It used to be that all the games were linear-type affairs. Like a book, there was a rigidly enforced screenplay which you had to follow, from the beginning to the end. It was much like watching a movie with a scripted ending, only you controlled the character and you saw the story from their point [...]
January 20, 2012
A Rant Against Scripted End Battles
It used to be that all the games were linear-type affairs. Like a book, there was a rigidly enforced screenplay which you had to follow, from the beginning to the end. It was much like watching a movie with a scripted ending, only you controlled the character and you saw the story from their point [...]
November 15, 2011
The End Bosses’ Survival Guide
End bosses. Literally thousands of websites and millions of walkthroughs have been written on how to survive them. When it’s time for the epic showdown, such guides help you survive the encounter and triumph ala David over the fallen body of a mutant Goliath. Still, we have yet to see ONE goddamn webpage or walkthrough [...]
November 14, 2011
Mechanical Terror: The Top Cyborg Enemies in Gaming
Humanity has always lived in fear of being supplanted. Whether it’s a biological virus that wipes out the entire human race, or evil aliens bent on worldwide conquest, we are acutely aware that at any time, the title of Master of the Evolutionary Ladder can be taken from us. However, what’s worse than death by [...]
November 8, 2011
Physically Preparing For A Long Boss Run
If there’s one thing RPGs love to throw at players, it is the notion of an “endurance” run. This is when the game demands the player – or the group, as this crops up in MMOs too – stays in front of the console or PC and plays the game for hours or days. Among [...]
September 30, 2011
Avoiding the Boss… Like a Boss
So. After countless hours of playing, months of sleepless nights, and threats of divorce from the wife, you’ve finally reached the last level. The penultimate battle between good and evil. The grand showdown. Then, barely five seconds after facing the end boss, you get squashed like a bug. Game developers must take perverse joy in [...]
September 28, 2011
Item Grinding
One of the things that people either love or hate about Action-RPGs like Diablo II would be the endless grinding. In the case of pure RPGs, it is more experience grinding – where players spend hours upon hours killing things to level up. In Action-RPGs, however, the other form is even more prevalent. In Diablo [...]
September 14, 2011
Breaking the End Boss Stereotype
So you’ve reached the final level. You’ve battled numerous minions, crawled through lava, crossed a yawning chasm, and held your pee for four hours to get this far. Now you face the end boss. It can be the evil scientist / giant robot / mutant alien space monster. But whatever it is, it’s gargantuan, it’s [...]
August 26, 2011
Hello Insanely Long Boss Battle
In any RPG worth its salt, there will always be that one boss battle that taxes players, pushing their strategic acumen and understanding of the game’s mechanics to its limits. This isn’t surprising, really. From Ruby and Emerald Weapon bosses of Final Fantasy VII to the avatar of Demogorgon, Prince of Demons in Baldur’s Gate [...]
December 29, 2010
Super Meat Boy Tips
Once in a while, among all the console and online games that are made in a year, there are brilliant nuggets. One of them, of course, is Super Meat Boy. Super Meat Boy started out as a humble flash game and eventually turned into an amazingly difficult platformer with clever, hard-to-dodge traps as its selling [...]
January 20, 2012
0 Comments