Day 10 is lots of loyalty missions for the crew. It feels a bit like clean-up and checking things off of lists, but the missions themselves are quite fun. All the stuff around the krogan (two missions there) is particularly good — exploring these alien cultures in action is a lot of good narrative touches. More game history is also nicely handled. The combat in this session was not the best the game offers, and there was an annoying point that I think was a bug, but fun overall.
Mass Effect 2 Day#9: A Confederacy of Assassins
Day 9 is my next round of loyalty missions. One of them is quite good just by how theme-appropriate and anticlimactic the mission and tone are. I also explore the personal relationships a bit more for some more good story. There’s still very boring planet exploration, one bug that had the potential of being game-breaking, and a bit of aimless running around because I’m missing a party member to activate a task. A couple of hiccups there, but overall a fun session. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– April 11, 2010
Mass Effect 2 Day#8: Collecting the Collectors
Day 8 is a short session with a long major plot mission. It’s quite good — it’s a creepy scene with some good fights and the politics of the game get more complicated in a good way. I also do more talking with my team, which is half and half between good dialog and formulaic structure. I’m in the calm before the plot resolution now — the clean-up of all the side plots to make me more powerful. It’s predictable but fun. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– April 6, 2010
Mass Effect 2 Day#7: The Return of the Space Casanova
Day 7 is a welcome return to Mass Effect 2 after my stint with Heavy Rain. The game remains good. I find another team member in what is a pretty well done setting and story. I am also clearly too sexy for this game given how many women are throwing themselves at my character. A bit more formula in the works in the level structure, but it’s overall more of the good. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– April 4, 2010
Heavy Rain: Final Smack
Heavy Rain is a fascinating piece of work. It is the truest and most innovative attempt at interactive cinema to date. That doesn’t mean it’s a great game. It’s deeply flawed in many ways, and it fails at many critical levels. However, there are a few scenes that show the promise of the game and those scenes are amazing. It also improves as the story continues. So it’s a hard game to judge, but there are things here that should be seen in terms of the development of narrative in games. Details within.
– April 1, 2010
Heavy Rain Day#4 Part 2 and 5: Case Closed
It actually takes me a single more short session to finish the game, but I do finish it. The end of the game is definitely better than the beginning. There are still some problems with control, and they lead me to replay a couple of scenes from sheer frustration with the controls or feedback. There are also some just disgusting scenes of pure torture porn. But there are a few more interesting scenes as the game comes to the end, and the conclusion was pretty solid. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– April 1, 2010
Heavy Rain Day#4 Part 1: Pushing my Buttons
Day 4 in Heavy Rain is my marathon session to finish. I’ve divided it into two posts. In the first half, I have an assortment of frustrations and amazement. The frustrations are the same as before: the controls are often confusing, and there are some ridiculous plot points. On the other hand, there is a moment in this session I have never experienced before — a moment where the controls so beautifully connect to the content that I am sucked into a scene simply by the way I have to press the buttons. If nothing else, play the third origami challenge — it shows why Heavy Rain, despite serious deep flaws, is a fascinating and important game. Spoilers within
Posted in Hardcore.
– March 31, 2010
Heavy Rain Day#3: Veering In and Out of Control
This session is an exercise in frustration. The story is developing ok, but it’s a genre I’m not that fond of. The characters seem pretty good and the art is solid. But the controls are SO wonky in places that I lose scenes that I shouldn’t. I cannot tell you how frustrating that is. And the agency continues to be weird in that I have it for truly incidental stuff and then I don’t for big things. This is a fascinating game in terms of its attempts to be interactive cinema, but I’m still not sure that I actually like it. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– March 29, 2010
Heavy Rain Day#2: The Mystery Afoot
Long session on day 2 of Heavy Rain and the narrative is on full force. Unfortunately, the weird controls and inconsistent agency from the first session are making it hard for me to connect to the story. I just keep feeling like the game is lying to me about how much control I have, and that I’m just going to end up doing what it wants regardless of my actions. Nonetheless, there are a few nice moments in this session, and the mystery plot is pretty elaborate. If they actually give me the chance to investigate the crime myself and not walk through scenes, this game could be quite cool. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– March 19, 2010
Heavy Rain Day#1: Troubling Skies
I took a break from Mass Effect 2 to play Heavy Rain for my class. If you are into interactive narrative, then you know the hype around Heavy Rain has been unprecedented. The previews and pre-release interviews have given it a lot of promise, so I had to check it out. How is it? Well, the beginning is inauspicious. The early parts of the game are finicky and pointless, and the use of agency is just about the opposite I would expect. The basic controls are also quite awkward. However, the later parts of Day 1 start to point to some more interesting stuff, so I’ll stick with it. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– March 17, 2010
