IF Comp Results

Let me show you them.  Results Link.

Looks about right to me.  I enjoyed Rover.  I find it interesting to look at the curves to see which games were the most polarizing. Yon Astounding Castle was very polarizing. Everyone hates the Hangover.

I actually wanted to make the ceremony on MUD but I was, I think, working out that night.

On Chrono Trigger

The new Call of Duty is out so this is a perfect time for me to talk briefly about Chrono Trigger.

This doesn't come completely out of nowhere: really, rather than focus my own thoughts on the game for now I'm just linking some things I found recently that proved interesting.

This is a recent piece from Game Career Guide: Chrono Trigger: Narrative Review.

Note that the article contains spoilers but I don't think that this matters considering the age of the game. (In general, when I discuss games I will spoil them.  Newer games notwithstanding that's my common practice.)  I don't agree with the author on one point, which is the resurrection of Crono. I think that sequence should be taken as a standard "Hero's Journey" situation with death and symbolic resurrection. It's a textbook example and shouldn't be excised. Also Crono's death had less impact than Aeris's because he was a silent protagonist and he was male, not because it was reversable.

Something else I noticed in this article was the "critical reception" bit on the third page.

Game journalists: if you review Chrono Trigger and mark it down on the criteria of "the graphics are outdated," you are a jerk. Here is Tycho to tell you why. Also here, in more exacting detail. Thank you.

Here, another article from a blog called "Every Game Ever." Some fun stuff in there, but their article on Chrono Trigger isn't just about Chrono Trigger, rather On Chrono Trigger and the SNES JRPG Experience. It summarizes a lot of how I also feel about this game and why it was the right game at the right time for me and a lot of other people. Their reviews of Earthbound and Final Fantasy VI are similarly insightful in this respect (and, in the case of the latter, glowing, but deservedly glowing in my opinion).

IF Comp 2009 - What I learned

This was my first time reviewing IF Comp games. I'm happy that anyone can do it and I'd like to thank the community for giving me a nice welcome and tips on IF MUD although I'd never participated before.  Typically I am more on the sidelines with this community.

I'm couching my roundup statement less about the games and more as a personal thing:  I learned from this comp that I am not apparently very good at puzzles, particularly of the word-based variety. I have little to no problem with math puzzles but teasers and word puzzles froze me up a lot during this competition.

A few spoilers below this cut:

IF Comp 2009: Resonance

This is the last of the games!  Review begins with spoilers.

IF Comp 2009: Condemned

Running this one on Parchment and, since I can't save with this method (computer issues), I hope there are not a lot of swift deaths.

I took notes while I was playing this so the review may seem more stream of consciousness than some of my others. It took me about an hour-thirty to play.

If Comp 2009: The Duel that Spanned the Ages Part One

I was late to the party on this one.  I admit it was a hundred-percent because the title kept putting me off. Despite the fact that each of these games is only supposed to take two hours apiece, and this one came to about 1:45 for me, "The Duel that Spanned the Ages" says to me, "wait and put this aside because whoa epic."

I'm sad I put this off because I really dug it. More spoilery stuff below the cut as always.

IF Comp 2009: Gator-On, Friend to Wetlands!

Spoiler cut below.

IF Comp 2009: Interface

This was all right. When it said it was a "deliberately old school romp," I was worried I'd get a lot of instant kills and have to save a lot, but it turned out I couldn't really die or get stuck in this game. I saved a lot anyway, just in case something screwed me, as I figured a deliberately oldschool romp indeed would.  Anything that might contain real spoilers is below.

Hiding Secrets in 3D Open World Games

For anyone reading solely due to IF Reviews, I'm taking a short break from that in this post to go back to my usual type of topic, though, I do think that writing IF reviews has done wonders for my productivity in this blog. I'm still not quite out of things to talk about in that regard and now I'm more motivated than ever to try to write one myself.

But one thing I've been wanting to discuss for a little while is something I noticed in playing Batman: Arkham Asylum in contrast with the game Fable 2, which I will attempt to relate in terms of The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time.

...Does that seem interesting yet?  If so, then read on:

GameX Conference

I discussed the GameX Conference somewhat, but not very in depth. I did take some photos but I'm kind of bad at post-con reports some times! I guess sometimes it just feels like showing people my vacation slides... though I do enjoy reading other people's.

For a good summary, though, check out Jason Della Rocca's post.  He was one of the AM keynotes at the industry summit and took some fun photos.