Penny Arcade

“New Art” is Gabriel’s primary reward structure in games.  If that’s true - and it is, I just told you - then Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch must surely be the apex of the form. 

People like it or don’t like it, and they have reasons or whatever.  I’ll tell you this much: it’s a JRPG.  It doesn’t really feel like making concessions to some presumed-to-be-good notion of “progress” or “modernity.”  It is happy to be an exquisite, almost archetypal representation of the form, which is to say this is probably the least fun game to review in recent memory.  There was a period, perhaps even a decade, where I would call it “malpractice” or some other lazy flourish but I have nothing but pity for today’s reviewer anymore.  Nobody cares if you do it right, and the rewards for doing it wrong are incredible.  That’s the environment we’re talking about.  We can’t pretend to be shocked at the beasts that crawl out, all wet black leather, an errant bit of sac clinging to the jowl.

My son Elliot was enraged at the very first world of New Super Mario Brothers U, which references World 1-1 of the original SMB.  The implacable goomba just comes right at you, at a very even pace, occasionally jumping with the music while Mario has his characteristically, atomically perfect icon of the “floaty platform jump.”  The interplay of these two things is woven into my helix - I can’t not do it.  Even so, at one point it was a learned skill, even if I no longer remember acquiring it.

Likewise, there are a host of JRPG structures that exist in this “assumptive” state for us that other people - children, the perpetual influx of new converts, etcetera - don’t possess.  We’ve gotta teach these people how to play these games, and if you and I aren’t going to run regular workshops dedicated to the practice then maybe a Game might be a good bet; a beautiful game like Ni no Kuni maybe.  Whatever problems it has, they aren’t cruelties.  They’re not calculated to scare people away.  We need as many people as possible to know the language.

On the RPG tip, Zeboyd just turned in an interview with IGN about On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness 4, and if you would “like to know more” as they say that can be easily arranged.  The delicious, spongy superstructure is done, and now it’s time for me to get in there and frost this thing.

(CW)TB out.

even white boys gots to shout

I’m playing so many games right now it’s ridiculous. Let me break it down for you:

Playstation 3

Ni No Kuni

Last night I hit the 20 hour mark with this game and it’s only getting better. Ni No Kuni is going down as one of my favorite games of all time. I’d say a big part of it is how beautiful it is but that’s not the only thing. The story is killer, the combat is great and the world building they’ve done is incredibly deep. I can’t help but want to explore every nook and cranny of this place.

Now it is still a JRPG and that means it’s got plenty of grinding and backtracking. Even if you don’t generally like that stuff I’d encourage you to give Ni No Kuni a try because I think not only does the game handle that stuff better than most, but more than anything I think Ni No Kuni is a game you just have to experience.

PC

Strike Suit Zero

3D space combat games used to be all the rage. I used to love games like Freespace and X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter. I didn’t realize how much I missed that sort of game until Strike Suit Zero came along. It’s been a long time since I was dogfighting in space and it feels so good to be back.

Wii U

The Cave

The Cave is a great puzzle game. You can grab it for just about any system. I picked it up on the Wii U hoping it would work in detach mode, meaning I could play it on the gamepad. Sadly it does not support this feature. There are very few games that can literally make me laugh out loud and this is one of them. It’s funny, it looks great and some of the puzzles are real brain benders.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

I’m still playing this most days and again it is because of the detach mode. The ability to play it on the gamepad means I can grab it and get in a few rounds without taking the TV away from the rest of the family. I’m a little worried that I won’t get the new DLC but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

iOS

Madden Social

This year I got sort of hooked on watching football. It all started with playing fantasy football here in the office. I gave Madden 13 a try and it’s fun but I find the defense phase of the game boring to play. Usually I just try and rush the QB until the drive is over and I get to play offense again. Madden Social is great because the offensive drives are the only ones you play. You construct a football team using cards you collect from booster packs. Different players have different stats and so building a team is like building a deck in any other CCG.

The game plays out like Hero Academy or any of those other asynchronous tactics games. You are matched up with a human opponent and you put in your offensive drive against his defense which is being played by the AI. Then you send your “move” and he responds with a drive of his own while the AI handles your defense. You can choose to play the game with 3D graphics and take control of your dudes to throw and run the ball with a virtual joystick or you can turn on sim mode and let the AI handle it all. Personally I make all the major plays myself but let the AI handle field goals and punt returns.

It’s a freemium game so you earn coins that you can spend on new card packs or you can drop real money to buy them. I think the booster packs are a little on the expensive side personally but so far I haven’t had to drop any real cash on the game.

Oh it looks like the Sim City beta just finished installing.

I’m fucked.

-Gabe out

Because it’s rated M and there’s an age gate, we were able to go much farther than we usually can with our project for God of War: Ascension.  Lookie, lookie!

(CW)TB

PAX East isn’t for a little while yet, but it seemed like some early exposure probably couldn’t hurt:  here are the select…  -ees.  The ones we selected!  That’s what I mean.

(CW)TB