For the latest entry to the “song of the day” feature I go back to my younger years. I’m talking about when I was still barely into my 20’s. My choice for the new song of the day is Japanese composer Uematsu Nobuo’s main title theme for the Squaresoft (before they became Square-Enix) fantasy role-playing game Final Fantasy VI.
The song is “Terra’s Theme” (in the original Japanese it was called “Tina’s Theme”) and starts off the game. The version above is the piano solo version which Square-Enix produced as part of the special “Final Fantasy Piano Collections” cd releases which took all the video game music for each game in the Final Fantasy series game and remade them into piano solo pieces. Uematsu’s original composition for Final Fantasy VI (also for most of the game’s in the series he composed the music for) were very heavily-influenced by classical music traditions and one can really hear it in this main theme.
While the piano solo version is quite a haunting melody which gives some clues to the character of Terra Branford. The two versions below are the original video game music which is really a well-done MIDI file to allow it to be encoded into the game cartridge when it was first released for the SNES system. The other one is a live recording of Uematsu himself conducting an orchestra. While all three have become one of my favorite pieces of music of all kinds (not just video game music) it is the piano solo which solidified “Terra’s Theme” as one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.
Ok, first we get the debut trailer for Mass Effect 3 which will consume my life and time when it comes out. Now I find out that the one game series which has also consumed my life and time in the past is also coming out around the same time as the aforementioned title.
What do I speak of?
I speak of the game which, in my very honestful and truthiness opinion, is the Lord of the Rings of fantasy gaming rpgs. It is The Elder Scrolls series and this game marks the 5th entry in the series which will followed other entries in the franchise like Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion. This franchise has spanned over a decade in gaming history and I expect nothing less than a new game from this series eating up close to 1000 hours of my life before I finally stop playing it to try something else.
And just like it sci-fi epic cousin in the Mass Effect series it is I who will be savior of the realms and kingdoms from whence this fantasy franchise lives in. While I may not be saving the galaxy it’s still no easy feat to save a fantasy kingdom full of lovely maidens and grateful millions.
Sidenote: Lisa Marie must be wondering what the hell I’m talking about with these last two blog entries.
The one game which I am willing to kill for to get my hands on the moment it comes out in time for the 2011 holidays is from video game developer BioWare. BioWare created a scifi-rpg franchise four years ago which has consumed my life everytime a new one in the series comes out. First there was Mass Effect then just this past January was it’s bigger follow-up Mass Effect 2. It looks like Mass Effect 3 will once again consume my time and life in the end of 2011.
From the look of the trailer the foreboding scenes in the end of the last game will culminate in the extra-galactic terror machines called “The Reapers” heading for Earth to once and for all stop the race who spawned the one man who dared challenge it’s millenia-long cyclical harvesting of all organic life from the galaxy. The fact that I am that human who stops them has no bearing on just how awesome this game franchise has been.
It will be the final game in this series as announced by BioWare, but I won’t be surprised if the universe created by this franchise continues on using a different name with a new set of heroes and villains. In the end, this game and any that follow it up will have one thing in common. A galaxy to save, a game as close to cinematic as we’ve ever seen and me as it’s savior.
In the winter of 2009, BioWare released a new rpg franchise to bookend their massively successful and critically-acclaimed scifi-rpg series Mass Effect. This new franchise was to be fantasy-based and would take the same deep and complex storytelling paired with morality choices that all past BioWare rpgs were well-known for. The game was Dragon Age: Origins and it did quite well that the company quickly began on creating the follow-up.
The game was a success, but not without some gripes from critics and players alike. While overall the game delivered on the experience BioWare promised it had some gameplay and visual failings which kept the game from becoming one of the great ones in 2009. The combat mechanics was not as intuitive as most gamers were used to. It played more like early BioWare games where commands for types of attacks were given but players had no control on how the attack were performed. There was also some major graphical issues in the game even on some high-end gaming pcs which ran the PC version.
Despite these flaws the game did entertain and gain quite a following. It’s no wonder that BioWare is ready to release the sequel, Dragon Age 2, a little over a year since the first game. This sequel will have BioWare addressing the very flaws gamers had with the first game. The combat will be more geared more like an action rpg with a streamlined control system. The company has stated that the look of the game will surpass that of the original now that programmers have had a better look at the PS3 and Xbox 360 systems. The game will also have a storyline which will span 10-years with the player’s character affecting how the world in the game changes depending on actions and decision played throughout.
Like its scifi brethren, Dragon Age 2 will use players’ saved completed games of the first title to tool and alter this sequel for that particular gamer. There’s one major change to the gameplay which may make some players unhappy. A player will not be able to choose their character’s race class. No more dwarf or elf characters. This sequel is strictly a human affair.
Until more videos of actual gameplay come out these CG-animated trailers will have to whet the appetites of rpg gamers everywhere.
The newest Song of the Day is a favorite piece of video game music of mine.
“Suteki Da Ne” is the love theme to Square-Enix’s very popular and long-running rpg series Final Fantasy. The song would mark the point in the game when the lead male and female characters finally realize their love for each other. It’s become a favorite of many game score aficionados and especially those of Japanese game soundtracks. Some consider it one of the best pieces of video game music there is, but that would be going a tad too hyperbolic.
The song is composed by well-renowned game music composer Uematsu Nobuo. He had been instrumental in composing the music for most of the Final Fantasy games until he left Square-Enix in 2004. “Suteki Da Ne” also had other collaborators outside of Uematsu. The lyrics for the song was written by Final Fantasy X scenario writer Nojima Kazushige while the arrangement for the song was done by Hamaguchi Shiro. In the end, most of the credit for the song really belongs to Uematsu-san. He was able to compose a song that worked to not just score a lovely and emotional scene between the two leads in the game but also convey their feelings very clearly through the music.
The lyrics below includes both the original Japanese version as sung by Japanese pop-idol RIKKI and the English translation.
Suteki Da Ne (Isn’t It Wonderful)
Kaze ga yoseta kotoba ni
Oyoida kokoro
Kumo ga hakobu ashita ni
Hazunda koe
(My heart, swimming
In the words the wind has borne
A voice, bouncing
On a tomorrow carried by clouds)
Tsuki ga yureru kagami ni
Furueta kokoro
Hoshi ga nagare, koboreta Yawarakai namida
(A heart, trembling
On a mirror where the moon quivers
A star falls, spills
Gentle teardrops)
Suteki da ne
Futari te o tori aruketa nara
Ikitai yo
Kimi no machi, ie, ude no naka
(Isn’t it wonderful
If we could walk, holding hands
I’d want to go
To your town, your house, into your arms)
Sono mune
Karada azuke
Yoi ni magire
Yume miru
(To your heart
I leave my body
Mixed into the night
I dream)
Kaze wa tomari; kotoba wa
Yasashii maboroshi
Kumo wa yabure; ashita wa
Tooku no koe
(The wind stops; your words
Are a kind illusion
The clouds break apart; tomorrow
Is a distant voice)
Tsuki ga nijimu kagami o
Nagareta kokoro
Hoshi ga yurete, koboreta
Kakusenai namida
(A heart flowing
In a mirror where the moon has seeped in
A star wavers, spills
Tears you can’t hide)
(kurikaeshi)(repeat)
Sono kao
Sotto furete
Asa ni tokeru
Yume miru
(That face
Touch it, just so
And dream a dream
That melts in the morning)
Well, it is just days away until the release of one of the most-anticipated games of 2010. The game I am talking about is BioWare’s Mass Effect 2. It is the sequel to the very popular and critically-acclaimed action-shooter/rpg hybrid Mass Effect which came out in late 2007. The launch trailer marks the start of the massive marketing and ad campaign to promote the game. This one includes interspersed within the trailer blurbs of review scores and positive quotes from game reviewing magazines and websites dedicated to games. All throughout the trailer we have Shephard’s erstwhile ally (and possibly, enemy) The illusive Man of the shadowy, pro-human group Cerberus narrating a brief take on what players will encounter in this sequel.
I will say that the trailer is even better than the last one released by BioWare. The other one details the dangers of recruiting the new sets of characters to help the player in their quest, but this one shows how much more epic this particular fight and game really is. Mass Effect was already quite the massive and epic sci-fi space opera when it came out and this sequel seem intent on out-doing that predecessor in every respect from the look of the trailer. It helps that its all classed up by the voice of The West Wing’s President Bartlett also known as Martin Sheen. The trailer even hints at the opening events of the sequel which has been talked about many times at other places. I won’t go into detail about it but lets just say that Shephard and the original Normandy don’t have a nice first-encounter with the sequel’s main antagonists, The Collector.
So, January 26, 2010 should be retitled Mass Effect 2 Day. For some players, it will be just like a holiday as every work must be put down and stop in order for the playing of said game to commence.
It didn’t take BioWare too long to get the Expansion Trailer up and running. And it’s in prime HD-quality. I’m liking what I see in the trailer. I hope that Alistair is not the “old favorite” from the old crew that will be joining my hot, sexy city elf Grey Warden. She needs her girl Leliana by her side for this expansion. Though I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having Morrigan around as well.
One detail which BioWare fail to mention in their news release for the game is whether it will be download only all across thee platforms or will players be able to order the game with disc and case and all that comes with them. I’m almost afraid to that Gamestop may end up having a special item and/or goodies aplenty for ordering at their site or store. I’m still more than just a tad pissed off that they cutoff pre-orders for their Mass Effect 2 Collector’s editions. Shenanigans I say!! SHENANIGANS!
If the game will be download only I may need to make some room in my Xbox360 HDD or just plain buy one of them newfangled Elites. Having that Elite means playing this expansion on glorious HDMI connection to my HDTV. March 16, 2010 cannot come any faster. Let’s hope this won’t be the only full expansion for this awesome game that is Dragon Age.
Some good news was just sent out from BioWare this morning. I am talking about confirmation of the first major expansion for Dragon Age: Origins. Unlike the usual DLC’s which have been released and set to be since the game came out in late 2009, this exapnsion will include not just a new quest but a new land to explore, new monsters and enemies to fight and a major storyline quest that should take 15 or so hours to complete. As one can see in the images below there’ll be a new dragon to put one’s combat party to test their mettle on.
It looks like one nice new tweak to the gameplay is to help in rebuilding the Grey Warden’s order in Ferelden which includes a new fortress and I’m assuming recruiting new potential recruits as well. Does this mean a player who brings over their character from the original game will be the one to give out the Testing? I sure hope so! Either way it looks like this expansion will be loaded with hours upon hours of questing and gameplay. With new intelligent Darkspawn to fight. An brand-new construct to take on: The Inferno Golem. Not to mention the aforementioned new dragon to kill going by the title of Spectral Dragon.
The game should be out by March this year and that’s just enough time to play and complete Mass Effect 2 when it comes out at the end of January 2010.
Before BioWare became famous for its console rpgs set in scifi settings (Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), they were a company already well-known and well-loved by PC gamers for their excellent Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights fantasy-based rpgs. The company was able to take the rich and complex setting of AD&D’s Forgotten Realms universe and actually succeed in making it accessible to old and new fans alike. While they made one fantasy-based console rpg in the last couple years (the very underrated Jade Empire for the original Xbox), BioWare seem to have stuck mainly in making scifi rpgs. It was a nice surprise when just a couple years ago the company announced that in addition to developing Mass Effect for the Xbox 360 the company was also in the midst of creating a new and original fantasy-based rpg for the next-gen consoles (Xbox 360/PS3) and the PC. This game was to be called Dragon Age and was to be their latest rpg franchise. A fantasy one to bookend the scifi franchise they had established with Mass Effect. It took them a couple years, but the renamed Dragon Age: Origins was finally released in early November 2009 to some considerable fanfare. This was a game fans of the company’s earlier fantasy rpgs on the PC have been waiting for. Did fans of the Baldur’s Gate Series get what they’ve been wishing for or did BioWare misstep with their return to fantasy rpg in Dragon Age: Origins. I’m happy to say that BioWare more than lived up to their own hype of their latest fantasy offering.
Dragon Age: Origins is a a fantasy rpg based on a world wholly-created and owned by BioWare. Like it’s scifi sibling in Mass Effect, this game is an amalgamation of ideas from well-established franchises (Forgotten Realms, Lord of the Rings, Warhammer Fantasy) but with a rich history and background created from the ground up by the creative forces within BioWare. This world that DA:O inhabits is called Thedas with the realm of Ferelden being the main setting for this introductory game to what looks to be an on-going franchise. It is populated by the usual fantasy races such as elfs, dwarfs and imperial humans. The world has its own version of the usual orcs, goblins and other so-called evil races of fantasy. These races are generally called “darkspawn” and it is this danger which forms the main conflict the player must fight and defeat throughout most of the game’s playthrough. BioWare has also introduced a very complex political and intrigue element to the game in the form of a civil war brewing within the human faction in the game not to mention a conflict of succession on the dwarf side of the equation. The elf race (divided in two separate and distinct groups – city elf and Dalish elf aka wood elf) also get it’s own brand of subplot in the form of racial discrimination and a genocidal battle with a primal race. One common thread binds all these different races and the many classes one could choose from and that’s they all become Grey Wardens and the main hero of the game.
Such rich additions to an rpg are usually simple and minor in even some of the best rpgs of the past both western and Japanese. BioWare’s decision to make these sorts of storytelling additions very complex and rich makes for a more immersive gameplay. There are literally volumes of history and information to find and sort through in the game and from the impression I was able to glean from books and stories found throughout it barely scratches the surface of the history and background of Thedas and Ferelden. The world-building BioWare has done with DA:O was as deep and complex as Tolkien’s fantasy world and those created by the legion of writers who worked on AD&D’s Forgotten Realms. DA:O just doesn’t introduce you to the game and it’s world but immerses you in its details. These were details ranging from those needed to get through the game to the minutiae which doesn’t do much in terms of gameplay but does help make the world seem more real.
The gameplay begins with an introductory chapter which works as both introducing the origins of the player’s chosen race and class, but also as a way for new players to get an on-the-field tutorial on the game’s combat and inventory mechanics. Combat both melee and spellcasting has less to do with button-mashing once a target has been highlighted but instead similar to BioWare’s combat system in their KOTOR games. A player selects the appropriate special attacks and buffs using a radial menu (attacks and buffs used often can be hotkeyed to the appropriate button on the Xbox 360 controller for instant access). Other characters in the player’s combat party could either be left to attack, defend and support the player using preset commands similar to Square-Enix’s “Gambit System” in Final Fantasy XII or the player could pause the game to switch to those characters individually and set a particular command manually before unpausing the game to continue the fight. The combat in DA:O is more about managing how the party fights and making sure the right combinations of attacks and spells are chosen. In the beginning of the game the simplest commands should suffice to beat most enemies in small or large numbers, but as the game progresses deeper into the story both main and sidequests the need to make use of every type of attacks and spells became more important. Bulldozing one’s way through most of the game only works in the beginning and would only get a player and his party killed once they enter Chapter 2.
This type of gameplay mechanic might turn-off some players who prefer a more active-style of combat which BioWare implemented in Jade Empire. At times I still found myself button-mashng a particular hotkeyed attack even though I knew that pressing that attack nonstop didn’t make me attack faster (each use of an ability came with a cooldown time which last just mere seconds to minutes depending on their level and potency). It is definitely a combat mechanic that took some getting used to and at time it does make the player less an active participant in the game and more an observer. I’m still on the fence as to whether I like this micromanaging-style of combat. While it does add some complexity and strategy to how a player fights the multitudes of battles in the game it also makes some of the larger boss fights (especially the final boss fight) very long with a wrong choice of commands ending a fight as quickly as it started.
The graphics for DA:O on the Xbox 360 is pretty crisp and keeps a steady frame-rate throughout the game and it’s many cutscenes. I’ve heard comparisons about the look of the game on the 360 to the PS3 version with the latter having a more vibrant color palette but some slowdowns in the framerate when there’s many things going on in the screen. Until I actually get a chance to play the PS3 version I will say that the 360’s look and stability of its graphics I’d prefer than slowdowns which considering the type of combat mechanic it uses could really become detrimental to gameplay. It’s not the prettiest Xbox 360 game out there but this game makes’ ample use of the 360’s power to make gameplay as smooth as possible.
Now one can’t talk about the graphics without pointing out the pros and cons of the audio in the game. I’d say that it’s in this aspect of DA:O that BioWare had better success. Each weapon strike whether they be sword, staff or bow/crossbow has a very distinct sound to them. The sounds of the world around the player adds to the experience. Even when a player is not in battle and just stands around to admire the view the game still bombards them with sounds both ambient and natural depending on the area they’re currently at. One aspect of the sound design that would probably put a smile on many gamers would be the varying sounds of weapons and spells hitting flesh in the game. BioWare sure delivered on making a very violent world come to life with their sound design. I’d also like to make special mention to the soundtrack by longtime collaborator Inon Zur. His orchestral work in the game is a great mixture of Medieval Europe and Middle Eastern musical influences.
The voiceover work by the large cast in Dragon Age: Origins gives life to the dialogue both in and out of camp. I would say that pretty much 60 percent of all the dialogue in the game was spoken and done well. While it’s not on the same level as Mass Effect‘s voice work for an rpg it was a lot and helps distinguish it from it’s Japanese rpg counterparts where most dialogue outside of cutscenes are silent and read-only affairs. Some players might even recognize some of the voices in the game. Two who stood out where Claudia Black (of Farscape and Stargate SG-1 fame) as the witch Morrigan and Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek Voyager’s Capt. Janeway) as Morrigan’s mother, Flemeth. All the actors on in the game give off dramatic readings instead of flat, directionless reads which could break a player out of the moment. I think Black’s work as Morrigan was some of the best voiceover work in video game history and really fleshesh out her character. I knew that I kept her around through pretty much most of the game’s playthrough just to hear her speak.
Overall, Dragon Age: Origins was a great introduction to BioWare’s newest rpg franchise. It’s definitely the spiritual successor to their acclaimed Baldur’s Gate rpg series on the PC. As with most introductory games in a franchise it does have some flaws that could’ve been fixed prior to the game’s release, but these flaws were not enough to take away from the game’s enjoyment (on the Xbox 360 at least which I played it on). The rich and complex world-building BioWare’s creative magicians were able to inject into their own brand of rpg gameplay makes for a very immersive videogaming experience. Thedas and Ferelden come to life as do the Grey Wardens and it’s other inhabitants both good and evil. BioWare has already announced a new expansion to extend the game past it’s final boss fight. Here’s to hoping that they continue to support the game while they begin work on the sequel.
BioWare has long been a favorite game developer of mine. This love for their games goes back to their classic Baldur’s Gate series on the PC and then their KOTOR games for the Xbox 360 (still waiting for the third game in this series…still waiting). I’ve always enjoyed how conversations were not just affairs where as a player I just had to watch the dialogue unfold. BioWare has pretty much made it their own to have dialogue which branched out into different results and consequences depending on how the player responded.
In 2007, they released what I thought was one of the best games, if not the game of the year, in Mass Effect. It was an action-rpg clothed in space opera clothing which brought to mind the early Star Wars films (prequels don’t exist in my world) and some of the best supplemental novels based on Lucas’ scifi universe (the Zahn novels being the best of the bunch). While the game itself had its flaws they were never glaring enough to ruin the game and the story.
2010 is just days away and the release of the sequel to Mass Effect is just weeks away. In what could be one of the games to vie for 2010 Game of the Year, Mass Effect 2 returns to address some of the game mechanic flaws from the first game and expand on the galactic-wide story and history which unfolded before. This game looks to find the protagonist in the initial game (whether John Shepard or a customized player) out to save the galaxy once again, but this time around needing the help of one of the villains in the first game: Cerberus. In order to save the galaxy and the human race it looks like the player must go through what I could only call as “The Dirty Dozen” but in space.
Through the Shattered Lens 