Saint’s Row The Third: What In The Actual Hell did I Just Play.

In an effort to play more games that I had meant to play in the past, I’ve taken to abusing Gamestop’s return policy like a 40 year old homeless guy abuses heroin.  The policy states that a used game can be returned within 7 days for a full refund, so I’m going to see how far that can get me through the summer at one game a week.  My first acquisition was a little game called Saint’s Row The Third. I realize that I’m a little over a year behind on this discovery, but you know what?  I’m writing this article.

I had played the first two Saints Row games before and they were…alright.  Saint’s Row’s original purpose was to fill the then-present void caused by the lack of a Grand theft Auto game on the next gen consoles at the time.  By the time Grand theft Auto IV came out and showed how incredible the sandbox genre can be, games like the first two Saints Row games seemed relatively unnecessary.So Volition Software just kind of said “fuck it.” and released Saint’s Row The Third.

As far as the writing in video games go, it’s really hard for me to think of a genuinely funnier game.  When you play as a sassy black woman, voiced by Troy Baker, running around naked killing people by beating them to death with a 5 foot long purple dildo you know you have happened across pure gold.  Admittedly, as far as the gameplay was concerned, I was mildly underwhelmed.  It’s not bad, not by a long shot but it’s just not great.  Since this game has come out, there have been fantastic combat systems in open world games the likes of Sleeping Dogs, and Saint’s Row just feels by the numbers in comparison.  In the same vain, the layout of Steelport city is relatively drab for a game with such a ridiculous attitude.  There’s nothing to really see or do outside of the main story missions and the optional side missions.  But these missions are where the game truly shines.  The characters and situations the Third Street Saints find themselves in are outright ridiculous, hilarious, and sometimes just plain goddamn awesome.  In particular, one scene in which you skydive out of a helicopter and take over a penthouse while Power by Kanye West plays was particularly epic.  Scenes like this remind me how games can make a player just feel awesome.

All things considered, I really did love the game a lot.  It wasn’t terribly long, but the time I did spend I spent laughing out loud consistently (when I met the mayor of the city, I almost died).  While the fundamentals of the game were moderate, and the city of  Steelport is just ehh, I think the writing, and the mission design of the game actually makes this a must play for anyone that can appreciate the sandbox-crime game genre.

Bargain Bin Adventures! Atelier Rorona

Again, I found myself in GameStop with an extra 20 dollars on my PowerUp card from trading in a couple of games when this little number caught my eye.  From the box art, it looked like a pretty standard Japanese RPG with a gorgeous hand drawn art style.  For 17 bucks, I figured I’d give it a shot.  Atelier Iris from the same series on the PS2 was a great game, and I figured for a used game it would be hard to go wrong.

What I got was a thoroughly mediocre game.  Now, this is by no means saying this is a bad game, nothing about it is blatantly wrong with it.  In fact in most areas, it’s perfectly serviceable.  The only problem with it is that there really isn’t a whole lot the game does any better than many other games out there.

the story follows a young alchemist names Rorona who suddenly find herself in control of her master’s Alchemy shop – which is in danger of being shut down.  To keep the shop open, Rorona has to earn the affection of the villagers of Arland, while doing a series of alchemy jobs for the kingdom on top of it.  The story certainly isn’t breaking any new ground, but the cutscenes are fun affairs and the characters are likable enough.

The art is also very good if you take it frame by frame.  When the game is in motion, it really does look like a slightly upgraded PS2 game: characters are floaty, textures are basic, and the cahracters are only basically animated.  But pros to GUST for the art design as a whole.  frame by frame, the game does look like being in a painting.  The cell shading looks really good with the game’s aesthetic, and the different areas each look good on their own.  It’s just a shame the game doesn’t look better when it’s actually being played.

The art design is actually very good, if only it didn’t look like a PS2 game…

The combat in the game is a standard turn based affair with few bells and whistles to set itself apart from it’s competitors, but it certainly works.  The exploration is also pretty standard  you move from point to point in a relatively linear area collecting ingredients to use in alchemy to make items for the villagers or the kingdom before the deadline hits.  It suddenly becomes rote, but it never really goes completely stale, mostly thanks to an inspired alchemy system.

The alchemy system in the game has you combining ingredients together to form new items, equipment and goods to complete missions, sell to the public, or use while exploring. Every ingredient you use has a stat associated with it that it will pass onto the completed product, so alchemy quickly becomes a process of finding the highest quality ingredient to make the best product.  It’s actually quite rewarding, and it really holds the game together to make it something above average.  I was able to spend hours at a time messing around with ingredients to make the best possible potion to give to the kingdom; it really is fun.  which is good, because it makes up for the rest of the game being relatively lackluster.

All things considered, I actually did enjoy this game.  It’s almost a theraputic experience, completing the missions.  the deadlines are there for missions, but they almost never get stressful, it’s fun messing around with alchemy to get the best results, and the combat and exploration never hold the fun parts back, even if they don’t stand out on their own merits.  It’s a well paced game, it nudges you along at a fun pace, it’s actually a pretty relaxing “cool-down” game to play after a long session of Call of Duty or Assassins Creed.

Final Word: For 17 bucks, I could recommend picking this up.  If you are looking for a change of pace from standard RPGs or want a relatively relaxing experience  you really can’t go wrong with Atelier Rorona.  So long as you aren’t looking for revolutionary combat or exploration, it’s a fun game to just sit down with for an afternoon and just relax.

21 bucks used on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Atelier-Rorona-Alchemists-Arland-Playstation-3/dp/B003YVP5DE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354081609&sr=8-1&keywords=Atelier+Rorona

20 bucks used on gamestop, 17 with powerup card in store: http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/games/atelier-roronathe-alchemists-of-arland/78639

After The Game Is Beaten…

On August 21st, The newest patch for Blizzard’s Smash-hit Diablo 3 went live: Version 1.04. This came about in the wake of the game’s director, Jay Wilson, admitting that the game actually didn’t have enough content to keep players playing, even after reaching level 60. The number of players in the game has dwindled in recent months, as players are finding the driving goal of discovering more loot less and less satisfying after the game is complete. The new patch has changed the drop rates of legendary items, as well as implementing what is called the “Paragon System,” which adds essentially another 100 levels to gain after level 60 as a means of bolstering post-game content. Wilson has stated on the blizzard website that he is incredibly proud of the game, but he agrees with a lot of player complaints about the lack of a reason to keep playing after level 60, and hopes to address it.

The problem of a lack of post end-game content isn’t just for Diablo 3 though. Earlier this year the much hyped Star Wars: The Old Republic came out to widespread critical praise and 1.7 million subscribers. Since it’s release though, subscribership to the game has tanked, and EA is now changing the game from charging a fee of 15 dollars a month, to a free-to-play business model, just to retain users and hopefully bring subscriber numbers back up.

This is a problem that has been in the game industry since it’s inception: What keeps players playing games? Last fall saw the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a game where the amount of content in the game kept players playing for hundreds of hours, even after the relatively short main quest was complete. The game had a nigh infinite number of side quests to partake in, people to meet, places to discover, and dragons to kill. Not only that, but Bethesda’s constant additions of Downloadable Content (AKA DLC) like Dawnguard and the just-announced Hearthfire make the already large amount of content in the game absolutely staggering.

When the games are compared, it’s the fact that Diablo 3 assumes that players will keep playing after level 60 simply to find better items, whereas Skyrim keeps players playing because the game has actual quests to complete. In short, Diablo tries to keep players with an idea and Skyrim keeps players with actual gameplay. Developers need to realize that for a game to keep players playing, games need to have actual content in the game, like more quests and places to explore, and not just the idea of the game.

That’s not to say that every game strives to hold onto its players after the game is complete. This summer’s release Lollipop Chainsaw was exactly what it promised, a hack-and-slash zombie killing game that oozed style, but was entirely linear. The game also made no illusions about the length, after the game was over, it was done. There were score leaderboards included, and unlockable skins for the main character, but aside from that there was nothing to keep people playing the game after it’s release, and that was completely okay. The game sold a respectable 700 thousand copies and gained critical praise for the most part. It will live on in used game bins at GameStop til the end of time, where gamers will pick it up years from now out of sheer curiosity or nostalgia. But the game made money and accomplished exactly what it set out to.

But for games like The Old Republic and Diablo, where the success of the game lives and dies on whether people are still playing, keeping players entertained after the main game is beaten is of the utmost importance. One of the positives (or possibly negatives) of gaming in the 21st century though is DLC and content patches. The fact is Blizzard Games realizes that Diablo is lacking in a distinctive post game, and taking steps like the new 1.04 content patch is certainly working toward rectifying the situation. Whether the patch is enough to bring players back to the game or keep players playing remains to be seen, but developers have to start realizing that to keep players playing, they have to actually make content in their games.