Eventually I grew tired of the frustration of Braid. Frustrated enough 
to actually give up on trying to finish it. Whatever lays at the end - 
if anything - isn't worth the cost of buying a new monitor because I've 
put my fist through the current one.

That being the case, I bought Bastion. (Working through the alphabet here.)



just under 1GB. (Again peanuts compared to the triple-A titles.)

Unlike Braid, I just can't stop playing this. It's really entertaining. 
It's difficult to explain... OK, start by watching this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TptJHeWngJs

Now you know what the art style is like. Which is good, because I have 
no idea what kind of adjectives you'd use to describe it. The game 
describes itself as "100% hand-painted, scanned in 1080i HD". To be 
sure, on my monitor it looks very crisp indeed. The lines are sharp, the 
colours are rich, and the main character animation is very, very fluid.

There's one small issue with this game. It doesn't make sense. It's a 
bit like if you picked up a copy of The Hobbit and opened it on chapter 
15. You wouldn't be able to make any sense out of it. Bits and pieces 
would make sense, but you'd still be mighty confused. That's what this 
game is like.

Basically, you wake up lying in a bed, in a room floating in empty 
space. As you walk to the door, rocks appear out of thin air and fly up 
to form a walkway in front of you. For reasons unknown, THE ENTIRE GAME 
plays like this. Everywhere you go, you're walking on floating platforms 
in space, which materialise as you walk towards them.

So basically, this is your standard isometric platformer. You beat up 
bad guys, collect powerups, earn "XP" (whatever that is), find money, 
buy stuff at shops, customise your loadout, etc. The usual deal.

The unusual thing is the vibrant graphics and fluid animation. Also, if 
you've watched the trailer above, you've heard The Narrator. He talks to 
you during the entire course of the game. Almost everything you do, he 
says lines of dialogue for.

Usually when games do this, that just means that the narration states 
the obvious, or states something which doesn't /quite/ match what you 
just did. (E.g., the narrator says "he waits patently for the lift" when 
actually you're walking around getting bored.) This game somehow manages 
to utter /correct/ lines of dialogue for EVERY SINGLE ACTION. It's 
really quite amazing. Sure, it doesn't "really" change the actual 
gameplay in any way. And some people might find the Old West accent 
cheesy. But personally I really like it.

Also, this is one of those games that has a story deeper than a teacup. 
Which makes it all the more frustrating that it doesn't make sense yet. 
I don't know if it ever will start making sense, or whether I'd have to 
go a bazillion side-quests for that.

Also, one or two aspects of the gameplay aren't explained real well. 
Like, it took me 15 minutes to realise that you can use the mouse to do 
things, it's not just keyboard-controlled. (Unfortunately, various 
messages about how you can use controls flash past far too fast to 
read.) It took me about 30 minutes to get used to using keyboard /and/ 
mouse at the same time. But I think I'm good with it now.

I don't know how big the game actually is, but I spent about 7 hours 
playing it yesterday and I don't /think/ I'm anywhere near the end yet 
(though I can't really tell).

In summary:
- Appears to be quite large. Certainly 7 hours of intense playtime 
didn't exhaust it.
- Holds out the promise (as yet unrealised) of an interesting story 
that's going to start making sense any time soon now.
- Lush visuals.
- Effective and varied music.
- Impressive (though arguably unnecessary) narration.
- Wide range of locations and enemies.
- More powerups, collectables, items, configurations, etc. than you 
could possibly get bored with.

It's not the most amazing game I've ever played in my life, but if you 

get home tonight and play more of it.

Post a reply to this message

On 30/08/2011 10:54 AM, Invisible wrote:

> It's difficult to explain... OK, start by watching this:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TptJHeWngJs
>
> Now you know what the art style is like. Which is good, because I have
> no idea what kind of adjectives you'd use to describe it.

Also... Is it just me, or does the music in that video sound 
suspiciously like it's a rehash of Seven Lives by Enigma?

(This music doesn't appear anywhere in the game, as best as I can tell. 
The in-game music appears to be completely original - and rather good.)

Post a reply to this message

On 30/08/2011 10:54 AM, Invisible wrote:

> There's one small issue with this game. It doesn't make sense. It's a
> bit like if you picked up a copy of The Hobbit and opened it on chapter
> 15. You wouldn't be able to make any sense out of it. Bits and pieces
> would make sense, but you'd still be mighty confused. That's what this
> game is like.
>
> Basically, you wake up lying in a bed, in a room floating in empty
> space. As you walk to the door, rocks appear out of thin air and fly up
> to form a walkway in front of you. For reasons unknown, THE ENTIRE GAME
> plays like this. Everywhere you go, you're walking on floating platforms
> in space, which materialise as you walk towards them.

"Floor flies up, buildin' a path, as if to point the way; kid doesn't 
stop to wonder why."

[I accidentally walk off the edge of the path.]

"And with that, the he falls to his death."

[My character respawns just where I left him.]

"Naw, I'm just messin'."

[I walk up to the petrified statues of some people.]

"Looks like ol' Fred and Nelly didn't survive the Calamity."

[I smash the statues.]

"Kid doesn't much care to see 'em. Not like this."

Not long after that, I find myself battling gas guys, scumbags, ball 
squirts, Pith the God of Commotion, wall flowers, pincushions, peckers, 
stinkweed, and even anklegators. Me and my trusty War Machete, Brusher's 
Carbine and a sackful of health tonics travel to strange and interesting 
places. And something resembling a sensical story is just beginning to 
emerge...

Post a reply to this message

On 08/30/2011 06:54 AM, Invisible wrote:
> Unlike Braid, I just can't stop playing this. It's really entertaining.
> It's difficult to explain... OK, start by watching this:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TptJHeWngJs

Yes the artwork looks really cool, and I could live with the narration 
if the style in the trailer is anything like what's in the game. So 
you'd most likely be bored to death quickly with FFNG ;-) But hey I'm 
easily entertained (a blessing I suppose) ... I've been getting plenty 
of mileage from Angry Birds on my iPod touch. I also like the zippo 
lighter as well. Reorient the display and the flame always points up. 
I've got it so that I can snap my fingers to open the top (complete with 
classic zippo sound), and another snap for the flame ... LOL like I 
said, I'm easily entertained!

Post a reply to this message

> earn "XP" (whatever that is)

eXperience Points.  In most fantasy role playing games, a certain amount 
of XP will allow you to improve your skill level.  Allowing you to learn 
new fighting techniques, or fancier spells, depending on your character 
class.

-- 
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/*    flabreque    */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
/*        @        */{P(0,a)P(a,b)P(b,c)P(2*a,2*b)P(2*b,b+c)P(b+c,<2,3>)
/*   gmail.com     */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }

Post a reply to this message

On 30/08/2011 01:25 PM, Francois Labreque wrote:

>> earn "XP" (whatever that is)
>
> eXperience Points. In most fantasy role playing games, a certain amount
> of XP will allow you to improve your skill level. Allowing you to learn
> new fighting techniques, or fancier spells, depending on your character
> class.

Riiiight. So that's why they named it "Windows XP"...

Incidentally, I have no idea what "fantasy role playing game" actually 
means.

Post a reply to this message

On 30/08/2011 12:48 PM, Jim Holsenback wrote:

> Yes the artwork looks really cool, and I could live with the narration
> if the style in the trailer is anything like what's in the game.

It's pretty much /exactly/ like this in the game. I still can't get over 
how naturally it fits the action. (Then again, maybe I'm just easily 
impressed.)

Also... does bourbon really taste "buttery"?

Post a reply to this message

Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> On 30/08/2011 01:25 PM, Francois Labreque wrote:

> >> earn "XP" (whatever that is)
> >
> > eXperience Points. In most fantasy role playing games, a certain amount
> > of XP will allow you to improve your skill level. Allowing you to learn
> > new fighting techniques, or fancier spells, depending on your character
> > class.

> Riiiight. So that's why they named it "Windows XP"...

> Incidentally, I have no idea what "fantasy role playing game" actually 
> means.

  You are the most specialized computer nerd I have ever seen. You seem to
know everything about an incredibly small sector of computer stuff and
absolutely nothing about the rest, which is unlike most computer nerds,
who know at least *something* about everything that is popular among such
nerds.

  I have hard time believing that you have never heard of the concept of
exp in computer role-playing games.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

>>> eXperience Points. In most fantasy role playing games, a certain amount
>>> of XP will allow you to improve your skill level. Allowing you to learn
>>> new fighting techniques, or fancier spells, depending on your character
>>> class.
>
>> Riiiight. So that's why they named it "Windows XP"...
>
>> Incidentally, I have no idea what "fantasy role playing game" actually
>> means.
>
>    You are the most specialized computer nerd I have ever seen. You seem to
> know everything about an incredibly small sector of computer stuff and
> absolutely nothing about the rest, which is unlike most computer nerds,
> who know at least *something* about everything that is popular among such
> nerds.
>
>    I have hard time believing that you have never heard of the concept of
> exp in computer role-playing games.

Apparently I don't play that particular sort of game very much. Why, is 
there a law against that? :-P

Post a reply to this message

Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Apparently I don't play that particular sort of game very much. Why, is 
> there a law against that? :-P

  You lose nerd points for not knowing such basics.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message