Saturday, February 24, 2024

Mixed bag: terrible reality, too-good fantasy

 Over two months since I last posted?  That's a bit too long - things tend to back up and fester over those sorts of time frames - so, let's get cleared out a bit, hey?

First, yes, Israel/Hamas is still going on, and still causing untold horrors among the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip.  Since both sides are basically full "we can't let the other side exist any longer", I don't expect to see that change any time soon, no matter what pressure anybody else brings to bear.

Then, there's Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  It's been two years since that mess started, and it's going much like I feared back when it started.  Hell, we're still finding new "sanctions" to apply against Russia two years on, which means what should have been a sharp rebuke has instead been a measured display of disapproval, which isn't going to dissuade anybody who's already initiated a war on their own.  Worse still, not having any "skin in the game" for this war means that it's more politically palatable for our own fifth-columnist party, the Republicans, to try and obstruct what little aid we would otherwise be giving.  And for anybody that disputes that characterization of Republicans, let me remind you that it's a bit over 3 years since they tried to overthrow the government, since when they have done exactly nothing to clean out their ranks, instead obstructing even basic functioning of the government in the House of Representatives... at this stage, anybody running for (re)election under the Republican banner is part of the problem, not the solution (unless you think the solution is overthrowing the government, of course).

Well, with all that off my chest, time for a bit of tonal whiplash.  I've played a bit more Baldur's Gate 3 (for those of you "in the know", I've made it across the lake in the Underdark), and I can safely say that, from all that I've seen so far, it's a good game.  A very good game.  Honestly, too good of a game.

What do I mean by that?  This is from the point of view of an older adult, so your mileage may vary, but this is the first game I've played in a long time that holds my attention strongly enough that I can't reliably stop a play session at a scheduled time - yes, basically every time I've played, I stayed up way past my bedtime.  So, being a "responsible" adult, that means that I can only really play BG3 on the weekend... and Friday nights are pretty well spoken for, so that really means Saturday night only.  But, life's never simple like that, so anything that disrupts that schedule (like, say, a return bout of COVID) means I have even less time to play.  In and of itself, a nuisance, but not like there's much to be done about it.

However, it gets worse.  As good as BG3 is, it impacts my ability to play even remotely similar games.  For example, I've still got Wildermyth listed in my "Games that have my attention" section, and it's true, I really do want to play more of that game... but, it's a party-based fantasy tactical combat game at its core, so all I would get out of it right now is a constant reminder that I'd rather be playing BG3.  It's not a total wash, since I can still play some more "sufficiently different" games like Starfield and Slipways to round out my gaming time, but it's a large footprint of my games that I'm basically locked out of until I either finish or grow less enamored of BG3.

So, that's where I'm seeing things now: real problems nationally and globally, while I deal with the very definition of "first world problems" in my play time locally.  Well, better days will come, I'm sure... but of course, I'd rather have those better days right now, thanks.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

One more post, before the year is out

 The traditional acknowledgement of the shit state of parts of the world follows.  The Hamas/Israel thing is still going on (a pox on both their houses), and Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues (a pox on Russia, and Putin and his circle in particular).

Right, that out of the way, 2023 is coming to a close, and life is greatly unchanged for me, outside of a couple of bits in the gaming sphere.  As expected, an XBox gift card came my way from my brother, which I put towards finally picking up Baldur's Gate 3.  It's an unexpectedly large game, which forced me to make a decision.  Either Starfield or Destiny 2 needed to go, to make room on the limited drive space of the Series S.  I wrestled with that choice a bit, but, in the end, Destiny 2, in its current state, isn't really geared towards how I'm playing these days, so off it went.  Looks like it's been a bit over a year since I got back into Destiny 2, so it had a good run... and I'm definitely more interested in seeing what Bethesda does in coming weeks to shore up their latest game.

What about Baldur's Gate 3, you ask?  Well, I've hardly played enough yet to give a proper review, but I definitely like what I've seen so far.  Companions with issues, proper turn-based combat, wide ranges of choices to make, no matter how poor (let's just say I've ended up kissing a mind flayer, however unintentionally)... it's a wild ride, and it's hooked me deep enough for unintentional past-my-bedtime play sessions.  How much of that is, for lack of a better term, "nostalgic novelty", and how much is a really good game, I need more playtime to work out... but I'd lean in the good game direction, myself.

Well, that all said, goodbye 2023.  Let's see what the new year has to offer.

Saturday, December 9, 2023

What's this? A way to get Bungie executives removed, you say?

 Before I revel in being a terrible person, here's the traditional report on people being terrible in Ukraine and Gaza.  In Ukraine, winter is setting in, so, likely, not a lot of news is going to come in on that front for a while... which is good, because we (USA and Europe, but mostly USA) can't seem to get our act together to keep Ukraine funded for their fight against Russian invaders.  Meanwhile, while there was a ceasefire and exchange of some hostages in Gaza, the fight is back on now... and apparently, the USA had to veto a resolution at the UN trying to force another ceasefire.  The UN is good for many things, but trying to decree the end of active fights, not so much.

Anyways, turning to something I might have a bit more influence over, it's the situation over at Destiny 2's developer Bungie.  According to reports from a couple of days back like this one, the amazingly tone-deaf behavior of Bungie's executive leadership team of late may be due in large part to a simple driver:  self-preservation.  Per reports, if Bungie doesn't make certain financial goals in short order, Sony can wipe out the current board and replace it with people of their own choosing.

Looking at that from a slightly different angle, one result I come up with is:  by not giving Bungie any money in the form of microtransactions or season/expansion purchases, I can do my part to usher the bad-for-customers-and-employees board members out the door.  There are a number of reasons why this isn't a sure-fire, unalloyed good of an action to take.  Most obviously, the current board is likely to cause even more chaos among the employees and players as they seek to avoid their fate.  Also, well, it's Sony who would set the rules thereafter, and they've demonstrated in the past that they're not the most customer-centric sorts either.  That all said, the current state of affairs for both players and employees is pretty bad, and Sony taking over direct control likely wouldn't be much worse (or, if it did become that much worse as an immediate result, it would be that much easier to walk away from the game).

So, yeah, I'm on board.  So long as nobody comes up with a compelling reason otherwise, count me in the camp of "I'm not giving Bungie any money until their current board is removed."  Will that happen before the next expansion launches later next year?  I'm hopeful (the sooner the better, really), but we'll see.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Wildermyth - where did those hours get off to, anyways?

 So, again, Ukraine and Gaza are still ongoing things, but no major changes of late, so we'll leave that there.

Meanwhile, here I am, just two weeks after praising Liberté, supplanting it on my "games that have my attention" list with Wildermyth (Compatibility: Verified), a tactical RPG more in line with games like Disgaea 2 (which I also, reluctantly, dropped from the list for now).  Am I just that fickle, or is Wildermyth just that good?  Arguably, both explanations are valid, but let's focus on how good the game is.  At a glance, it doesn't look like much, due to its "papercraft" style.  Watch or play a bit of it, however, and the good (maybe even unique) bits come to the fore fairly quickly.

Let's start with the more mechanical aspects of the game first.  Your party in any given encounter consists of up to 5 characters, each representing one of three classes.  There's warriors, your standard hit-things-with-big-weapons sorts.  There's hunters, your "good with a bow, but also able to sneak in close" sorts.  Finally there's mystics, who are not your standard fireball-slinging magicians - rather, they're "environmental" magicians, able to "interfuse" with different parts of the environment to produce a range of effects, centered or originating from the pieces they've interfused with.  Just to give one go-to example from my playtime, interfusing with stone things always gives you an option to use an action to chuck a stone discus from that item as a direct attack... however, depending on the skills your mystic has learned, you might also get a passive bonus just for having that interfusion, or be able to create stone walls, or help protect your other characters actively or passively, that sort of thing.

Combine that with a simple grid-based tactical system, where characters lining up next to each other provides a small defensive bonus, while attacking an enemy from multiple directions improves your chances of hitting them, and you end up with a lovely little tactical puzzle for each combat encounter.  Compared to something like Disgaea 2, it's a lot simpler to keep track of your options with a limited number of characters, while the customization of each character still lets them feel like more than "standard third-level fighter".  If this were the whole of the game, it might get easy to get bored after an hour or two, but that's just the start.

You see, each game of Wildermyth is a story of sorts, with a chapter-based setup, and an overworld where non-combat things usually dominate.  Traveling from one region to the next takes time, as does things like patrolling, building defenses against incursions of monsters, establishing outposts for crafting resources, and, especially importantly, recruiting.  After all, people die, or they grow old and need to retire from an adventuring life.  Plus, while the most you can have in a party is 5 characters, that's not to say that you can only have one party - and sometimes, for various reasons, you might only want (or be able to support) three or fewer characters on a particular task - maybe you don't want a full group bogged down while getting your newest recruit up to speed, so they're not just a farmer with a pitchfork out in the wide world facing horrible beasties.  Or maybe a bridge needs built or a mountain pass needs work.  Or maybe, there's a side story that's popped up that's tied to one of your characters.

And there is the real thing that elevates this game above most similar things, the stories.  Usually, there's an overarching story to attend to, but it's not the story.  Things come up during gameplay, and it's not in the form of a quest-giver with a question mark over their head.  Rather, sometimes, things just come up, depending in part on where your group is and what they're doing, and how you react to those events can have a big influence on how your game goes from there.  Just as an example, one event that came up on two games I've played has your group stumbling across a hill that's been shaped to resemble the head of a wolf.  You climb up and don't find anything, but then there's a bit of godly rumblings followed by a voice talking to your hunter about a pact their ancestors made, which you kind of have to acknowledge when the god's name comes unbidden to their lips.  In my first game, my options were to basically either have the hunter offer themselves up to receive the change the god offered, or for the warrior accompanying them to object strongly and loudly.  I went with the flow, and my hunter transformed into a wolf-man, gaining the ability to bite opponents on top of their usual attacks.  The second game, I had a mystic along for the ride, who condescendingly spoke of the "Woof-god" that he had tried to bargain with before, but admitted their faithful made some nice things, which resulted in the hunter getting a wolf-head amulet with some bonuses.

All in all, it's an amazing little bundle of a game.  If anything, the only thing I could point to as dragging it down a bit is that I'm pretty sure it's not an English-first game, and some of the translations are a bit clumsy.  Even with that, what I intended to be a quick "let's fire this game up and see what it's about" session turned into 10-12 hours of straight playtime (excluding the time needed midway to install it on my Steam Deck so I could play it on my couch more readily).  As long as you aren't scared off by anything turn-based, I heartily recommend giving this game a try.

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Liberté - a lovely mix of horrors

 The world continues to burn in Ukraine and Gaza, but those horrors are too real and too fresh to be in any way "entertaining".  How about a nice mix of French Revolution horrors and Lovecraftian horrors instead?

Liberté (Compatibility: Verified) is just such a mix.  In an alternate-universe France, around the time-period of our French Revolution, King Louis has died and the crown prince is going through his coronation, when a giant "monster" appears, wreaks havoc, takes the crown, and disappears.  You awaken in the rubble, with a bit of the ol' amnesia at play, get identified as one of the Rebels, hack down a few soldiers with your rapier... and are led to meet with what's left of the monster.  One thing leads to another, you rescue a few more Rebels from the Monarchists, slip away to get the monster quietly established underground (running into (and through) a few Inquisitors of the Congregation in the process), whereupon you get the guiding quest for the rest of the game.  The monster (which calls itself Lady Bliss) sees itself as an agent of balance, while the world its in is wildly out of balance (there's a definite ecological aspect involved as well).  They want you to go out into Paris, which is in the throes of revolution, and ingratiate yourself with each of the four major factions involved (mainly by slaughtering loads of their enemy of choice at the moment), learn what truly drives each of them, and find someone worthy to receive the crown from Lady Bliss.

Now, that's a fun enough combination of ideas to begin with, but honestly it's not that much to hang a compelling rogue-lite game from on its own.  In particular, there's nothing there to justify central mechanics like reviving after dying to start a new run... or so I thought, until I died the first time.  Turns out, you're more pod-person than human, you just absorbed the appearance and memories of an unlucky Rebel named Rene, and you are sufficiently "attached" to Lady Bliss that she can squirt out a new clone of you whenever you die - and you don't have to come back as Rene, if you have unlocked access to other forms while getting in good with the factions.  So, handily, that not only covers respawning, but also different weapons and combat styles to experiment with.

All in all, it's a fun setup for a game, and I'll get some mileage out of it... but it's also fair to note that I likely won't see everything it has to offer.  The gameplay I've seen so far is what I would call "thoroughly adequate", consisting mostly of fights against a few enemy types per faction in fairly close quarters.  In part, that's because most of the fights happen in the streets of Paris, which tend to be pretty repetitive.  In fact there are some maps that, from what I could see, take advantage of your inability to move the camera to present themselves as a different map by simply rotating the map a bit.  Combine that with different "world tiers" that it offers when you go to select a mission, with each tier mainly increasing the difficulty level of the enemies, and it's clear that the intent of the game is for you to get to know the patterns of the enemies over many multiple plays... and, much like souls-likes, I doubt I have the patience.  But, who knows, maybe the story of Lady Bliss infesting everything while the various factions squabble with each other will be enough to keep bringing be back for one more run.

Sunday, November 5, 2023

So, about Destiny 2...

 First, per tradition, the shit state of the world at large... Russia's invasion of Ukraine churns on, with nothing significant happening (from the outside view at least, not to minimize the sacrifices of everyone directly involved).  Israel has basically decided to stop playing games in Gaza, and are going after Hamas with the intent to kill... and look to believe that any incidental casualties among the Palestinians are unfortunate, but worth the price.  Sure, they've told people to move to another area if they don't want to be treated as combatants, but that's the barest of fig-leaves to try to cover their abandonment of the "rules of war".  Mind you, I've long been of the opinion that any war where one side tries to follow the rules while the other side blatantly ignores them is a losing proposition for the rules-follower, but I didn't think I'd see anybody follow through on that line of thought in my lifetime.  It will be interesting (and likely horrific) to see where this all ends up.

Well, that's the world at large, how's the shit state in gaming and corporate America going?  Recent events at Destiny 2's developer Bungie seem to show a little more creaking at the seams, at least.  The story, as best I've gathered, goes something like this:  Destiny 2's most recent major DLC, Lightfall, has not been well received by the gaming public.  Recognizing this, people at various levels of the company have, over the past several months, brought up issues and possible solutions, which by and large have been shut down by Bungie's leadership.  Fast-forward to a week ago, and Destiny 2's revenues are coming up significantly short against leadership-projected revenues, to the tune of 45% less.  Sony asked Bungie to come up with an 8% reduction in expenses (possibly reflecting that shortfall, possibly for other reasons), and Bungie leadership decided to meet that request by laying off about 100 staff, especially in areas that they might be able to outsource, without the input of the team leads, while the leadership team themselves faced no consequences whatsoever.  Oh, and they tried to somehow keep a lid on this by, effectively, telling the fired staff to GTFO without handing over to anybody still employed.

My takes on all of this:  so, in a game that's riddled with problems and whose player base is hungry for content, you're laying off the people who fix problems and create content.  If I were a shareholder in a publicly-traded Bungie, I would be long gone at this point.  Also, if unionization efforts don't take off at Bungie in short order, I'll be quite surprised.

As for my playing the game... well, I did already pay for the next season as part of my purchase at the beginning of the year, so I'll probably be around at least enough to pick up any story-beats from that.  Past that, though, I've already basically tuned out for the retread "Festival of the Lost" this year, playing mostly Starfield instead, so it's not looking good long-term.  That's especially true when they've announced they're pushing back the next major DLC, so there will be a nice, long period of "why would I play this game?" going on, to remind me of those staffing losses.  Who knows, maybe, if I catch wind of the leadership team sharing the pain a bit, I'll feel more inclined to step back up, but I'm definitely not holding by breath on that one.

Saturday, October 14, 2023

Starfield: I like it, but it may well not be for you

 As per tradition:  yes, Russia's inept invasion of Ukraine continues, with Ukraine continuing to push back, but winter is approaching, which will doubtless make things bog down there.  But no worries, Hamas decided it was time to taunt the dynamite monkey that is Israel, so things going generally astray will continue for the foreseeable future.  All the more reason to write about games, I suppose.

So, eighty-odd hours of playtime later, I've finished my first pass through Starfield.  I enjoyed it well enough, but there are plenty of critic reviews, never mind user reviews, YouTube videos, and the like, calling it garbage, godlike, and everything in between.  It makes me stop and wonder, why might that be?

 Oh, quick note for the spoiler-averse, I'm not planning on outing any major plot points here or anything, but I'm not proclaiming this article as spoiler-free either.  Proceed at your own peril.

One theory I've seen, that has some weight, is that Starfield suffers, as an artistic piece, from a cognitive split between the "realism" the game world presents, and the "idealism" of playing the role of effectively-superhuman protagonist in that world.  Here's a nice YouTube video to watch, if you want to explore that aspect of things more thoroughly (and if you like games dissection in general, any of Adam Millard's videos are good stuff to watch, from what I've seen).  To my mind, that helps explain things, but it only goes so far.  I mean, maybe it's just my play-style, but, outside of a certain abandoned pharmaceuticals research facility cropping up on multiple planets, complete with the same founder's corpse in the same cave on each iteration, I didn't have a lot of problems "going with the flow" of the world as presented.

Another possibility that comes to mind is that Starfield suffers from comparisons (fair and unfair) to other games with similar subject matter.  No Man's Sky definitely has prettier planets with a wider visual variety of biomes, plus sentient aliens and the ability to freely fly from one point to the next (whether that's actually better or more efficient than various loading screens being open to debate).  Any number of space-combat games have better ship-to-ship combat (if you exclude the ability to disable and board ships, at least).  Person-to-person combat, well, any of the later Mass Effect games has Starfield beat, never mind dedicated shooters like Destiny 2.  If people are comparing these sorts of features this way, it's not surprising that they're coming up with the answer that Starfield "looks old", is "old tech", or any variant thereof.

However, that concept of the game being "old" brushes up against something else that I haven't seen explored at all.  Just like books are written with a target audience in mind, so are games made, and the people that make games, consciously or unconsciously, tend to make games they want to play.  While I doubt that there are many people on Bethesda's team that date back to the Elder Scrolls: Arena era of the 1990s, I fully expect that most of the people in charge have been around for quite a while.  Planning a space RPG that veers away from the standard "saving the world/galaxy from the big-bad" plot is only likely to happen if there's sufficient experience on the team pushing back against the business take of "we know this makes money" with a solid "but that's been done to death" defense.  Further, if you look at the actual plot delivered, outside of the random "go kill these guys" or "go fetch/deliver this thing" events that crop up, the stories involved tend to revolve around not only making choices (which any RPG worthy of the name should be doing anyways), but reflecting on, and even regretting, those choices.  That's not a super-popular theme to begin with, and on average it trends worse the younger the player targeted is.  Combine that with the fairly low-key combat mechanics in the game, and I can't help but think that Starfield was targeted at an older demographic than their other games to date.

So, maybe it's just lucky on my part that I'm able to enjoy the world Starfield presents, without constantly comparing it to other games, as an experience that hits squarely in my demographic group, and within the comfort zone of my physical capabilities.  I'll be looking forward to seeing what the first DLC brings to the table (having already bought it as part of the premium edition), as well as whatever oddities the modders come up with (once official mod support has launched).  In the meantime, I'll keep puttering about the Starfield - plenty of faction work and one-off quests to keep me occupied, for the time being.  Who knows, maybe Baldur's Gate 3 will be ready for XBox by the time I'm ready to move on for a while.