Game Reviews (Spoilers)
Some quick reviews for Epic Mickey, Last Window (The Hotel Dusk sequel) and Fable III.
Epic Mickey
I found this game to be enormously creative! It's a platformer with no leveling where you use "Paint" and "Thinner" as tools to defeat enemies, uncover hidden areas, and essentially mold the world around you. This game also has a decision-engine where depending on what choices you make, the reactions from characters and the ending you receive will be different. IE: Using paint to defeat your enemies and at critical points makes you look like a good guy and thinner well.. you'll look like a real jerk! I'd also recommend doing all the side-quests you can to yield a happy ending. Prepare for a sad ending if you choose the thinner path and neglect side quests.
Other than being a basic platformer, the gameplay runs level-by-level where you enter explorable areas with problems that must be solved in order to continue. Most areas you cannot revisit, but there are a handful that you can. Each area is separated by a side-scrolling level based on old Mickey and Oswald cartoons. It was quite ingenious to design these levels to "immerse" you in those old cartoons!
The game holds a lot of goodies like unlockable concept art to ogle at. The areas are also wonderfully designed and each prevalent NPC has tight character development. A bit of creativity that I enjoyed most is that when you're near Oswald (Disney's first popular cartoon who was co-created by Ub Iwerks) and turn your back, he makes faces at you! When you turn back to him, he whistles nonchalantly. Haha, so cute. Also: The bunny children were disgustingly adorable.
My only complaint is that there is a bit of Disney history left out of the game (probably for story reasons). The game made it out to be that Oswald was simply a forgotten Disney character. This isn't true, Oswald was seized from Disney by Charles Mintz and Walt created Mickey Mouse to start a new series of cartoons with. Another reason why Oswald has not been particularly popularized by Disney until recently is because part of the rights to Oswald belong to Disney and part belong to Universal Pictures. It's like he's not wholly theirs. Clear? Ok. I only mention it because a lot of people are up in arms and calling Oswald righteous and great and Mickey a thieving bastard. Please don't. Cartoons characters aren't responsible for what happens with them.
Anyway, aside from the historical confusion, I thought this game was fabulous and have no complaints.
10/10
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
I had to order the European version of this game since there are no plans to release it within NA (Which is hilarious because the game takes place in Los Angeles). Aside from having to fork over a pile of money to get it imported, I loved this game. The last game was already phenomenal but this game is even better. The gameplay is fairly simple and just like the last game: sneak around to find clues and talk to people to find even more clues. The characters are incredibly complex and each have their own unique personalities and histories. On your path to solve the games greatest puzzle, you may also have the option to improve the lives of the game's other characters. However, if you go to the wrong place or say the wrong thing, it's game over! It's not too hard though, just use common sense and if anyone's face flashes red, just turn the game off and give it another go (no point scrolling through a book of text just to get a game over!) My advice: save often.
Great story, wonderful flow and beautifully designed. If you like mysteries, immerse yourself in this game.
11/10
Fable III
The anticipated sequel to Fable II. First off, the graphics are gorgeous and the regions are enormous! A true adventure into the unknown. Who knows what will be lurking around the next corner? The characters are splendid and there's a whole plethora of side quests to comb through. The game has a streamlined good/evil decision engine where the choices you make effect the world around you (including weapons and appearance). There's endless ways to customize your character and an improved clothes-dying system to make your outfit truly unique. The game is a lot of fun and there's a lot of visuals and hidden secrets for those of us who are lovers of exploration.
However, I do have a long list of problems I have with this game.
Story Arc: The game has two story arcs which are held together with a loose thread. The first story arc is pretty solid, but the second caught me by total surprise and when they tried to tie it into the first arc, I was left unconvinced. This is just my own personal opinion. I'm sure there are those who have no issues with the way the game was written. Honestly though I would have been happy if they simply made the first arc more epic and involved.
Changes:
The expression system was changed. Initially I was excited that you could interact with NPCs, but then realized there were quite a few downsides. For one, you cannot choose which expression you will do other than selecting from gross, rude, scary, and good expressions. Also there are no expressions where you can entertain a group or just make expressions on your own.
The tattoo system was changed. One of my favourite parts of Fable II was the appearance of the character. I loved how the more you used magic, the more of these vein-like glowing blue markings would show up on your character's body. In Fable III, they make it so that your tattoos glow blue like this instead and there are no vein-marks at all. This would be neat, expect the designs of the tattoos, especially on the face, are pretty hideous.
The good appearance system was changed. In fable II, you gain a nice complexion, blonde hair, blue eyes and a halo. In fable III, you gain a good complexion, light angelic markings on the face (which I actually liked) and wings (also cool). HOWEVER, the wings only show up when you're charging an attack or rarely as an expression (which as I said before, you cannot choose! You just have to keep making expressions until it shows up!) Also, there was no halo. So basically you have a nice complexion and angelic facial markings and are not much different than an ordinary NPC.
The weapons system was changed. In Fable II, you purchased weapons at shops and attached augments to them that gave them special powers. Clean and simple. In fable III, your weapons change appearance based on your decisions and have additional powers you can unlock by performing certain tasks. Evolving weapons is cool, but not being able to choose it's power and having to WORK for the power (which could go against your chosen good/evil path) is not. Also, there were only four types of weapons, so no cleaver or crossbows for me.
One other thing that bothers me is how biased the game was towards making your character evil. It essentially tries to force you into being a bad guy. Fortunately if you are incredibly rich, you usually don't have to make an evil choice, but if you're not, then be prepared to set forth onto the evil path. Also, most of the interesting changes to the environment are the result of choosing an evil path. If you're good... you get a sewage plant and get crowned king of the hippies. Congrats.
I know I may make it out like Fable III wasn't the great, it really was! Having your character make hard decisions was an interesting idea, I just wish there were more bonuses for working so hard at being good. I'm just so in love with Fable II that I'm not particularly open to change. Fable II was already perfect, and Fable III took a lot of that away. But it's a different game with a different plan and if I try to keep looking at it that way then yes it was a great game and I really enjoyed it, the side-quests especially. They were a hoot.
7/10
Still so many games I need to finish. I've taken up the first Assassins Creed game since I can't seem to go anywhere on the internet without stumbling into something related to this series. So far I love it and I hear the next two games are many times better. I also need to start Birth by Sleep and save up for a bunch of other games that are being released rapidly (there's just not enough time, is there?)
Epic Mickey
I found this game to be enormously creative! It's a platformer with no leveling where you use "Paint" and "Thinner" as tools to defeat enemies, uncover hidden areas, and essentially mold the world around you. This game also has a decision-engine where depending on what choices you make, the reactions from characters and the ending you receive will be different. IE: Using paint to defeat your enemies and at critical points makes you look like a good guy and thinner well.. you'll look like a real jerk! I'd also recommend doing all the side-quests you can to yield a happy ending. Prepare for a sad ending if you choose the thinner path and neglect side quests.
Other than being a basic platformer, the gameplay runs level-by-level where you enter explorable areas with problems that must be solved in order to continue. Most areas you cannot revisit, but there are a handful that you can. Each area is separated by a side-scrolling level based on old Mickey and Oswald cartoons. It was quite ingenious to design these levels to "immerse" you in those old cartoons!
The game holds a lot of goodies like unlockable concept art to ogle at. The areas are also wonderfully designed and each prevalent NPC has tight character development. A bit of creativity that I enjoyed most is that when you're near Oswald (Disney's first popular cartoon who was co-created by Ub Iwerks) and turn your back, he makes faces at you! When you turn back to him, he whistles nonchalantly. Haha, so cute. Also: The bunny children were disgustingly adorable.
My only complaint is that there is a bit of Disney history left out of the game (probably for story reasons). The game made it out to be that Oswald was simply a forgotten Disney character. This isn't true, Oswald was seized from Disney by Charles Mintz and Walt created Mickey Mouse to start a new series of cartoons with. Another reason why Oswald has not been particularly popularized by Disney until recently is because part of the rights to Oswald belong to Disney and part belong to Universal Pictures. It's like he's not wholly theirs. Clear? Ok. I only mention it because a lot of people are up in arms and calling Oswald righteous and great and Mickey a thieving bastard. Please don't. Cartoons characters aren't responsible for what happens with them.
Anyway, aside from the historical confusion, I thought this game was fabulous and have no complaints.
10/10
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
I had to order the European version of this game since there are no plans to release it within NA (Which is hilarious because the game takes place in Los Angeles). Aside from having to fork over a pile of money to get it imported, I loved this game. The last game was already phenomenal but this game is even better. The gameplay is fairly simple and just like the last game: sneak around to find clues and talk to people to find even more clues. The characters are incredibly complex and each have their own unique personalities and histories. On your path to solve the games greatest puzzle, you may also have the option to improve the lives of the game's other characters. However, if you go to the wrong place or say the wrong thing, it's game over! It's not too hard though, just use common sense and if anyone's face flashes red, just turn the game off and give it another go (no point scrolling through a book of text just to get a game over!) My advice: save often.
Great story, wonderful flow and beautifully designed. If you like mysteries, immerse yourself in this game.
11/10
Fable III
The anticipated sequel to Fable II. First off, the graphics are gorgeous and the regions are enormous! A true adventure into the unknown. Who knows what will be lurking around the next corner? The characters are splendid and there's a whole plethora of side quests to comb through. The game has a streamlined good/evil decision engine where the choices you make effect the world around you (including weapons and appearance). There's endless ways to customize your character and an improved clothes-dying system to make your outfit truly unique. The game is a lot of fun and there's a lot of visuals and hidden secrets for those of us who are lovers of exploration.
However, I do have a long list of problems I have with this game.
Story Arc: The game has two story arcs which are held together with a loose thread. The first story arc is pretty solid, but the second caught me by total surprise and when they tried to tie it into the first arc, I was left unconvinced. This is just my own personal opinion. I'm sure there are those who have no issues with the way the game was written. Honestly though I would have been happy if they simply made the first arc more epic and involved.
Changes:
The expression system was changed. Initially I was excited that you could interact with NPCs, but then realized there were quite a few downsides. For one, you cannot choose which expression you will do other than selecting from gross, rude, scary, and good expressions. Also there are no expressions where you can entertain a group or just make expressions on your own.
The tattoo system was changed. One of my favourite parts of Fable II was the appearance of the character. I loved how the more you used magic, the more of these vein-like glowing blue markings would show up on your character's body. In Fable III, they make it so that your tattoos glow blue like this instead and there are no vein-marks at all. This would be neat, expect the designs of the tattoos, especially on the face, are pretty hideous.
The good appearance system was changed. In fable II, you gain a nice complexion, blonde hair, blue eyes and a halo. In fable III, you gain a good complexion, light angelic markings on the face (which I actually liked) and wings (also cool). HOWEVER, the wings only show up when you're charging an attack or rarely as an expression (which as I said before, you cannot choose! You just have to keep making expressions until it shows up!) Also, there was no halo. So basically you have a nice complexion and angelic facial markings and are not much different than an ordinary NPC.
The weapons system was changed. In Fable II, you purchased weapons at shops and attached augments to them that gave them special powers. Clean and simple. In fable III, your weapons change appearance based on your decisions and have additional powers you can unlock by performing certain tasks. Evolving weapons is cool, but not being able to choose it's power and having to WORK for the power (which could go against your chosen good/evil path) is not. Also, there were only four types of weapons, so no cleaver or crossbows for me.
One other thing that bothers me is how biased the game was towards making your character evil. It essentially tries to force you into being a bad guy. Fortunately if you are incredibly rich, you usually don't have to make an evil choice, but if you're not, then be prepared to set forth onto the evil path. Also, most of the interesting changes to the environment are the result of choosing an evil path. If you're good... you get a sewage plant and get crowned king of the hippies. Congrats.
I know I may make it out like Fable III wasn't the great, it really was! Having your character make hard decisions was an interesting idea, I just wish there were more bonuses for working so hard at being good. I'm just so in love with Fable II that I'm not particularly open to change. Fable II was already perfect, and Fable III took a lot of that away. But it's a different game with a different plan and if I try to keep looking at it that way then yes it was a great game and I really enjoyed it, the side-quests especially. They were a hoot.
7/10
Still so many games I need to finish. I've taken up the first Assassins Creed game since I can't seem to go anywhere on the internet without stumbling into something related to this series. So far I love it and I hear the next two games are many times better. I also need to start Birth by Sleep and save up for a bunch of other games that are being released rapidly (there's just not enough time, is there?)