Monthly Archives: November 2011

My thoughts on GAME OF THRONES

Via 1up.com:

The first game based on A Song of Ice and Fire, a real-time strategy game known as A Game of Thrones: Genesis, was released just over a month ago. An RPG known simply as Game of Thrones is also in development, and that’s not the only game in the works based on George R.R. Martin’s epic novel series — at least two more are on the way.

The first of these two, according to USA Today, is an MMORPG. It’s being developed by Bigpoint, the company responsible for the browser-based MMO Battlestar Galactica Online, among many other, lesser-known games.

[…]

The release of Genesis was met with surprisingly little fanfare, and reviews haven’t been especially kind. That has many fans worried about the prospects of the RPG given that developer Cyanide Studio was responsible for Genesis. With how little we’ve seen of the game, it would be unfair to pass judgment on it at this point. At the same time, it’s somewhat worrying that the screenshots seen in this story represent a big chunk of what we know at this point.

Does anyone think this will be good?

These days, even World of Warcraft is having trouble keep its subscriber base from falling (it’s lost nearly a million subscribers) and the pedigree of the development team doesn’t exactly inspire any confidence. With Game of Thrones becoming a world-wide phenomenon, what will it take to get the IP into the hands of a development team that actually has the chutzpah to do Martin’s work justice?

Mechanically, it also just doesn’t make sense to me. MMORPGs are known for their epic, large scale fights against ferocious, mystical beings. Beyond Dany’s dragons, those don’t really exist in A Song of Ice and Fire. So, you reach the end of an Epic Raid and fight… one of Tyrion’s turtles? At least we’ll be able to collect 15 lemon cakes for Sansa once we make it to Winterfell.

Skyrim Cover Art

I’m so bloody excited for this game, so I decided to round up some of the stellar reviews from some of my favourite gaming sites.

1UP.com:

I’ve dabbled in Elder Scrolls games before, but they always seemed to be the wrong combination of intimidatingly huge and mechanically clunky (not to mention kind of ugly). Skyrim is the chapter that’s finally pulled me in, and suddenly I find myself smitten with the series. Not just the games, but the lore, and the insane level of thought that’s been invested in the world of Tamriel. I have every intention of seeing this game to its end, even if that demands months of my life. It’s not a perfect creation by any means, but I can happily overlook the flaws for a little more time with my wonderful, deadly Lady. Now if you’ll excuse me, she and I have about 40 open quest lines to resolve, and there are only so many hours in the day for picking off bandits with well-aimed arrows from the dark.

Destructoid:

Skyrim can do epic, that’s a given. It is, however, the little things that make The Elder Scrolls V what it is. The game is stuffed to its brim with tiny flourishes that seem so insignificant yet make the world of difference between a game that feels like a game, and a game that feels like it’s alive. Swimming in a river to catch some fish, dropping an unwanted item on the floor and having an NPC “helpfully” return it to you, gaining a trusty follower who comments on your actions and surrounding locations — these are the things that really place Skyrim a cut above the rest. Long after gamers have stopped recounting grand scrimmages against tribes of giants, talk will persist of that time an elf tried to sell a player some drugs outside of town, or the bandits that attempted to scare the hero away rather than blindly attack. To talk of such tiny details in a game where storm clouds can be summoned at will sounds silly, but without these minor touches, the overall ambitious scale would mean much less.

[…]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is every single reason to love a Western role-playing game, condensed into a single comprehensive experience with nothing lost in the conversion process. It is a game that will drown those who step into its absorbing, overwhelmingly detailed world, a game that will bury you and refuse to let go. Yet your submergence will be agreeable, your burial ecstatic, and the hands placed around your throat welcomed like those of a lover’s. To play Skyrim is to enter into a relationship, one that provides feelings of empowerment, yet demands total submission.

Submit you will, for The Elder Scrolls V is the new zenith of role-playing games and it commands you to look up.

Game|Life:

I have to agree. Plenty of games have set out to create open, lively worlds that feel just as human as the one we inhabit. Perhaps none has come as close as Skyrim.

The Escapist:

An absolutely first-rate roleplaying game that combines an abundance of content with an abundance of quality. The outdated design elements are unfortunate but not so distracting that it ruins the depth of the story, the openness of the setting, or the visceral joys of combat.

Anyone else getting (or already have) Skyrim?

Wandered into the bookstore the other day and saw this:

SHADOWHEART, featuring Aidan Moher

It’s a blurb from my review of SHADOWHEART by Tad Williams, right there at the top of the list and alongside some pretty heavy hitting and well known critics. I nearly dropped the book on the floor when I saw it.

I’ve had quotes from my reviews included in novels before, but they’ve always been on the inside (this blurb’s on the cover!) novels that I’d enjoyed, but didn’t necessarily mean a whole lot to me. This, however, is a whole different ball game. Tad Williams is one of my absolute favourite genre writers and has long been an inspiration to myself as both a reader and a writer. I look forward to his new releases with anticipation that’s rivalled by few other authors. To now be a part (however small) of his novel is an absolute honour.

Now, go read his Shadowmarch series. It’s really good.

I’m probably the only person in the world who cares about this, but it was too cool not to blog about. So over the top and cheezy, but also seems shockingly faithful to the original videogames. I’m a huge sucker for the Gyakuten Saiban/Phoenix Wright series, so you can be damn sure that I’ll hunt down a fan-subbed edition of this film once it’s been released.