So recently, there were 2 more tower defenses were released, to add to the growing list of FPStower defense games: Orcs Must Die! and Dungeon Defenders. However, I feel both these games fall short of Sanctum, one of the first FPS tower defense games released. Why's that? Well let's begin.
First let's talk about beginning set up of each game. Sanctum and Orcs Must Die both have you choose a loadout in the beginning, showing what weapons/towers/traps you may build, (and for Orcs Must Die!, also a talent specialization) whereas Dungeon Defenders has you create a character from four classes, complete with color customizations. You end up leveling your Dungeon Defender characters, which increases their power, and unlocks new spells, abilities etc.
From the getgo, you can start to see what each game is going for. Dungeon Defenders wants you to think its an MMO, Orcs Must Die! an action RPG, and Sanctum as a shooter in the vein of Battlefield/Modern Warfare. As a result gameplay for each will evoke the feeling of their respective genres, while sometimes also showing their weaknesses.
For Dungeon Defenders, its the "trash mobs". Spawning waves and waves of trash mobs, and with little thought to your shooting/hacking other than "keep up the pew pew", the only break in the action is when a piece of gear drops and you or your allies rush to pick it up. Nor does it help that your money for each level spawns at 4 separate corners of the map during the build phase, which ends up with you or your allies making a mad dash towards the closest spawn to prevent other players from taking your money. To make matters worse, the money gained to create towers for each level, can also be sent directly to your "mana bank" to be used as upgrades for yourself, and others. Due to the leveling and gearing system, this practically encourages players to sneak as much money to their own bank, instead of trying to finish the level. While players are under no obligation to play in this manner, it is still what the mechanics of the game encourage. There is a point where lower level players are no longer able to upgrade towers (due to a cap on how much money he hold at Y level) and unable to create new towers (due to a shared tower cap) so they become essentially dead weight. You can hardly blame them if they begin hoarding their money here, as they have nothing else to do.
Orcs Must Die! is probably the most action packed of the group, for better or worse. With limited time between waves, it forces you to quickly decide what traps and where, or which upgrades and when. There's a few untimed sections, but few and far between, and nonexistent in nightmare mode. The traps are interesting, and so are the various talent specs. The problem is a lot of the stages are designed to be beaten a certain way, instead of offering a wide variety of options. The upgrade system is also nice, although you rarely know which upgrades to purchase, due to each stage forcing a certain strategy revolved around a specific trap. It's also probably the hardest among the three games, requiring the most concentration. Which may be a good thing for those interested in a challenge. The orcs actively try to kill you, which enables you to buy time by distracting the orcs, and also makes the combat a lot more dynamic. The biggest issue holding it back, is the lack of a co-op mode, which makes the overall experience lacking after beating the campaign. Still, its undoubtely the strongest single player game of the bunch, and quite rewarding.
And finally, we come to Sanctum, which in my opinion is the strongest title. It is closest to being a casual shooter, similar to TF2 (minus hats and drops), with a mix of Modern Warfare and Battlefield. Many weapons are easy to use at close to maximum effectiveness, and the predictability of the enemies (and the invincibility of the player) creates almost a skeet shooting experience. The weapons have a great feel to them; the sniper is accurate to a dot, explosive and freezing grenades arc lazily to a target, the shotgun has a meating recoil which can sometimes throw you backwards. Also, this game has rocket jumping (well, grenade jumping) and bunny hopping. However, in keeping things simple, the variety of towers is limited, and only a small (but diverse) selection of levels to play. The lack of unlocks (except for singleplayer levels) is also notable, though it further cements its focus on casual play.
Now that I think about it, I've come to understand what each game is going for, and why I liked Sanctum over the others. Dungeon Defenders is meant for Diablo 2 fans, who wanted more tower defense, Orcs Must Die! is designed to appeal to the Devil May Cry/ 3rd person action gamer, and Sanctum is designed for those lovers of shooters. In any case, we've been blessed with a splurge of high quality tower defense games, infused with elements from a diverse list of genres. And if you hurry, you might still be able to get Sanctum at half price today!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Hanasaku Iroha is over, it's finally (about to be) over!
Hm, so at this point, hating Hanasaku Iroha kind of makes me feel guilty. It's like calling someone a retard online, then realising, that they actually are retarded due to a medical condition. The anime is nearing the end and at this point and they are just sprinting towards the ending as if they just want the story to end. It feels almost as if they were going for 25 episodes but realized halfway through the series that they only had time for 13.
So what makes me feel this way? First off, side characters do nothing. If the writer, son or Beanman were replaced, would anyone notice? Would it change the story? Not really. If they're just background characters, then why did we spend so much time with them?
Which brings another complicated part about the writer's arc. It showed that Ohana had some skills in cheering people up, yet later on in the story she forgets she has it and even has to have others cheer her up. Multiple times. It's kind of ironic in that when she was thrown into a hostile environment where should didn't understand anything, Ohana was able to inspire others, yet when she ends up as finally picking up her stride is when she falls apart.
However, even the main characters are pretty much bipolar. Tohru falls in love with Hana for no reason (other than checking her temperature; damn I better not do that!), the grandmother starts liking Hana for no reason, and the mother becomes a normal person for no reason at all. Now, suspension of disbelief, I can understand them doing this, its realistic and its interesting. But it pains me when all this interesting stuff happened OFF SCREEN. Why would you hide the most interesting parts of your show? This makes it seem like they were making it up as they went along, and never had a clear goal from the beginning.
And then the plot hole. Why doesn't Ohana live with her mother now that she's back? Sigh.
They have one episode left to finish this. I hope they break even. But for me, I'm glad its finally about to be over.
Also would someone explain to me what the hell "Fest it up" (Bonbori?) even means?
And offtopic, Amagami SS OVA was....of dubious quality. They didn't even animate half the scenes (I'm not kidding about this) Then again, the only way they can redeem themselves is if they make a TRUE Rihoko ending. (Even if its not canon)
So what makes me feel this way? First off, side characters do nothing. If the writer, son or Beanman were replaced, would anyone notice? Would it change the story? Not really. If they're just background characters, then why did we spend so much time with them?
Which brings another complicated part about the writer's arc. It showed that Ohana had some skills in cheering people up, yet later on in the story she forgets she has it and even has to have others cheer her up. Multiple times. It's kind of ironic in that when she was thrown into a hostile environment where should didn't understand anything, Ohana was able to inspire others, yet when she ends up as finally picking up her stride is when she falls apart.
However, even the main characters are pretty much bipolar. Tohru falls in love with Hana for no reason (other than checking her temperature; damn I better not do that!), the grandmother starts liking Hana for no reason, and the mother becomes a normal person for no reason at all. Now, suspension of disbelief, I can understand them doing this, its realistic and its interesting. But it pains me when all this interesting stuff happened OFF SCREEN. Why would you hide the most interesting parts of your show? This makes it seem like they were making it up as they went along, and never had a clear goal from the beginning.
And then the plot hole. Why doesn't Ohana live with her mother now that she's back? Sigh.
They have one episode left to finish this. I hope they break even. But for me, I'm glad its finally about to be over.
Also would someone explain to me what the hell "Fest it up" (Bonbori?) even means?
And offtopic, Amagami SS OVA was....of dubious quality. They didn't even animate half the scenes (I'm not kidding about this) Then again, the only way they can redeem themselves is if they make a TRUE Rihoko ending. (Even if its not canon)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Amnesia: OnLive
So recently I just beat Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It's a scary game with good atmosphere, with a mediocre story (with gigantic plot holes) and questionable gameplay. However, I played it on OnLive, a new game streaming service. Like Netflix, but for games. You buy games (or rent them) and play them through their client, on their server. This basically means that anything that can watch youtube in 720p can play these games. At first, I was skeptical of the service, and wouldn't have paid much attention, but when they offered Amnesia for free, I signed up. After my playthrough with it, I'd say I'm optimistic, but it's still bad.
My first impression was that it LAGS. When I have a pointer, the mouse feels significantly unresponsive, giving a slight delay before it moves. There seems to be some kind of prediction for your mouse, the longer you push in a direction, the faster it moves, which only adds to the laggy response. If this had been on a console, I don't think I would've noticed as much, (Then again, HDTVs lag more compared to my LCD screen) but it was a bad start.
The next thing I noticed was the stream quality. The stream is definitely a HD stream, but at the end of the day, its a stream. Every once in awhile the stream will break up, and leave the player sitting there waiting for the lag to settle down. And then there were the disconnects during prime time. Expect to get disconnected during prime time once. Good thing though, is that OnLive will recognize the disconnect and pause your game. OnLive can even lag when browsing through the menu, which is understandable given the architecture, but still somewhat disconcerting. However, at the end of the day it did not heavily affect my gameplay in Amnesia, as most of the game is spent exploring. Had it been any type of FPS or action oriented game, this could have been rage-inducing. And its hard to say whether it would have been unplayable or not.
I did however go and try the Dirt 2 demo. I could not turn accurately, so the game handled like driving on ice. with a grease spill. The game is basically unplayable in my opinion. Now maybe this was due to my incompetence, or maybe the game's unforgiving mechanics, so I tried to watch some other people play on OnLive through their spectator system but no one seemed to have a good grasp on the system and the lag.
Speaking of which, the one aspect of OnLive that really stands out is the spectator system. At any time, you can watch someone else playing the game, and cheer/jeer them. You can also friend them if you like their game play. You can speak to the player, through their beta voicechat system, but in noisier parts of the game, it was hard to hear the spectators. This creates an experience similar to an arcade (Or more closely to Tech Rec) where people can help you through the game. Or in the case of Amnesia, try to troll the hell out of you. (Although the cheers really helped me continue through the game) This is the best part of OnLive, and I really wish they would fix their technical issues (or rather, business/server speed issues), because it really is a fun way to play. Of course if you can handle the lag that is...
So at the end of the day, the question is whether OnLive is worth it or not. Is it worth it to be able to play triple A games from your netbook? Is it worth it to be able to watch/and be viewed by random strangers? The experience is undeniably a few steps below a true console or gaming rig, but what of the budget gamer? Is it better to pay for OnLive games or build your own PC? If OnLive games are as cheap as steam sales, then I would say sure, go for it. It is quite an impressive technical feat, but its still somewhat lacking. However, if this service were to become popular, maybe ISPs will work towards improving their services, with the rise of Netflix, and the move towards internet-based services, which would be a great thing for everyone.
At this point though, I'd say there are 2 factors to determine whether to purchase an OnLive game. A) Is the game suitable for OnLive with its lag, but "Let's Play" features? and B) Do you have a good gaming rig? If the answer to those is maybe, go ahead, make an account on OnLive. The client is small (Like 2 megs), the account is free, then play the demos, and spectate. If you find it to your liking, go for it. (And add me!)
PS - Also, OnLive requires a >3 Mbps connection, with recommended 5Mbps. Get good internet.
Edit: Memorial Day sale at the moment, with games being slightly cheaper.
My first impression was that it LAGS. When I have a pointer, the mouse feels significantly unresponsive, giving a slight delay before it moves. There seems to be some kind of prediction for your mouse, the longer you push in a direction, the faster it moves, which only adds to the laggy response. If this had been on a console, I don't think I would've noticed as much, (Then again, HDTVs lag more compared to my LCD screen) but it was a bad start.
The next thing I noticed was the stream quality. The stream is definitely a HD stream, but at the end of the day, its a stream. Every once in awhile the stream will break up, and leave the player sitting there waiting for the lag to settle down. And then there were the disconnects during prime time. Expect to get disconnected during prime time once. Good thing though, is that OnLive will recognize the disconnect and pause your game. OnLive can even lag when browsing through the menu, which is understandable given the architecture, but still somewhat disconcerting. However, at the end of the day it did not heavily affect my gameplay in Amnesia, as most of the game is spent exploring. Had it been any type of FPS or action oriented game, this could have been rage-inducing. And its hard to say whether it would have been unplayable or not.
I did however go and try the Dirt 2 demo. I could not turn accurately, so the game handled like driving on ice. with a grease spill. The game is basically unplayable in my opinion. Now maybe this was due to my incompetence, or maybe the game's unforgiving mechanics, so I tried to watch some other people play on OnLive through their spectator system but no one seemed to have a good grasp on the system and the lag.
Speaking of which, the one aspect of OnLive that really stands out is the spectator system. At any time, you can watch someone else playing the game, and cheer/jeer them. You can also friend them if you like their game play. You can speak to the player, through their beta voicechat system, but in noisier parts of the game, it was hard to hear the spectators. This creates an experience similar to an arcade (Or more closely to Tech Rec) where people can help you through the game. Or in the case of Amnesia, try to troll the hell out of you. (Although the cheers really helped me continue through the game) This is the best part of OnLive, and I really wish they would fix their technical issues (or rather, business/server speed issues), because it really is a fun way to play. Of course if you can handle the lag that is...
So at the end of the day, the question is whether OnLive is worth it or not. Is it worth it to be able to play triple A games from your netbook? Is it worth it to be able to watch/and be viewed by random strangers? The experience is undeniably a few steps below a true console or gaming rig, but what of the budget gamer? Is it better to pay for OnLive games or build your own PC? If OnLive games are as cheap as steam sales, then I would say sure, go for it. It is quite an impressive technical feat, but its still somewhat lacking. However, if this service were to become popular, maybe ISPs will work towards improving their services, with the rise of Netflix, and the move towards internet-based services, which would be a great thing for everyone.
At this point though, I'd say there are 2 factors to determine whether to purchase an OnLive game. A) Is the game suitable for OnLive with its lag, but "Let's Play" features? and B) Do you have a good gaming rig? If the answer to those is maybe, go ahead, make an account on OnLive. The client is small (Like 2 megs), the account is free, then play the demos, and spectate. If you find it to your liking, go for it. (And add me!)
PS - Also, OnLive requires a >3 Mbps connection, with recommended 5Mbps. Get good internet.
Edit: Memorial Day sale at the moment, with games being slightly cheaper.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Why Hanasaku Iroha sucks, and everyone who watches it is a damn K-on nerd
Disclaimer: This is what I think so far after the latest episode 4. Maybe it'll get better. Probably not. Note that there may be spoilers.
Hanasaku Iroha is a slice of life show. What does that mean? It means no fantasy or any type of escapism and shitty fanservice. And no, its not a comedy (well it has comedy, but it isn't A comedy).
Okay so why do people watch the show? When you don't have sexy girls or explosions, you gotta have characters. Not drama, but CHARACTERS.
And right off the bat the warning signs appear.
Let's start with the interesting characters in order of appearance.
Ko chan or whatever he's called is roughly interesting simply because he tries to grow a pair. What happens afterward is anyone's game. Is he forever traumatized? Does he keep trying to go after her? Or does he deal with it and move on? Lots of interesting character development can happen here.
Ohana on the other hand will not change. She is still the same person. Whether or not she was confessed to will NOT MATTER for her character for the rest of the show.
So great right? Your only interesting person with character development possibilities gets shooed out at the very start. But don't worry it gets worse.
Next person they try to make interesting is Minko, obviously the "damaged goods" character. They try to make her seem really intimidating, but it just comes off as awkward, the second she repeats the same word twice. It'd be fine if the others were like "what's up with this bitch" or "that's a really awkward thing to say" but they seem to freak out that she wants them to die. They try to build her as the "awkward beauty" type later on, but the other characters don't react that way. Which makes me suspect the other characters are retarded.
This is most obvious in episode two, when Ohana pushes down Minko and Nako and forces them to tell her their most hated foods. Okay so imagine this, your mortal enemy has captured you and is about to torture you to death. He then asks what you think is the most painful way to die. Anyone in this situation would just scream FUCK YOU. But no, not Hanasaku Iroha. Oh no, they'll say "Well, since I've always had a case of claustrophobia, I think getting buried alive in an iron maiden would be the most painful way to die." See, when a person panics, they DON'T KNOW WHAT FOOD THEY HATE THE MOST IS. Actually, THAT'S THE LAST DAMN THING ON THEIR MIND. (I can't even think of it right now. Maybe veal) So watching a character give a fully thought out answer in that situation, not only does it not make sense for their characters, you can't even play the "panic, irrational" card.
Next up is the brother, or Ohana's uncle, who at least has an interesting back story, (Stays with mother when his sister leaves) but fails to do anything worth mentioning so far. This guy could be interesting, but no, they'll probably use him to move the plot somewhere, maybe have one episode to flesh him out and that's it.
The grandmother probably stands out the most by being basically a bitch, but that doesn't make her interesting. At some point she's going to warm up to Ohana because Ohana broke down her cold stone wall with that golden heart of hers and everyone's going to have a good cry. To make this kind of scene any good, it needs a good build up. Guess what, its episode four, and I'm still waiting for a hint of build up.
Now last is the writer, who's "arc" just finished. And what a shitty arc. The only reason they even put him in is for fan service to see Ohana tied up and some kind of weird NakoxMinkoxOhana orgy scene and a cliffhanger ending for episode two. Not only did they barely build up his character, he ends up more as a comic relief than someone that you're supposed to feel sorry for. But then again, he's not really funny, more like someone you tolerate only because it'd take more effort to get rid of them.
Now the rest of the cast is pretty much one dimensional. Nako is the shy girl, Tomoe is the gossipy girl, Ren is the "master" character, and Tohru is the skilled apprentice. I thought Yuina might be interesting, but instead she's just there to create a love triangle. She has potential, but I'm afraid her relationship with Tohru might overshadow any other traits about her.
So at this point, I have no idea whats keeping you guys into the show. The only thing I can come up with, is that like K-on, as long as there;s some cute girls with moe faces in a show, people will watch it. And the show sure is trying hard since episode three. Not to mention, its a freaking HOT SPRING INN. They don't even need beach episodes.
See here, when I get my fanservice fix, I like it with a side of action or comedy. If I want pure fanservice, there's touhou fanart for that. So I am lost as to why you people keep watching. Then again its not the worst thing in the world, but its just bland enough to make me hate watching it. If it weren't for you guys and your love for Iroha, I'd wouldn't hate it, but as of this moment, if you gave me a DVD of this crap, I would burn it while cursing your ancestors.
PS - The beginning of the opening makes me want to stab myself.
Hanasaku Iroha is a slice of life show. What does that mean? It means no fantasy or any type of escapism and shitty fanservice. And no, its not a comedy (well it has comedy, but it isn't A comedy).
Okay so why do people watch the show? When you don't have sexy girls or explosions, you gotta have characters. Not drama, but CHARACTERS.
And right off the bat the warning signs appear.
Let's start with the interesting characters in order of appearance.
Ko chan or whatever he's called is roughly interesting simply because he tries to grow a pair. What happens afterward is anyone's game. Is he forever traumatized? Does he keep trying to go after her? Or does he deal with it and move on? Lots of interesting character development can happen here.
Ohana on the other hand will not change. She is still the same person. Whether or not she was confessed to will NOT MATTER for her character for the rest of the show.
So great right? Your only interesting person with character development possibilities gets shooed out at the very start. But don't worry it gets worse.
Next person they try to make interesting is Minko, obviously the "damaged goods" character. They try to make her seem really intimidating, but it just comes off as awkward, the second she repeats the same word twice. It'd be fine if the others were like "what's up with this bitch" or "that's a really awkward thing to say" but they seem to freak out that she wants them to die. They try to build her as the "awkward beauty" type later on, but the other characters don't react that way. Which makes me suspect the other characters are retarded.
This is most obvious in episode two, when Ohana pushes down Minko and Nako and forces them to tell her their most hated foods. Okay so imagine this, your mortal enemy has captured you and is about to torture you to death. He then asks what you think is the most painful way to die. Anyone in this situation would just scream FUCK YOU. But no, not Hanasaku Iroha. Oh no, they'll say "Well, since I've always had a case of claustrophobia, I think getting buried alive in an iron maiden would be the most painful way to die." See, when a person panics, they DON'T KNOW WHAT FOOD THEY HATE THE MOST IS. Actually, THAT'S THE LAST DAMN THING ON THEIR MIND. (I can't even think of it right now. Maybe veal) So watching a character give a fully thought out answer in that situation, not only does it not make sense for their characters, you can't even play the "panic, irrational" card.
Next up is the brother, or Ohana's uncle, who at least has an interesting back story, (Stays with mother when his sister leaves) but fails to do anything worth mentioning so far. This guy could be interesting, but no, they'll probably use him to move the plot somewhere, maybe have one episode to flesh him out and that's it.
The grandmother probably stands out the most by being basically a bitch, but that doesn't make her interesting. At some point she's going to warm up to Ohana because Ohana broke down her cold stone wall with that golden heart of hers and everyone's going to have a good cry. To make this kind of scene any good, it needs a good build up. Guess what, its episode four, and I'm still waiting for a hint of build up.
Now last is the writer, who's "arc" just finished. And what a shitty arc. The only reason they even put him in is for fan service to see Ohana tied up and some kind of weird NakoxMinkoxOhana orgy scene and a cliffhanger ending for episode two. Not only did they barely build up his character, he ends up more as a comic relief than someone that you're supposed to feel sorry for. But then again, he's not really funny, more like someone you tolerate only because it'd take more effort to get rid of them.
Now the rest of the cast is pretty much one dimensional. Nako is the shy girl, Tomoe is the gossipy girl, Ren is the "master" character, and Tohru is the skilled apprentice. I thought Yuina might be interesting, but instead she's just there to create a love triangle. She has potential, but I'm afraid her relationship with Tohru might overshadow any other traits about her.
So at this point, I have no idea whats keeping you guys into the show. The only thing I can come up with, is that like K-on, as long as there;s some cute girls with moe faces in a show, people will watch it. And the show sure is trying hard since episode three. Not to mention, its a freaking HOT SPRING INN. They don't even need beach episodes.
See here, when I get my fanservice fix, I like it with a side of action or comedy. If I want pure fanservice, there's touhou fanart for that. So I am lost as to why you people keep watching. Then again its not the worst thing in the world, but its just bland enough to make me hate watching it. If it weren't for you guys and your love for Iroha, I'd wouldn't hate it, but as of this moment, if you gave me a DVD of this crap, I would burn it while cursing your ancestors.
PS - The beginning of the opening makes me want to stab myself.
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