A Couple Reasons Why Destiny Suceeds Amid All The Chaos

September 9th was the day when Destiny launched worldwide and up until now we have been reading and hearing the same thing: bland story, repetitive enemies, repeating missions,etc. At first it seemed as if that backlash would hurt the game, but now after the dust starts to clear, the game still stands on its own as a great experience regardless of lukewarm reviews and heavy criticism. The reason why a game like Destiny is still strong even after the bad press it had on launch is that most of the bad mouthing is thrown in the wrong direction and for the wrong reasons. This gives the backlash a lesser importance so little by little players are just enjoying the game regardless of what they read or heard. Wanna know the reasons why most of the backlash is bogus? Let's mention a few.

Gotta love the environments, they really outdid themselves making those.

The game is not your typical first person shooter.
The first thing that detractors need to know that Destiny is not your average shooter. If you expected to simply choose a stage (or play a linear campaign), run and shoot your way through this isn't your game. Destiny is all about exploration and absorbing the world in which you are playing which is a very fun thing, especially if you explore it with some friends. The planets are huge, you have lots of treasures to find (most hidden in really clever places) you have quests to do and story missions to accomplish, not to mention the random events. This means that this is a game that requires a little more of your patience so if you don't have that, its o.k to pass, but not to say the game is bad because of it.

There are lots of skills between the two job classes featured per each type of character.

The game is not fully a full RPG.
Destiny is one of those games that have pretty neat RPG elements like character progression (by leveling, equipment and skills) including the use of stats, looting, battle rolls (as in damage/defense calculation), element based weapons and so on, but it is not a full fledged RPG. Many people were expecting to walk in the middle of Mars and find a caravan with an old man that tells them a story over a campfire and hot dogs sending them to a cave where they find some plot twist in the end of it or something and that is yet another wrong expectation. Destiny is not Final Fantasy or The Elder Scrolls, it is an online FPS with strong RPG elements and growth based game play. If we really have to compare it to some other game, let's mention other growth/action based ones like Phantasy Star Online or any action rpg game with similar characteristics. You will have a story, but don't really expect something like the ones you would find on an single player RPG, because that is not the main emphasis in this game, see it for what it is.

These guys look big, but their size makes them easy targets.

Many other famous online games have repetitive content.
The "repetitive enemies/quests" outcry is something that is a little hard to understand if you have been playing online games (especially RPG) since long ago. This is something that happens all the time, yet now many people seem to be blaming this game for something that has been there since the very beginning. If something can't be stressed enough is that Destiny is a growth based game. The hook it has is to make you fight enemies/players and get treasures so you can enhance your character and become better. This has been successful so many times, yet people chose to complain about it now. What makes this so curious is that most people had a chance to test the game before it launched so even when they knew what the game was about, they decided to nitpick on a characteristic that almost all online games have.

Epic moments are common when you play with your friends.

Detractors are not trying the game as they should.
This one is a mix of the previous reasons and then some more. If you got the game, you should try it with the right mindset, not only because of the previously mentioned reasons, but because you can't judge a game just by looking at it from only one angle. If you are a game reviewer, you have to loosen up a little and throw your gaming bias through the window. If you are not, then just try everything that the game has to offer before passing judgement. Pass some missions, explore the various planets with some friends, team up for difficult parts, go into exploring trips in order to find the golden chests (don't cheat by looking for their location on the net) and also while you're at it, give the crucible (player vs player) a chance. If you still don't like it its totally o.k, but it doesn't mean that it is a bad game.

I know this is just a concept art, but... Giant frogs with medieval style goblins and druids? Yes please!

Wrapping it up

To get everything into perspective. The game is a mix between a first person shooter and an online rpg and it shouldn't be looked upon like it is supposed to be the holy grail of any of the two genres, because no hybrid is ever perfect. This time around we have to look at it like we should look at life itself, enjoying the small things, having fun and transcending the so called standards for a change. I am NOT implying that we should ignore the game's faults because the game does have some things that still need some work, but that doesn't mean that should count this one out.

To tell you the truth, this game seems to be running on some interesting loop within the gaming community. First the player has a bad impression about it, but out of curiosity they try it anyway. After that, most of them get hooked  or at least go into the "the game is not perfect, but it is fun" sort of thinking. This is something that has been happening over and over again since the game launched and that alone proves the point of this article really well. So bottom line, the game is doing well, Bungie is working hard on new stuff to keep us busy with it so things went on to a bumpy, but good start. Just try it and you will see.

Remember Remember 10 Games in September

September is already here and there are a ton of things that gamers around the world should be happy about. Today I'm just going to give you people a small list of 10 games that will release this month. It is a long way from this day to the release of games that are scheduled for a 2015 release, but we are ready to begin the gaming spree that this 4th quarter 2014 will be. We have been waiting a long time for a streak of expected games to come our way so this is some of what we will have this month:

September 2: The Sims 4 (PC)
For all of those Sims fans, comes the official 4th game in the franchise and it comes with a lot of improvements. Some of these are a completely new set of Sims to play with, each with its own personality and traits, the "create a sim" and "build mode" features were completely redesigned, neighborhoods now have a bigger variety of people and last but not least the addition of "The Gallery" which is a place where players will be able to get new sims and homes with the chance of sharing their own. All of these improvements and new things imply that this new Sims game will be a great one, especially if you are long time fan.

September 9: Destiny (multiplatform)
Releasing on the same month and day that the Dreamcast did 15 years ago, comes one of the most expected games this year. Destiny is a sci-fi styled first person shooter with online rpg elements. Those who play it, will embark on a epic journey as one of the warriors called "Guardians" in an effort to drive out the dark forces that linger on our solar system and threaten our existence. In this game you will have the chance to explore different planets while doing story missions, quests or just roaming around the place looking for treasure, all of this making the PVE (player vs environment) part of the game. As for the PVP (player vs player) players will have the "Crucible" where they can go toe to toe with other players in different maps based on each planet. The interesting thing about PVP in Destiny is that you can also win some loot or unlock various items such as weapons and armor by doing certain things while playing against others. So in both PVE and PVP, Destiny promises to be a really fun game.

September 16: Fairy Fencer F (PS3)
The PS3 has been receiving a steady flow of jrpg games and this pattern goes on in September with Fairy Fencer F. Nis America and Compile Heart come with the western version of this jrpg, featuring Yoshitaka Amano as the concept artist and Nobuo Uematsu as the music composer. The story on this game is about a set of legendary weapons called "furies" that were created by the good and evil gods of the past for their soldiers to use in their conflict. Now on moderns times, warriors that can use that sort of weapons are called "fencers" and as warriors go around the world looking for those legendary weapons, the conflict between the gods starts again. From what we can see about this game, it looks like your classic jrpg experience, but considering that part of the Hyperdimension Neptunia team was involved in the development of the game, expect to see a lot of wacky skills and over the top special moves.


September 23:

Natural Doctrine (PS4)
This one is the first jrpg experience the PS4 owners will get and up until now it looks pretty good. Natural Doctine is a very challenging tactic rpg game that tries out tactic mechanics mixed with an exploration approach. The game hasn't sold that well in Japan, but this may had been because of the fierce competition that the game has on the PS3 and PSVITA, coupled with the poor sales that the PS4 has been having in the land of the rising son. In the west it may be another story, because the game is basically running alone in the PS4 library as no other big Japanese rpg games have been released for the platform on this part of the globe. Some people have called this game the Dark Souls of tactic rpgs, so if you like to have some challenge, try this one up.

Gauntlet (PC)
This game can be basically called a remake of the original 1985 Gauntlet. It will feature updated graphics and the same exciting horde style action game play that many gamers have grown to love on this game. The game will feature all the classic character classes and the big randomly generated dungeons. As we have been able to see from the pictures and video that have been shown, it is notable that the new Gauntlet will sort of feel like a simpler version of Diablo 3, with the only purpose been to survive the onslaught and dangers to be found in the dungeons. If you are fan of the original game, or you like to spend some time hacking and slashing your way through, this is your game.

Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star (PS3)
The PS3 jrpg love continues with this game coming to the PS3 this month. Ar Nosurge is a prequel to the Ar tonelico series that put you in control of one of two pairs of characters at a time, each with their own point of view in the story. The pairs are characters called Cas and Delta and later on Earthes and Ion. The story of this game goes around some evil outer space lifeform called the "Sharl" who were able to defeat space travelling humans with the use of "song magic". Thousands of years later, some ancient humans appear and they seem to have learned to use song magic so life for humanity changes and a new struggle begins. This game features some classic rpg elements like field exploration and the recruitment of new characters by following their own stories, so it is a quite interesting option for any jrpg fan that wants something closer to the classics of the 90's.  

September 24: Dark Souls II: Crown of the Ivory King (DLC)
This Dark Souls II DLC promises to be even more challenging that the game itself, although not much has been shown about it. Most of the information that has been shown by the media include a winter-like place with a bonfire in it and the words Episode 3: Crown of the Ivory King. Players have been speculating this to be based on the Shrine of Winter, but nothing official has been said about it so if you are a Dark Souls II player, you definitely have to check this one out.

September 26: Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)
This had been a game that has been advertised a lot lately, so now we will be finally able to see if it will deliver. This cross between Dinasty Warriors and Legend of Zelda has been enjoying quite a lot of hype since they started announcing the characters that will be playable in the game. We have gone from Link and Queen Zelda to Impa and even Garuna and Ganondoft himself so the roster is quite big. Based on what has been shown, the adventure mode looks really fun, although it would had been perfect if it would had featured online cooperative play. Dinasty Warriors fans are preparing to play the heck out of this one, while the Legend of Zelda fans are holding their breaths and hoping for the game to live up to their expectations. Will the game pass the ultimate fan test? We will see when it releases.


September 30:

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Multiplatform)
This new entry on the Hobbit/LOTR series of games is an action rpg game developed by Monolith studios. On this one you will play as a ranger that has some strange wraith powers, living through the events that happen between The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings storylines. The players will find themselves in an open world where they will have the freedom of advancing at their own pace through the many missions and quests in the game. Shadow of Mordor also features character customization and the "Nemesis System" which is basically a system that "remembers" how you have interacted with different types of characters in the game so they can react to you accordingly when you find them around the world. The game really looks like it is a nice addition not only to fans, but to action rpg players in general.

Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox 360 / Xbox One)
Continuing the Forza series is Horizon 2. This one takes place during the fictional Horizon festival (held all across Europe) where players will explore the region and enter various racing events in order to advance through the ranks, get better rides and above all, earn some respect. This time around, the game will feature day and night mechanics which will make the experience to be a lot more real that on previous titles and it will include over 200 cars to use or race against. There will also be a group of challenges called the "bucket list" and several types of racer to racer online interactions that will make it feel as if you were really part of the racing scene. Up until now if you are racing game fan, this is your best bet yet.

Wrapping it up

There is more from what that came from, but I limited my list to 10 noteworthy games that are coming on this month, so keep with the Gamertologist Zone as new game details are released and get to know a little more about what our wallets should fear.

Source:
Game Informer: 2014 Game Release Schedule

The Renaissance of Game Play Elements

Have anyone of you gone through one of those moments when you are playing a game and you acknowledge that the game is good, but in the back of your mind you feel like there is something missing? Maybe your sense of exploration is not been satisfied enough, or you feel that certain game mechanics and details you enjoy are missing. This really depends on how were the games on your early days as a gamer because they have a pretty strong influence in your gaming taste and although we sometimes want those cool things to stay there forever, things change. In the case of games, there have been a lot of game play elements that are not been used so much anymore and some us us can't help but notice. Luckily for us, there are some of those things that are making a comeback since the last days of the previous generation and entering in to the current one. This is very exciting considering the over-simplification of game play that went on in the last 8 years or so.

The gaming renaissance is upon us!

The reason for this comeback is something that many gamers thought would eventually happen and after many years it finally did, as modern game play elements ran out of steam. It seems that game developers got aware that following the same trends of previous years would make their games too simplistic, which has become suicide for a gaming franchise. The "less is more" way of thought in game development has reached its peak and it is slowly declining as the game design of old is once again showing up, this time with the face of cutting edge technology.

If you are still wondering which are these game play elements that are making a comeback here a small list of them:

Because in this game, even dog food goes.

• Diversity in design: If we follow the last games that were released on the previous generation and the see the ones that are on the market since the beginning of the current one, we can notice that game worlds are regaining the diversity of design they used to have. We are seen maps that feel like a real place, while the simple "smoke and mirrors - rooms connected with corridors" style has been relegated almost exclusively to dungeon crawler games and the occasional indie production.

• Keeping alive with the use of items: This means a significant decrease of the duck and cover game mechanics. Now don't think that this approach will entirely vanish into thin air because some first person shooters will remain the same, as this was the game play style that gave them success from the beginning. Now the use of items is something that is coming back in those types of FPS that are plot driven. Take for example games like Wolfestein: The New Order and the upcoming reboot of Doom if you need any reference. It is also relevant that some recent new indie FPS games have also gone back to health and armor items as a way of survival in their game worlds.

The hunters will be lacking is everybody wants to be the monster.

• Hard discoveries and secrets: There was a time when a game had tons of things to discover while going through the main story. This kept many of us, looking every where for that easter egg, collectible or stash of useful items. Now I don't mean the type of discovery that you can just find by going into the obvious "secret" room, but the ones that really get you out of your way in order to find them. This game play element resurfaced in the previous generation with the Demon Souls - Dark Souls games, but since then it has been slowly gaining momentum and now, games like Destiny are following this trend by having the players go deep into uncharted territory in order to find those golden treasure chests or even Wolfestein: The New Order, where each map has its own unique secrets to find.

• Crazy first person shooter environments: Sometimes the concept of the game itself is considered a game play element because it is the base in which everything is built upon. First person shooters are still popular, but their concept had started to become stale as game companies kept taking the safe route by using the proven "militarized" concept. Nowadays this has been changing as a bunch of new and fresh first person shooter game ideas have emerged with games like Titanfall, Evolve, Destiny, Dead Island 2 (which apparently will be different than the first one) and even the innocent, but fun looking game Splatoon for the Wii U. It seems like game companies finally decided to give a chance to different things other than the usual "sir, yes sir" military campaign approach. 

• The return of looting: Finding loot is one of the most fun things to do in a game because it gives the player a feeling of reward each time a loot is found. This kind of thing has been absent for a long while and replaced by linear systems like stores or plain old treasure chests, but nowadays the loot fest is coming back and we as gamers will once again have a reason to search everything in the game. Examples of this are: looting unlockables in Watch Dogs like new songs, vehicles and weapons, enemies dropping good stuff in Destiny, looting the environment in Evolve (feeding as the monster or finding tools as the hunters) and so on.

Will Resident Evil be part of this renaissance too? Only time will tell...

Wrapping it up:

There are still some game play elements that are missing, like letting the player backtrack at will instead of dividing the game in sections, complex, but fun systems designed for the creation of items or the setting of equipment and meaningful side-content that doesn't feel generic, just to mention a few. Those may still be missing in action, but it has been so far so good with the ones we have been getting back. It really seems like modern game design is looking to the past in order to move into the future and that is good not only for the old school gamers out there, but for everybody. At this rate (given that the gaming industry doesn't find a new trend to get stuck in) this generation will be full of cool things that will level the field between the old and new, like some sort of renaissance in gaming that paves the way for the return of creativeness over business-like thinking.   

Destiny - Changing How Online Gameplay Feels Like

If there is one game title that many gamers around the world have roaming in their heads since a couple weeks ago or so, is Destiny. Bungie has just showed us the tip of the iceberg in terms of game content and the gaming community is loving it. I had been playing the beta for a while now and I must say that my overall impression is that the game is not only excellent, but very comfortable to play because the people at Bungie went out of their way to fix many annoyances that have been common in PVE (player vs environment) online games since the very first one was made. This game breaks away with the classic "robotic" gameplay style that had for a long time been a staple of playing online games and give us something different that favors exploration and having fun over routine and doing the same thing countless times.

One of the first things I noticed is that this game was not designed for "rushers" and that is a relief. The worlds in this game are so huge in size (for a first person shooter) that there is almost no room for those "picturesque" players that go through a mission as if they had rockets on their feet unless they want to miss 2/3 of the good stuff featured in the missions. Obviously you will always have the option of playing only with friends, but if they are not online at the moment and you enter with a group of strangers, there is still some degree of exploration going on even if they seem to be in a hurry. Is as if people are been suggested to go around and search for stuff, instead of just rushing through all the objectives.

Another thing is the auto-generated looting. I find it very fun to enter a mission I already played and find some neat loot that I wasn't expecting to find. Nowadays this is very rare, even on MMORPG standards as loot has changed into various different systems that seem to award the items instead of them been something you have to search for. It is also good that at least through the beta phase, nobody have seemed to decipher the drop rates or treasure tiers and I hope this stays like that because otherwise the game world will have a lot of "play once then forget" places with a few heavily crowded ones.

On the other side, the skill progression in this game goes back to the "growth per use" style, meaning that you will get new skills and stuff by using those you already have. It is good to have such a dynamic system back because it has been sometime since any game developer wanted to use it. This was all based on fears that such a system could be exploited, but now Bungie brings it back and I am hopeful that they had devised someway to balance the game in order to prevent exploitation of such a nice growth system.

I also enjoyed very much how exploring limitations while going on a mission are so thin that it they are almost invisible. The best example I can give is the session I had with a couple of buddies on the moon event mission last Saturday. At first we passed the mission as everybody would normally do, but then decided to give it another run so one of us could play though the whole mission as he arrived half way though our first run. This time we kind of got side tracked and ended going through some strange entrance that lead us to a very awesome looking place with lots of enemies and places to explore. It looked like sort of a descent to hell, because the way always seemed to be going down and down through narrow caves and some rooms that were were full of bones, chains, hooks and that kind of stuff. We kept at it and we were really enjoying ourselves, looking for hidden stuff and extra pathways to go through. In the end, we found a chest and in it was an emblem that looked like this:

We even found some level 12 enemies that we managed to defeat, but found that way to be a dead end.On the last cave entrance we found, we got all the way to the Temple of Crota from a different side than we were supposed to which also lead to a dead end, but not before fighting some more waves of enemies that included ogres and wizards. After that, we got out of the place and finished the mission and finally realized that a short half an hour mission turned into a 2 hour exploration trip. For me, these kind of things are what makes Destiny to be such a great game with tons of potential.

Wrapping it up

A game design that doesn't favor "rushers", good looting that stimulates exploration, a growth per use skill system and an expansive world to explore with very limited boundaries. This was only the beta phase, but I already can imagine how interesting things will get when the final version is released on September 9. As you people read this entry, some of you may be going like "what's this guy talking about?" and if you are one of those, I suggest you play the game with a single player game mindset so you can see the great things that Destiny has to offer and how it changes the atmosphere that we are used to have on online games.