I did a video review on Terraria

Mystic wanted to make sure Terraria was a review done for his Indie Shot series, but initially never got into the game as much as Minecraft.  I love Terraria and was happy to oblige:

Quick thoughts on Mass Effect 3 Demo

I'm working through a headache for you, dear readers!

So I tried out the single player Mass Effect 3 demo yesterday while Mystic watched.  Best Valentines day ever.  It's only 2 hours worth of gameplay so I can't necessarily say what it means for the story as a whole, but I do know that it does give some impressions of the gameplay.

SPOILERS: BECAUSE SOME OF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR EXPERIENCE PURE

-The femshep that won the votes so long ago looks like an anime character
-The beginning part feels incomplete but it may just be due to the fact it's a friggin' demo.
-The little kid seemed obvious and annoying.  Old trope.  Not super sad he got fried.
-Health is no longer regenerating, but shields are, so be ready to actually use those medi-pacs.
-Vangaurds are going to want to use the fuck out of Nova
-Councils are a goddamn waste of time still
-You are now shooting at Cerberus, not for Cerberus
-Leveling up now has more tiers and more splits.  This is good, for strategery
-You have 3 different ways to play, and that's alright by me because I can still play the way I want
-Walking seems a little slow in the game, I'm not sure if that's just me or in general.
-Yes it's glitchy.  I hope EA allows BioWare to make this a well developed game, rather than rushing everything.  I CAN WAIT, YOU WILL STILL GET MY MONEY EA TAKE YOUR TIME!

Finally, I find that there are a lot of people being nitpicky on the demo.  I understand the high expectations, but guys, give it a break.  Ashley's face doesn't look right?  Really?  I thought she looked like a horse since day one, haven't changed that much.  Some other things have bothered people, including the kid scene and the glitches.  Luckily I don't think that's indicative of what the game will be.  The demo seems to be a repeat of what was at E3, meaning any changes since then may not have been added.  On top of that certain things may have been cut out merely for the benefit of enjoying a brief but exciting demo.  Please don't think the demo has everything.

I will say that the demo didn't suck, so I'm still going to buy the game.  And that's all I was looking to know from the demo.

Beat Dragon Age 2!

Hey readers!  You missed me didn't you?  Yeah, well once again I was sucked into another Bioware game,  and on top of all the other things happening in my life, it soaked up a big chunk of my time. Literally, this game soaked up 47 compelling hours of my life.  And of course, I'm going to review it.  You ready to listen?

Well Varric is going to tell you anyway.

WARNING: IF YOU DON'T LIKE ANY HINT AT ANY PART OF THE STORY BEFORE YOU PLAY, DON'T READ FURTHER.  IN OTHER WORDS, SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD.

Story: Oh many the story.  I have to say, this is the first time in a video game where there was a scene that made me cry.  Like really cry.  From the get go, you play Hawke, male of female, who is trying to survive and avoid the blight in Ferelden.  You try to find safety in Kirkwall, and over time you do gain more notoriety, but not without huge sacrifices.  Death is a constant fact of life.  Conflict is inevitable.  And the choices you make are gut-wrentching.  There were definitely points when I had to fight people, and I felt horrible having to do it.   

The game's story is a tale of freedoms over safety, and it's amazing how strong that theme is and how is enhances the game because of it.  And your characters all have their own story that has it's own built in conflict within the game.  Are you going to help with a project that may bring back a demon?  Are you going to save someone's life if the entire city's well being on the line?  If you're like me, and you love video games because it's an interactive story device (with fictional violence for fun!), you won't be disappointed.  Bioware does deliver.

Only complaint?  Like much of Bioware's stuff, it's very binary.  No middle ground.  Someday there will be a video game that allows that option.

8.75/10

Gameplay: Similar to the previous game, where pause and play rules the day, you command your Hawke and three other companions in battle.  Strategy is a must, especially if you're playing at the harder difficulties.  Be ready to be selective about who comes with you, balancing everyone's strengths.  

Selecting Attributes and Abilities is less guesswork now.  Attributes, in the style of DnD's abilities, clearly show what about gameplay will change if you raise them.  Abilities can not only be added but modified, allowing you to be a master a a couple of specialities rather than a jack of all trades that you stumbled into the first game.

The part that I personally hate?  WAVES of enemies.  You finish one set of baddies and suddenly out appear from nowhere another set, and then another set!  Especially in the beginning of the game, it totally cramped my style because it affected the way that I would plan my battles.  You get used to it, but it's just a little frustrating sometimes when it's not even a boss battle and you've killed the baddies and then six more of them show up.  Dude!  Party's over, the chips are gone and the hosts are going to bed!  In a boss battle I fully expect it and prepare for it, but it got repetitive when I'm just walking down the street.

8/10

Design:  First of all, we must admit that it's not going to take a lot to look better than the last game.  But it does look good!  Especially if you don't mind looking at the same cave in a different part of the map over and over and over again.  Everything looks good possibly because they scaled it back and focused.  I'm for that to an extent, but I don't like every warehouse or cave looking exactly the same for all of the side missions.  But they do look good, and would be believable if you didn't see everything all the time.  The details do make everything awesome, including making your family look more like your Hawke when you change your preset base face.  

However, you can tell that the game was rushed.  It glitches more than it should.  I just upgraded my motherboard and it definitely is not the issue.  Cut scenes were cut off and there was a whole side mission that I could not complete and cannot be completed across all platforms.  What the hell Bioware? A lot of people are complaining that they rushed production, and I'm sure EA put pressure on the team.  This makes me sad, because it shows.  If this is the reason, Dragon Age 2 is a great example how taking the time to polish makes a big difference.

7/10

OVERALL: 8.25/10

Play it!  It's a good story and a good game.  Is it perfect?  No.  But it's better than the majority of what's out there on the market.  It's a high quality game that has a great story and great characters.  Enjoy it!

What kind of Champion will you become?

What's wrong with whimsy?

The Boyfriend sent me this link to a reviewer who doesn't understand how adult reviewers are loving Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Essentially, this guy doesn't understand how adult gamers, and by gamers not casual gamers but gamers who play anything and everything on the market worth playing, enjoy Super Mario Galaxy 2.  He complains about the button configuration, but doesn't really argue about why it's not an adult game.

I have a question for the author, Doug Elfman: What should adult reviewers like?  What game is the be all end all of reviewer praise?

I have a lot of problems of the kind of assumptions that Elfman makes.  First of all, in my humble opinion, Elfman thinks games with bright colors, goofy sounds, and no gunfire can not be appealing to "true" gamers.  Second, if you don't like using both hands playing a video game, don't play video games.  I don't know of any console who 80% of the time only uses one hand.  I can understand some of the frustration of a Wii controller, because most people used to the old controllers take a while to adapt to the scheme of it.  But that's old news.  If that's your only complaint, that has nothing to do with adults not liking the game.

There is this perception that there is something juvenile about video games.  Some games are, but some are not.  The industry is juvenile, yes, especially since they have a problem with representing their audience as something other than a horny 17 year old that hides in his basement.  But if you actually play video games, you know that the act itself isn't juvenile.  Sometimes it's like a movie, sometimes it's like reading a story you love, sometimes it is merely shooting everything in sight (L4D is fantastic for this) but it usually involves some brain power, problem solving and coordination.  It's a little more active than a book, probably why it's even more distracting and engrossing.  Books aren't juvenile, TV and movies (which are more passive) aren't juvenile.  Why is it video games are considered such?

It's because the perception of such is perpetuated not only by people outside of the gaming culture, but by the people in it as well.  And when we say a fun game that happens to have goofy sounds and bright colors is only for kids, we forget that there are plenty of adults that read comic books, watch cartoons and even read young adult books whose actions aren't considered childish.

I think it's childish to not consider things that are different than your usual repertoire.  Especially if your usual repertoire helps the industry stay more narrow minded, kind of like what this Cracked.com article I read recently was trying to say.

And getting back to the title of this article, what's wrong with an escapist medium where everything is simple, and whimsical and magical?  That's the Mario universe.  It's not fantasy in the traditional sense, but it is a great world to go to after work or school where there are many demands and sometimes you feel like you're stuck in a hamster wheel.  Sure, you're off to kill bad guys, but they don't even bleed all over the place!  They just go POOF and you're done!  You even get gold if they go poof!  Or stars!

Whimsy is completely entertaining even as an adult.  How has the Wizard of Oz stayed such a movie classic?  It's light hearted and fun!  No one would tell you that it's only for kids just because it is brightly colored and has goofy characters.  It's a cinema classic!

If we start subjecting video games to the same kind of scrutiny that we give of mediums, these kind of comments will come less often.  It'll happen in time.  Soon, the idea of a video game being too childish to play or enjoy will become less of an accepted thing.

Wow, I typed a lot more than I expected.  Thanks for reading!

I've played the Sims 3!

I've finally obtained the holy grail of my sims addictions:  The Sims 3!

To be honest I haven't obtained it.  The Boyfriend got the game and let me play it on his laptop.  I'm still a mac owner and I don't even thing my laptop would be able to run the game if I wanted it to.  I only played it for a short time but I have to say that I like a lot of the improvements made upon the game.  However, when I finally get a job and get the gaming computer of my dreams, I will definitely be playing the Sims 2 as well as the Sims 3 it seems.  Let me explain in my somewhat short review.

I started out the sims 3 where any other sims fanatic would start-- Creating sims.  I decided to make a little interracial family.  I'll post some pictures of my own later but right now we'll just have to make do with what google search has provided me with.  Continuing, making sims is, of course, higher detail than it was in previous games, and has a lot more choices.  There's still a sims look.  A lot of the sims look rather similar, and I think it's because when the developers made the NPC sims, they didn't work a lot with face depth and cheekbones, so those all start looking the same amongst those sims.  I think the mother in my family fell for that trap, but it's okay.  You still have a lot of options, and coloring of eyes and skin makes a lot of sense.  You can also choose the colors and patterns of the clothing!  This is really fun to tinker with, and made easy to change.

Although I was able to get a lot of variety with everything other physical trait, I'm really disappointed by the lack of haircut variety.  It is kind of appalling.  I'm not one of those people who can fancy up a hair cut for a sims in a jiffy, or anything that involves designing things outside of game.  I'm kind of stuck with what they give me.  And especially for the guys, I think they could've thought the selection of hairdos through a bit more.  Knowing Maxis, there will be expansion packs, and I think this is why they are holding back.

One more complaint: mixing genetics to make a kid between two sims in the version I got seemed rather unimpressive the one time I used it... but then again that was just once.  I have a pregnant sims so we'll see how it goes.

One of the changes I like the most is how they got rid of the previous personality system entirely.  Zodiacs are gone, and everything is replaced with a traits system.  An adult gets up to 5 traits.  Children have 3 traits, and toddlers have even less.  The idea is that sims growing up in the game gain certain traits as time goes on.  If your sims has a reall awesome life, they can choose these traits as they grow up.  If not, they'll just be given whatever trait seems fit.  Not every trait is a positive, and not every trait is a mere personality choice.  Some examples include clumsy, lucky, perfectionist, heavy sleeper, neat, loves outdoors, and technophobe.  After choosing these traits for an adult sims, you can then choose what that sims dreams to be or do.  They may want to be surrounded by family, grow a fantastic garden, succeed at the top of a certain career path, and a lot of other goals.  You get to choose from 5 when your sims has all his traits in place in the creation phase.  These traits are important later on for wishes, which I'll speak on a little later.

After you create your sims, you can figure out the family relationships and then choose a house for them to settle in.  What's fantastic is that you can choose to have the house furnished when you move in, and if you hate shopping for hours like I do, it's a blessing.  However, if you love shopping than you can shop 'til you drop in an unfurnished house.  I like that furniture can be placed diagonally and I like the look of the interior of a house.

The majority of the gameplay is really familiar and easy to adjust to when you first play.  Jobs are all in the same town, you don't drive off to some mysterious place.  You can also choose your attitude/goals at work.  For example, I had all my sims focus on meeting people at their job or at school so it would be easier for them to make friends.  Skills work about the same, you just have to discover them however, you don't know which ones exist right off the bat.  Fulfilling needs such as hunger and fun is easier because the don't deteriorate as quickly as they have in games before.  I'm so excited for this feature since it'll make managing pregnant sims a heck of a lot easier.  

The newest gameplay feature is the map.  Sims can venture around town at the drop of a hat, and while one sim is at the park, and you're asking them to talk to the old lady playing chess, you can still keep tabs on your other sim who's watching the baby at home.  Everything is in real time and completely manageable without wasting game hours repeating chunks of the day.  Thank you for noticing this Maxis!

There is one drawback to everything being in real time.  Because of this, you can only control one family in an entire neighborhood.  Let me repeat that:  You can only control ONE ENTIRE FAMILY in ONE ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD.  This is a big difference than in the Sims 2, where you could technically control an entire neighborhood of people, along with it's downtown area and it's college and it's shopping district.  You could control everyone!  Of course, that wasn't in real time, but if you love managing people (like I do) this was great fun. There is no way you could control a whole group of people in real time.  This is a catch 22.  Either you can control one whole family in real time all the time, and deal with a town full of NPCs, or you control as many people as you like but not in real time.  

And this is why I will play the Sims 2 and the Sims 3 when I get a gaming PC.  Because I like both types of game play.  I like being able to control a whole town of stories, but at the same time investing in one family in real time is really fun.  I'm not so blind that I can't appreciate the new.  At the same time, I'm not so blind that I can't appreciate the old either.  So I guess that is my compromise.  

I'll have pictures soon.  In the meantime, I think I'll make that family in my sims 2 games too.  I'll do that AFTER I apply for some jobs today.

My thoughts on J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.

Let me explain the delay in actually going to see this movie.  First of all, like I mentioned many times before, I was graduating from college.  Second, the Boyfriend decided that he wanted to wait and see it with me.  It was very sweet of him but I kept on hearing about the movie everywhere, and I've been avoiding websites like io9 for accidental spoilers (which were revealed more than once for me).  All my other friends had seen it and told me their opinions, but as much as I can trust my friends' opinions, I wanted to make my own.

I have mentioned in earlier posts that I am very protective about my Trek.  It's a family heirloom almost.  On my father's side we have war relics and fine china to pass down through the generations.  On my mother's side we have an appreciation for Star Trek.  Being part of a black family the U.S., you realize that you don't get a lot of heirlooms to pass down.  I'm taking wait I can get, and it is Trek.  I was hoping Abrams wouldn't "break" Trek so I cold possibly pass it down to my kids.

What are my thoughts?  Well first...

WARNING: STAR TREK SPOILERS AHEAD

Now with that necessary warning out of the way we can continue, can't we?

Let me start out by saying that everything that I love about Star Trek was not destroyed by this movie.  Everything that I loved about Star Trek was still there, to varying degrees.  Now was this the most intellectual Star Trek movie?  No, it absolutely was not.  But with the fresh start that Abrams is trying to give the franchise, I can concede one movie taking a break from questions of philosophy to introduce a fantastic group of characters.  And that's what Abrams swapped out philosophy for: fantastic character building.

Let's be honest: although there was a good amount of character development throughout the entire series, the original series was not focused on the characters as much.  In the movies that followed there's actually more development, and if you're like me you'll take all this development except for the fifth movie.  Why not?  Because it's filth, that's why.  End of discussion.

Moving on, the character depth in this movie was INTENSE.  You couldn't help but to know these characters.  I definitely wept several times in this movie because my investment with these characters was so  intense.  I don't expect people new to the franchise to be as invested as I was, but considering that I have never felt that deeply attached to a movie before, I know it enticed new viewers in.  And although I knew these characters from before, it was great to see them younger, fresher, and less professional for a few scenes here and there.

The story line itself actually worked.  The only person who's timeline is completely screwed up from the get go is Kirk's.  His father is killed by the mysterious Romulan vessel (although meaning Balance of Terror could never work the way it did before, I'm sure those racial hostilities could be explored again if desired) screwing up the first 20-something years of Kirk's life.  Kirk, although still the same in many ways, it now a rebellious dick because of his father's death, not inspired by his father's accomplishments.  And Spock is still suffering from the ever-present identity crisis.  Though I have to say, when he essentially refuses to study on Vulcan because they insult his mother, I was excited.  The biracial characters in Star Trek always seemed to suffer from "Who am I" crises way too much, and for Spock to acknowledge who he was made me extremely happy.

From boarding the Enterprise on was a great ride.  There was action for those of us who appreciate explosion, theoretical time travel stuff that I'm sure people are still debating on forums, and great character moments.  Meeting a younger, more boorish Scotty was hilarious.  Uhura's sass was very present.  McCoy is still my favorite, just because I have a soft spot for cynical bastard.  It was a little weird to see him fumbling around when he injected that flu into Kirk, but then again he was just a cadet.  Sulu was awesome, and I'm glad they kept his love of fencing for that fight scene.  Chekov was hilarious!  "Oh oh! I can do this!" with the transporting scene helped cut through the buckets of tension getting poured on the audience.  Spock was still very much Spock, although he seemed too human at some points but ragging on that would make me nit-picky.  And Kirk was the 100% jerk that we always knew he was deep down inside.  The characters were consistent with the original series but at the same time accessible to an audience of this decade.

I keep on talking about the characters, but the flow of the story was great too.  You didn't get too comfortable in one feeling, you were waiting for the next surprise.  And for a movie like this, it's great storytelling.  A movie is not like a book or a tv series, you can't wait forever for stuff to happen.  And I never did.

I do have one complaint though.  The relationship between Uhura and Spock.  It's not that I think it shouldn't have happened.  No, I'm willing to concede that it could happen to some extent.  I felt that since it was so abruptly introduced, the relationship was there merely to justify all the screen time given to Uhura.  Which it shouldn't be there to do.  Uhura is awesome with or without a man.  She deserves screen time because she was a great snarky force initially opposed to Kirk's command style.  Putting her with Spock also seemed to force Spock to appear more human to the audience.  Why is that necessary?  The whole point is that Spock is an alien.  Even if he is human, he's still obviously different.  That's why Roddenberry added him to the crew of the original series.

Also, one other minor complaint.  Some of the new alien designs seemed too similar to me.  Let's give you a weird head with a dino-crest in the back and some weird coloring and big eyes, and you'll be an aliens.  I liked the old races they brought back, but they could've been a bit more creative with the ones they decided to introduce.  I did like the one that they had when Kirk was being born, where they only real difference was a bigger eyes in a weird skull.  

Costumes: great.  Set Design: beautiful and made more sense the the original designs from the 60s.  Music score: sounded great, but I would like to hear it again.  Make up: pretty darn good, but didn't blow my socks off.  Lighting: good, but I could've have less lense flare.  who do I blame for that?  Editing: pretty solid, but I am very intrigued to see the deleted scenes. Directing: It's Abrams, it can't be bad unless he lost his brain or something.  Acting: Exciting interpretations and of very high quality.  Obviously this was a well cast movie. 

All in all, I loved it.  Not your typical Star Trek movie, but definitely a good one.  If I had to give this a score, I'd give it a 4.75 out of 5.  It ain't perfect, but it definitely achieved some greatness!

And now to anticipate the next one!