Anticipating Dark Souls

Dark Souls…say it in a hushed tone and in a dramatic manner! For that’s what *I* have been doing lately, in anticipation of this successor to Demon’s Souls. Yep, the one that is one of the hardest games in the gaming market currently.

So, Dark Souls. Made harder, complex, puzzling, bewildering than Demon’s and yet considerably more beautiful too. The game mechanics are nearly identical to Demon’s Souls and it has a souped-up multiplayer component. Not that I particularly care for the latter.

I saw the gameplay vids and was impressed with the ultra sharp textures of this game. I mean, the game’s grittiness, harshness and brutality is literally dripping from the environments…it is worn out, it is brown/gray/faded green and is inviting and punishing at the same time. It is truly incomparable.

So with all this virtual hyperventilation about visual and feeling, I wonder will I be actually able to PLAY this damned thing?! Or will I just retire in frustration and tedium after trying to kill a particularly hard enemy/boss for the umpteenth time? And how on earth will I possibly kill those TWO huge belfry Gargoyle bosses?! OMG!! One of them even spits fire constantly!!! In case of Demon’s Souls, I took extensive help from Wiki and other resources, but with Dark Souls…I am in…well, Dark!

So I imagine exploring dark haunted forests, grand rustic castles, mystic cathedrals and occasional loooong pathways and winding staircases..and the bonfire in the middle of nowhere…where at last, I will be totally free from harm and danger..

And my hero looks at the flying embers as he feels the warmth of the burning flames. He has just cleared one huge section teeming with murderous demons, ghosts and other abominations, complete with scale-defying boss.. and another section lies just some distance ahead! But at *this* moment in time, he is at peace, resting, relaxing. Watching the shadows as they dance on the nearby walls…and he also feels the gusts of wind on his face and senses the movement of leaves from the nearby bushes. He closes his eyes for a while, praying to the Goddess for giving him strength and courage…for his unwavering and resolute faith is the only light in this dark and foreboding world. He opens his eyes after a pause and sees some apparitions of other warriors. They are the brave souls who are fighting the same demons and dark souls like him, but in another parallel dimension. But he can see them…running, going past the bonfire, some resting just like him, others only looking and wandering. And I, just as my hero, feel a strange connection with all those strangers, even thought I can’t see their faces or communicate with them. But we are all together, bonded through a common cause and yet we each are all so alone in our quest in these dark and desolate lands.    

Dark Souls Blu-ray Disc will be in my PS3 system sometimes next week!

20 Hours with Demon's Souls

Termed as one of the hardest games in the world, Demon’s Souls for PS3 was nonetheless an anticipated purchase for me...mainly due to the almost unanimously glowing reviews it received across the gaming media. It even got Gamespot’s Game of the Year 2009 award.

So why is it considered so damn hard? It doesn’t have any check-points or quick saves. If you die at any point, you have to replay a given level right from the beginning. When you die, you lose ‘souls’ collected from the slain enemies. After you re-spawn, so do all the enemies you had previous killed and you need to go back to the location where you died and collect your souls. But…if you die in between, all your souls are forever lost!! Apart from this, the enemies are ultra tough, locations dark n foreboding and when you are online, other players can invade your world and crush you like a fly! If any of this isn’t enough to drive away a casual player, then the fact that it costs close to Rs 3500 will surely do the trick!! 

Yes, in India it got released only as a ‘Black Phantom Edition’, and thus commands the exuberant price. It essentially is a Collector’s Edition containing an artbook, soundtrack and a strategy guide. Incidentally, this marks my first ever Collector’s Edition purchase of any game!

After logging in about 20 hours in Demon’s Souls, here is what I think:

Even if you keep on dying, the game is strangely addictive. It punishes you for the slightest mistake of yours but it is almost always FAIR. You die because *you* didn’t pay enough attention to your enemies or environment. Your over-confidence too is promptly crushed every now and then by a well placed ambush. And that makes you *want* to replay the level again to prove your worth and teach those baddies a lesson or two! While you can learn the enemy patterns and strike at the opportune moment, the first encounter with a strong enemy is almost always guaranteed to send you back at the level-start with zero souls.

The bosses fall into an altogether different league, as you learn their vulnerabilities and attack patterns only with trial n error, which only means repeated unfortunate deaths. And indeed, to even *reach* to that end level boss the second time, you need to kill all the enemy horde standing in between one more time! Fortunately, in many levels, there are shortcuts which you can unlock to make your re-travel quick n speedy.

Currently I am playing a level called Stonefang Tunnels. And atmosphere wise, it reminds me so much of Thief. I simply LOVED the ‘Down in the Bonehoard’ level from Thief 1 and Stonefang Tunnels, with its maze-like caverns, flickering torchlights, lava, killing heights, fire elementals and the constant feeling of decay n dread feels almost like a homage to Thief’s atmosphere. Then there are these ‘miners’ who can as well be called as Zombies to complete the similarities with Thief.

Even though I *have* taken help from various online guides and have read some forum threads, I haven’t yet got a good hang of the leveling system. The mechanics of world tendencies and characters tendencies, which stats affect what and which are most essential to upgrade..I am confused to various degrees on each of these. But admittedly, I have completed only 30% or so of the game and I just wish to keep on playing n learning things at my own pace. This game gives me a feeling of accomplishment, keeps me engaged from start to end, extending my sleep timings way past 2.30 am!!  

Tonight I plan on killing that Flamelurker and Dragon God! :)

Mass Effect 2 Impressions

Mass Effect remains one of my favorite games, if not one of THE MOST favorites. It’s understandable that I was waiting for Mass Effect 2 with a bated breath. However, I played it dedicatedly only around 20 days back or so.

Interestingly enough, ME2’s arrival coincided with my new HD monitor purchase, but ME2 bears considerably more dark and reddish visual style compared to the first one, and that was number one enthusiasm killer. Later on, I was fixated with PS3, which resulted in me abandoning PC gaming temporarily.   

So my impressions follow:


ME2 didn’t sweep me off my feet as much as ME1. Understandable, since hardly anything matches the magic of the first experience. Be it a first kiss, first salary or first…anything! :) As mentioned, the harsh color palette of initial sequences also contributed to my cold shouldering of the game.

Presently, I remember this game primarily for interesting and life-like companions. Miranda and her cold self-conscious tone, Jack and her super-edgy battle rants, curiosity to understand Legion and so on. Its fascinating how one gets attached to these computer generated characters and starts sharing their happiness and pain. Undoubtedly, much credit goes to the way they talk, walk and execute various actions in ultra realistic fashion. Kudos to BioWare writers for creating these characters and also to the voice actors of Jack and Miranda.

Jack (Subject Zero)	Miranda	Legion

Apart from the end-game ‘suicide’ mission, I don’t remember any remarkable mission from the whole game. In fact, all I remember otherwise are stacks of metallic boxes and warehouse environments. The game is almost devoid of any “organic” feel and the game vistas consists mainly of pipes, machines, boxes, strobe lights and confined spaces. Quite bland and boring, overall. Visually, Illium was a massive let-down too.. 

After tweaking the speed of mining mini-game, I found it mildly enjoying. Speaking to the couple of NPCs such as Yeomen Chambers, Joker and one particular bartender at Eternity lounge was fun.

The game is a colossal disappointment in terms of story. Virtually nothing substantial happens throughout the game and the state of galaxy is same at the end of game as it was in the beginning. You discover and wipe out the Collector threat, that’s all this game is about.

The stripped down RPG mechanics hurt most when it comes to non-availability of equipping companions with weapons and interesting armor.

And..I guess that’s it? This game doesn’t leave a long lasting impression and is “fun” only in bits and pieces. Still, something about it is arresting enough and once you venture deep enough, you feel like playing almost non-stop. The combat is fast and fun, especially with Biotic powers, so that might be one of the reason. I have already logged 53 hours and if I choose to pursue optional side-quests, around 4 more hours might get added.

In the end, it offers an interesting backdrop for the inevitable ME3 but I don’t feel any urge to replay it immediately. In case of ME1, I started a new game right after completing it once, so that speaks for itself..

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Impressions

I was waiting to get my hands on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands since its announcement back in May 2009. I immensely enjoyed Prince of Persia [2008], with its cel-shaded graphics and open-ended gameplay. The new PoP was advertised to take the series ‘back to its roots’. I was further intrigued, having never played the original PoP: Sands of time.

The game finally got released for Windows platform in June 2010, complete with the dreaded requirement of ‘always-ON’ internet connection. I ‘acquired’ it and played. Total play-time is about 8~10 hrs.  Here are my impressions:

1. The prince looks like an ass. He is supposed to be a 'Prince', right? He looks more like a commoner with zero facial features and a voice that doesn't go well with his more-plump-than-athletic physique. Perhaps it’s nitpicking to comment on main characters’ looks in a platformer game, but common, you play as the Price and there are certain obvious expectations associated with characters of his status. The game’s Prince is as anti-prince as you can get, look wise

2. Nothing kills the immersion like stuttery and jerky frame rate in a platformer. Fortunately, the graphics are nice and the game runs smoothly. Of late, most of the Ubisoft games seem to be better optimized for the PC, which is certainly a good thing.

3. Controls: The controls are somewhat clunky to use. Basic actions like jumping, running and scaling the walls can be executed easily. However, once the Prince starts gaining new powers, the number of keys for executing extra moves keep on adding. By the end of the game, it’s as much a challenge to traverse the game environment as it is to press the right combination of keys. The difficulty then isn't so much about managing jump timings right as it is about pressing the awkwardly placed keys in rapid succession. Sure, you can bind them to your heart's liking, but still, it never seems as smooth as say, Assassin's Creed games (another Ubisoft platformer).  This iteration of PoP is clearly better played with a gamepad.

4. Camera: Restricted camera is another fun killer on a number of occasions. The sense of direction is often lost when the camera pans the view midway of the jump. So when you are pressing the forward key, due to sudden camera angel shift, now its the 'right' key that you need to press for moving forward. In other platformer games, it didn’t seem this abrupt. Moreover, due to game’s tendency of locking the camera on ‘bosses’, its frustrating to move towards, say, health jars when you are running low on health in the middle of the battle. Sometimes, the camera is placed such that it’s not clear where you have to go next. I understand the need of hand-holding players by locking the camera perspective, but that mechanic should not compromise the playability.

5. Combat is mostly filler with lame enemies and lamer booses! And there are only 3-4 versions of these sand zombies, including bosses, so it gets real boring real fast. Oft advertised ‘crowd control’ feature turns out to be mere gimmick which I doubt anyone even uses. 

6. Bugs: This is the first Ubisoft game in which I encountered weird bugs, glitches and gameplay exploits. Since there are no manual save slots (why?), sometimes a door will remain closed on load with no ways of reaching its triggering mechanism. The only option is, *gasp*, to restart the game from the beginning!

7. I understand that you are playing as Prince traversing a castle filled with deadly traps...but there are only so many times I want to see the same spiked log hanging mid-air. Admittedly, it has an obvious advantage that, once you know how to dodge the spiked monstrosity, it’s simply a matter of pressing the jump button at the right time, and then you use that throughout the game. Some trap variations would have been welcome…   

8. The actual platforming bits are nice though. The difficulty rises gradually and after completing some long platforming sections (jump, scale, freeze water, scale, freeze, hang, jump, unfreeze, freeze, hang and then jump!) it really feels rewarding. Plus, it looks awesome in action.

9. Soundtrack is bland and recycles continuously. Characters are forgettable and there is a black female Djinn! Ugh. I guess, it has become mandatory for western game developers to project themselves as ‘non-racist’ by purposefully making some characters black…anyways.

In the end, I will recommend this game to anyone looking for a decently challenging platformer, but then the better alternative is Assassin’s Creed series.  For all the Prince of Persia fans, this should be a no-brainer choice.