TallGuyCalif's Computer Gaming and Entertainment Site

Tag: RPG

  • Final Fantasy I & II for iPhone on Sale

    I notice that Final Fantasy I and II for iPhone are on sale in the App Store for $4 each. I enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 and Crisis Core on the PSP, but these games look too retro even for me. I am sure they provide many hours of gameplay, but I tend not to spend hours playing iPhone games. Travelers could enjoy such long diversion on trans-oceanic flights.

    I haven’t made up my mind if I should splurge and just buy one (probably FF II) just so I can try it out. They’re on sale for the week, apparently…

  • Star Trek Online Captain’s Status Update

    I finished the last of the Breen/Deferi/Preserver weekly episodes. It was pretty good and had not the worst plot of the game. I think if Cryptic can keep these up, it’ll be a great addition to the game.

    I also really made Vice Admiral. Before, when I maxed out the skill points, I wasn’t a real Vice Admiral, because I hadn’t spent the last 100 points. Well, a respec later, I spent them all and got the promotion. Now I’m getting level XI loot sometimes. I also picked up my fancy science vessel retrofit ship and have been using it. Nothing too special. The biggest boon to being a Vice Admiral is the ability to double the in-sector speed for a short time.

    Cryptic says they will lift the level cap sometime, but until then, I may start a new character…

  • A Closer Look at KOTOR

    I played a bit more of Knights of the Old Republic and remembered the good and bad parts of it. The good (great) parts are the story and much of the combat. The combat is a combined real-time and turn-based mix that works pretty well. As you can see in the video below, I can pause the battle to look around, issue commands to each of my characters, then continue. Each character has a set of attack options, including power attacks, force powers (for the Jedi in the party) and grenades. In addition, healing and shield activation are also selectable. Each action takes a turn, so some things happen maddeningly slowly. In addition, once an action is started, you can’t stop it, so healing, for example, will have to wait until the next turn.

    You can see in the video that I did a naughty thing by leveling up during combat, which replenished my hitpoints. Most games don’t allow that sort of thing just to prevent an unfair advantage, like I took here.

    The bad thing about KOTOR is that the view is fairly fixed. You can rotate around your characters, but can’t zoom in or out, nor can you change elevation to get a better view. This feels a bit constraining. The graphics are okay, particularly given the age of the game. It runs in 1600×1200 just fine, but doesn’t support widescreen modes (without unofficial patches).

    In all, Bioware did an amazing job of transforming D&D rules into the Star Wars universe with light sabers and vibroswords (really) replacing bastard swords, force powers replacing magic, and blasters taking the place of bows and arrows. The game works well, as does its sequel. Perhaps the new Star Wars MMO will turn out to bring some of the greatness of these games back.

  • Knights of the Old Republic back again

    Yesterday I picked up Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic on Steam for $2.50. I installed it and checked it out last night. Surprisingly enough, it worked flawlessly on Windows 7/64. The highest resolution it will support is 1600×1200, which looks pretty good.I had to use Creative ALchemy to re-enable EAX in the game, since Windows 7 only likes OpenAL.

    I played for a while and was reminded just how much fun I had playing the game years ago. Bioware really knows how to make good RPGs.

  • Witcher – Another really fun game

    I thoroughly enjoyed Witcher Enhanced Edition when I played it a couple years ago. It is an RPG with seamless battles and lots of action, including fighting (fist fighting competitions), loving (sexy time!), and killing of many, many creatures and people. The plot was fine, but forgettable, but it kept the game moving. You play a “Witcher” a badass, but sterile warrior whose job is to right wrongs and screw all the eligible women. You have a number of powers that you attain by increasing your level, but the actual killing will be done with your swords. Yes, swords, plural. It turns out your regular sword is good for killing people and animals, but you need a silver sword to kill monsters. You also choose a “style” based on the number and abilities of the enemy you’re fighting. And while you are fighting, it is important to carefully time follow-up attacks to maximize their damage (it isn’t too hard, so don’t be overly concerned). All these choices have to be managed during the battles and they turn out to make the fighting really fun. It never got old chopping enemies’ heads off. The game is quite violent and graphic, but it really connects you with the action more than most other RPGs (Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights) do. This is a game where you can’t just play on autopilot, because skill and timing matter and are woven well into the gameplay.

    Witcher is also quite the bargain these days. It is often on sale, and I see it is only $20 on Steam. Well worth it!

  • Star Ocean Plot

    I’m still really enjoying the battles and exploration of Star Ocean:The Last Hope. I was also getting into the plot, thinking how imaginative and interesting it was, until last night when the plot took a right turn to reality. Whichever game designer thought up this moronic scheme to deny the SRF existed is severely stretching the bounds of credulity. And this criticism is coming from a Star Trek fan, where all sorts of crazy plot devices are used all the time. Anyway, that crazy idea has not ruined the game play, but it does make me wonder about what other silliness will be forthcoming…

  • Dragon Age:Origins

    One of my favorite games of the last year was Dragon Age:Origins. It is a tremendous RPG with good graphics and a great story (to be expected from Bioware games). It is almost an old-school RPG, like Neverwinter Nights, but simplified and not using D&D rules. In the game, you can choose your origin, whether you are a mage, dwarf noble, dwarf commoner, wood elf, city elf, or human noble. Each of those six backgrounds has a deeply compelling origin story that is universally sad and filled with unjust death (and more) that sets the stage for the game. The origin story and some of your subsequent actions make various interactions later in the game very different (i.e., you really want to kill Arl Howe if you’re a human noble).

    You control a party of yourself and 3 others that are controlled by the computer (or you can choose to control one of them and let the computer control your character). Each character has a simple set of customizable rules that you can set to make them a healer or ranged or a magic damage dealer, for example. Battles take place in pausable real-time, so you can pause, issue commands to your party, then resume very intuitively. The battles are immersive and great fun.

    I played each of the origin stories at least once, and played the game through three times as different characters (it’s much faster the 2nd and 3rd times, because you don’t have to watch all the cutscenes). I made different choices each time, some of which I regretted later, but that’s part of the fun. I think mages are the most powerful, particularly when they get to be Arcane Warriors. The scout/assassin class is also really good once you level up a bit, with regular insta-kills and the ability to avoid damage through dexterity. Warriors are just boring…

    Highly recommended for great fun!

  • Star Trek Online

    A game that I’ve been playing on and off for a few months is Star Trek Online. Because it is Star Trek, I signed on early, during the beta period, and even bought a lifetime subscription. Even back then, the space combat was quite good, though it is only partially 3-axis. Remember that these are big starships, not little fighters, so they turn slowly and it is really a game of “facing” (which weapons can be brought to bear on the target). The ships can’t roll over or flip upside down, which is different from many space games, but consistent with the Star Trek universe, where ships are always facing “up” unless they are drifting.

    Because it is an MMO, some missions are played with other players, so together, you can split targets or gang up on one. Each player only has a single target at a time, so half the weapons may be idle because of facings (certain Bridge Officer powers allow multi-target firing). All in all, the space battles are fun and look good.

    In the early days, ground combat was horrible. Since then, it has vastly improved, but is still much weaker than the starship battles. In ground combat, you and four of your computer-controlled Bridge Officers (BOs) go up against groups of enemies spread throughout a mission area. You fight Klingons, Jem Hadar, Cardassians, Romulans, Borg, and more, and each has their own characteristics that affect how much damage they do and how much damage your weapons do. The ground battles can get quite frantic and are sometimes fun, but are usually a chore. But they are somewhat Star Trek-ish, so it’s okay.

    There are also a few large group battles both on ground and in space, and, as with other missions, the space ones are mostly fun, while the ground ones are a pain. The exception is a mission to defeat a Crystalline Entity (remember that from TNG?) – this is a terrible space mission that I have never succeeded in. Just stupidly hard, particularly when other players make mistakes that heal the damn thing.

    Overall, I like Star Trek Online and think it is good fun. If you have any interest in Star Trek, check it out. The price on Steam and elsewhere has dropped to only $20, I think, then there’s a monthly fee after the first month.

    You can look my characters up in the game. My captain page is here: http://www.startrekonline.com/character_profiles/user_characters/TallGuyCalif

  • Still Enjoying Star Ocean

    I am quite enjoying the plot of Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Edge has just met up with his old pal Crowe and things are starting to get even more interesting. My party seems filled out and Faize has just left (which is okay – I worry that he may not be a good guy by the end). The cut scenes are incredibly long, but mostly okay. The really slow voice acting of Sarah is quite annoying. Someone should give her a cup of coffee.

    I’ve never played a game with cut scenes as long as this one, though I hear Metal Gear Solid 4 also has long ones. I’m beginning to appreciate the artistic style of the game, and some of it is rendered beautifully (particularly the charaters), but other times, the blockiness and aliasing hurt my eyes. The music is very good and sets the mood well.

  • New start in Oblivion

    A couple days ago, I did a new start in Oblivion. But wait, TallGuyCalif, you were playing Star Ocean! Why switch?

    With the scarcity of save points in Star Ocean, sometimes I need to play for a couple hours before coming to the next one (I’m in the Purgatorium dungeon where there are few save points). Since I’ve been busy working, I don’t have hours to spare. Therefore, Star Ocean is out and Oblivion is in. With Oblivion, I can play for 20 or 30 minutes and save wherever I want so I can do crazy things like eat dinner or go to bed.

    Besides, Oblivion is good fun.