T w e n t y S i d e d
DM of the Rings Remastered CIII: A Brief History of You
Wednesday Action Log 01-22-25
This week I’ve actually played some games.
I played the demo for Heroes of Hammerwatch II. It was fine. I don’t know if it was just the demo, but there was almost no tutorial or guide, so there was about an hour of playing where I didn’t know what I was doing at all. Other than that, it was just fine.
Most of my time this week has been spent on a newly released game that is outside of my normal genre. Infinity Nikki. It’s a hard game to explain; it has a lot of modern Nintendo elements, some Super Mario Odyssey, a bit of Breath of the Wild, and a tiny bit of Pokémon vibes, all wrapped up in a game about dresses and fashion. Every thing you do is related to your outfit, your double jump has its own outfit, and so does your bug net.
And an outfit for combat.
A lot of the game consists of making outfits and finding clothing, as well as materials for your outfits. Then you have your ability outfits. You can’t change your ability outfits the same as your regular outfits. You can get alternate ones, but can’t really customize (at least as far as I know).
There’s also parkour.
Since I’m not the best at explaining games, I’ll just say: if you played Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom, and got excited when you found a new piece of armor, you’ll probably like this game.
Anyway, what’s everyone else doing this week?
Final Fantasy 1 (part 002)
Day Two of Final Fantasy 1 Pixel Remaster. I spent a bit of time seeing if there was even a point in loading Roland MT-32 compatibility. However the Pixel Remasters are CD mixes, or at least CD-capable; so while any for any given piece of music there can be an honest argument about the best implementation, the PR versions are broadly the best version of every soundtrack for the first six games. I did, not too long ago, get MUNT working on my system for Sierra games. As those are some of the oldest, later games that used Roland emulation should work just fine. The secret is in the game’s startup, not the system. Once MUNT is installed correctly, I just have to have MUNT loaded. It’s the game itself that has to point to the right libraries for sound. But looping around to the beginning, there really isn’t a point to even trying, and so we move on with the next segment of our journey.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Final Fantasy 1 (part 002)”
DM of the Rings Remastered CII: A Minor Omission
Wednesday Action Log 01-15-25
This week has been a whole lot of nothing.
But as of writing this, I was looking at steam and saw Heroes of Hammerwatch II. I don’t know anything about it other than it released today and is a roguelike. I’m very fond of roguelikes, so I’m going to try the demo later.
What’s everyone else doing this week?
Final Fantasy 1 (part 001)
Pre-existing condition: my mouse is going out, apparently.
Let’s get one thing straight from the beginning: Final Fantasy is *not* the first console RPG, or JRPG…but it *was* inspired by the early ones. It *was* the first to use the format of enemies lined up vertically on the left side of the screen and home team lined up vertically on the right, for what it’s worth. This format is broadly associated with the concept of early console RPG’s, despite Final Fantasy being one of the few that used this idea. Dragon Quest, debuting a year earlier, used a first-person fight screen then switched to a second-person hybrid screen with Dragon Quest 7. This view would also dominate HD and 3D remakes so thoroughly and effectively that people associate that particular view with the series as a whole, now. The Phantasy Star series, another early hit for Sega-based systems; used a second-person view set right behind the protagonists. You would see their back and hair which set an early standard for that series’ focus on the avatars’ designs. Most earlier RPG’s used some variety of first-person point-of-view. So at least in one regard Final Fantasy did do something different.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Final Fantasy 1 (part 001)”
DM of the Rings Remastered CI: There He Goes Again
From The Archives:
Silent Hill Turbo HD II
I was trying to make fun of how Silent Hill had lost its way but I ended up making fun of fighting games. Whatever.
Please Help I Can’t Stop Playing Cities: Skylines
What makes this borderline indie title so much better than the AAA juggernauts that came before?
Playstation 3
What was the problem with the Playstation 3 hardware and why did Sony build it that way?
Shamus Plays WOW
Ever wondered what's in all those quest boxes you've never bothered to read? Get ready: They're more insane than you might expect.
Bethesda NEVER Understood Fallout
Let's count up the ways in which Bethesda has misunderstood and misused the Fallout property.
Joker's Last Laugh
Did you anticipate the big plot twist of Batman: Arkham City? Here's all the ways the game hid that secret from you while also rubbing your nose in it.
Crash Dot Com
Back in 1999, I rode the dot-com bubble. Got rich. Worked hard. Went crazy. Turned poor. It was fun.
Trusting the System
How do you know the rules of the game are what the game claims? More importantly, how do the DEVELOPERS know?
This Scene Breaks a Character
Small changes to the animations can have a huge impact on how the audience interprets a scene.
Quakecon 2012 Annotated
An interesting but technically dense talk about gaming technology. I translate it for the non-coders.