May 2015 - Page 3 of 3 - Samantha Lienhard

Broken Age is Charming, but Falls a Little Short

Reviews, Video games No Responses » Tagged with: adventure game

May 062015

I enjoyed Broken Age. Let me get that out of the way in case my later complaints give the wrong impression. Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure game from Double Fine, the developer behind such amazing creations as Psychonauts. I like both adventure games and Double Fine’s humor, so even though I didn’t participate in the Kickstarter (and consequently never took much note of the delays or anything), I was quite interested in Broken Age.

Due to financial woes, the game was split into two parts. Act 1 was released last January (January 2014), which is when I first played it. It was short, only 3-4 hours long, but I really enjoyed it. Broken Age: Act 1 had simple puzzles but a strong sense of humor.

Its story was where it excelled. Players could swap between two different characters whose stories seemed to have no connection: a headstrong girl named Vella who doesn’t think it’s such an “honor” to be sacrificed to a monster and decides to fight the system her society is based around, and a boy named Shay who is tired of his monotonous, danger-free life aboard a spaceship. Exploring the worlds of these two very different characters and trying to figure out how their stories intersected was fantastic, and Act 1 ended with a brilliant twist and cliffhanger.

We had to wait until this April to finally see the rest of the game, but Broken Age: Act 2 didn’t satisfy me as much as I’d hoped.

Go on, what does the knot look like?

Mechanically, it may be the better of the two. It’s longer, its puzzles are trickier, and some parts require you to swap between characters in a way that makes no sense from a narrative perspective but is clever from a game perspective. I got stuck on puzzles a few times, but usually it was just because I missed something I could interact with.

Then there was the knot puzzle. That was just mean.

Some players criticize Act 2 for its trickier puzzles, but I don’t think it’s a gameplay flaw. Some parts may have been a little tedious, but overall they felt in line for an adventure game. The story, however, disappointed me a little.

Maybe it’s because of how good Act 1’s twist was, but the revelations and conclusions in Act 2 fell short of my expectations. Even though the story remained interesting, the explanation of what’s going on didn’t live up to the first half. Some oddities are handwaved, while others just raise too many questions.

Click for spoilers

The behavior of Shay’s “Mom” made sense for a computer programmed to protect him. For an actual human who really is his mother, though… ehhh…

And if you pay attention to Shay’s dialogue in the first act and his shock at seeing his father in the second act, he really believed they were computers. Great parenting, there.

Some fans think that in the long gap between the release of Act 1 and Act 2, the story was changed. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but that would go a long way toward explaining the discrepancies. Either that, or it was a PLvPW-style incident of writing a wild story without guarding against plot holes.

Do I recommend Broken Age? Yes… just be aware that the second half of the story doesn’t deliver on the potential promised by the first half.

May the 4th and Other Odd Holidays

Books, Movies and Shows, Video games 4 Responses »

May 042015

May the 4th be with you!

…In case you didn’t get it, Happy Star Wars Day! May the Force be with you. And if that wordplay makes you cringe, just wait until I try to explain the holiday based on a Japanese pun. Oh yes, I’ve got a couple holidays to share with you that make May the 4th seem downright normal.

So let’s start with today and head through the calendar to take a look at the odd holidays I’ve taken to celebrating over the years!

Even major retailers like Amazon celebrate this one!

May the 4th, or Star Wars Day

When: May 4th, obviously

Why: “May the 4th” sounds enough like “May the Force” for Star Wars fans to give one another a slight variation on the famous, “May the Force be with you.” While it isn’t officially recognized as Star Wars Day, it’s popular enough and celebrated by enough people to give it some legitimacy.

How to celebrate: This is an easy one! Watch the Star Wars movies, dive into the (no longer canon) Extended Universe novels like the Thrawn Trilogy, or play one of the great Star Wars video games like Knights of the Old Republic or Republic Commando.

True diehard fans may want to engage each other in simulated lightsaber duels, and don’t forget to greet everyone with, “May the 4th be with you.”

In similar fashion, just a few weeks from now is…

Geek Pride Day

When: May 25

Why: This is sometimes celebrated as an alternate Star Wars Day, because the first movie was originally released on May 25, but it’s also Towel Day (originally recognized to honor The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Douglas Adams two weeks after his death) and the Glorious 25th of May (from the Discworld novel Night Watch).

How to celebrate: Celebrate Star Wars, celebrate Douglas Adams, celebrate Terry Pratchett… if it’s anything that might get you named a geek or nerd, it should fit the theme. This is the most open-ended of all the holidays on this list. In fact, celebrating most of the holidays on this list probably qualifies you to celebrate Greek Pride Day…

So let’s move on, all the way to July, with…

Bungie Day

When: July 7

Why: Bungie has a fascination with the number 7. Therefore, 7/7 is the perfect day for them. The very first Bungie Day was 7/7/07, but since then the company decided to celebrate it every year.

How to celebrate: The best way to honor Bungie Day is by playing Bungie’s games! Whether it’s Destiny, Halo, or you have one of their older games like Marathon, devote this day to the developer you love. (And if you don’t love Bungie… why are you looking for advice on how to celebrate them?)

Next, September gives us…

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

When: September 19

Why: According to the official site, September 19 is one of the founders’ “ex-wife’s birthday, and the only date he could readily recall that wasn’t taken up with something like Christmas or the Super Bowl or something.” Now, people celebrate it all across the world.

How to celebrate: Another easy one. The name of the day tells you what to do–talk like a pirate. For most people, this means spending the entire day saying “ye” and “me” for “you” and “my,” addressing people as “mateys” or “hearties” and threatening to make them walk the plank, and tossing in the occasional “arr” and “yarr” for good measure. Feel free to dress as a pirate or drink grog if it helps you get into the spirit of things.

Back when I was in high school, one of our teachers decided to talk briefly about silly holidays. She mentioned Talk Like a Pirate Day and said, “Believe it or not, people actually celebrate a holiday this absurd. It’s on September 21 or something like that.” Very quietly at my desk, I said, “September 19,” much to the delight of the girl sitting next to me. That’s right, I was celebrating back then, and I’m still celebrating now–here’s to ye, me hearties!

We could stop in October for Mole Day, but I don’t really celebrate. Mole Day fans, please join me in the comments if you’d like to shine a spotlight on your day. Let’s continue on to the month of November, starting with…

N7 Day

When: November 7

Why: November 7 = N 7 = N7. The N7 designation marks you as a graduate from the Systems Alliance’s Interplanetary Combatives Training special forces program, but for the majority of fans it’s just a symbol of Commander Shepard and the Mass Effect series. BioWare started celebrating N7 Day on the first game’s 5th anniversary.

How to celebrate: Playing Mass Effect is a great place to start, although there are also novels and other tie-ins if you want to deepen your knowledge of the lore. This is also a popular holiday for cosplay and fan art, and Bungie sometimes holds its own sales and contests.

But we all know what I really look forward to in November…

Walter Sullivan Day

When: November 21

Why: To explain with as few spoilers as possible, when Silent Hill 4 antagonist Walter Sullivan is described as the “11121 man,” that’s a misinterpretation on the character’s part. It’s really “11/21,” which makes 11/21, or November 21, the perfect time for a holiday! Every year, I faithfully wish my friends a Happy Walter Sullivan Day, and every year the majority of them look at me like I’m out of my mind. Rather appropriate, really.

How to celebrate: If you can find a copy, give Silent Hill 4: The Room a chance. It may be somewhat maligned by Silent Hill purists, but it’s actually my favorite game in the series.

It’s also recommended that you be cautious around spoons on Walter Sullivan Day, and if you have an apartment, be kind to it.

Silent Hill 4 spoiler

It might be someone’s mother.

Riiiight, okay, let’s hurry out of crazy-ville and flee into March to see what we can oh no…

Mithos Day

When: March 13

Why: Okay, I’m taking this one on faith, but as far as I can understand, “3 10 3” can be read in Japanese as “mi to su,” or Mitosu, the Japanese name for the character Mithos in Tales of Symphonia! I missed it this year, because I only learned about it the other week, but next March I plan to join the few crazy diehard Symphonia fans who recognize it.

How to celebrate: Play Tales of Symphonia. Watch the anime! Read the tie-in manga! I mean, you should do this stuff regardless of what day it is, because Symphonia is one of the best games ever, but this day just gives you the perfect excuse!

And treasure your loved ones on this day.

…Ahem! The fun doesn’t end there, because one day later, we get to enjoy…

Pi Day

When: March 14

Why: March 14 = 3/14 = 3.14, the first three digits of pi. Notably, this year saw 3/14/15, which made it a special Pi Day. True Pi devotees honored it at exactly 9:26:53.

How to celebrate: Even though it’s a math-themed holiday, the majority of people celebrate by eating pie. Yes, we couldn’t get out of this without more wordplay, now could we? So eat some pie and chat about math if you’re so inclined. The gamers among you might want to fire up The World Ends With You to hear some math gibberish spouted by the wacky Game Master Sho Minamimoto.

And… can it be…? That takes us all the way back to…

May the 4th Be With You!

Have a great Star Wars Day, and join me in celebrating all these other delightful holidays. Have you added any of these to your calendar? Do you know any I missed, especially in that massive gap between November and March? Let me know in the comments!

Hmm… I think we fans need to get together and make some new holidays. Why isn’t there an Ace Attorney Day? Shouldn’t we be celebrating the date of DL-6 or seeing if we can make any date puns from the main characters’ names? No Professor Layton Day, either? Descole is just dying for his own holiday, folks!

Apparently there is an International Raistlin Majere Day faithfully celebrated every year on April 8, though it doesn’t seem to be widely recognized. (On the other hand, it’s probably still more popular than Mithos Day.) The holiday’s creator has several entertaining recommendations on how to celebrate. Should I add it to the list?

Puzzle & Dragons 3DS Demo Only Shows Basic Combat

Video games 4 Responses »

May 012015

Yesterday saw the release of the Puzzle & Dragons demo on the 3DS eShop. While the full game is a dual pack including both Puzzle & Dragons Z (which seems to be the more interesting of the two, as it’s a full RPG with its own story) and the Super Mario Bros. Edition, the demo is only for the Mario part.

Even so, I was looking forward to this demo. I had no interest in the game at all when it was first announced, but the footage eventually shown in a Nintendo Direct caught my attention. I tried the mobile Puzzle & Dragons game and found it to be enjoyable, though frustrating due to its time limits and microtransactions–so a version without these things sounded great to me!

Combat in Puzzle & Dragons is based on matching colored tiles to form combos. Unlike traditional match-3 games like Bejeweled, you can move a tile anywhere on the board, but you’re on a timer. Once the timer expires, you drop the piece and any matches you made are taken. It took me a little bit to get used to this. Instead of quickly making a match, like I initially wanted to do, it was often better to sweep the tile around the board, knocking other matches into position first. Once I got the hang of it, I enjoyed that additional piece of strategy.

To my disappointment, that’s really all there is to the demo. It doesn’t let you capture enemies to use on your team like you will in the main game. It doesn’t even let you customize your team. Instead, it just lets you play through a few encounters with pre-set teams. I managed to squeeze almost an hour’s worth of gameplay out of it, but only because I kept dying before I fully understood the gameplay.

I’m still interested in Puzzle & Dragons for the 3DS, but much like the demo for Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, this one left me saying, “That’s it?”

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