Tag: review

Not a Review: Dark Souls

Masochism the Game
A barbaric game for a barbaric time

When Demon Souls came out and everyone on Talking Time was talking about how wonderful/awful the game was I didn’t pay much attention. I don’t own a PS3 and I, generally, don’t play games that endlessly punish the player. When the unofficial sequel to the game, Dark Souls, came out on the Xbox 360 Talking Time is again abuzz with discussions of the game, its difficulty, and how best to play the game. Now, though I wasn’t as distanced from the game, I own a 360, and in a moment of weakness I picked the game up. I opened it up last night and played for about an hour…

What have I got myself into it?

Much like its predecessor this isn’t a game designed with many modern sensibilities. The designers expect you, nay they actively want you, to die. The gimmick being that death just kicks you back to your last save point and you’re stripped of all the experience you’ve gained but you can reclaim it all if you make it back to the spot where you died. There is no map of the game (so far), the manual is a mere three pages thick and fails to explain anything. There are a lot of stats that effect the performance of your character and none of them are clearly explained nor are the equipment, magic, everything systems. If it wasn’t for the internet (game forums, wikis, FAQs, etc.) this game would, for the majority of people who play it, remain opaque. It appears that there are a number of complex systems operating in the background of the game but there seems to be very little in the way of accessing them outside of intense trial-and-error and numerous replays. This game is dying for a meaty manual, one that could better explain the games background, story, and mechanics. Something akin to the manuals that accompanied such games as Darklands, Civilization, or Baldur’s Gate 2.

Sadly, it seems game publishers have abandoned their duty to inform and enlighten the people who play their games handing over that responsibility to either strategy guide publishers (who will charge you a hefty fee, sometimes more than $20, for information that might not even be correct) or the players themselves. I just don’t have the time or energy, right now, to sit down and play a game endlessly trying to figure out information that should have been included in the manual. I’ll poke at the game little more if I have time and maybe I’m wrong about all this, but not from what I’ve seen so far and heard from those who have played it much more than I have.

I wonder why people don’t complain about this sort of thing when the designer says it was intentional but tear developers apart for the exact same crimes in games in which the inscrutability of the game isn’t advertised as a “feature?” Bad design is bad design intentional or not, right?

I guess I’ll just go back to playing Quest for Glory: So You Want to be a Hero?

Beer of the Week #4: Old Chico

Sierra Nevada's Old Chico Crystal Wheat

from the label:

Old Chico Brand Crystal Wheat. Only available locally, Old Chico Crystal Wheat is our lightest offering. This filtered beer is brewed with malted wheat and barley – leaving it light bodied, refreshing, and wonderfully drinkable.

I’d link you to Sierra Nevada’s information on this beer but their website doesn’t seem to include it amongst their beers…? Old Chico is a really light wheat beer. As you can see from the picture above it has a golden blond color and a fine white head. Old Chico has a floral bouquet with subtle hints of banana and wheat. Beer had a clear citrusy taste with a hint of apple on the roof of the mouth. I was surprised to find a bit of hops flavor in the beer as well that lingers. Not the best wheat beer I’ve ever drank but certainly will do on a hot, summer day.

You might have a hard time finding this beer outside of Northern California. That is okay though as there are plenty of good wheat beers out there and Old Chico isn’t amazing merely competent.

Rating (out of five):

Elder Sign: Not a Review

, play
It's like Arkham Horror with more dice and no giant board

I’m a sucker for most anything related to Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. I’ve read all the stories, numerous other author’s tributes and ripoffs, seen the movies, played the games, etc. I eat this stuff up. So, when I found out that Fantasy Flight had released a new game, in what they are now calling the Arkham Horror Files, using the Mythos as the backdrop I leaped.Elder Signs is, according to its website:

a fast-paced, cooperative dice game of supernatural intrigue for one to eight players by Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson, the designers of Arkham Horror. Players take the roles of investigators racing against time to stave off the imminent return of the Ancient One. Armed with tools, allies, and occult knowledge, investigators must put their sanity and stamina to the test as they adventure to locate Elder Signs, the eldritch symbols used to seal away the Ancient Ones and win the game.

Sadly, after I got the game it sat around while I tried to find a suitable day to have some friends over and play. Last Thursday I succeeded in getting two friends over and we sat down to play.

Elder Sign: mid game.
Elder Sign: mid game.

The game takes heavy inspiration from Arkham Horror, the games share artwork, characters, items, and Ancient Ones, and just like in that game the players are tasked with collecting enough elder signs to insure the Ancient One does not manifest in this world. But, instead of moving across a board, collecting cards, etc. the players use dice. The six large cards you see in the center of that picture are locations/events going on in the museum you’re all trapped in (the greenish one below is similar card but is in “another world”) the cards have lists of icons on them that correlate to matching icons on dice (six normal, two special) players are tasked with completing all the lists on a card in order to complete it and gain whatever rewards the card gives, if they fail they instead reap the consequences. Characters have sanity and stamina, items which allow them to heal, defeat monsters, switch their dice, store, dice, and use the two special dice.

give
A closer look at the adventure cards

As players take their turns the game’s clock advances and the various effects on the various cards (adventure, Ancient One, etc) come into effect such as monsters appearing, the players taking damage or giving up items, or adding tokens to the doom track (when it feels the Ancient One manifests; you don’t want the Ancient One to manifest.) I know it sounds kinda weird and none of us really got the hang of things until we sat down, started playing, and rolling dice. Once we did though everything fell together and we started having a blast!

adventure cards, anther world cards, item cards, and in the top right the Ancient One card

What we all found so enjoyable about Elder Sign is that the game retained the nerve wrecking tension of Arkham Horror but never bogs down. Our first game took two hours but we finished our second one in less than one hour! The other great thing is that with the dice you never know how you’re going to do. Early in the night we’d look at a card and say, “Oh, that one is so easy! I don’t even need to use any cards or special abilities.” Only to find ourselves after all the dice rolls looking up what happened when we failed. Four investigators were devoured that way. By the end of the night any time someone started saying a card was easy the other two would yell out, ” STOP saying that!” and then they’d knock on wood! I’m looking forward to getting seven people over here and seeing how the game is with that many people. I’m hopeful it will be one of my new go to party games, BANG! can’t pull all the weight.

If you’re looking for a fun, quick dice game with great mechanics and enough chance in there to make even the “easy” parts hard I don’t think you’d go wrong with Elder Sign.

Beer of the Week #3: Wailua

 

Kona Brewing Company's Wailua Wheat Ale

From the label:

Wailua is Hawaiian for two fresh water streams mingling. This was just the inspiration we needed for our aloha series wheat ale brewed with tropical passion fruit. A refreshing, citrusy, sun-colored ale with the cool taste of Hawaii

From their website:

Swimming in a fresh water pool at the base of a cascading waterfall is what we all imagine we would find in paradise. On Maui, follow the old Hana Highway and you will find such a place – Wailua Falls. This plunging cascade of clear water is the inspiration for our Limited Release Wailua Wheat Ale. This golden, sun colored ale has a bright, citrus flavor that comes from the tropical passion fruit we brew into each batch. Sit back, relax and enjoy paradise anytime.

I can pour a pint, let me tell you!

The first thing I noticed is how fruity this beer is! Furthermore while there is a hint of citrus as the quotes up above mention the more noticeable flavor is passion fruit. Please note that when I say this beer is fruity I’m not talking cocktail fruity, hard cider fruity, this is very much still a beer and while the passion fruit flavor is strong it isn’t sweet. The beer has a clean, crisp finish and leaves a satisfying passion fruit aftertaste in this mouth.

This beer is only sold during the spring and summer and that is a shame cause I’d drink it year round. But, since it’s only around for the BBQing months I hearitly recommend picking this beer up next time you’re grilling instead of Corona or other domestic lager.

Rating (out of five):

 

 

 

I wasn’t expecting to have a five star beer yet but here it is. So in it goes to the newly created False(B)blogic Hall of Beers.

 

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