Accessories Gone Wild

 

Prologue

If you haven't tried it already, go to the Steam store page and type "prologue" into the search engine.  You will get a long list of games that can be played for free.  Most of them are not very good, but a few might appeal to you if you have a particular interest in what might be an underserved niche.  Two examples that come to mind are Alder's Blood: Prologue (a horror themed strategy/tactics RPG) and Empty Shell: Prologue (a game that feels like GTFO, but plays like Teleglitch).  They are demo games at heart, but not every free game falls into the category of a sample that is trying to rope you into buying the real product.  In fact, there are a number of completely free-of-charge video games on Steam (as well as other online software distribution stores) that aren't covertly trying to get you to spend money. 

The oddly named Buriedbornes is one such example.  It's basically a dungeon crawling RPG with a somewhat Dark/Demon's Souls vibe to it.  The art is static, but well drawn and it has all the fundamental mechanics you'd expect from a game of this type.  The only complaint I have with it is a persistent online requirement despite being a single-player game.  Normally, that wouldn't be an issue for me except that if the servers are down then you can't play.  I guess that's the real price you pay for this free game.  

Another game that got special mention on the "Three Moves Ahead" end-of-year-discussion podcast was Ardor.  It's a very small, tightly designed turn-based strategy game.  At first glance, it has a chess-like feel to it.  Upon further examination though major differences start to become apparent; hexes instead of squares, only one player-controlled playing piece, and a deck-builder card mechanic instead of a simple "I go, you go" approach.  The ability to unlock new cards and upgrade already acquired cards after each level is neat, and keeps Ardor from becoming an overly linear experience.  Even so, it does have a handy "revert back to the beginning of the turn" button - a very nice feature to have in the event that you miscalculated something important.

On the less analytical side of things, there are some nice free games out there as well.  Take the VR-supported game Dagon, for example.  It is an accurate retelling of the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name.  Player input is minimal, but the narrator and environmental design do an excellent job of setting the mood for this horror tale.  

Speaking of horror, the Faith Demo is not actually a demo.  It's the first entry in a trilogy of games.  The graphics and sound are very retro (I mean we are talking Apple II retro here).  Despite the simple presentation, the game is actually pretty darn scary thanks to some well crafted tension building scenes.  The overall ambience is surprisingly good too.       

First released on Steam way back in 2014, NaissanceE is a walking sim, but not just any walking sim.  The environments in this game are positively intimidating in terms of size and scale.  It is almost as if the game is deliberately designed to make you megalophobic.  Thankfully, there isn't anything in the game that is out to cause you harm other than plain old gravity, so exploration and discovery are really what this game is all about. 

There are a number of other games I could cover such as the beautifully stylized Sailing Era with its anime inspired character and scenic 2.5D harbor towns, but I think I've provided enough examples for this blog post.  In general, I think games are too expensive these days.  Thankfully, there are a few good ones that are totally free. 

Bad VO

Doing good voice-overs is a much harder challenge than one might initially think.  Acting itself requires a particular set of skills that don't always come naturally, and to get good at it (in a broad sense) one must hone their craft.  Voice acting is no exception to this and, in fact, comes with its own specific challenges.  On one hand the actor doesn't need to worry about things like makeup and wardrobe, but on the other they often have to create a performance essentially through imagination alone.  Even other actors are unlikely to be present, forcing the person whose voice is being recorded to essentially do it all solo.  

There are many great examples of people who have risen to this particular challenge; both in animated films and shows, as well as video games.  I'm sure anyone reading this can think of a few, and if not a cursory internet search will provide some thoughtful lists.  Instead of that though, I want to touch on the bad...but not just in general.  I want to break it down into three categories of bad; each with their own example.  

Phoning-it-in:

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Super Wing Commander was (surprisingly, given the title) not a SNES port of the original Wing Commander.  The Nintendo version kept the exact same title and visual assets as the original aside from a slight fidelity downgrade.  The "Super" version of this game was made for the 3DO and Mac.  It featured all new portraits for the characters as well as redesigns of all the spacecraft.  Content from expansion packs were seamlessly integrated into the campaign and even a few unique bonus missions were included to better tie the original to its sequel.  What it didn't receive was improvements to the voice acting.  The SegaCD version had competently done VO, but for some strange reason Super Wing Commander had it's own separate recordings done with different actors that were shockingly flat and dull.  One character in particular, "Iceman", has such a lifeless way of delivering lines I couldn't help but chuckle...overall, it seems like the cast were in large part made up of people who happened to be doing other jobs in the studio offices since most have very few, if any other, acting credits to their names.  

Nails-on-a-chalkboard:

Shadow of the Comet (later repackaged as one of two Call of Cthulhu point-and-click adventure games) was an early adopter of the CD-ROM format.  As such, voice acting was used to improve the game's marketability as well as justify all that extra storage space.  For the calmer parts of the game, it isn't bad.  In fact, some of it could even be considered decent for the standards of the time.  However, there are a number of scenes in which things become "heated".  In these instances the actors rightfully intensified their performances to match what is occurring on-screen.  Sadly, their enthusiasm for the material didn't translate to the final product.  As RagnarRox of Youtube fame puts it, "I highly recommend playing this game text only.  It makes it much more easy to take the game seriously and you avoid both the cringey voice acting and syncing problems with the subtitles." In addition to that, I would like to add you are less likely to suffer ear/speaker damage due to people blowing their mics out during audio recording sessions.      

So-bad-it-is-actually-good:

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins reminds me a lot of that goofy comedy film "Kung Pow! Enter the Fist" in that it pokes fun not at the culture from which the media came, but rather the shoddy job in which it was localized.  Roles such as the narrator and Rikimaru are played straight, but most of the supporting cast are incredibly over the top in terms of delivery.  Some especially egregious examples include the corrupt merchants Bizenya and Echigoya.  The latter of which has a bodyguard who sports an outrageous Japanese accent. "Rooks rike you picked the wong pah-tee to clash."  It doesn't stop there though the Manji cult leader is on a whole other level of cheese.  Combine that with Ayane's deadpan snark, a pirate captain that only speaks Spanish and whatever the heck Onikage (plus his boss "Lord Mei-oh") are trying to channel, and you have a recipe for comedy gold. 

There are, of course, many more examples I could bring up.  Famous (or should I say infamous?) examples such as the original Resident Evil are easy to cite.  Then there are equally obscure examples such as Phase Paradox, a game that I can only describe as "bizarre" in terms of line delivery.  I think that I've made my point though - just because it is bad doesn't mean I can't be interesting.   

A Long Drive to Nowhere Special

Currently, I have over 40 games on my Steam Wishlist.  Most are labeled "TBA," "Coming Soon," and "To Be Announced," but one of those games is available for purchase and it's early access.  In additional to that game, I have half-a-dozen other early access titles sitting on my hard drive.  I've bought and played them a bit.  The list includes:

• Satisfactory
• Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnaughts
• ∆V: Rings of Saturn
• Songs of Conquest
• Stoneshard
• Vintage Story

I'm waiting for the full versions to launch because I figure they'll be more enjoyable in their "finished" state.  However, experience has taught me a harsh lesson: sometimes the difference between early access and the final product is disappointingly minimal.  To illustrate my point look no further than Hardspace: Shipbreaker.  It spent over two years in early access and the only real additions were two new classes of ship to dismantle (for a total of 4) and a filament of story delivered entirely through static images and audio clips.  In the case of other lackluster out-of-early-access launches like Kerbal Space Program and Darkest Dungeon, mod support can take up some of the slack, but not all that many games are mod-friendly.

As for games that have yet to be released in any form, I've noticed a troubling tendency for them to sit in development for ridiculously long amounts of time.  Sometimes they quietly disappear via delisting (such as in the case of Eitr and Routine), or eventually do come out in a state that doesn't reflect the amount of time they spent in development.  I get that in some cases the dev team are only working on the game in their spare time or had to abandon the project do to other commitments, but if that is the case why announce the game publicly?  It's clear that they don't have a clue as to when it will be done (if ever).  Just look at my aforementioned Steam Wishlist for a multitude of examples.  There's one title, in particular, I want to highlight and that is Ghost Song...nine years in development and all we got was a mediocre Metroid clone with dull layouts and clunky controls.  The most frustrating thing is there are flecks of greatness tucked into the design.  They're just mostly buried under a mound of blandness.

The last thing I want to touch on in this blog entry is release dates.  I swear the overwhelming majority of game developers couldn't adhere to them if their very lives depended on it.  Sure...they'll shove a buggy mess out the door on time, but actually delivering a fully functional running-as-intended game on the date they oftentimes set for themselves seems neigh impossible for them to do.  I can only theorize that programmers refuse to take planning seriously.  They must just start coding and hope that the fun will materialize out of some vague thoughts and half-considered ideas.  Its absurd and leads to crunch, burnout, hard to fix bugs, cut content and delays. Of course, developers love to give excuses like "making games is hard" or "no one sets out wanting to make a bad game."  All I can say in reply is if they really felt that way more of them would make greater efforts to execute on a thorough plan without overscoping.

Starting with a BANG!

Introductory English writing classes (whether it be essays or creative writing) often encourage students to use a popular technique commonly referred to as a "narrative hook" at the start.  Basically the idea is to grab the readers attention with a bold question or statement.  In film an TV, it's similarly conceived of as a "cold open," but what about video games?  

They have their own variations on the technique which I'm not going to try to explain in abstract detail.  Instead, I want to take this line of thought in a slightly different direction by selecting a standout game from each console platform that really tries to sink it's proverbial claws into the player before they even engage with the game's mechanics.  Here's the list I came up with:

For the NES, there aren't a whole lot of choices.  In fact during the 8-bit era the concept of a strong narrative arch hadn't developed much yet.  That said, Ninja Gaiden has one heck of an opening with the classic sword duel in a moonlit field.  That, along with some brief snippets of accompanying text do an excellent job of setting up the stakes and story that follow.

For SNES, I would have to go with Super Metriod.  There's so much to like about this game even before you push the start button; tight panning shots of a lab in disarray, plus a zoom out to the title card demonstrate excellent use of the consoles mode 7 graphics capability, but it's the haunting musical cue (filled with apprehension and dread) that really sells the introductory scene.

For the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive), I initially wanted to go with Phantasy Star 2 with it's mysterious yet strangely upbeat music playing over the setting intro (which in itself is an interesting blend of science fiction and fantasy).  However, I ultimately decided on Castle of Illusion because of its fairytale-style intro combined with a slick use of letterbox formatting to introduce the title card, hero and titular castle all in one framing shot.

For N64 Conker's Bad Fur Day takes the prize.  The goofy 4th-wall-breaking intro wherein everyone's favorite red squirrel chainsaws the N64 logo in half only to replace it with the Rareware logo contrasts so sharply with the game's incredibly downer "how did I get here?" beginning-at-the-end has got to be a first for console gaming (not to mention a bold move from a design and presentation perspective).

For PS1 the choice is obvious - Metal Gear Solid.  The amount of techno-thriller gobbledygook this game throws at the screen in the first couple of minutes is kind of insane, but it also sets a new standard in that the original MGS showed games could introduce a fairly complex plotline right off the bat.  Your mileage may vary (obviously), but it opened the floodgates in terms of the future of storytelling in video games.

I could keep going, but I think these examples from the 3rd, 4th and 5th generations of console hardware have served my purposes.  As the saying goes in life "put your best foot forward"...and since games often imitate life the same holds true for them as well.