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I’ve recently been playing through the original Ninja Gaiden on the NIntendo Entertainment System (NES). Why, you may ask? Maybe subscribe to the podcast Tales of the Lesser Medium, which I co-host, and pay attention to that subscription feed. Maybe you’ll have your question answered soon... As I was playing Ninja Gaiden, I was taken aback by how well executed the cinematic cut-scenes are. The intro cinematic, for example, uses minimal animation to convey action, juxtaposing images to convey two ninjas in battle. Parallax scrolling, timed just right, conveys depth and increases tension simultaneously. Everything here could be done with a Powerpoint slideshow and some animated gifs, and despite the simple execution, the result is powerful. In all, I was surprised by the cinematic storytelling in the game. Then, I immediately questioned why I was surprised. When I play an older game, like Ninja Gaiden, for some reason I expect everything to be primitive. I expect simple level design, thin story, a few core mechanics per game each with a few verbs to expand the gameplay, and most of the time, those expectations are met. But when those expectations are eclipsed, I’m stunned, for some reason. I’m gonna talk about that in this video. Mentioned:Category Archives Video
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Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is a game I’ve been waiting for. Ever since Disco Elysium was released in October 2019 I’ve wanted to play it. However, my PC is terrible and, more importantly, I’m scared of keyboard controls. But then console ports were announced. Yay! But instead of diving right into a PS4 version of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, I decided that the Google Stadia version is better suited for this game? Why Stadia? Watch to find out. Mentioned:[su_button icon="icon: gamepad" background="#e52d27" size="10" animate delay="3" inline="yes" url="https://www.youtube.com/user/calebjross?sub_confirmation=1"] Subscribe on YouTube [/su_button]
I just finished playing Maquette, an incredibly unique first person puzzle game developed by Graceful Decay and freshly published by Annapurna Interactive. Is Maquette a good game? Is Maquette fun? Watch this video review for my thoughts on the game. Maquette is a first person puzzle game, which is a genre I love very much. The magic of 3d puzzlers is that they must, almost by definition, introduce players to mechanics they’ve probably never seen before. Portal blew player’s minds with the portal mechanic. The Turing Test forces players to embody multiple characters. The Talos Principle relies heavily on line-of-sight puzzles. The QUBE games have players manipulate colored blocks to solve platforming puzzles. First person puzzle games are unlike any other gaming genre in that every game really must be unique. Copying platformer mechanics is common, and is seen as a sign of respecting traditions. Copying puzzle game mechanics is a lack of imagination. Maquette honors this requirement by introducing a wholly unique size-manipulation mechanic.[su_button icon="icon: gamepad" background="#e52d27" size="10" animate delay="3" inline="yes" url="https://www.youtube.com/user/calebjross?sub_confirmation=1"] Subscribe on YouTube [/su_button]
The Legend of Zelda is an amazing video game series. Zelda games are always full of puzzles, adventure, exploration, and gadgets. But what other games like The Legend of Zelda series exist? What games can you play if you like the Legend of Zelda? It turns out, there are a ton of Zelda-like games out there, but for this video I’m bringing you 10 games like The Legend of Zelda that you should try. These games include: Darksider, Dark Cloud, World to the West, Sparklite, Ittle Dew 2, Hyper Light Drifter, Hob, Okami, Legend of the Skyfish, and Oceanhorn.Games have fundamental limitations in terms of scope, and because of that developers must make choices about how to keep a player interested and engaged. Tapping into a moral goodness is one way of doing that.
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January 2021 was another productive month for this channel. In this video I recap what went on regarding my channel and regarding my video gaming life. Get ready for a video roundup, podcast roundup, a “what I’m playing” roundup, and a book roundup.Quitting a game before it’s completed is actually not easy for the easily influenced human brain to do. Self-determination theory is a driving force behind mission completion, and therefore game completion. People engage in voluntary behavior (like play) to the extent that it scratches three psychological itches:
- The need to feel competent at what you’re doing (Competence)
- The need to feel like you have meaningful choices when deciding how to do it (Autonomy)
- The need to feel connected and related to others in the process (Relatedness)