26/12/2017

Six years of gaming happiness: Playing 'em games


The year was 2011, the month was December. Between gorging on cinnamon biscuits and using the short days as an excuse for copious napping, I was eagerly waiting for my sister's imminent visit — and for the Christmas gift she would bring in her luggage. Make yourself comfortable and bring the pop-corn, dear fellow gamers; for what you're about to read is the sweet story of how I reacquainted myself with gaming after nearly fifteen years away from D-pads.

Icecap Zone, Sonic 3. Because winter, snow, Christmas.

That blissful moment had been a long time coming. Ever since I lost interest in my Mega Drive in 1998 because of a lack of games to play, I had virtually retreated from gaming. I stopped purchasing consoles, stopped following the industry's evolution and generally stopped investing time and energy in all things gaming, pouring instead all my fan instincts and my funds into manga and anime. In 2000, gaming made a timid comeback in my life through emulation, as I discovered the joys of replaying oldies on my newly purchased second-hand PC. However, such bouts of nostalgic gaming were but a mere distraction: I usually indulged in a gaming binge once a year, preferably in summer when free time was abundant, and left my emulators untouched for the rest of the year. This became the pattern for the next fourteen years, up until that fateful year 2011.

I don't remember how this happened exactly; but the fact is that by the end of 2011, I had somehow become interested in gaming again, to the point of wanting to get my paws on a current-generation console for the first time in, like, fifteen years. I spent the second half of 2011 comparing consoles and prospecting for potential games; and upon discovering that the Nintendo DS was blessed with a vast array of RPGs, I decided to just go for it and get on board with Ninty again. Enter my beloved sister, a.k.a. my partner-in-gaming ever since we got our first Game Boys together way back in 1990: we plotted that whole thing together and decided that my Christmas 2011 present from her would be a brand-new DS, complete with a copy of Sonic Classic Collection so that I would have something to feed my DS right out of the box.

I wanted Christmas gaming pictures, but hey, copyright issues.

That awesome Christmas 2011 came to pass, and I felt the joy of laying my hands again on a true blue gaming device at long last. Emulation is all well and nice, but it just cannot compare to the feeling of holding a handheld and knowing that this little machine packs up hours of potential gaming happiness and can deliver said gaming happiness pretty much anytime, anywhere. I was utterly smitten with my gorgeous new DSi and could hardly believe that I owned a console again, after what felt like a million years spent away from gaming.

Yet despite being overjoyed at the prospect of diving into gaming again, I didn't quite do that right away. Years spent on an intermittent gaming diet had taken their toll, and I needed to get used to the thing again — all the more so as even back in my active gaming days, I was not the most avid and obsessed gamer of them all. I basically spent the first half of 2012 playing nothing but Sonic Classic Collection and Sonic Rush, with large periods of not touching the DS in between. Then games started trickling in, amongst which cult classics of mine Avalon Code and Dragon Quest IX; and slowly but surely, the DS became a fixture in my life, along with my ever-growing gaming library.

But lo and behold, these are from my first DS game. How symbolic!

Now, my gaming ways have changed a lot in six years. In the early stages of my gaming rebirth, I used to play each and every game intensely, leaving no stone unturned, no extra dungeon unroamed and no complimentary boss alive. This attitude was born all at once from the desire to recoup my gaming investments, from a sense of duty towards the developers' hard work and, last but not least, from deeply ingrained gaming habits. Games being few and far between in the '90s, I had to squeeze every single ounce of fun out of each and every game I managed to get my paws on. That's how I found myself playing Sonic Triple Trouble on the Game Gear for weeks despite the fact that I hated that game's soundtrack, level design and overall atmosphere; and don't get me started on Super Mario Land, the game that taught me all about making lemonade when life gives me lemons. Coming from that place of scarcity, it should surprise no one that I milked my first DS games dry and kept playing them long after they lost their freshness, despite the fact that I had other games waiting to be played.

I've mellowed over time when it comes to game completion, and no longer do I force myself to go platinum with my games no matter what. Life is too short and my collection too humongous to lose time playing games I don't fully enjoy; so when I don't click with a game in the first hours of play or don't feel like toiling on a cheated final boss, I ditch the game entirely and without regret. I've learnt that it's simply impossible to end up loving every single game one buys — especially when one buys games by the truckload — and that one must humbly admit their lack of judgement, sell the offending game and simply move on to the next game in line. I'm also much less of a purist when it comes to game series. There was a time when I insisted on playing a series' entries in chronological order, preferably starting with the very first one when it was possible; however, I don't care anymore nowadays and simply play series in any order I fancy, letting my gaming instinct run the show.

That was totally a Christmas post in disguise.

And since I'm mentioning this... My sharp, ever-dependable gaming instinct played a huge part in shaping those six years of gaming awesomeness. See, I don't determine my next gaming pick through rational means, such as asking myself which game/series/genre I want to play right now or deciding on a list of games to play in a given timespan; instead, I simply daydream about my collection until I get a sudden and irrepressible desire to play a given game. I don't even have to look at the games themselves: I just let my memories of them flow until I get that sharp, unmistakable impulse to play one of them. The lucky winner can be my newest acquisition, or it can be a game I bought five years before; there's no rule, apart from letting my gaming instinct run the game. (Pun totally intended.) This also means that I have no backlog to speak of: I simply assume that I'll play all the games in my collection sooner or later — that is, if arthritis doesn't catch up with me first. And the most amazing thing is that it works like a charm: the game chosen by my gaming instinct nearly always end up fulfilling my gaming wishes of the moment.

There you have it, dear fellow gamers: the story of my Second Coming of gaming, my long-awaited return to the gaming roots I should never have strayed away from in the first place. I'm currently basking in my Halcyon Days of gaming, and let me tell you: this time, gaming is here to stay. I made sure of that, by purchasing enough gaming material and backup systems to maintain my gaming habits for years, if not decades. And since I'm mentioning this, no story of my return to gaming would be complete without covering the collecting side of things as well; and that's exactly what I'm going to do in a future post. Thanks for reading, be my guest anytime and, last but not least: Merry Christmas!

22/12/2017

Atelier Ayesha Plus: I'll be back, baby


Just a quick post to let you know that I've cleared my second run of Ayesha and nailed three of the game's ten-or-so endings. No true ending in sight, but that was to be expected given that I gave Keith the cold shoulder during my whole run. As promised, I sold my whole inventory in the last days and ended up with a massive 200,000 cole balance that's gonna come in handy during my next run. I managed to cram in a bit of gear appraising during the late stages of the game and made my weapons even better, which should make my next runs an even bigger piece of cake than my newly finished run was. I beat most of the complimentary bosses to a pulp, but not all of them, sadly: those bloody Tera Slags got the best of me every single time, and I could hardly scratch that stupid Tank. Guess there's still some room for improvement when it comes to my appraising skills, indeed.

Having said that, I can gladly claim that my alchemic skills got a bit better. The learning curse was steep indeed, but we're getting there, thanks to an awful lot of observation and experimentation. I no longer feel completely lost at sea when I'm toiling in front of my cauldron, and I've been able to craft pretty nifty items during my last days in Dusk. I'll probably only get better at it as time and playthroughs go on and enjoy that whole alchemy business more and more. And maybe one day I'll be able to generate those insanely good Traits/Effects/Properties that pop up in forums about complimentary bosses.

I only have praise in store for Ayesha, and I have a special soft spot for the land of Dusk. This is simply one of my favourite game worlds ever, and roaming it routinely sent me into heavy-duty bouts of wanderlust. There were times I simply stopped playing to gaze at the scenery, and some of the vistas were so breathtakingly beautiful and evocative that I nearly became teary-eyed just looking at them. Of course, it helps that I'm excessively drawn to mountains as a rule and that Dusk is choke-full with mountainous landscapes; I got some strong Central Asia vibes from that game, mixed with a touch of Tyrol. Dusk feels like a cohesive and organic game world — unlike Arland, which felt more like a collection of disjointed vignettes with little to no consistency. I can only imagine the wonderment of gamers that went from the Arland trilogy to Ayesha and were treated to those breathtaking landscapes thanks to the PS3's horsepower.

So, I'm leaving Ayesha for the time being; but I'll certainly reunite with the endearing alchemist and her colourful pals sooner or later. I'll probably also purchase a physical Japanese copy at some point, when my purchasing instincts awaken — they seem to be hibernating for the time being: I haven't purchased a game in weeks. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!

16/12/2017

Atelier Ayesha Plus: Okay, I love it


No buts and yets this time: I adore that game and I'm having the time of my life playing it. I've been gorging on it for 42 hours straight, and I'm seriously pondering a physical purchase — despite the sky-high prices complete and mint Japanese copies of that game command these days.

As it stands, I'm about to polish off my second playthrough; and the very existence of that second playthrough must not be chalked up to my love for Ayesha, but rather to the fact that I suck big time at alchemic RPGs. I spent my first playthrough running around like a chicken with its head cut off, spending way too much time on pointless pursuits and not nearly enough time on the stuff that really matters. I fought, foraged and ran around on the world map too much and synthesized too little, and the consequences were harsh and stinging: I didn't manage to reach the final boss' lair in due time, let alone save my sister. This utter and complete failure stung a bit, to be honest — especially after having read on forums that Ayesha was lenient with time and that clearing everything and getting all endings on the first run was piece of cake. Ouch, my poor gamer's pride.

I was not going to stop at that, obviously; I started a New Game + right away and proceeded to streamline my playing. It certainly helped a lot that the game let me keep my overpowered gear, including those awesome items that cut down foraging and travelling time. Those two runs were like night and day, really: this time around, I managed to progress smoothly, synthesize a lot, beat the final boss to a pulp and rescue my sister — and, most importantly, have fun. I'm currently busy tying up a couple of loose ends story-wise and fighting complimentary bosses, and I fully intend to sell my whole inventory right before the end to get funds for my next playthrough. I ran with Linca and Regina during both of my runs, and came to absolutely adore them — so much so that it's going to be really hard to try cruising with other party members. Not that I need to, mind you: I'm in mostly for the atmosphere, the exploration and the fighting, and nothing prevents me from running forever with these two if I want to.

But what about alchemy, you may ask? Yeah, what about the meat and potatoes of the Atelier series? Well, about that... It's, erm, complicated. Like, in every sense of the word. I have to admit that I don't really understand the logics of synthesis yet, and that the whole process is too murky, complex and random for comfort. Like, why are Traits, Effects and Properties separate? What's the Stock Yard for, and how come that the Traits I pour into it more often than not don't end up in the final item? Why are Effect descriptions sometimes so impenetrable? Why do I end up with an item with a Water Power Trait when I've been using two ingredients with Wind Power to synthesize it? Why, why, why? I'm lost, I really am. Ayesha is a game that sorely needs detailed tutorials or a replete booklet to explain this whole alchemy business to noobs like me. And yes, I somehow fathom that the very randomness of synthesizing is what makes the whole process interesting; but to enjoy it at all, one must at least master the basics and understand what they're trying to accomplish in the first place. Maybe the original PS3 version came with a massive manual, for all I know; but the digital-only Vita version does not, and that absence really stings.

Ah, well; no need complaining about what one cannot change. Not mastering alchemy certainly didn't hamper my fun, nor did it prevent me from finishing the game; so I can live with it, I guess. And who knows, maybe I'll become proficient in alchemy as I play more Atelier games. Because indeed, I'll definitely play more of these: Ayesha has managed the tour de force to make me fall in love with the series in earnest; and after my tepid beginnings with Rorona, that was easier said than done. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!

13/12/2017

Norn9-Var Commons: The Truth Route + Final thoughts


The so-called 'Truth Route' is not so much a true route as an opportunity to tie loose narrative ends and let us know what happens to Sorata, the genius boy with whom this whole mess started. Indeed, he was not forgotten, and neither was his elusive link to Aion, which was hinted at in the prologue. The android and her reborn creator find themselves falling in love with each other à la Chobits, which was an unexpected but quite lovely turn of events. Having the possibility to actively woo Aion instead of simply witnessing the birth of her relationship with Sorata would have made that epilogue even more entertaining; but hey, this is an otome game after all, and I understand Otomate not wanting to push the envelope too far by sneaking in a splurt of gal game action right at the end.

As I said before, Norn9 is my favourite otome game so far — and by far. This is the first otome game in which I love every single character and enjoy every single route; on top of that, my favourite routes are in greater number than in any otome I've played before — said routes being Natsuhiko, Senri, Sakuya, Akito and Heishi. I'll definitely replay at least those routes at some point, and most likely all of them: they all have their strengths and share of interesting moments and all bring something to the story and the overall atmosphere.

Talking about the story, it's a darn good one. My taste in stories can be described in three words: simple, yet effective — and Norn9's story fits that description to a T. By choosing a simple base concept and dutifully sticking to said concept without trying to expand wildly on it, the writers managed to craft an elegant and striking story devoid of plot holes and paradoxes. Sure, one might argue that Norn9 is a bit light on the narrative side: were all the romantic fluff sheared and the main plot written down, said main plot would definitely amount to a short story rather than a novel — but hey, I'd rather read a terrific short story than a lousy novel.

Not only is Norn9 a pretty fine sci-fi story, but it can also be read as a metaphor for the tricky transition between adolescence and adulthood. Teenagers with their unique own special talent are being taken to an unknown place and expected to use said special talent in circumstances that have yet to be clarified, under the authority of yet unknown people: is this not totally a metaphor for joining the workforce and starting living as a self-supporting adult, using your strengths to make a living? Also, the risk of being exploited by the higher-ups and the challenging task of maintaining one's integrity while putting their special talent to good use are mentioned many times, and those are definitely issues anyone has to face on the job. There's no way of knowing if the writers wanted such a metaphor to come across, but it can definitely be read in Norn9's story.

And with that, dear fellow gamers, my paean to Norn9 comes to an end. It goes without saying that I totally encourage you to play that gem of a game, whether you're an otome fan or not. (Heck, I sure wouldn't describe myself as such, and yet I lapped up the whole thing from beginning to end.) Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!

09/12/2017

Norn9-Var Commons: The Mikoto Routes


I had a crush on Mikoto the very second I laid my eyes on her. I had a hunch that she was going to be my favourite girl, and she proved me right: her routes totally delighted and enraptured me, and I'm more than glad I kept said routes for the end. (SPOILERS ahead!)

Mikoto is a interesting character: she's feisty, proud and dependable with a great sense of responsability, which seemingly makes her the perfect shojo heroine; but she's also hilariously modest, quite clumsy, prone to emotional outbursts, and she often fails to behave like a perfect elegant lady despite her aristocratic upbringing. Yet she does try her hardest to fulfill her duty, and doesn't take any pride in failing to be the consumate lady like any regular anime tomboy would; instead, she just acknowledges her failures, and keeps trying. Watching her act and evolve is incredibly entertaining, and she never ceased to surprise me in her routes.

Talking about routes, Mikoto is treated to a great choice of handsome and poised men, along with the most balanced romances: instead of being all about herself like Nanami's routes or all about her beaus like Koharu's, Mikoto's routes pack character development for everybody involved and end up with Mikoto and her potential lover meeting halfway for a fulfilling love story. Note that I said "lover", and that's not just a fancy choice of word to avoid repetition: as the only girl who's legal, Mikoto gets to become intimate with her men, which makes her romances even more pleasantly grounded.

Itsuki: So we have Mikoto, who's prim-and-proper, very modest and a blue blood; and then we have Itsuki, who's the ship's resident womanizer and a red-light district boy. You might think that this route is gonna be a handful, and you'd be totally right — although it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. These two get on each other's nerves and push each other's buttons constantly, and they get to evolve and mature a lot as a result. Itsuki must face the unpleasant consequences of his careless banter and nonchalant handling of his own feelings, i.e. Mikoto's complete lack of trust and respect for him; he's thus forced to overcome his insecurities and be more forthcoming if he wants to win the lady's heart. As for Mikoto, she's driven into a corner by Itsuki's insightful commentaries and has to face the fact that deep inside, she'd like to let go of her overwhelming duty sometimes and to be the one being protected instead of the one protecting. The two find a common ground over time: Mikoto accepts to lay her head on Itsuki's shoulder and show her vulnerable side to him, and Itsuki become a more sensible man who own his love for Mikoto instead of hiding said love under badinage for fear of being rejected.

Natsuhiko: Every Otomate game needs a confinement route, and vagrant engineer Natsuhiko is the one who dons the role of the abductor in Norn9. However, he manages to do so with grace and poise and to not come across as a psychopath or a pervert, which is quite the tour de force. Of course, it helps that he abducts and confines Mikoto not because he nurses some kind of twisted and totally unhealthy love for her, but rather because he wants to use her power to serve his own purpose. She's a mere tool to him, and he has no feeling whatsoever for her; as for Mikoto, she fears and despises him in equal parts. The whole route is about the way they slowly discover each other and fall in love in spite of very unauspicious circumstances; and boy, is it a story well told. Their burgeoning romance is totally believable and deeply fulfilling and heartwarming despite its rocky beginnings, and the whole route made me feel all mushy inside. Cherry on the cake, these two are stunningly gorgeous and ridiculously well-assorted as far as looks are concerned. A special mention to Natsuhiko's short story, which is so impossibly sweet and adorable that I nearly fainted from diabetic coma when reading it.

Sakuya: A.k.a. the Childhood Friend — because hey, every otome game needs one. I usually vomit that trope; but Norn9 masters it so well that I lapped it up this time around. Years of knowing each other give Mikoto and Sakuya's relationship a depth and intensity that's absent from all the other routes (bar possibly Akito and Nanami's one, albeit on a smaller scale). They have not been in love since childhood — in fact, it's implied that they only recently fell in love and are still busy figuring out their feelings — but they developed a very complex and intense relationship over the years nonetheless: an intricate mix of protecting each other and feeling dependent on each other in turn, complete with an unspoken deep admiration for each other and a strong desire to better themselves in order to be worthy of the other. Sakuya's seer power is a constant source of torment for both of them: since Sakuya will supposedly die when protecting the girl he loves, they both decided that he should never, ever fall in love. Yet obviously, he falls head over heels in love with Mikoto; and since she desperately loves him back, she cannot suppress her feelings for him despite trying her hardest. Oh, the intensity! It takes a while, but they finally take a chance on their love instead of cowering in fear at the thought of losing each other and brooding over their repressed feelings, and they fight tooth and nail to protect their union.

That's it for my favourite Norn9 girl — heck, my favourite otome heroine ever would be closer to the truth. I'll see you soon for an ultimate post about the true route and my final thoughts about the game, dear fellow gamers. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!

05/12/2017

Atelier Ayesha Plus: I like it, yet not quite


I started Atelier Totori Plus a couple of days ago, got unsufferably bored with it, stopped playing it and erased it from my Vita's memory card. I then started Atelier Meruru Plus, got unsufferably bored with it, stopped playing it and erased it from my Vita's memory card. Then, because I'm totally a stubborn masochist that doesn't learn, I started Atelier Ayesha Plus... and fell in love with it on the spot.

That sure was a nice and unexpected change. Right from the introduction scene, I was swept away by the beauty of the game world, its sheer scope, its solemn and mysterious atmosphere, its lovely pastel colours, its everything — so much so that I developed yet another full-blown case of gaming fernweh: give me Ayesha's remote hut with its breathtaking vistas and I won't need anything more for the rest of my life. Then the gameplay came in and worked its magic on me, as I became instantly smitten with a bunch of features I'll list down there for your convenience:

  • The new fighting system: More varied that ever, with support moves, effects added to attacks depending on the character and foe's respective positions and the possibility to move around and hit enemies from the back for extra damage, all enhanced by kickass battle animations. Battling was often a dreadful chore in Atelier Rorona Plus, but not so in Ayesha. Plus, we get a brand-new cast of foes to fight: goodbye boring Punis and Rabbits and hello more outlandish and graceful creatures that really look like RPG fauna.
  • The new rules for synthesizing: Gone is the quality system, which made half of your items worthless; now you can keep and use everything you harvest. Gone are also the requirements for specific traits rather than items in recipes, which confused me to no end in Rorona: now you deal with items categories, which is much more simple and straightforward. All this is nicely completed by a new choice of items — I was getting so sick of seeing constantly the same old Eiches and Puniballs in the Arland games, I swear.  
  • The new harvesting mechanics: So much more efficient! Just press the X button when standing on a gathering spot and voilà! Everything is in your basket, and gone is the annoying and time-consuming obligation to review items and select the ones you want to keep/ditch like in the Arland games. Oh, and items stack up in the basket, which means longer harvesting sessions and no worries about the basket getting untimely full. 
  • The new 'Memory Point' system: By synthesizing, fighting foes, harvesting, fulfilling quests and talking to everybody in sight, you gain so-called 'memory points' that can be converted into neat benefits such as stat increases, skills and the like. It's a really lovely and darn efficient incentive to explore, roam, poke your nose everywhere and basically do things and get involved in the game world. 

So there I was, having fun and enjoying the ride; but then, something sneaked in and spoiled my fun. And lo and behold, that something is the exact same thing that cramped my style in Rorona, i.e. the bloody time management. Did I mention that I absolutely loathe time management? I suck hard at it, and having to pull it off in a video game is not my idea of a good time. At all. As a result, my playthrough of Ayesha is slowly losing its shine and charm as my preoccupation with the calendar and its ever-flying days increases. There's not a single action in that game that doesn't consume precious time — heck, I'm sure a day elapses when Ayesha yawns or releases a fart. I have three years to reach my goal, and I have no idea how stringent the game is when it comes to its deadline: do I have a bit of leeway to experiment, or do I have to make every day and every move count? And why isn't there an instant save feature to spare me the hassle of going back to town and losing precious time just to save?

On top of the time management hassle, the game's lack of guidance and focus is making me seriously antsy. While Rorona offers the player a series of clear-cut assignments, Ayesha gives you this general goal and lets you figure out by yourself how to reach it. Mind you, I would absolutely lap up that concept in any other circumstances; but given that I must figure things out in a bloody limited time lest I get slapped in the face by a Game Over, I'm finding a teensy bit hard to experiment and get lost in the flow of the gameplay. I have to find a way out of that predicament: either I stop playing the darn game, or I just forget about the deadline and follow my every whim without worrying about the outcome. I'm strongly leaning towards the latter right now: I love the game too much to give it up so soon, and I'll certainly learn plenty of interesting stuff in the process; stuff that can be put to good use in subsequent playthroughs of Ayesha in case I fail my current one — not to mention in the two other Dusk games. I'll mull over the matter and come back at you soon with fresh Ayesha tidings, dear fellow gamers. Until then, thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!