The New Basic Braining

can be found right here .

I'm still working on transferring some stuff over but that is the new place. Still not entirely sure about the theme but I'll worry about cool stuff like that after I get this boring stuff out of the way.

Only Temporary

Like it says over to the right, this "blog," for now, is merely a portfolio for my writing.  However, putting together an actual blog is the next project on my agenda.  This is mostly due to my frustrations with Blogger and the (supposed) versatility of Wordpress.  I guess I'll find out for myself.  It won't be anything fancy, but I want to learn enough to at least make it better than this.  When the time comes, I'll post a link here.

In the meantime, feel free to take a look at the stuff below, and let me know what you think!

EDIT: This is the new Basic Braining (still under construction).  I'll update it with E3 articles during the show, but it won't be lookin' pretty until some time later next week.

Mario Endures Because He's There For You

I've had a pretty lame couple of weeks. Struck with a sinus infection, I wasn't able to enjoy Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Red Dead Redemption the day they both arrived at my front door. I know that for many, being sick is prime gaming time. But I'm not that guy. The congestion that I can feel all throughout my face and chest, like a Venom Symbiote trying to burst out of my body and take over; the demon DJ who uses my skull as a subwoofer, producing a constant, pounding bass rhythm of agony; the slow, vitriolic drip down the back of my throat that robs me of my voice and sends me running to the sink every 15 minutes to cough up horrors I dare not describe.

Din's Curse review

The Diablo clone is a constant in the world of games. In the intervening decade between the second and third installments of the seminal franchise, many developers have attempted to fill the gap. Unfortunately, for all their admirable attempts, few manage to scratch that elusive Diablo itch. The question always remains: what makes Diablo so addictive? Din's Curse is developer Soldak Entertainment's latest crack at an answer.

An Open Letter to Suikoden Character Recruitment FAQs c. 2000-c.

Dear Suikoden Character Recruitment FAQs c.2000-c. 2006,

I'm writing this letter to you now, many years after the fact, to express the final, lingering, spark of deep-seated adolescent aggravation.  Despite the numerous gaming message boards and Suikoden fansites I frequented as a lad, I never expressed my frustrations.  I can't say why, really.  Between the ages of 12 and 20, I wasn't adverse to expressing my teenage anger over the internet, protected by a wall of impenetrable anonymity.  But because this one issue -- trivial to many but paramount to my precious (and abundant) youthful free time -- slipped by, I feel it needs to be addressed.

Michinarium review

I love adventure games.  I love Monkey Island; I love Grim Fandango; I love The Longest Journey; I love the Sam and Max Episodes; I even love Indigo Prophecy.  It stands to reason, then, that I wanted to love Amanita Design's indie adventure title Machinarium.  As a fan of the once-dying point-and-click puzzlers, I was content with the series resurrections, remakes and episodic content that have marked the resurgence of the adventure genre.  But after a few years of playing the new versions of the same games I grew up with, I find myself pining for something more -- something original.  What made all those old adventure games so great was the chance to explore so many brilliant, imaginative and, most importantly, new worlds.  Arguably, there's no genre better suited for rich narrative world building.  I wanted to love Machinarium.  If only it wanted to love me back.

Darksiders (Xbox 360) review

Just as comics struggled to break into the film industry before eventually exploding in popularity, so have they done with games. The days when developers could just stick favorite costumed fighters into a forgettable brawler are long gone. They gave way to a new trend whereby developers placed beloved masked vigilantes into forgettable open-world games. Like filmmakers, game developers are now realizing the need to approach comics-based games in unique and inventive ways that reflect the strengths of their properties, talent and respective mediums. The mechanics in Batman: Arkham Asylum were tailored to the character; investigation, stealth, gadgets, using fear as a weapon to dispatch opponents one-by-one. Similarly, the upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions plays to the superhero comic trope of the multiverse, casting the player as multiple versions of everyone's favorite web-slinger. Last year's InFamous, in addition to having a title that's annoying to type, was an original comic-style property. At a reductive level, InFamous was just an open-world shooter. It was good, but its comic inspiration wouldn't have been so strongly felt without its comic-book styled custscenes. As an original IP, Darksiders is made much in this same vein. However, Darksiders does a much more effective job of evoking its comic inspirations.

Mount and Blade: Warband review

When I reviewed the original Mount and Blade back in 2008, I was quite taken with the unique action/RPG. It offered a fresh take on the sort of free-form adventuring offered by a game like Sid Meier's Pirates! Except, instead of exchanging broadsides in battles on the high seas, you took your fight to the turf; commanding armies, vying with your opponent for control over the chaos of swords, shields, arrows, and horses all slamming into each other. It was a quirky but fascinating product of a tiny Turkish development studio and, while it wasn't much to look at, it demonstrated what a handful of creative people can accomplish with scarce resources and a fresh perspective. If the enemy of art is the absence of limitation, Mount and Blade was an example of, arguably, what a powerful creative catalyst limitation can be.

Risen Diary 6

Everything changed in the monastery.

Walking its halls as a bandit on a diplomatic mission was an endurance test.  The monastery is the rogue's wet-dream.  The quarters are lined with the bunk rooms of the recruits, all of whom are busy with their daily tasks, and rich with chests and cupboards to raid; in the cemetery is a tomb, hosting only still-dead, non-animated skeletons buried with their possessions, ready for plundering; there's a warehouse where the Inquisiton keeps its artefacts, guarded by a single old man who enjoys taking time off; and if that weren't enough, a surprisingly thriving drug-trade makes the guards easy to bribe.  It takes every bit of will I have to be a good envoy and not rob the fools blind.

Risen Diary 5

There's something I have to take care of before I head out on my "diplomatic" mission. Remember those thieves I helped out of Harbour Town earlier? Well, I didn't just do it out of the goodness of my heart. I've had this quest for a while now that I haven't had time to tackle, to find the entrance to some ruined temple on the opposite side of the island and find three treasure seekers to go dig it up. After I inform one of the Don's officers in the camp that I've found the three treasure seekers, who are triplets, he tells me to tell them to get to work. I should point out now that I have still yet to check out this temple, myself.

Risen Diary 4

The walk back to the swamp looks far more daunting on my map than it turns out to be.  I haven't been in the wild for a while now, but during my time in the city I invested good money and points into my skills and stats. For the first time I feel like I can survive out there on my own, without a tour guide or a mercenary mob by my side.  This feeling turns out to be true but only thanks to the fantasy-game miracles of health potions and healing scrolls. I'm killing the vultures much more easily now but a small swarm of "talon moths" prove to be frustrating foes.  But they're nothing compared to the gnomes. Those damn gnomes.

Risen Diary 3

I've finally found a way out of Harbour Town. During the rest of my time there, I engaged in numerous dirty deeds, all of which means to the justified end that is fighting the Inquisiton. I've sold off a poor fishmonger's stall to a gullible drunk, informed the tavern girl about her pirate father and been rewarded with his shack, convinced an Inquisition guard that I can help them find the Don's secret stash of loot, only to retrieve it for one of the Don's men, helped a petty criminal out of lock-up, broken up a drug deal and recovered the "product" for the Don, extorted free beer and information out of a shopkeeper, and recovered some artefacts to be smuggled out of the city.

Risen Diary 2

Wherein our hero acquires shoes.

Risen Diary 1

Risen is a hard game for me to review in the traditional sense, at least while giving it any justice (especially the 360 port). Risen, like its spiritual predecessors of the Gothic series, is often criticized harshly for its technical shortcomings, including bugs, graphics, controls, and interface. In spite of such criticism, the Gothic series, and Risen in turn, maintain a strong cult following. The question I will attempt to answer by writing a multiple-article journal review is, why?

There's no doubt that the criticisms of the game's technical flaws are justified. The Xbox 360 port is especially crippled with drastically lower quality graphics than its PC counterpart, so much so that it could easily be mistaken for a mid-generation original Xbox game. By playing Risen at a more casual pace than I would for a typical review, taking the time to make myself see what the fans see, my hope is that I can more adequately convey the experience of a game whose value lies more in the feeling of playing it, rather than the formal qualities of the product itself. Personally, I believe that this is the case for all games. Most of my reviews I write to convey the feeling of playing a game, rather than to explain the game itself, and make an attempt to reconcile both approaches to determine value. In the case of Risen, however, it's my belief that even in my usual approach the game would be unfairly marred by its formal qualities and technical shortcomings.

Now that we have the background information out of the way, we can get on with the business at hand: my Risen journal.

Risen review

You awake in the night to the steady sound of pouring rain, broken by the occasional crack of distant thunder, washed up on the shore of a tropical island.  Surrounding you are the remains of a wrecked ship and her crew (now only food for the vultures).  You're clothed in rags, shoeless, and the best weapon you can scavenge from the wreck is a stick.  You have no direction, no objective, other than to scrounge through the detritus, collecting rum, coins and junk--anything that could possibly be useful to your survival.

Darksiders review

Just as comics struggled to break into the film industry before eventually exploding in popularity, so have comics done with games.  The days when developers could just stick favorite costumed fighters into a forgettable brawler are long gone.  They gave way to a new trend of developers placing beloved characters in open-world games that rarely ranged above mediocrity.  Game developers are now realizing the need to approach comics-based games in unique and inventive ways that reflect the strengths of their properties, talent, and respective mediums.  The mechanics in Batman: Arkham Asylum were tailored to the character; investigation, stealth, gadgets, using fear as a weapon to dispatch opponents one-by-one.  Similarly, the upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions plays to the superhero comic trope of the multiverse, casting the player as multiple versions of everyone's favorite web-slinger.  Last year's InFamous, in addition to having a title that's annoying to type, was an original comic-style game.  At a reductive level, InFamous was just an open-world shooter.  It was good, but its comic inspiration wouldn't have been so strongly felt without its comic-book styled custscenes.  As an original IP, Darksiders is much in this same vein.  However, Darksiders does a much more effective job of evoking its comic inspirations.

Section 8 (PS3) review

From the moment I started playing Section 8, I had to wonder, "Why haven't I heard more about this game?"  I burned through the atmosphere before hammering into the earth below with a thunderous crash, leaving a me-sized crater decal on the ground.  I met up with my squad and could see our target in the distance -- a giant planetary defense cannon, firing at our fleet in orbit.  I began the long run to the objective, instinctively clicking the left thumbstick to engage my sprint, as I have been condition to do from years of modern first person shooters.  Lost in the beard-stroking thought of how the pervasiveness of shared control schemes and mechanics have established a standard in game design literacy, I was just as quickly snapped from that thought when the camera pulled back to third-person view, showing my avatar engaged in a full-on super-powered hyper-sprint.  The fence surrounding the facility quickly approached as I raced toward it, struggling to find a jump button so I might not have to end my mad blitzkrieg just to find a way around the obstacle.  Success!  Much to my delight, I manage to engage my jet pack, sending myself soaring above the fence and into the heart of the enemy base.  While my opponents are distracted by my squadmates, who were not quite so suicidal as I, I seize the opportunity to hack the control panel, allowing us to capture the target and complete our first objective.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity (review)

Here I am: the sovereign of an upstart space empire.  I have a single world to my name, some asteroids to mine for resources, and a frigate factory to start what will one day be a glorious fleet, hundreds of ships strong, spreading my will across the solar system.  One day.  But now is the time to plant the seeds of my empire; to expand, gather strength, and test the waters (so to speak) of the great unknown that surrounds me.  What does the final frontier hold for me, I wonder?

Mass Effect 2 (review)

What is role playing? According to the literal definition of the word, it's something that is entirely irrelevant to a game's genre. As gamers, we role play every time we play a game that puts us in the shoes of a character separate from ourselves. In the world of gaming, however, role playing has always been defined largely by numbers. Stats, skills, talents, specializations, levels, and equipment define the genre as much as dialogue trees, branching story lines and multiple endings.

Games of the Decade

Hit the jump.