Ideas and concept of games:
Souls-like:
- Challenging gameplay
- Encircles a theme or key point
- Surprising learning curve
Concept of Souls-like games:
- Wanderer lost, trying to find purpose
- No given purpose; directly
- RPG elements - character class freedom, stats for leveling
- Survival horror elements - horror type enemies, dark unnerving environment
- Non-linear gameplay; freedom to go anywhere but kept within game limits
Monday, 22 June 2015
LO3: Task 1 - Review Tested Games - Dark Souls
Title of Game: Dark Souls
Release Date: March 11 2014
Genre: Action Role-playing game (Third Person)
Narrative/Storyline: The Chosen Undead sets out to relight the First Flame. However, it is more appropriate to say that the storyline is fitted together by what the player puts it together as. There is no direct narrative apart from opening sequence of the game and rest of the story is told through the items that can be acquired in the game. Each of these items give a small description as to where they might have originated, what it could have been used for, who was the previous owner etc. The items and the lore existant in Lordran (The technical world the game takes place in) can be linked to one another. Locations in which the player travels to will show how much of a history it has had through it's architecture, entities located there and any items found in the area. Practically almost everything that is alive in Lordran is an undead and are those who are branded with the Darksign (This signified that they were once human). The Darksign is carried by all undead and will fall in to chaos and slowly lose their minds. Lordran was built upon the death of dragons, fought by the ones who hold the one of the Lord Souls of which there are 4: Nito, the first of the Dead; The Witch of Izalith; Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight and the Furtive Pygmy.
The protagonist is the Chosen Undead in this story and is set the task of ringing The Bell of Awakening of which there are two; one above the church and one below in Lost Izalith. Once opened, the gates to Sen's Fortress, a heavily guarded and trap-ridden area will open and once traversed will be met with a guardian that protects the way to the next area. After defeating the guardian, the Chosen Undead is carried off to Anor Londo, which the Princess of Sunlight, once met will give the Chosen Undead the Lordvessel, which is used to carry the Lord Souls and open the doors to the Kiln of the First Fire. Inside, the Chosen Undead will have to fight the Black Knights that guard the Lord of Cinders (The now named Gwyn). The likely reason for the Knights to have Black Armour is due to the fact that they were exposed to the First Fire for so long, they're armours have blackened. In Anor Londo, the Knights there were wearing silver armour, signifying that they may have been what the Black Knights previously were. The time between the Chosen Undead from awakening to the lighting of the previous fire isn't exactly given, which means that the Black Knights that was tasked to protect the First Flame may have already died long before the Chosen Undead awakes and the only thing keeping their armour alive is their sense of duty; To protect the Lord of Cinders and the First Flame. Once the Chosen Undead faces Gwyn, one will slowly notice that Gwyn is not as powerful as he once was and it seems like one would pity how the previous Lord of Sunlight has become powerless. The reason for this is maybe the fact that he had to relight the First Flame by relinquishing his humanity and his Lord Soul to the fire, which in turn turned him hollow. After defeating Gwyn, the Chosen Undead must choose whether to relight the First Flame and to continue Gwyn's Age of Fire and repeat the cycle or for the Chosen Undead to leave the Kiln of the First Flame and usher into the Age of Darkness, which is also known as the Age of Man.
Characters: There are a series of characters of which are all Undead. The reason for this is because Lordran attracts those who have been cursed and thus gathers them in one area. There are a series of characters will help the protagonist on their journey to the Kiln of the First Flame: The Pyromancers giving access to Pyromancy, The Blacksmiths scattered around the Lordran giving players the ability to upgrade their equipment, The Sorcerers giving access to Magic, Merchants who sell a series of items to the player and finally several characters who give the Chosen Undead items that will aid them on their journey.
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Target Audience: People who enjoy a challenge; people with patience and wanderlust. The game is known for having no set difficulties and is only affected by how well the players play the game. It is not a game that everyone will pick up but it is the type that will either be disliked or liked, nothing in the middle. People who enjoy finding more about the world that they are placed in (In this case, Lordran) will like the fact that items are what feature the story and the locations Lordran features. This would mean that they are more motivated to explore the Lordran in it's entirety, piecing everything together.
Release Date: March 11 2014
Genre: Action Role-playing game (Third Person)
Narrative/Storyline: The Chosen Undead sets out to relight the First Flame. However, it is more appropriate to say that the storyline is fitted together by what the player puts it together as. There is no direct narrative apart from opening sequence of the game and rest of the story is told through the items that can be acquired in the game. Each of these items give a small description as to where they might have originated, what it could have been used for, who was the previous owner etc. The items and the lore existant in Lordran (The technical world the game takes place in) can be linked to one another. Locations in which the player travels to will show how much of a history it has had through it's architecture, entities located there and any items found in the area. Practically almost everything that is alive in Lordran is an undead and are those who are branded with the Darksign (This signified that they were once human). The Darksign is carried by all undead and will fall in to chaos and slowly lose their minds. Lordran was built upon the death of dragons, fought by the ones who hold the one of the Lord Souls of which there are 4: Nito, the first of the Dead; The Witch of Izalith; Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight and the Furtive Pygmy.
The protagonist is the Chosen Undead in this story and is set the task of ringing The Bell of Awakening of which there are two; one above the church and one below in Lost Izalith. Once opened, the gates to Sen's Fortress, a heavily guarded and trap-ridden area will open and once traversed will be met with a guardian that protects the way to the next area. After defeating the guardian, the Chosen Undead is carried off to Anor Londo, which the Princess of Sunlight, once met will give the Chosen Undead the Lordvessel, which is used to carry the Lord Souls and open the doors to the Kiln of the First Fire. Inside, the Chosen Undead will have to fight the Black Knights that guard the Lord of Cinders (The now named Gwyn). The likely reason for the Knights to have Black Armour is due to the fact that they were exposed to the First Fire for so long, they're armours have blackened. In Anor Londo, the Knights there were wearing silver armour, signifying that they may have been what the Black Knights previously were. The time between the Chosen Undead from awakening to the lighting of the previous fire isn't exactly given, which means that the Black Knights that was tasked to protect the First Flame may have already died long before the Chosen Undead awakes and the only thing keeping their armour alive is their sense of duty; To protect the Lord of Cinders and the First Flame. Once the Chosen Undead faces Gwyn, one will slowly notice that Gwyn is not as powerful as he once was and it seems like one would pity how the previous Lord of Sunlight has become powerless. The reason for this is maybe the fact that he had to relight the First Flame by relinquishing his humanity and his Lord Soul to the fire, which in turn turned him hollow. After defeating Gwyn, the Chosen Undead must choose whether to relight the First Flame and to continue Gwyn's Age of Fire and repeat the cycle or for the Chosen Undead to leave the Kiln of the First Flame and usher into the Age of Darkness, which is also known as the Age of Man.
Characters: There are a series of characters of which are all Undead. The reason for this is because Lordran attracts those who have been cursed and thus gathers them in one area. There are a series of characters will help the protagonist on their journey to the Kiln of the First Flame: The Pyromancers giving access to Pyromancy, The Blacksmiths scattered around the Lordran giving players the ability to upgrade their equipment, The Sorcerers giving access to Magic, Merchants who sell a series of items to the player and finally several characters who give the Chosen Undead items that will aid them on their journey.
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Target Audience: People who enjoy a challenge; people with patience and wanderlust. The game is known for having no set difficulties and is only affected by how well the players play the game. It is not a game that everyone will pick up but it is the type that will either be disliked or liked, nothing in the middle. People who enjoy finding more about the world that they are placed in (In this case, Lordran) will like the fact that items are what feature the story and the locations Lordran features. This would mean that they are more motivated to explore the Lordran in it's entirety, piecing everything together.
LO2: Task 1 - Game Reviews - Reviewing the reviewers (Video format)
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition
Genre:
Action-oritented Dungeon Crawler (This was due to the game being controlled using a controller)
Target Audience:
People who enjoy a more action styled version of the original Diablo 3 gameplay (Mouse and Keyboard to a Controller)
Narrative:
The nephalem arrives in Survivors' Enclave which is a small outpost for survivors as the city that they were previously in has been wrought in destruction by Malphael, the Angel of Death. The narrative of Reaper of Souls is an addition to the original narrative of Diablo 3.
Characters:
Since the addition of the new story, some new characters have been implemented to help move the story continue forwards. There are also returning characters from the original storyline of Diablo 3.
Gameplay:
Fast equip system which means you can equip gear that you have picked up without having to go through ones inventory to disrupt the main gameplay. A change from the PC version is that the console version has a more zoomed in screen which means it is more difficult to keep track of dangers around the players character. Blizzard has compensated for this by givin the player the ability to roll out of danger, giving the players some breathing room whilst rolling away from danger.
Platforms:
PC and Xbox One
Personal game recommendation of the reviewer:
A game that was recommended was Path of Exile which has a similar gameplay style and theme to Diablo 3.
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
LO2: Task 1 - Game Reviews (Video Format)
Tomb Raider - Angry Joe Show Review
Angry Joe, the reviewer, is impressed with how Tomb Raider turned out to be as a reboot of the original series, albeit he wasn't into playing the original games as they were quite clunky and quite difficult to play.
Overall, TR was a great game because of the features it introduced as a game by itself: It was an action adventure game which provided a feel of progression, well integrated tutorials which lessens the learning curve, mechanical game play such as puzzles etc. There were however some issues that broke immersion slightly such as the quick time events that replaced some of the game play which seemed like a lazy way out of creating a moment for the player to
Angry Joe, the reviewer, is impressed with how Tomb Raider turned out to be as a reboot of the original series, albeit he wasn't into playing the original games as they were quite clunky and quite difficult to play.
Overall, TR was a great game because of the features it introduced as a game by itself: It was an action adventure game which provided a feel of progression, well integrated tutorials which lessens the learning curve, mechanical game play such as puzzles etc. There were however some issues that broke immersion slightly such as the quick time events that replaced some of the game play which seemed like a lazy way out of creating a moment for the player to
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