video games

First Impressions: Bioshock

Bioshock is a first person shooter, adventure game. Developed by 2K Boston, Bioshock takes place in the 1960’s and centers on the main character Jack. After surviving a plane crash, Jack makes his way into an underwater city named Rapture. Created by the business magnate Andrew Ryan, Rapture was intended to be an isolated utopia. However, the discovery of ADAM, a genetic material that gives people superhuman powers resulted in the cities rapid decline.

Jack’s first glimpse into the city Rapture.

In Bioshock, Jack is trying to escape from Rapture, fighting hordes of enemies obsessed with ADAM and creatures like Big Daddies while interacting with the few humans who remain to learn more about Rapture’s past. Playing as Jack, the player gets to use not only weapons to shoot enemies down but also different superhuman powers, such as Incinerate and Telekinesis. These different abilities give the player a vast array of opportunities to kill their enemies, giving the player a unique gaming experience.

Bioshock is truly an amazing gaming experience. As a rookie computer and first person shooter video game player, I was immediately hooked into playing this game. Bioshock had just all of the right elements to get me immersed into the world of Rapture and wanting to learn more about what happened to this beautiful city.

Bioshock is a video game that interested me from the start because of how interactive the game can get the player. This interaction can be seen through fighting enemies and listening to the diary entries of the different people who once lived in Rapture. Fighting enemies gives the player a sense of interaction because you get to kill enemies from a first person perspective. You play as Jack and get to control his movements as he kills his enemies using all of the different abilities in his arsenal. The diary entries also provide an interactive experience in Bioshock because they give the player more detail to the story. These journal entries help explain pieces of the puzzle that aren’t already unlocked for Jack and tell the player more about the people who lived in Rapture and what happened to them.

My first Splicer kill in Bioshock. — My first Splicer kill in *Bioshock*.

Another aspect of Bioshock that gets the player immersed into the game is the music. The music in this game is truly creepy and made me feel as if I were playing a horror game. Having this music to the game while fighting enemies gave me chills. This music contributed so much to my feelings of horror that when enemies appeared out of nowhere, I found myself jumping in my seat.

The one aspect to Bioshock that I’m still getting used to is the player controls. Since I don’t have a whole lot of experience playing first person shooter and computer games, I’m not yet used to how controls in these types of games work. Because of my lack of experience, whenever I find myself facing Splicers and other enemies, I often end up feeling turned around and confused trying to get the controls down so that I can kill them. The player controls also have me frustrated too because I find myself getting stuck at parts in the game because of them.

However, Bioshock is a truly marvelously beautiful game. My experience with it has so far been a wonderful one and I can’t wait to see where this game takes me.

September 27, 2015 0

Failed Impressions: Yume Nikki

In what I hope to be my first and only post, Failed Impressions are going to be video game posts about games I attempted to play only to quit. I’ll have quit playing a game due to lack of interest, holes in storyline, and even rage quit.

So for my first Failed Impressions post, I give you Yume Nikki. Yume Nikki is a surrealistic adventure game that was developed by Kikiyama in 2004. The game centers around a young girl named Madotsuki as she enters this dream world where she collects Effects, objects that provide Madotsuki with special abilities. The object of Yume Nikki is to collect all twenty-four effects.

There are many reasons why I couldn’t get into playing Yume Nikki. When I first started playing, I was interested in giving this game a shot. I had seen so many things on the Internet about this game and thought it would appeal to me.

However, that’s not what happened. I immediately found myself frustrated with the game when I was in Madotsuki’s room. In her room, there is an opportunity for the player to play a mini game called NASU. In NASU, the objective is to catch a falling eggplant in the character’s mouth. I found the mini game itself to be interesting and intriguing, but quickly became frustrated when I discovered that I couldn’t exit out of it.

I tried furiously pressing every key on my laptop known to mankind to exit out of this mini game, but it refused to let me go. Even the ESC button didn’t work. So I’d have to reload Yume Nikki every time I tried to play NASU. And that frustrated me because it showed that the controls didn’t always work.

Another reason Yume Nikki didn’t appeal to me as a gamer is because of the lack of a storyline. When I play video games, I play for the purpose of being introduced to a whole new world where I can explore the mechanics of the game along with seeing an intriguing and interesting storyline and character development as I progress. In this game, the player is introduced to Madotsuki, a young girl who lives alone in her apartment.

But there’s no real story here. There’s Madotsuki and her dreams and that’s it. And while that can be interesting to some players, I want to know more about what’s going on and what I’m supposed to be doing in these dreams. Because while the environment Madotsuki was in was intriguing and interesting to explore, I was frustrated that there was no real story that I could sink my teeth into.

I also didn’t enjoy Yume Nikki because of getting lost in this game. While I don’t mind playing games where you can explore the environment around you, I found that the dreams going to other dreams to be more of a nuisance. None of the dreams connected together in a way that made sense to me as a player. And while I don’t mind getting lost in video games, not being able to find my way out without having to wake Madotsuki up really frustrated me. It meant that I would have to go back into the same dreams again just to make sure that I collected all of the effects before moving on to the next door.

I really tried getting into Yume Nikki. I really did. But because of the amount of problems I had while playing, such as being unable to play the game at all, I had to call it quits after only playing the game for an hour and collecting three effects. I really wish this game had turned out differently for me.

September 11, 2015 0

First Impressions: Alice Mare

Alice Mare is an adventure, horror and puzzle game created by Miwashiba in Wolf RPG Editor.

Alice Mare centers around a boy named Allen. After losing his memory, Allen is placed in a home where four other children live. While at this facility, Allen discovers there to be a World of Dreams. He also learns more about the other children he lives with through storybook telling.

Through exploration, the player will find out what’s going on but can also unlock a total of seven different endings.

Alice Mare is a game that I’m still struggling to figure out how I feel about it. When I first started playing, I was confused and trying to figure out what’s going on. This occurred because the game has the player jump right into the game without any detail. I like that the game did this because it made playing Alice Mare that much more interesting for me. However, I also felt confused when I was playing because I didn’t begin to realize what was going on until later.

What I do like about Alice Mare is the music. I feel that a lot of the music you hear while you play is really beautiful and makes the gameplay enjoyable for the player. Some of the songs that I really enjoyed from Alice Mare include Miracle of the Stars, Playing with Dolls, Murdered, and El Paradiso. It really helped set the tone of the game and gave the player an idea of how things were going.

Another aspect of Alice Mare I enjoy is the character’s stories. I love that Miwashiba gave each of the characters fairytale stories. I really love fairytales and it was easy to see how each of these fairytales was uniquely incorporated into the game. It also made the game enjoyable to me because while I was playing, I was trying to figure out which fairytale each of the children were a part of. I also found that I loved all of these different characters because the player could connect and feel sympathy for them.

Another aspect of Alice Mare I really enjoyed was the horror that was incorporated into the game. It wasn’t a whole lot, but enough to make the player see that there is horror in the game. The player could see a lot of these aspects not only through the music, but through the graphics as well. While the music in the game set the tone for each scene, the graphics themselves helped the player figure out what was going to happen to the characters next. This intrigued me while playing because I didn’t know what to expect from scene to scene.

What I didn’t enjoy while playing Alice Mare was the lack of plot explanation. The player knows that Allen is a young boy, new to the facility he has been placed in. However, the player doesn’t get a vivid explanation of these dream worlds and doesn’t know a whole lot about the characters other than what’s relayed in the game. The player never finds out who Alice is (though the game implies it’s you, though you don’t know for sure).

I also didn’t enjoy any of the puzzles and riddles you had to do to progress in the game. I found them to be confusing and the answers for a lot of them didn’t make a lot of sense to me. The only way I progressed at all was from looking at the Alice Mare Wiki to get the answers to the puzzles and riddles.

So while I did enjoy playing Alice Mare, I’m still conflicted on how I feel about it.

September 6, 2015 0

Reliving Memories: Dark Cloud 2

Known as Dark Chronicle in Japan and Europe, Dark Cloud 2 is an adventure RPG dungeon crawling game made by Level 5. Published in 2003, Dark Cloud 2 centers around two characters: Maximillian and Monica Raybrandt.

An inventor and son of the wealthiest man in Palm Brinks, Maximillian works at Cedric’s shop, helping him repair parts. His adventure begins after a chance encounter with Flotsam’s Circus Troupe where he not only finds out about the outside world, but discovers that he has the Red Atlamillia, which allows him to go into the past. Monica Raybrandt is the daughter of King Raybrandt. She is the owner of the Blue Atlamillia and is sent into the past to help Maximillian stop Emperor Griffin from destroying the future after she witnesses him kill her father. Together, Maximillian and Monica work to repair the past in order to bring a brighter future to their world.

I remember as a child playing this game a lot. I had first heard about Dark Cloud 2 from a friend of mine at daycare in elementary school. Back then, I was the tomboy in my group of friends. I was the only girl at the daycare I went to who hung out with all the guys because most of the girls at my daycare I couldn’t relate to. I found out about Dark Cloud 2 from one of my friends there, started playing it, and haven’t stopped since.

I have so many fond memories of this game because it became one of my favorite games to play as a child. Now that I’m older, I’ve been playing Dark Cloud 2 with my boyfriend Zach so that I can relive all those moments of playing this game when I was little. Even though when I was younger I never got further than the second dungeon, there are a lot of things about this game that I liked even then.

For one, there are a lot of unique features this game has that I haven’t seen yet in other video games. For example, in order to recover the future, the player has to build Georamas. Georamas are a way of rebuilding the past in order to restore the future. In order to put a Georama together, the player needs the Carpenterion and Geostones. The Carpenterion is a machine that allows you to create the items you need to make the Georama. However, in order to make the Georama parts, the player needs Geostones, which holds the data the Carpenterion needs to create these parts. What I like about this feature in Dark Cloud 2 is that it is a very unique way of building items and that each Georama has its own sets of challenges that the player has to overcome if they want to progress further in the game.

I also enjoy playing Dark Cloud 2 because of the dungeons. Each floor in all of the dungeons in this game have unique monsters to fight and unique gate keys that the player has to obtain. In order to get to the next dungeon floor, the player has to fight monsters to obtain the gate key and I like that each dungeon has its own corresponding gate key that is different from all the others. I also like that each of the dungeon floors are randomly generated, which allows the player to have a unique gaming experience on each dungeon level. Another component to the dungeons I enjoy is the music. I enjoy that each dungeon has its own music that is unique to the area the player is exploring. I just find that the music in Dark Cloud 2 is beautiful and that it makes me enjoy fighting monsters all the more as I continue to play this game.

Dark Cloud 2 Rainbow Butterfly Wood Dungeon — Monica in Rainbow Butterfly Wood, the second dungeon in Dark Cloud 2.

Another aspect of Dark Cloud 2 I love is building up Max and Monica’s weapons. Both Max and Monica have unique weapons the player needs to build up to make stronger weapons the player can use to fight monsters. The building up process involves synthesizing items, such as crystals to strengthen Max and Monica’s stats. Once you have certain numbers for your stats, you are able to build your weapon up to a stronger wrench, gun, sword or armband. What I love about their weapons is that they are unique. For example, Max’s main weapon is a wrench, which is something I’ve never seen in any other game I’ve played. I also like that when you build your weapon up that the player has more than one option. This allows the player the ability to have two or three of the same weapon and increase different stats for each one to make the weapon something else. I like that you have multiple options when making your weapon because it gives the player the chance to create different weapons to handle different types of monsters.

However, there are also components to Dark Cloud 2 that I don’t enjoy. These features are going fishing and playing Spheda. As a person who doesn’t enjoy fishing as a hobby, I find playing fishing in this game to be boring because it doesn’t excite me in any way. While at times it can be peaceful after finishing a tough dungeon or battle with a monster, it’s more of a hassle to do. Especially when you first start playing Dark Cloud 2 before you have Fabio join your party. Spheda is a video game version of golf. The goal of Spheda is to hit your ball, which will either be blue or red, into the red or blue hole of the opposite color. If the ball and the hole are the same color, the ball will just bounce off the hole. However, the player only has a certain amount of hits they can do before the time distortion disappears. While Spheda can sometimes be fun to play, I find that I don’t enjoy it as much because it’s more of a pain to do. One of the reasons Spheda is a pain to play is because the player has to clear the dungeon floor of monsters before they can even play. Another reason I don’t like Spheda is because there are so many rooms for error that sometimes trying to clear the time distortion isn’t even worth it.

While playing Dark Cloud 2 with Zach, I’ve been able to discover my love of this game over again. I remember why I played this game a lot as a child, even though I never progressed as far as I have now that I’m playing with another person. Playing Dark Cloud 2 again is such a wonderful experience. I am glad that I am creating such wonderful memories with this game again that I’ll be able to look back on with fondness and a happy heart.

August 20, 2015 0

First Impressions: Life is Strange

Released on Jan. 29, 2015, Life is Strange is an environmental interactive adventure video game. Developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix, Life is Strange is from the perspective of Max, a regular senior photography student at Blackwell Academy who discovers she can rewind time when she saves her best friend Chloe from being shot. As the two best friends figure out a way for Max to use her powers, they discover something strange is going on in Arcadia Bay. Together, they work to figure it out through finding out what happened to a missing Blackwell Academy student.

Life is Strange 2 — Max’s room in Life is Strange.

Life is Strange is a game that allows the player to rewind time. By rewinding time, the player is able to relive social interactions and change their decisions, which results in different consequences for Max in the game. This allows the player to relieve a variety of different endings for the game. Life is Strange is also divided into a total of five episodes, which gives the player the opportunity to change their decisions in the episodes if they want.

When I first started playing Life is Strange, I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of it. I knew it was a game that I wanted to play, but didn’t know what my feelings were going to be towards it after playing. But since I’ve started Life is Strange, I’ve gotten nothing but pure enjoyment from playing it. I’ve enjoyed Life is Strange since playing it because I love the high school vibe the game gives the player. You get to play as a high school student who is trying to figure out what to do with her new powers while still trying to get through everyday life. Max not only has to deal with how to handle her new powers, but how to deal with issues at school, such as bullying, suicide, rape, and abuse. These issues bring Life is Strange to a new level that hasn’t been explored in other video games and I enjoy seeing these issues brought to life in this game.

The heart wrenching scene with Kate in Life is Strange. Those who’ve played know what’s going on here. The choice you make here determines what happens to her next.

Another component to Life is Strange that I really enjoy is seeing how the choices you make in the game impacts the other characters. As I mentioned earlier, there are many different choices you can make when in uncomfortable social situations with Max. However, the choice you decide to stick with is what determines what’s going to happen later in the game. I love this aspect to the game because you can rewind time after having those uncomfortable conversations and make a different decision and then see how it plays out. It really brings to the surface the saying that “actions have consequences.”

Life is Strange is also an enjoyable game to me because I like how you can interact with the environment. From looking at an object to taking pictures of the world around you, there are so many little things as the player that you can look at that I find to be a charming aspect in this game. By looking at these objects and taking pictures, you are able to add more material to Max’s journal so that you get one step closer to collecting everything in Life is Strange.

The one thing in Life is Strange I don’t particularly care for are the controls. While moving Max around isn’t too bad, I find that whenever I play, there are a lot of times my game lags and I feel like I’m unable to do anything. It also affects my social interactions too because whenever I talk to people in the game, they sometimes say the same word over again two or three times during dialogue. I know that’s an issue I can’t control, but I don’t really like the controls for Life is Strange because of it.

Overall, I enjoy playing Life is Strange. The game has a lot to offer to those interested in playing and I would recommend this game to anyone interested. However, for those who aren’t comfortable with playing a game that deals with issues such as rape, abuse, suicide, bullying, and violence or don’t want to play a game that is very emotion heavy, I don’t recommend Life is Strange to you. For now though, I look forward to continue playing Life is Strange and seeing what’s going to happen next to Max and Chloe with the decisions I have made.

August 11, 2015 5

First Impressions: Okami

Released in 2006 by Capcom on the PlayStation 2, Okami is an action-adventure video game. It was later released in 2008 on the Wii and has also been released on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network, according to the Okami game website.

Okami centers around a wolf sun god named Amaterasu. One hundred years ago, Amaterasu defeated a legendary monster named Orochi. Orochi was responsible for plaguing Kamiki Village with a curse. Using the power of the thirteen Celestial Brushes, Amaterasu was able to defeat Orochi, but at the cost of her own life. The beginning of Okami takes place in the present, where Amaterasu runs into a fairy sprite named Issun and discovers that Orochi is still at large. Together, Amaterasu and Issun go on an adventure to collect the thirteen Celestial Brush powers and defeat Orochi.

I first started playing Okami in May when my boyfriend Zach gave it to me as a college graduation present. But I stopped playing because I was struggling to defeat Ninetails. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to pick it back up again. I had heard about Okami via word of mouth and Tumblr and was immediately interested in playing it.

When I started playing Okami, I fell in love. I found the graphics of the game itself to be absolutely stunning and had a hard time putting my controller down. I spent many hours playing because I found the storyline in the game to be completely immersing and couldn’t get enough of playing as Amaterasu.

Amaterasu right outside the Dragon Palace. I really enjoyed seeing the Dragon Palace underwater. It was one of my favorite places in Okami.

I love this game not only because of the graphics and plot, but also because of the characters. I particularly enjoy Amaterasu’s interactions with Issun because both of them can be really comical with each other. I also love Waka’s character because he gives off the vibe of being a mysterious prophet and the player doesn’t really know why he keeps showing up everywhere Amaterasu and Issun go. Fighting is also enjoyable in Okami too. I love being able to have a variety of weapons to use as the game progresses and that you can use the Celestial Brush techniques to help take damage on enemies. I also enjoy playing Okami because the Celestial Brushes have more than one use. While each brush technique is unique, the game allows you to use each of the brushes to help you progress, making them extremely helpful to the player.

However, while there are a lot of things I love about Okami, there are also a few things about the game that I don’t enjoy. I’m not a fan of games that sexualize or have any form of misogyny. In Okami, one of the things I noticed was Issun acted misogynistic towards some of the female characters in the game, such as Sakuya. I also didn’t enjoy that with some of the female character’s, you could clearly see parts of their body that should’ve been covered.

Sakuya’s outfit. As you can see, her cleavage is visible and not hard to miss.

While the way Issun acted towards these women was very small and insignificant in comparison to the way some men sexualize women, it was something I noticed and picked up on. Another issue I have with this game is the layout of the map because it is really small and can sometimes be very difficult to see where you are supposed to be going.

Another issue with Okami I have is the moments where the game leaves you hanging and you have to figure out what you’re supposed to do next. The journal is supposed to help, but I find that these hints the journal leaves the player can sometimes be more confusing than helpful. Whenever I get stuck, I end up looking at walkthroughs instead because they are more helpful. This is an issue for me because while I don’t mind playing games that are challenging and that make me think, I don’t enjoy having to constantly look up information to progress when I’d rather be playing.

Some of the mini games in Okami I also find I don’t enjoy. One of these mini games is the digging mini game. I don’t like this mini game in particular because it is really a pain to complete and I find myself having to do it multiple times before I am able to finish it. Along with fishing, it is one of the mini games the player has to do multiple times in order to progress further into the game.

However, despite these issues I have, I really love playing Okami. It is a game I fell immediately in love with and one I can see myself playing over and over again in the years to come. Okami is a game that holds a special place in my heart and I recommend it to anyone interested in playing it.

August 4, 2015 1

First Impressions: Plants vs Zombies

Plants vs Zombies is an action packed tower defense video game. Released in 2009 by PopCap, Plants vs Zombies is a game where the player has to protect their home from an invasion of zombies through the use of planting an assortment of zombie-zapping plants on their property. Each plant has their own abilities that allow you to defend yourself against zombies before they can enter your front door.

However, the game comes with its own sets of challenges. These challenges are seen throughout the game with each different game mode. For example, in one of the game modes, the player has to defend their backyard from zombies, which includes having to defend zombies from entering your house through your pool. In order to defend the pool, the player can place Lily Pads in the pool. Lily Pads allow the player to defend their pool with other plants, such as Peashooters, Repeaters, Chompers, etc. by letting the player plant these plants on the Lily Pads.

Plants vs Zombies 11 — My backyard before the final invasion of zombies.

I first started playing Plants vs Zombies last year. However, I found myself getting back into the game with the goal of clearing it last week. While I have yet to beat Plants vs Zombies, I have discovered that there is a lot I enjoy about playing this game. For one, I enjoy watching all of my plants defend my home from an invasion of zombies. Part of my enjoyment of this game is because I love the strategic mindset the player has to get into to make sure they don’t get eaten. A big part of the strategy is choosing which plants to use to defend your home before the level even begins. The player is only allowed a certain amount of plants for each level so you have to choose very carefully which plants you want to use to defend your home. In order to increase the amount of plants you can bring into each level, you have to buy a slot from Crazy Dave’s shop. I also enjoy playing Plants vs Zombies because I love the graphics of the game and the different game modes the player experiences. These game modes allow the player to be entertained without facing the same challenge over and over again and the graphics make Plants vs Zombies look pleasing to the gamer’s eye.

However, there are some drawbacks to Plants vs Zombies too. One of the drawbacks for me is choosing which plants to use to defend your home in each level. While I enjoy being challenged when playing video games, I think only being able to use a certain amount of plants each level stinks. While it does make the game more difficult, it also doesn’t allow the player to enjoy using the full arsenal of plants they have at their disposal. Another drawback to Plants vs Zombies for me is that playing it only appeals to me for a short amount of time. It is a game I find myself hooked to for a couple of days before I find myself interested in wanting to play something else.

However, I enjoy playing Plants vs Zombies. While it doesn’t appeal to me as a game to play for a long period of time, it appeals to my love of plants, nature and zombies. It is a game you can easily get hooked to, if you are looking for a game to spend a couple of days getting lost in. I definitely recommend playing Plants vs Zombies to the gamer interested in strategy based games involving plants and zombies.

July 31, 2015 1

Rainy Day's Books, Video Games and Other Writings

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First Impressions: Bioshock

Failed Impressions: Yume Nikki

First Impressions: Alice Mare

Reliving Memories: Dark Cloud 2

First Impressions: Life is Strange

First Impressions: Okami

First Impressions: Plants vs Zombies

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