Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Decreasing Quality of RPGs


Playing through recent RPG's has become tedious to me for some reason, and the more I think about it, the more I can pinpoint the reasons. I never want to be wherever I am. "Puzzle"-ridden castles/dungeons that have me going in circles fighting the same enemies for 3 hours straight with a battle system that requires me to press the action button until the battle ends is just unimaginative. And by puzzles I mean don't get lost looking for all four buttons that open the door at the end. RPG's have become less and less worthy of my dollar over the years. Battle systems that require no effort to win battles, or are just time consuming to use are also a considerable issue. The attack button shouldn't be the only button you press during a battle. Attack, attack, attack, heal, repeat doesn't exactly cut it either.

Monday, August 30, 2010

MMOs: The Right Way


      Many MMORPG's have released, only to flop. You may think to yourself, other, more popular games are to blame. [sarcasm] (Not talking about WoW) [/sarcasm] Forgive me, but I'll be referencing WoW several times in this article. Truth be told, games like WoW aren't hurting other MMO's but more than likely helping them.  How many newer gamers without any MMO experience, would pick up a subscription based game without any previous experience? WoW provides a way for newer online players to experience an MMO that's done properly. It touches on a lot of areas players enjoy, such as dungeons, socializing, uniqueness, custom events, and polish.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Final Fantasy XIV: The Making of


    As you may know, Final Fantasy XIV is coming out next month, as a previous player of Final Fantasy XI, news of this release was nothing short of exciting. My largest concerns about FFXI were the lack of quests, and large amounts of time it took to do even the smallest things, considering the battle and movement speeds. I remember trying to do one quest with a fellow linkshell member that literally took all day, and even after putting so much time into it, we still didn't manage to complete it. But not to worry, from the looks of the newest Final Fantasy, my problems should be alleviated, from the faster, stamina based battle system, to the guildleves supplying more quests instead of large amounts of grinding. With any luck, I should be able to get you a preview sometime soon.

If you're interested in the developer's journals, you can find links below to hold you over until that preview finally arrives.

The Making of a Realm 1: Character Customization
The Making of a Realm 2: Monsters
The Making of a Realm 3: Equipment
The Making of a Realm 4: Background Concepts
The Making of a Realm 5: Cutscenes

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Mafia 2: An Unorthodox Review


 Let's get it out of the way: fictional mafias are cool, especially in games. The sense of entitlement to do bad things and still be considered prestigious is a quality that makes an irresistible narrative and good gameplay all the better. If you've been reading other content I've released about Mafia 2, then you know I've been totally excited for it's release. It's dedication to a detailed story in a mission-based world is a refreshing spin on the average sandbox title. While it did have more things to be excited about than you can shake a cannoli at, there were a few things I wasn't too happy about.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Cthulhu Godzilla Rabbity-thing!



So far, the new season of Sam and Max is turning out just as I would have hoped. On August 30th (Monday), Telltale will release this season's final episode to complete the madness. There's only one gripe I have with the season so far: its lack of Bosco. Anyway, if you haven't already, checkout Telltale for some demos to try the season out, I'm sure you'll like it. Stay tuned for a review of the season, unless Max destroys the earth in a fit of monstrous rage first, but if that's the case, at least we can rub it in the faces of the people preaching that the world end in 2012.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Site Changes and Some News

After a long trial of switching the sidebar left and right, I think it's safe to say I jimmy-rigged the site good enough so that it's no longer noticeable to the casual reader.... whoever that may be. Anyway, be sure to check back often, because I'm sure to be tinkering away at the site and improving it with awesome new and shiny features. In fact, I plan to put one of those news feature slider things on the front page, so that you'll have an aesthetic way to access all the latest from The Bosconator.

Also worth mentioning, I have just recently finished Mafia 2. I'm not exactly sure as to what I will do with my experience with it, but I'm sure I'll post some type of unorthodox review of some sort. One more thing, keep on the look out for some opinions coming your way about some of the stuff shown over there in Germany's Gamescon 2010 (Witcher 2, I got my eye on you!). Here's some stuff to keep you interested, now don't cause too much trouble while I'm busy:



I remember back in the day..

Back when game developers were required to complete games before they released them. Back when if they left a glitch in the game when they released the game, it stayed that way. Back when developer's took time to finish making the game before putting the game on shelves. Many people would say that the cultivation of the internet is one of man's greatest triumphs, but in this regard, it most certainly is not. Nowadays company's are just pushing games out as soon as they can to start making money, figuring they can just patch whatever needs to be fixed later. And it's a shame, because when you buy a game, you buy it to play it, not to get stuck 30 minutes in because of a simple overlooked trigger failure, ultimately causing you to wait a week for them to release a patch for it.

 Elemental - War of Magic is the golden example of how bad this has gotten. This game was released in a condition where it would crash every 5-30 minutes. Even when it's not crashing, the framerate is extremely choppy considering how poor the graphics are. The campaign isn't very user friendly, and half the time doesn't tell you where you're going. There are also other smaller bugs that could have easily been addressed. They didn't even bother to put their multiplayer servers online for release.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Editorial : Adventure Horror Games?

When you think horror games, you usually think of games like F.E.A.R. or Doom, right? If so, you're probably familiar with traversing unusually dark and claustrophobic corridors peering out the sight of your scope. Perhaps you just enjoy the survival side of things, like having to preserve your holy water so you don't get overrun by zombies. Or maybe you fancy those spontaneous frights or just enjoy fighting off scary beasts. For me, none of that stuff gets the job done.

The scariest games I've ever played are often the ones that are the most low-tech and made by companies far from the reach of the spotlight. It's a shame, really. It should be the other way around. Unfortunately, our fetish with pretty graphics and insane action normally gets in the way. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying that those games aren't enjoyable, because they can be, but I have strict standards for what makes a good horror game. To me, the less you can interact with the horror, the better the scares will be. For this reason, adventure games usually make the best horror games. Here's a list of, what I think, are the most important features/qualities of an adventure horror game that make it a good one. Be sure to leave a comment below telling me why I'm wrong or right, but preferably the latter.

An ominous hallway in Penumbra: the Black Plague.

Friday, August 13, 2010

A Day in the Life: Mafia II Demo


With all the articles posted about the demo already, I figured making a post solely filled with my oblivious opinions would be quite useless, since, as it is, there are already so many scattered across the plethora of forums on the net. So instead, I decided to make a short documentary on one of my tours throughout the demo. After countless successful completions you would think I would able to complete it flawlessly, but then you'd also be wrong. Without further ado, here it is:

The Opening

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Mafia II

          
  Despite their substantial differences, there's something about games like Grand Theft Auto and Mafia that collectively keep me hungry for more. Perhaps I just enjoy the action aspect entailed by their premises, or perhaps I'm just a homicidal maniac who enjoys using his vehicle to clear the sidewalks of pedestrians with the excuse of furthering the cause of natural selection. As well as both of the previous statements, I prefer to believe that what makes these games so interesting and so addicting is the story bundled with them. I wholeheartedly adored  the story of Grand Theft Auto as much as one can love a murderous immigrant in search of the American dream. That being said, I think you'll know why I think I'll love Mafia 2.