Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, looking sad as usual and running into a tree.
This week, I spent not nearly enough time playing games and too much time being sick with the nasty cold that’s going around.
Talk amongst yourselves! What are you playing? What are you up to?
(Sponsored by this sad animated Eeyore who acts out my emotions I feel while reading Kotaku)
I got Lego Harry Potter for Christmas, so I’ve been playing that. It’s really fun, and funny! I love all the little side things you can do with spells and whatnot. And going to the different shops on Diagon Alley to activate all your unlockables is kind of perfect.
Also, love that gif, haha.
I am trying to write something. It’s only sort of working; as soon as I get halfway done my internal editor starts explaining how much I suck at it. I’ll probably also try to finish Aquaria sometime soon, though that’s unlikely to be today since I’m away from my non-netbook sized monitor and mouse for the rest of the day.
I may also try to work on writing up plans for my own game design project, but given my track record there, I’ll probably get distracted and end up watching more TV shows instead.
I was also sick this past weekend so I have been napping once I get home from work meaning little gaming for me as well
I have been playing Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger versus Darkdeath Evilman on my bus ride to and from work. I am actually surprised at this game. It is very funny, quirky, silly but it actually deals with some serious issues within that silliness. It talked about gendered speech (one person asking someone to stop calling a female character “dude”), what leads a person to terrorism, and bullying & I am still very early in the game.
I indulged myself during that long holiday Steam sale, but I’ve found myself focused on Fallout: New Vegas, Divinity II, and Star Trek: Online.
I’ve logged thirty-odd hours in New Vegas, but I’m really not sure how far I am through the main storyline. My gut says that things are coming to a boil, but the raft of side-quests I’ve done are probably throwing me off. I’d have probably finished it by now, but it’s frustratingly crash-prone and apparently Swiss-cheesed with scripting bugs. If the next Elder Scrolls game uses the same Gamebryo engine, I’m going to give it a pass entirely.
Divinity 2 is interesting in that it seems really, really expansive– I’ve logged a number of hours running around the opening area, and I’ve barely begun to poke around outside of it. There are sometimes multiple solutions to quests (and apparently ways to short-circuit a few, which is a pity) and neither books nor NPCs can be trusted to give unbiased stories. While you officially start as a warrior, a mage, or an archer, the attribute and skill systems are designed so that you can build a character up to fit with your play style.
Divinity 2′s one major embarrassment for me is its armor for women. There’s a variety of textures, and the models sometimes have amusingly baroque bits and spikes on the shoulders, but the breastplate itself has one single, abundantly proportioned model that leaves nothing to the imagination.
Star Trek: Online benefits from a modified version of Champions: Online’s character creator, which allows for a wide variety of features for human-like and more alien sorts of bipeds, and a brief collection of idle poses so that female avatars aren’t relegated to Kirk-bait right out of the box. You could make Yeoman Randy if you really were so inclined, but you’d need to shell out a few real bucks for the Original Series costume pack. If you’re a Trekker, it’s got starship battles (reminiscent of a simplified Starfleet Battles), beaming down to engage in occasional conversation-based minigames and much more common phaser fights (considered to be one of the worst parts of the game), and the whole thing has a bland sort of Next Generation-era authenticity to it.
Unfortunately, ST:O has the worst newbie experience I’ve ever encountered. Virtually nothing is documented in any usable way. The ten-day trial ends when you complete the first (and worst) mission in the game, and prevents you from exploring anything else. Everyone I’ve spoken to (or sworn at) about it agrees that the game doesn’t even begin to become fun until you reach Lieutenant Commander– which is ten levels, and easily sixteen or more hours of solid play time, in. At that point, some of the complexity opens up with new ship types and roles becoming available. Ultimately though, it’s a very formulaic game: every mission involves a lot of flying across the same star field, punctuated by battles in space and fights on the ground.
I need to give FO:NV another shot (also purchased very recently on Steam). I guess it just felt too like FO3 at the beginning (and I’ve spent at least 200 hours on that game, so somewhat weary of it at this point in time).
Good news, however, is that Skyrim will NOT use the same engine. They’ve confirmed its a brand new engine entirely.
I’m mostly playing Recettear and Jade Empire right now. The former is adorable and cutesy, and I do enjoy the mixing of genres (rogue-esque dungeon crawler while running an item shop).
Jade Empire was primarily chosen after the BioWare race thread we had earlier. Was curious how one of their worlds that was not primarily white looked. Also, it’s been on my radar for a while because it includes same-sex romances, and I wanted to see how that went.
Have you ever played any of the Atelier series? Atelier Annie, Atelier Rorona, etc? I keep wondering if Racettear is similar to how you run an alchemy shop in those games (you go into dungeons and collect items to bring back to your alchemy workshop). I have the game from one of the Steam bundles/deals, but haven’t tried it yet.
I’ve yet to play those, but it sounds very, very similar. You don’t directly control the person going into the dungeon however. As it’s an indie game, I wasn’t expecting too much, but it’s certainly entertained me for a number of hours now.
It’s definitely very much like it. It replaces the turn based battles with zelda style gaming. YOu get items to sell and when you get certain levels you can start combining items to make newer better items… or at least that’s what Tear says.
Wait, Jade Empire has same sex romance options? How was I not aware of this? …now I need to look into it now too.
It’s an older game, and it seemed to fly under the radar (and receive no media attention). Both the female and male protagonists have a same-sex option. Unfortunately, romance options are a bit lopsided, breaking down to:
Male – can romance all three characters (2 women, 1 man)
Female – can romance two characters (1 woman, 1 man)
Still, very curious to see how it goes.
By which I mean the same-sex romances in the game went under the radar. The game itself was critically well-received and seemed to do quite well.
That’s still better inclusion than either Dragon Age _or_ Mass Effect. I may have to play this one, since it clearly isn’t going to pull the same everyone is white thing, and the setting is slightly more original.
Actually, I find that while the ‘inclusion’ is something to be happy about (and appreciative of), it is severely backwards.
As a male character, you can actually ‘romance’ both Silk Fox and Dawn Star to have a threeway with the ladies. No such thing for female PCs, of course.
Worse is that in order to even start a same-sex romance with Sky or Silk Fox, you have to be RUDE and TERRIBLE to the other potential romance options. Only then, once you’ve argued and hated on the other characters, will the possible same-sex romance open up. But that’s not all, see, both same-sex romances revolve around reluctance about even *being* in a same-sex relationship. It comes across as if you are trying to ‘turn’ this otherwise straight person gay/lesbian/bisexual just for your romance whims. It isn’t the best portrayal all around, IMO.
That said, I still have a generous soft spot in my heart for (gay/bisexual) Sky. Particularly when you can turn him evil. And it was the first real RPG I encountered where I could be something other than heterosexual (and white), and I really enjoyed it. I’d recommend it, most definitely. But it is a far cry from Dragon Age’s options and ages removed from ME.
Also, Nathan Fillion does some voice acting in it.
I’ve been playing Resonance of Fate, with mixed feelings. On a purely mechanical level, I’m enjoying it — the battle system is challenging in cool ways, the character designs are gorgeous (and the costume system makes them customizable), the world is neat to explore and has unusual flavor for a JRPG.
But as a feminist, I’m finding it really frustrating. Looking through the archives here, I see that Sparky Clarkson’s post on Leanne covers a lot of my problems with it! The scene that was all about Cardinal Barbarella’s breasts made me cringe, as did a later throwaway scene with a stereotypically swishy gay bartender being presented as THE expert on femininity. I’ve gotten through ten chapters out of sixteen, and the game hasn’t even come close to passing the Bechdel test. And the comic-anime trope “guy harasses girl -> girl retaliates with comic violence -> pause -> repeat” has gotten really old.
But for some reason I keep wanting to play more. I love being able to fight with Leanne (she’s leveled enough now to dual wield her guns, which looks awesome) and I keep wanting to take her out of her game and find her a more supportive environment where people will respect her abilities instead of telling her she doesn’t have any. :/
I’ve been replaying Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. I’m doing a Chaos run this time, after getting the Law ending on my previous playthrough. I’m not going to gush about that game here as I’ve done more than enough of that on Twitter, but it’s really fantastic. Easily my favorite game of 2010.
Oh I loved what I have played of Strange Journey. I need to get back to it so I can finish my Law ending! Has it changed significantly between play throughs with your alignment change?
No, not yet. I haven’t gotten far enough in the game yet.
What do you think of SMT: SJ as compared to Etrian Odyssey? I am currently making my way through the EO series and was figuring I’d give Strange Journey a go after I finish EOIII. On the one hand, now that I have discovered that I LOVE this kind of game, I want to get my hands on every dungeon crawler I can find for my portables. On the other hand, perhaps the main reason I love EO so much is because of the map making, so I am slightly hesitant about non-EO dungeon crawlers.
Strange Journey automaps as you step, unlike EO where you map it yourself. But, like in EO, you don’t know what the map looks like until you physically get to that square. The battle system is similar turn-based RPG, but instead of just human party members you have demons that you summon and they fight along with you. In battle you have to persuade then to join you as party members to get more available. You can also fuse them together to form new demons. But the two games do feel similar to me in some ways. I think if you like EO a lot than giving Strange Journey a shot isn’t a far stretch at all.
I need to finish my Neutral ending to the game, which is usually the canon ending. (At least if your trying to string them together in any semblance of a time line. SMT1, SMT:I, SMT2, SMT3:Nocturne, SMT:SJ?)
As commented on the Aquaria post, I’m currently playing that game. Trying to get some more out of the way treasures for my home.
I’m also getting a little bored with grinding in Phantasy Star Portable 2. I need to grind a lot to be able to finish hard mode and unlock some more stuff, but it’s taking so long. I hope the level curve will be revised in PSP2 Infinity, along with weapon rarities.
I’m actually just getting over a chest infection. I started playing WoW. I’d tried it before and not enjoyed it, but wanted to give it another go post-cataclysm. I started playing 4 days ago. My character is currently level 41. I don’t think I’ve done very much else in that time.
I’m playing Sengoku Basara 3 and I love it! It’s like Samurai Warriors on crack. And, it’s nice to see a female leader (Magoichi) and a tragic, interesting female character such as Oichi in a sausage fest game like this.
I was playing Epic Mickey(Christmas present), however I went back to school before I could finish and the Wii stayed home. So I guess it will be spring break before I find out how it ends. One the other hand my WoD* group is about to start meeting again so I’m happy.
*World of Darkness it has a few computer games based on it but is mostly Larp/tabletop.
Out of curiosity, are you using the Requiem or Masquerade setting? I haven’t LARPed it in ages, but I poke my nose in every once in awhile (and loved Bloodlines–also looking forward to the MMO).
Well there are significantly more lines in WoD than Vampire. (Changeling: the Lost, for example, is awesome.)
My group runs multiple games, we have a Masquerade game, but I’m mostly involved with the Mage:The Awakening game. MtA has the same setting as requim(in fact my has done requiem crossovers), but the PC’s are (more or less) human magic users not vamps.
I always wanted to play Mage, but could never gather enough interest. Everyone wanted to be vampires. Alas.
I could get players for M:tA, but the part I couldn’t do so well is get them to read the rules or show up for sessions. And mage is not something you want to go into without being pretty familiar with what your magic can and can’t do. Or you’ll either be stuck when you can’t find any information that would be really easy to find, or the sky starts bleeding.
Have you just been talking to tabletop people or looking online? I know there are at least a few free and several more pay Larps and Play by Posts.
All my World of Darkness games have been tabletop (well, laptop and couches, really) with my offline friends. I have tried running games of Nobilis over chat, though they sometimes get slow and seem harder to organize than when offline.
Too bad. I was mostly thinking about finding larps through there websites and but the play by post in as an afterthought.
There’s always OpenRPG, which is a virtual tabletop. I’m not sure how it performs, but it’s an option.
What have I been up to? Reading and watching and playing Sam & Max. Also playing Halo 3: ODST. Feeling more conflict over my general agreement with feminist principles and my unwillingness to actually use the label due to an ugly transphobic element that too often is simply quietly accepted, instead of rightly called out as being unfeminist at its core and unworthy of existing in feminist spaces.
The other week WitchWords (on Twitter, and her blog is linked over in the sidebar) linked to a woman who claimed the women-born-women defense of feminism. It was just so full of fail it made my brain hurt. Full of rationalizations like gender was inconsequential, so sex changes were perversions, and all manner of other problems. Sigh.
Feminism without commitment to antitransphobia is like making your vegan scones with goat’s milk, because goats aren’t really animals. (I may have been inspired by a twitter status of Feminist Hulk there.
)
Plus if gender were actually inconsequential we a) wouldn’t have such rampant discrimination and prejudice around it and b) it wouldn’t make a difference what people identify as.
Feminists should be able to think critically about everything, including trans issues, since it’s about sex and gender after all. People on the internets are often to quick to shout “transphobia!” at dissenting thought. It really irks me.
… Yes, because ranting about how transwomen are men trying to invade female spaces or perversions or victims of “medical” sadism is valid criticism and not at all transphobia. Same with making articles with titles like “‘Transwomen’ are merely castrated men”. Or arguing that lesbians that have relationships with transwomen aren’t really lesbian and are just having their minds poisoned by propaganda. j, either you haven’t seen the horrifying, frothing amounts of genuine, inarguable transphobia that issue from certain supposedly-feminist quarters, or you’re the transphobic “feminist” equivalent of an MRA complaining about the “special status” of women on a feminist blog. Either way, you don’t seem to have anything meaningful to add to the conversation.
Um, I’ve never seen people shouting “transphobia” at things that weren’t transphobia or cissexism. Just because its gets shouted a lot doesn’t mean the ones doing the shouting are the ones who need to be doing the critical thinking…
Well I’m looking at all the games I downloaded in the Steam sale and weeping quietly to myself, but I haven’t actually played any games lately (other than COD:BLOPS Nazi Zombies) since I was away for a week.
I’ve moved onto Mass Effect 2 though, and Dragon Age Origins, though I’ll probably end up deleting all my DA:O characters and starting over, it takes a while to get into the thick of things, which I think is a problem with (the four) BioWare games I’ve played so far.
And of course I’m trying to write, write and draw; write and draw.
Also rashly joined the Speculative Fiction 12 Books in 12 Months project, ’cause I like the pressure.
I am playing White Knight Chronicles (and doing a lot of laughing and yelling at my tv). Mostly it is for the online component. I do like the character of Kara, though. Even if there are heavy (anime, female character, etc) cliches around her. The armor on female models is lovely and covers the entire body, and the bosom on ladies is very mild. To my liking.
Other than that, I just wrapped up Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. I enjoyed it muchly. I’m a Lucy and Rebecca fan, so, this was good. And I made my guild of assassins all ladies.
There is a very lovely feeling of calling six of your badarse female assassins to rampage across your screen in a killing spree.
I have just been playing Fallout: New Vegas here and there. I tried playing Donkey Kong Country (which my BF got me for Christmas) but it’s too hard and made me cranky.
I’ve been trying to read more because I’m studying for my exams in my PhD program so I’ll share what I’m reading instead of playing. (Although I suppose I could argue that gaming and reading isn’t so different.) Today I’m reading “Assata,” the autobiography of the political prisoner Assata Shakur (who happens to be Tupac’s step-aunt!). She was framed for a bank robbery and murder by the government for her involvement in the Black Panther Party. Her autobiography is a really powerful analysis of the racism and repression she experienced growing up and in the critical “justice” system. I’m not done with the book yet but I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of 60s/70s radicalism.
Been playing CityVille and Neopets, also started FrontierVille recently and tried Puzzle Pirates a bit. My life has been very hectic and stressful recently and I’m craving games that go slow.
Wow other people play Neopets! I think I’ve had my account longer than some of the kids on there have been alive.
Woo, another long-time Neopian! I’ve been there a bit over 5 years, and still loving it. What’s your username?
xsanx
Please feel free to friend me!
Oh man, Neopets! I played it like ten years ago! I remember when they had a “Macey Grey” pet, and I didn’t understand it, and then they changed it. And my pets were always starving so I had to spend like an hour clicking on the soup kitchen to feed them all. Also, Peophins and Shoyrus ftw. ~memories~
I love my peophin! She is one of my few pets I haven’t zapped or morphed over the years.
Hah, Neopets. I played that for about two years, back around the Lost Desert Plot. I was even a Premium member for over a year. I wonder if the ODLDP guild still exists?
Ahh Neopets. I just checked my account and for started playing it lists June 23, 2000
I have been playing the crap out of Style Savvy. I like it but it has some serious issues, so expect a blog post or two on that soon
I’m currently replaying Final Fantasy 7 and I forgot how much totally inane crap this game makes you do. Pose in front of the President? Seriously?
I got a netbook for Christmas, so I’ve slowly been experimenting my way through some of the games in this article to see if there’s anything that I’d enjoy playing on it. I’ve tried some of the browser based ones on the netbook already, and I’ve installed some of the downloadables on my desktop to see if they’re worth playing before I put ‘em on the lappy to see if they run. First impressions so far (based on about five minutes play apiece)…
Runescape: Has potential. Interface seems simple enough, runs like a dream on the lappy, surprisingly decent voice acting for a free browser game. The pomp and fanfare in the tutorial over earning level 2 woodcutting skill made me snort.
Dofus: Won’t let me create an account because for some reason it thinks I’m a goldspammer. What the hell.
Faunasphere: Kinda boring. I didn’t run into a story right away, and it’s story that gets me hooked. Also, turtles can lay eggs that hatch into dogs? Well, okay, fine.
Mabirogi: Intriguing, but the… AniMoe-ness is a little overwhelming at first. And the lovingly rendered 3D boobs on an otherwise 2D character in the opening cinematic made me roll my eyes halfway out my head. But I really like the idea of getting to play music, and of messing around in an open sandbox world. I adore WoW’s cata quests, but I admit I’ve been feeling a little on rails lately.
Wizard101: Skews young, but bright and colourful, and the card-based gameplay mechanic is neat. Harry Potter + YuGiOh = oh hell yes. Combat has been too easy so far for me to really be engaged, but I hope the fights will be longer and take more strategy later on.
Imma try Golemizer next. The 8-bit style graphics aren’t quite to my taste, but I love steampunk, so I’ll give it a shot.
Anybody got any other suggestions for games for a little bitty laptop that wasn’t really built for gaming?
If you’re looking for free MMOs I can’t really help, but a lot of the stuff on Gog.com can run on my Eee PC, which is a tiny little netbook, and could run stuff like Heroes of Might and Magic (They have 1 to 3) A whole bunch of classic RPGs (Fallout 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, Planescape: Torment) Theyy’ve also got The Longest Journey (Best. Game. Ever.)
They’ve got some not so new games as well, but I doubt Unreal Tournament 2004 will play on a netbook.
Hope that helps
I guess it’s a good idea to plug the fact that what Iw as up to during the holidays is recording a new podcast! Queers with Beers aims to talk trans/queer/feminist stuff for 30 minutes, then geeky stuff for 30 minutes, or your money goddamn well back.
find us at: http://queerswithbeers.wordpress.com/
Recettear! Hoping to find my old Gamecube and play Harvet Moon: Magical Melody!
I went and finished up Aquaria this morning; my perspective on it remains pretty much the same (It’s really good except one plot point that’s done really poorly). Really did like the ending dungeon. …and of course because I can’t enjoy anything without nitpicking, I went and blogged about everything I _didn’t_ like.
Now I need to find another game I can tolerate. This could be hard.
I’ve pretty much just been playing Plants vs. Zombies for the past several weeks.
That game was pretty awesome. …now I want to go play it, but I don’t own it and I’m kind of low on cash right now ._.
a new female elf companion was introduced on the dragon age 2 forums… she looks like a 12 year old and people are already wanting a romance with her… feeling very ill now. There’s also talk of this being the new ‘style’ for elves, though the male elf companion looks perfectly adult. Just when it looked like I might get DA2 there goes my enthusiasm, straight down the toilet.
I made a picture of the new character next to the character from Origins that she’s based on http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ReiSilver/Merrill.jpg
Ugh, yes. That section of the Dev Diary video caused some serious mood whiplash. ‘Virginal and sweet’ indeed.
Even better is the argument that keeps coming up on the Bioware forums, about how it’s okay because hey, she’s actually an adult in elf years, she only *looks* like a 14-yr-old. Because elves exist, see, so their design can’t be helped.