whatever, and you can choose to invest in property or businesses to produce some income every few minutes. I'm not really sure what the supposed point is of all this, because I never found one in all my time with this game. I suppose it makes for some good forum posts and it's a novel way to expand upon gameplay options, but it's just not nearly as interesting or rewarding as the combat.

Being a Lionhead game, Fable 2 has it's share of bugs ranging from the eyebrow-raising to the controller-tossing. Reports of broken quests, broken saves, and all manner of progress-blocking interface weirdness flood the internet, and although I didn't personally experience anything game breaking, I did cock my head a bit every time my wife would look at me with her big, whore eyes and say "Oh, I love you so much" and follow it up with an immediate declaration of "You murderer! I'll never forgive you!"

Though it will definitely have it's supporters, I found the story of Fable 2 to be abominable. It's a generic revenge tale with some highly predictable elements and some less-than-stellar delivery and pacing. The truly odd thing about the story is that Fable 2 will definitely make you feel emotion in ways that other games with far better story and delivery can't. It's almost like reading a children's book that you've read a dozen times already. You know where it's been and where it's going, but there are still some great moments buried in there. Unfortunately, there are also still plenty of moments that fall flat on their faces. Some, like the ending(s), are too significant to be forgiven.

Also on the list of detriments, the art style is still mostly uninspired and bland, and there just aren't enough cool hats or other clothing for your character. The co-op is so feature-starved - lacking even independent camera control and the ability to play your own hero for the second player - that I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone. Ignore the pre-release claims of Fable 2 being accessible to non-gamers; it's not, at all. The combat can be very frustrating to beginners, and the interface is so obtuse and flat out crappy that only a console RPG player could use it. Even then, those of us raised on the NES-era menus will stumble from time to time.

There isn't a whole lot to say from a metal standpoint about Fable, unfortunately. I played through the first time as evil as I possibly could, sacrificing peasants and even a few spouses to the Temple of Darkness, or whatever it is. The unfortunate thing is that the "evil" elements, at least for the player, are played off as laughably silly. "Friday is poker night" you hear on your first visit inside the Temple. You gain entrance by eating crispy chicks, fried chicken nuggets. You sacrifice your victims with a giant spinning wheel that determines their method of death. You get the idea. Lionhead never really seems to nail "evil" in this game except for the portrayal of some of the villains. Note: some. Despite playing through the entire game as a murdering, thieving shitbag, I never really felt like a villain. I would love to see future installments get downright satanic, but I doubt it will ever happen.

Fable 2 is a conundrum. This review has turned up far more criticism than praise, and yet I really liked it. Each and every time I played it, I was having so much fun that I could easily ignore it's flaws, and yet when I wasn't playing, the flaws were all I could think of. Fortunately for me, I kept coming back for more and rarely stopped to reflect on the holes in the experience. I would be remiss not to deduct some points, though, for the awful co-op implementation and the miserable story. All in all, Fable 2 is a good game with hints of both greatness and mediocrity, and so I do bestow a "win" upon it.

Verdict: Win (7/10)

http://www.lionhead.com/fable2/Default.aspx

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (2008)

In 1995, Chunsoft released a roguelike for the Super Famicom by the name of Fushigi no Dungeon 2: Fūrai no Shiren. This was the second game in the Mystery Dungeon series, which started off as a spinoff of the Dragon Quest series commissioned by Enix starring Torneko, the chubby shop keeper of Dragon Quest IV. Shiren was the first original entry in a series that would eventually come to contain such titles as Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Of course, none of the old games ever made their way out of the land of visual kei and giant robots, so few people got the chance to play them.


Shiren the Wanderer has an immediate charm that comes from the simple SNES sprites and their rendering of a feudal Japanese setting. The base quest is to reach the Golden Condor on Tabletop Mountain, and...well, that's it. However, the cities and people along the way develop as you keep playing, eventually opening up new stores or dungeons if you perform the right actions and side-quests. Although the main "story" is quite simple, it's really only a small chunk of the game.


Like all roguelikes, Shiren the Wanderer's gameplay is based around randomly-generated dungeon levels filled with enemies and unknown items. Combat is turn-based, working on a grid system, and involves melee weapons, bows, magic staves, and items. The only stats are experience, gained from enemies; hunger, which will drain life if at zero and is combated by eating riceballs or herbs; strength; and health, of course. If you die in the course of an adventure, you lose all accumulated stats and all items that were being carried in your inventory. Shiren is firmly in the old roguelike school, and that's really the only thing that would keep anyone away from it. I know it sounds painful to have to start all over again, especially in the MMO age where we grind for hundreds of hours just accumulate new weapons, but if you haven't played a roguelike (and I hadn't before this), it's actually much more refreshing than it sounds. Essentially, this is an arcade rpg - you see how far you can get, learn a bit along the way, and do it all over again when you fail.


Now, you don't necessarily lose everything. You have three storehouses along the way that you can stash items in. These items will always be there when you die and restart. Thus, this drives a slow accumulation of fantastic items, from rare bracelets that protect your stats to weapons and armor that you've upgraded on each adventure. Right now I've got a mastersword+60 with extra damage to certain monsters, the ability to hit three different ways and dig through walls without breaking, and immunity against rusting in my shack. If I whipped it out, I'd be a walking massacre. Thing is, this game is hard. Fucking hard. Just like any arcade game, you only really get good after playing it repeatedly, over and over, to understand the enemies, the placements, the scenarios, the possibilities. But there's always a chance that things can get too far out of control. You just have to take it in stride when a Gazer confuses you, makes you eat or throw away all of your items, and gets you surrounded my monsters that maul you to death.


So what's new for the DS version? Plenty. First off, the graphics have been touched up a little bit. Not enough to move it away from the SNES feel, but sharpened and cleaned up. The top screen can feature a few different things, such as the overall world map or the actually useful list of stats and points. Additionally, new dungeons are available. At the starting city, there is a practice puzzle dungeon that is useful for understanding how to manipulate the game and its situations. The most important added feature, one that really takes advantage of the hardware, is the rescue system. For every adventure you take (ending with your accepted permadeath), you have three chances to be rescued by other players. This can either be done wirelessly with friend/random requests or a short code, or it can be done off-line with a huge code that is given to friends. The latter is a pain, but it's a really nice addition for those that don't have wireless internet. This is great in case you fall to unexpected horrors carrying your best gear, but it's also fantastic because it gives other players additional "missions" to extend the game experience. If you've somehow managed to beat all the game dungeons (which I'll probably never do), you can dip back into the game as the all-knowing benefactor to save lost wanderers.


This is what got me back into gaming after the past two years of growing more jaded and bored of what was being released. I mostly spend my time now making unplanned runs to see how far I can get, but I've been playing since the Spring and I still love it. If you loved the SNES, if you love your rpg's old-school, deep, and brutal, or if you just want something new, get this.

Verdict: Epic Win [5/5] (bow to the Kitchen God)

PA thread for the game

Phantom Dust (2004)

The world is unfair: good guys never win, birds congregate above your car and Soulja Boy has a career. Keeping pace with these mockeries of justice is the fact that Phantom Dust for the original Xbox is not a million-selling household name.

Describing Phantom Dust to the uninitiated can be a daunting task, and the most curious aspect of the title is the original style of gameplay: what if Magic: The Gathering, arena-style deathmatches and action RPGs were all featured on a single episode of Will it Blend? The answer to the show's titular question is a "yes" as definite as it seems unlikely, and quite well at that. The meat of the game is matches between 2 to 4 participants in a number of post-apocalyptic urban arenas. Your only weapons are "Skills", cards essentially, drawn from your Arsenal (deck) in static spawn points placed around the levels. Phantom Dust's range of 300+ skills is ocean wide and deep, spanning everything from the expected simple fireball to reflective shields to skills that change the the dynamics of the rules themselves. The variety and well-balanced nature of the Skill sets demand that your Arsenal's strategic design and application are the highest priority; only death awaits the reckless. This is I suppose a blessing and a curse, the fact that everyone is playing Halo 3 on Xbox Live instead of this is a fucking tragedy.

The graphics are fantastic for an Xbox game and hold up well even today as 2008 wanes. The character design is not for everyone but is certainly unique, the environments are universally well-realized and gloriously destructible, bringing further tactical possibilities to the table. Cinematics are well-done and the (admittedly rare) voice acting is no worse than average.

But in spite of Phantom Dust's general excellence in gameplay and design, it is the story that burns the game into this mind. You are one of two men, found and raised from slumber in iron coffins by strangers in a strange land. The protagonist and his counterpart, a man called Edgar, awake after your recovery in a makeshift medical bay in an underground sanctuary, the only collection of life anyone knows of. You are greeted by a man you don't remember, but you realize you don't even remember who you are.

The world is over, the surface irrevocably blanketed by a mysterious dust for which the game is named. The dust steals the memories from anyone exposed to it for longer than fifteen minutes or so, and the only refuge from infinite amnesia lies underground. To some, this anti-mnemonic miasma grants a gift in return for what it takes away: the ability to physically manifest their will. This is the source of Skills, psychic evocations explained as being contained within the spheres of dust to be found around the surface, and the player and Edgar are of course two of the... "lucky" ones, if such a thing exists in such a bleak world. The only thing that anyone really remembers are the thing everyone remembers: the vision of some unknown ruins haunting every survivor for as far back as their memories reach. No one knows anything about them but the survivors have made it their mission to find these ruins, compelled to find some meaning on a derelict earth. The story continues on from there on to an ending that must be experienced firsthand.

The music is worthy of special note; rarely is a score, video game or otherwise, so piercingly apropos. The violin, dischordant and alone but for a faint echo serves as metaphor for existence for Phantom Dust's sparse populace, a desperate wavering warmth in a tundra of solitude. Even the upbeat, static-filtered combat themes rarely involve more than a couple of instruments, again a metaphor for loneliness: the bitterness of combat is aggrandized by the knowledge that your brief respite from isolation ends only with your victory or death, and all that awaits the survivor is the familiar oppressive loneliness intensified.

The absolute saddest thing of all is that all but no one has played this game. Debuting at only $19.99 retail, this game should have been in every house with an Xbox, but Phantom Dust rewards thoughtful analysis instead of headshots so nobody gave it the chance it deserved. Considering this, the game's lonely atmosphere becomes dramatically ironic.

Verdict: Epic Win

http://www.phantom-dust.com/