Navi from Zelda. Navi the fairy looks like a bright blue, round, ball of light with wings.
It is Wednesday so it is time for our weekly questions!
- What games are you been playing lately?
- Would you recommend any to other Border House readers?
- What games are making you rant or rave?
- Are you playing anything that you would like to see covered on the site?
My Wii has been my main gaming system in the last few days. I had my weekly play session of Monster Hunter Tri with some friends and then played more of it throughout the week. I also put a bit more time into The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I really like the art style and controls on this game but I feel like I am still very early in the story.
This week I want to mention the website http://backloggery.com/It is a good way to keep track of your games collection and what you are currently playing. It is something that can be fun to use, especially if you have other friends also utilizing the site.
So, what has been taking up your gaming time week?
Hi! First of all I’d like to say I love your blog! I’ve just found out it recently, its awesome!!
Well, I’ve been playing Silkroad online, and I’ll rant a little:
I was creating a new char and there was an “weight” option and I thought “omg I can create a non-normative non-hyper unrealistic skin female character!!” but in amid of my awe it turns out that the weight option was only to magnify…. the breasts and ass…..yeah, nice huh silkroad.
Nevertheless you can make the female chars taller and a lot of MMO’s don’t even have this option… but still there has a race crap stuff too cause the ‘european race’ in game are omg super white and this is a history misleading cause in the game europeans cities are Constantinople and Alexandria and Constantinople is where Turkey is now, so they basically whitewash once there’s no way historically the chars would have that ‘whiteness’. I dont even have to talk about Alexandria which is now Egypt.
Well this is my (poor) review for now. thanks!
I started three different games, Dead Island, The Sims: Medieval and the expansion to Fate of the World “Tipping Point”
When i first heard of “Dead Island” i imagined something like “Stalker” in a zombie setting. Actually it is more a First Person Diablo with melee weapons that can break. The core combat and loot mechanic is really fun and i cant wait to try the Coop mode.
“Sims: Medieval” has not much game play even compared to “Sims 3″ but is a nice relaxing time waster. Also it is the first game i played where the male guards, who a posted in the throne room starts flirting with each other sometimes. That is really great.
“Fate of the World” is one of my favorite games, because of all the real moral dilemmas that are so clever woven into a simple card game. Normally i play just short session of an hour, and some scenarios are very hard. Just tried to prevent a horrible famine in India and please the oil industry at the same time … i simply doesn’t work.
I love Backloggery! Add me, I’m elliewellie77!
I’m still playing lots of Pokemon White. I have gotten back into EV training, which is way easier than when i first tried it, even without Pokerus. Also ive been crafting! But that’s not a game. I want to get back to FFXIII ASAP but I’m having an unusually busy week.
Keyboard Drumset Fucking Werewolf
http://cactusquid.blogspot.com/2011/10/keyboard-drumset-fucking-werewolf.html
I’ve spent most of my gaming time in the last week playing Oblivion on PS3, mostly in the Shivering Isles. (As an aside, I didn’t realize there were so many more plugins for the PC version, which I have and will get around to…eventually). I’ve been hankering for a replay of Okami as well and hooked up the Wii a couple of days ago in preparation.
Ok, I finished Witcher 2 and here is micro review for TBH. First the bad, presentation of women comes (fortunately not exclusively though) with all negative video games connotations and it ranges from problematic, sexist, objectifying to downright misogynistic. So does player reaction to it, from cringe worthy and facepalming to something similar to shovel in the face. Writers of the game were also able to hit home with all typical tropes as well, showing women as: seductress, manipulative, damsel in distress, women in refrigerator, torture porn, victims of rape that need to be avenged, lesbians, prostitutes, all in different mixes and often one trope is being played more then once during the game. Having said that, some women characters aren’t designed worse then for example characters from ME2 like Miranda, Samara, and Jake. I also noticed a special kind of “fail” regarding presentation of women in Witcher 2 that is kind of interesting (though not in really positive sense). On a few occasion I got a feeling that writers wanted to address the negative feedback they receive from Witcher 1 and infamous “sex cards” and made some in game commentaries that would highlight that “sexism and sexist treatment of women” is wrong. It’s just that writers were clueless about feminism from the beginning, so they started awkwardly, later on forget what actually were aiming for and end up with big fail. Fortunately it’s not only fail in this game.
From these mentioned negative things comes also some positivity: set of women characters in game isn’t small. In comparison to recent similar game that I have played: DX:HR (action RPG with set male protagonist), Witcher 2 win hands down. In DX there were few women characters NPC but all important ones and those who actually made important plot decision were men (Sarif, Darrow, and Taggart). In Witcher 2 there are actually women with enough agency that they shape and create plot and story events. I especially liked two of them: Saskia the Dragonslayer and sorceress Sheila de Tancarville. Saskia is pretty cool character all things considered but would be really awesome if not her outfit design. She’s wearing armor except…of course her breastplate, nicely design armor covers her arms, shoulders, midriff and legs, only her chest is left uncovered, what’s more her blouse there is unstrapped to show her cleavage /facepalm. Sheila is also pretty interesting character with cool personality and one that has her own goals and presented as a pretty active and powerful character. Sex cards are gone this time and women aren’t presented as collectables.
About game itself: gampelay is solid, fight is action/twitch based but with a lot of tactical options at players disposal, story is good, dialogue system is a bit simplistic, the ending was satisfying as it lefts room to break with typical video game ending. Majority of quests are on par with typical cRPG but there are some that are really interesting and break with linearity. Some in game choices are pretty important, unfolding different story paths and own set of quests. There is also set of simple minigames that I liked as I loved distractions in my games. Game isn’t very long but it is no short ever if players want to see, hear and experience everything. Game also has nudity and sex scenes as it is targeted at mature audience, how to judge them I think comes down to personal tastes. Graphics on powerful rig is simply amazing, locations aren’t that big or open as they seem at the beginning and some of them seem quite empty but moments when strolling through forest players reach mountain lake and watch a sun rising with game dynamic day/night cycle results in “holy shit!” exclamation, music is also very good.
To be honest, Witcher 2 gaming experience was quite enjoyable for me despite its fails and flaws but I don’t feel like at all like encouraging others to play it (let alone buy it ) as these things I mentioned may be game breaking for them or even insulting.
I had a lot of fun with Witcher 2 although I understand your ambivalence about recommending it to others. You’re right, although there are many problematic, sexist things in it, at least some of the main movers are female and given real agency and power.
It is beautiful, too, but I do think the graphics used too much bloom – at times it looked like I was playing Twilight Princess!
At the moment, playing Fable III and Fable: The Lost Chapters, trying to remember why I hate the third game and adore the first so much. I remembered after about two seconds, but now I’m thinking about doing an “evil” run. Besides that, working on Dragon Age: Origins– I’m a little behind the times in PC gaming– and waiting for Skyrim to come out.
I was thinking of getting Witcher 1 from Good Old Games, might give it a miss
thanks for the writeup!
It’s dreadful. The gameplay is an awful kind of timed-click thingy, there are too many MMORPG-type “collect x body parts from monster y” quests and the sex cards are frankly apalling. I played it when it came out, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Witcher 1 is different can of worms when it comes to depiction of women, far worse in my opinion: sex cards, practically all women sexually available for PC etc. which is kind of depressing as there are elements in this game really better then in Witcher 2 or other cRPG: superb soundtrack (really absolutely top of video game music) , great locations and designs: city that is actually sprawling with life, Murky Waters- very climatic village, The Fields – really give creepy feeling even when visited at full day sun.
I finished Gurumin in a week. I know there are more medals and outfits and hats to be found, but I don’t expect I’ll be able to get them, so beating the game once was enough for now.
I’m now playing 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. It’s a visual novel with puzzles mixed in. At first I was playing it like just a puzzle game and was a little annoyed by the long dialogues between characters, but after a while the intrigue got to me and now I want to figure out who each of them is and what their motivations are and such. I already got my first bad ending, so now I try to do things differently on my second playthrough.
Played a rousing round of Crimson Alliance with my friends the other day. Hoping that the next iteration offers male and female models for both classes, but otherwise the game is plenty fun.
The story uses the standard “woman as seductress” trope, but given that it’s fairly thin I’m not sure I care.
Still playing Glitch (otherwise known as reading Glitch forums while at work). There’s an interesting forum thread involving acceptable language, and a few of the commenters are doing a really good job explaining privilege and why intent isn’t the only thing that matters. Link if you want to check it out: http://www.glitch.com/forum/general/9902/
Still ridiculously ensnared by Dissidia 012, don’t expect that to end anytime soon really.
I DLed and played Phone Story on my Android last night though and enjoyed it for what it was: social commentary on consumption in the West and how we are all complicit in the damage it causes to other parts of the world. I recommend Denis Farr’s article on the game over at GayGamer for anyone who’s interested in the game: http://gaygamer.net/2011/09/phone_story.html
The Nanashi no Game translation patch just came out, so I might put Dissidia aside for a bit to play that in time for Halloween. I’ve been wanting to try it for years now but by Japanese sucks. Sooo grateful for the lively DS fanslation scene!
My Backloggery page for anyone interested (feel free to add!): http://backloggery.com/oliemoon
Unfortunately my computer is–well, has been for many months now–having issues. It’s my primary source of videogame entertainment. I’m in the middle of getting a brand new motherboard that should hopefully fix my issues once and for all.
Until then I’ve been playing with my PSP, haven’t played it in almost a year now and I think it’s time to give it some love. Played a little bit of Parasite Eve (PSone Classic, not the weird new one) and some Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, which is a very generic name, but whatevs. Parasite Eve is hilarious, everyone acts as though they’re on E. Silly and lighthearted, I’d hardly call it scary. Legend of Heroes hasn’t grabbed me just yet, it has nice music and okay characters, but I’m not liking the dialog and visuals. Not to mention the slow pace, I’m nearly 2 and a half hours in and it’s still dragging its feet. I’ll stick with it, but if I reach the 5 hour mark and still feel like I’m slogging through tutorial, nope.
Once I do get my motherboard, which should be this weekend, I’m going to start setting up for some recording. Assuming a new motherboard fixes thing, of course.
Got into playing Odain Sphere and Grim Grimoire for my PS3. Never owned either of them so I gave them a go.
I want to get back into Monster Hunter Tri, however I just haven’t had enough motivation. It seems that MHP3G is the “go to” game and I haven’t gotten far in that one. Even then hooking up with people (now) requires the Japanese version of Ad-hoc Party.
Also a note: Backloggery.com’s signup is frozen last I checked. It you weren’t one of the lucky ones you’ll have to wait.. and wait until they open the doors.
Based on the positive comments here, I recently started playing Glitch. Love how it’s so quirky and, as Kimadactyl put it, “made of actual gay” lol. (Also, the QUILTBAG group; how awesome is that?) However, even at level 10 I’m already beginning to feel like it’s just been reduced to a crafting grind… Exploring is a big part of enjoying a virtual world to me, and large parts of the world are essentially the same cookie cutters used in different patterns. Maybe if there were more quests… not sure how long I’ll stick with it. An interesting thing I have noticed, compared to a lot of other’s player’s Glitches, I put mine together in one of the most female-looking ways possible. Trans insecurity?
I’ve added KOTOR2 (thanks for the recommendation, Ms. Sunshine) and DA:O to my wishlist, keeping an eye out for sales on Steam…
Finally, still playing Rift, although given that lately my sessions are log on, grind dailies, log out, wondering why… Hopefully the forthcoming Ember Isle will add some new story/quest content, but if it’s not awesome, it may be time to call it quits.
Oh, and I suppose I usually play a game of Forty Thieves on Card Shark on my phone before going to sleep… Something very relaxing about a card game you don’t have to think *too* hard about and will win most of the time.
I’m level 19 now, and I haven’t had any quests in my log for the past few (RL) days. I’ve been mostly exploring new areas and trying to get the achievement badges. There is also a group called Sandbox, dedicated to providing player-run quests.
Really need to go back to the KotOR games and finish those off, reading this site keeps making me want to create time to do that!
Trying to do another play-thru of DA:O. I never *actually* finished it when it first came out. Got all the way right up to just before the big bad at the end, but got distracted by other shiny games and just never got around to finishing it. Now, tho I found myself stopping and starting it in fits. I get the urge to play, load up my female noble human warrior and start off on a quest only to run into “Wow, I didn’t know they let women be Wardens/hold swords/wander out of the kitchen”. It’s aggravating, to say the least, so my patience usually don’t last long after one of those quips and have to turn off the game. I’m sure its only in there for the typical ‘but that’s totally what the medieval ages were like!!!’, but I just have a really low tolerance for that bs at the moment.
Playing Okabu! Really cute and nice to play with someone younger. I seems like it can appeal to everyone, though I know a lot of gamers will take issue with it.