Month: June 2018

23
Jun
2018
Gorogoa

Gorogoa

A Priceless Triumph

Some art reaches perfection by slow cooker. J. R. R. Tolkien spent 12 years writing the 4000+-page monstrosity that is the Lord of the Rings, which has come to define fantasy. Richard Linklater filmed his movie, Boyhood, over the same number of years to capture the literal development of its central character, and the movie is hailed as one of the greatest this century. Duke Nukem Forever ate through 15 years of production before it finally hit shelves, and critics and players have heralded it as the greatest game to suck ass ever. Now, we have Gorogoa, meticulously crafted by Jason Roberts over seven years. Like my first two examples, all of those years have amounted to a gaming masterpiece.

Typically, for a game that scores this highly, I have thrown out my standard review format and gone with a Top 10 of some sort. However, unlike Super Mario Odyssey and BotW, Gorogoa has not received the same universal praise, suffering criticisms namely for its length and price. Many have been hesitant to pay $15 for a game that can be completed in less than two hours, especially in this age when free-to-play content can offer tens of hours of entertainment. Thus, my aim here is not to critique Gorogoa but to deliver a counter-argument to the criticisms levied against one of the best games of this generation.

Beware. There be spoilers. If you trust me, buy the game because it’s best enjoyed with no prior knowledge (like Night in the Woods). If you don’t trust me, good for you: older male strangers on the internet can be dangerous, especially if they’re encouraging you to do something inappropriate.

What is it?

Gorogoa theoretically belongs to the puzzle genre, but it challenges you more intuitively than it does intellectually. You are presented with a grid which can contain four pictures at once. Like cel animation, these pictures can be layered on top of each other to create one image or be separated into multiple scenes. Each picture contains a piece of the puzzle and story, and you can zoom in or scroll an individual scene. The overall puzzle comes from correctly positioning the images next to each other or overlaying them to progress the story.

I bet you’re just about as confused as I am with what I wrote. Gorogoa is difficult to capture with either still images or written descriptions. Its living pictures create an ever-moving narrative which challenges your spatial reasoning abilities. For an example that’s been done to death, one situation finds you with three pictures:  a crow in a tree, a room with framed paintings, and a boy on a roof with a bowl resting on a surface beside him. To progress the story, you will focus in on the bowl as well as one of the framed pictures of an apple in a tree. If assembled in the way pictured below, the images will match seamlessly, causing the crow to leave, thereby displacing an apple from the branch into the bowl.

To match the mind-spasming pictures, Gorogoa presents a mysterious, fractured narrative of one man’s life. The beginning of the game will introduce you to him as a boy as he encounters a massive seahorse-like dragon. He sets out to collect various colored objects for what appears to be a peace offering to the beast. As you guide him in collecting these objects, you will encounter four other time periods, including one in which the young boy is now an old man. The city ages with him, presenting both destruction and reconstruction. This world constitutes a greater puzzle overall, challenging you to interpret the meaning behind the protagonist’s actions.

What’s utterly fantastic?

  1. The art and sound are stunning. Everything is hand-drawn, and it’s the good kind, not some kindergartener’s excuse for achievement. Each image is crisp and allows for layers of detail, which is vital as you magnify specific objects. The sound design is minimalistic but atmospheric, brewing a mysterious tone without steering focus away from the imagery. In one image, we see a close-up of the monster’s eye, and once it moves, a horn trills eerily. Split-second moments like this—combining startling imagery with sound—manage to unsettle the audience.
  2. The puzzles stand among the most inventive I have ever experienced. Gorogoa offers a moderate challenge, but the satisfaction of finding a solution comes not from the difficulty but from the unexpected optical illusions you must manipulate. The sun is a crank; a head becomes a coin; and broken objects lead to new worlds. Fans of Monument Valley will certainly squeal over this one.
  3. Gorogoa delivers a poignant tale of a man’s search for meaning in the wake of destruction. Themes include powerlessness, despair, spirituality, healing, nothingness, and the absurd. Remarkably, Jason Roberts manages to convey these themes without using any text or dialogue; his imagery provides everything. Kotaku’s Chris Kohler has written a lovely article on Roberts, Gorogoa, and its story for those who are interested in more details.

What’s been criticized?

  1. The game is short. As I stated, your first play-through shouldn’t take longer than two hours, and subsequent play-throughs may end in under an hour. Because the game mechanics are so enticing, I understand why people want more, but brevity is important here. Harlan Ellison’s short story, “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream,” could be extended into a full novel, but part of the genius behind the story is how much character, lore, and imagery Ellison manages to compact in a meager word count. Gorogoa similarly triumphs by delivering surprising puzzle themes at quick pace, allowing them to leave a mark without growing stale. The chapters may have been stronger if they were of equal length (hence my 0.5 deduction), but this is a small gripe given the quality of the content.  Some have also complained that Gorogoa has little replay value. This critique is peculiar to me, considering the large majority of puzzle games don’t have much replay value. You can’t “unknow” a solution, unless you’re especially forgetful or are willing to head-bang a cinderblock. That said, Gorogoa entices repeated play-throughs, not only to better understand the story but to show off the remarkable content to others.
  2. Puzzles can devolve to aimless mixing and matching until you find the solution. Admittedly, I even moved tiles around randomly when I felt stuck, but I don’t label this a fault in the game’s design. Perhaps our observational skills are lacking. Unlike other puzzles, Gorogoa challenges you to attend to specific details and be aware of how seemingly incongruent pieces can interlock. Because we are not used to this kind of problem-solving, we inherently miss clues. Solutions never reduce to the absurdity of point-and-click combinations (a la King’s Quest), and when pieces did connect, it made sense. It can be frustrating to not understand a brain teaser, but that doesn’t always mean the game is at fault.
  3. The narrative is difficult to understand and, as such, alienates players. Gorogoa does not present a simple story, and it took me three play-throughs to feel like I had a good grasp on what it tries to convey. Not all tales are easily understood, and numerable pieces of fine literature benefit from complex symbols and hidden meanings. Not everyone will enjoy Gorogoa’s narrative, just like not everyone will enjoy House of Leaves or Grendel, and that’s fine. For those who do not want to analyze Gorogoa, the story can be left an unfinished puzzle about a boy, a dragon, some old dude, and colored balls. For those who want something more, there is much to interpret and ponder. Neither play approach is better, but it’s not the game’s fault if you don’t understand it.

What’s the verdict?

Much more could be said about Gorogoa, but I have already exceeded what is typical of a long review for me. If I haven’t made it already apparent, Gorogoa is a must-play. Fifteen bucks may be a steep asking price for many of you, especially if you have a tight budget, but if this is the case, I recommended grabbing it from on iOS where it is a buck. The Switch version is ideal because you can enjoy it on the big screen or play through it with touch controls. Just play it; experience it. Gorogoa exemplifies art in video games and quality gaming.

Arbitrary Statistics:

  • Score: 9.5
  • Time Played: Over 3 hours
  • Number of Players: 1
  • Games Like It on Switch: FRAMED Collection, Inside

Scoring Policy

Posted by Solomon Rambling in Review, 0 comments
16
Jun
2018
Solomon Plays GoNNER – Episode 4 (Salvation)

Solomon Plays GoNNER – Episode 4 (Salvation)

Short-Term Memory Loss

Sometimes I wake up suddenly, usually because the bathroom beckons for me.  In that miasma between consciousness and coma, I recognize I had some sort of dream, but that’s it.  If I focus hard enough and don’t fall asleep on the toilet, I can eventually piece together what I experienced.  If I can’t, I’m left with the general emotion caused by the dream.  Nightmares spawn unease mixed with morbid curiosity.  Scene-by-scene replays of my previous day elicit annoyance, boredom, or anxiety.  My fantastical adventures result in a confusing mixture of both glee and disappointment.  All those dreams of me peeing myself just aggravate my bladder more.

These little dream anecdotes serve two purposes for this journal.  For one, they bolster my word count.  For two, my memories of my previous videos are similarly hazy.  I recorded this “fourth” video on 6/6/19, and I’m writing this description nine days later.  I remember that I had tried 13 times to record this damned video, and I faintly recall that I had originally intended to write this journal about how my failed attempts resulted in beneficial practice time.  At this point, however, my mind doesn’t hold the right sentiment to make some thoughtful message about growing from failures.  All I have are some vague emotions:  frustration about the recording process and relief that I succeeded to completing a full run on video.

The logical thing to do here is to re-watch the video, but like a dream about losing my adult teeth spontaneously, I’m not eager to relive the moment, especially after I have seen it already.  For today, sloth is my companion.  However, if you have any thoughts, send them my way.

Posted by Solomon Rambling, 0 comments
10
Jun
2018
Solomon’s Five Wishes for Nintendo Switch Improvements

Solomon’s Five Wishes for Nintendo Switch Improvements

Because Why Be Satisfied When You Can Complain for More?

With Nintendo’s 2018 E3 presentation looming on the horizon, gamers are astir with hopes and hype.  If fortune falls in our favor, Nintendo will unleash a torrent of game reveals, essentially presenting a strip tease geared toward nerds.  The internet is abuzz with speculation as to what games will be shown and what Nintendo might be saving for its big announcement (as if a new Super Smash Bros. is not enough).

E3 presentations have historically focused on software, mainly to prove their consoles are still relevant.  With the Nintendo Switch making its second E3 appearance, Nintendo arguably must produce a pretty spectacular show to demonstrate the fledgling system can maintain its current momentum.  Maybe it’s my naïve loyalty, but I’m not worried about Nintendo on the software side of things.  I am, however, concerned about how Nintendo intends to address the issues present with their darling system.

At least since the Nintendo 64, Nintendo has seemingly made missteps with each of its major consoles.  From the cartridges of the N64 to the lack of online multiplayer on the Gamecube to the Wii’s outdated hardware to the Wii U’s very identity, the gaming giant has appeared to fumble a major aspect of the consoles.  Like the Wii, the novelty of the Switch has driven amazing initial sales, but the older the system gets, the more likely its shortcomings are going to be highlighted instead of its strengths.

Much like my amiibo blogitorial, this article is my pipe dream, containing my beliefs about how Nintendo can improve the Switch to better guarantee its appeal.  If my opinions echo the opinions of others, it simply underlines just how much Nintendo’s audience is hoping for specific changes.  The Japanese company has clearly proven they can make an innovative console, but if they don’t want the Switch to age and putter out like the Wii did, they will need to improve the system, itself.

What pictures do you include when you’re not talking about games?

Wish 1:  Justify Why We Need to Pay for Online Services

Let’s kick this dead horse now:  Nintendo has royally sucked at implementing online services.  It took the company nearly a year to release the first online multiplayer game (Battalion Wars 2) for the Wii, and it looks like it needs more than a year to create a legitimate online system for the Switch.  The Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) service will go live this September, and the most exciting information we’ve heard is that there is a family plan for up to seven Switch consoles for $35 a year.  Through this plan, my friends and I can save our money for what might be a wholly lackluster service.

My wish is that Nintendo has heard the roar of its angry consumers and is planning to showcase why we’re paying for anything.  They’ve delayed the NSO because they’re doing something, right?  The backlash for Splatoon 2 should be evidence enough that we need dedicated servers.  God, if Nintendo were to announce just those two words—dedicated servers—I think the Nintendo fanbase would collectively orgasm.  It’s great that we get NES games and cloud saves, but I wouldn’t pay $20 a year for those features, especially if I’m getting the same old internet services I’ve received for free for the past decade.

I would’ve put the Netflix logo here, but I want you to look at my saves.

Wish 2:  Do as the Other Consoles Do

The Nintendo Switch has defined itself as a remarkable hybrid device, yet it still feels like a half-baked product.  The system is sorely missing apps like Netflix, YouTube, or Amazon Video.  There is no general internet browser.  You can’t even physically back-up your save files.  Its little kickstand is a flimsy piece of shit.

All of these features—apart the last one—have been present in other consoles (including Nintendo’s own) for the last two generations, so why is the Switch missing them?  Perhaps the video apps and internet browser will be introduced with the NSO.  I recognize that none of these amenities make or break a system because we have phones, remotes, and drink coasters that can play Netflix or access the internet.  However, I’m wondering what demonic pacts are preventing Nintendo from offering what are now considered commonplace features.

Conversely, the save file issue is simply more evidence that Nintendo is secretly run by sadists.  Scratch that, it seems this entire article is basically showing how the company revels in the confusion and existential angst caused by their decisions.

Fun fact: you can’t take screenshots while on the eShop.

Wish 3:  Bolster the eShop

Nintendo has actually been making improvements with the eShop (especially with their recent update), but the once minimalistic and stylish store front is cluttered to hell.  With the surge of titles hitting the “Recent Releases,” “Great Deals,” and “Coming Soon” every week, all of the menus have given way to long lists of slowly loading pictures.  The “Featured” section and “search by developer” option have somewhat mitigated the daunting task of wading through the eShop, but browsing games still is about as pleasant as wading through the sweaty crowds of Day 3 of a music festival.

Outside of its design, the eShop continues to lack features present in previous and current consoles.  Nintendo must think we’re selfish bastards because a “Gift” feature is not present.  Your wishlist doesn’t remove games you’ve purchased and hides from the main menu. As SMG Studio suggested in a reddit post, the eShop would benefit from a rating system with user comments.  Nintendo once implemented reviews on the Switch but supposedly became so flustered by offensive opinions that they eliminated it.  Considering the Miiverse was a thing, it’s surprising that Nintendo is so frightened by the possibility of crass user contributions.  Whatever the case, thicker skin and a timely update could help both Nintendo and the Switch.

 

This represents the Virtual Console section.

Wish 4:  Replace the Virtual Console

The Virtual Console is dead, just like my other childhood treasures.  We can’t say we didn’t see it coming, considering it was barely alive on the Wii U and was MIA this past year.  However, we also know that part of Nintendo’s lifeblood is nostalgia, so we won’t go long without our retro sustenance.  Gamecube games have long been requested, and I will personally hemorrhage with happiness if Nintendo confirms GCN classics coming to the Switch at E3.

Regardless of how it is presented, Nintendo is long due to say something about their plans for their massive back catalogue of games.  Like others, I am concerned Nintendo will go with a subscription-based approach for their retro releases.  That said, I am also willing to accept that this is the replacement for the Virtual Console.  After 22 years, it may be too much for Nintendo to demand $10 for Super Mario 64, so a subscription service may just be the right way to get people to pay for the same game for the fifth time.  If we get this service before the end of the year, I’ll be content.  I’ll absolutely still complain about not “owning” the game, but I’ll be content.

Look at my games. Look at them.

Wish 5:  Create the Ultimate Gaming Necessity – Folders

And here we are.  The single biggest reason why I question if Nintendo knows what they are doing or are just surprisingly lucky.

You can’t make folders on the Nintendo Switch.  You can’t sort your games.  It doesn’t matter if you have two games or 200; you cannot order them in any other way than most recently played.  I own over fifty titles, and sometimes I have to go to the “All Software” screen and waste multiple seconds scrolling through all of my titles to find the specific game I want to play.  All told, I have spent a full four minutes of my life doing this, and if I had folders, I could have saved those moments of my life.  Hell, I could’ve used that time to sort games into folders.

It’s true that my neuroticism yearns for sorting abilities more than what’s healthy for me, and all told, the folders, themselves, are not a huge issue.  They do represent the larger problem described all throughout this article:  Nintendo isn’t equipping the Switch with features other systems have and which its gamers want.  Even something as simplistic as folders have not been implemented, so what else is not on Nintendo’s radar?

Walking Away from the Wishing Well

My ultimate wish is for a Nintendo that listens and responds to its audience in order to make a long-lasting Switch generation.  The company’s secrecy has been a mixed bag for me as a fan.  I am always pleasantly surprised by a sudden Direct or a wacky game reveal.  I’ve also been on one too many hype trains that have derailed and fallen into nothingness.  Forums may be fueled by the constant discussions about when Nintendo will do this or that, but I argue it’s now time for Nintendo to step out from behind the curtain and explain what the hell is going on.  Here’s hoping E3 will be a step in the right direction for improving the Switch.

Until then, give me my goddamn folders.

Posted by Solomon Rambling in Blogitorial, 0 comments
06
Jun
2018
Solomon Rambles About the Only Elder Scrolls Game Seemingly in Existence

Solomon Rambles About the Only Elder Scrolls Game Seemingly in Existence

The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim

FUS-TRA-TING

From its initial release in 2011 to its Switch port in 2017, the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has outlived the Wii U’s production run. You can take that as a compliment to Skyrim’s enduring appeal or a sad reminder that Nintendo’s last generation console was an infertile wasteland of sadness and solitude. Skyrim has received a fair amount of flak for its endless ports, and with each edition, reviewers have collectively shrugged their shoulders and stated, “It’s still good.” Being a Nintendo-only gamer/fungus, I was one of 25-or-so hermits that was looking forward to playing Skyrim for the first time, so I was eager for the port. At long last, people would shut up about how I was missing out on one of the greatest games of all time.

Six years of hype creates a damningly high expectation to surpass, but it is not uncommon for a game to prove itself to be a timeless gem. In a sense, Skyrim is one of those gems, but whereas Ocarina of Time is a diamond, the fifth rendition of the Elder Scrolls is a just a humble pearl. I imagine a dose of nostalgia would have sedated many of my frustrations with the game, but without that, each glitch, repetitive side quest, and instakill jangled my nerves. What once was a Game of the Year now feels like a mere stepping stone for a later, better Elder Scrolls sequel.

Solomon’s best attempt to capture a scenic picture.

What is it?

Skyrim is Dungeons and Dragons watered down to an action RPG for the cool kids. From the outset, your character is set to be executed despite no one knowing what you did because, hell, they had to find some way to start the story, didn’t they? A dragon soon crashes the death party, allowing you to escape and explore the vast region of Skyrim. As luck would have it, you happen to be Dragonborn, an individual who can use the magical shouts of the dragons and suck out their souls. With this power, you can not only end Skyrim’s current civil war but rebel against the dragon menace that threatens civilization’s existence. You can also screw that nonsense and busy yourself with fetch quests, building a house, and other matters far more important than war and mass extinction.

As you can tell so far, Skyrim allows you to sculpt your play experience as you see fit. You select your character from a number of different races (each with different abilities), design their physical appearance, and then name them. From there, you choose how you fight, be it with magic, melee weapons, bows, sneaky-sneaky daggers, or a combination of the above. Each of your hands can hold a weapon/spell, so there is a lot of mixing and matching if you so choose. Forget any hopes of addressing conflict nonviolently because bloodshed is the universal language in Tamriel.

The most holy of all the weapons: the floating iron sword.

Almost every action you take builds experience. Sling a few fireballs, and your destruction level will improve. Pick a few locks, and bam, level up for lock-picking. Sell a few iron swords? Sure, that’s reason enough to up your speech level. Skyrim follows the logic that if you do the same thing enough times, you’ll improve. Prepare enough ramen noodles, and one day, you, too, can make peppercorn-crusted filet mignon. As you grind your individual abilities’ levels, they contribute to an overall experience meter, and once filled, you can upgrade your magic, health, or stamina in addition to allocating a skill point to further buff your skills.

Although the civil war and dragon storylines are the main focus of Skyrim, you have several other opportunities to dive into the Elder Scrolls lore. Each major town has at least one substantial quest, be it to climb the ranks of the Thieves Guild, eradicate the vampire threat or join them, or confront one of the many Daedric (demon-like) princes. Countless smaller quests can be attained from speaking to townsfolk or other NPCs. The large majority of all quests will task you to delve into a dungeon, cave, or fortress infested with hostile EXP livestock. Should you accomplish your missions, all the NPCs of the land will recall your deeds forever and always, mainly because they have few dialogue options.

Even Agnes – who is forever stuck in the wall – will herald you.

What’s good?

  1. Skyrim is immersive because of how much control you have over the game world. You can align with certain factions and rout others, betraying those who you dislike. You can read through the multitude of books littered throughout the land, learning everything you could have discovered from the Wiki. If you wish to be self-sufficient, you can craft all of your materials through alchemy, smithing, and enchanting. Hell, you can even marry and adopt kids. With this virtual autonomy, the real world is simply a vestigial appendage of your mortal coil.
  2. The amount of content can easily suck out a hundred hours from your life. The number of quests in the original game is staggering enough to topple a large class of fifth graders, and this is further bolstered by the included Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn expansions.  Multiple playthroughs are encouraged to try out other character races and follow different questlines (such as choosing to become a werewolf).  There is a lot to do, even if a quarter of your playtime is spent on loading screens and small talk with the locals.
  3. Certain quests ooze with creativity. The civil war quests see you fighting alongside an army while conquering enemy fortresses or cities.  You can join the Dark Brotherhood (a league of assassins) or opt to eradicate them. You can enjoy a night of drunken debauchery and suffer the next day with a hangover and the unsettling fact that you proposed to a hagraven.  The Daedric prince quests, in general, offer adventures that can be unsettling, epic, and/or hallucinogenic.

Nazir was so amazed by Solomon’s archery that he refused to move as Solomon shot arrow after arrow into his face.

What’s bad?

  1. Bethesda produced a lazy port. Upon its initial release, Skyrim was riddled with more bugs than a Riften vagrant, but this was supposedly forgiven due to the massive scope of the game.  However, six years later, Bethesda has done nothing to reduce the pests.  Entire questlines cannot be completed; enemies flip and fly through the air; crashes occur; and controls can be unresponsive.  Apart from the bugs, the only new additions to this Switch edition are botched motion controls and free items from amiibo.
  2. Combat often feels more like a battle of attrition than technique. Most fights boil down to who whacks who harder.  Dodging and blocking are too inconsistent to be reliable, so you will often spam the attack button until you run low on magic, health, or stamina.  At this point, you flee the battle or to your menu to guzzle eight potions or devour eighteen sacks of flour.  Hit detection is variable but particularly horrendous against dragons or when using a bow.  Some scuffles can be fun, but the combat system does not feature the depth needed to keep it entertaining over hundreds of hours of content.
  3. Much like the life of an NPC, Skyrim becomes numbingly repetitive, contrary to my opinion in my padding blogitorial. It’s great that the game has fifty billion caves, dungeons, ruins, and fortresses, but when they all follow the same basic archetypes, it’s hard to distinguish between Location 23 and Locations 46, 72, 138, or 95b.  It certainly doesn’t help that you’re constantly fighting the same spiders, bandits, and goddamn Draugrs. Even dragons eventually devolve into annoying houseflies, albeit big, burny ones.  I get that some things will repeat in a massive game, but Skyrim often feels like the product of one designer/programmer falling asleep on the Ctrl+V buttons.

The best bug was when Solomon’s magic meter never diminished. Ungodly power, I tell you.

What’s the verdict?

Skyrim slammed the gaming world like a comet in 2011, blowing away all other releases and distinguishing itself as a game to be remembered.  In the years since, Bethesda has tried its damn hardest to make sure we won’t forget it either.  In reviewing this game, I haven’t a clue if I’m biased due to my unrealistic expectations or if everyone else is due to their nostalgia-addled brains.  New players will likely get a kick out of the freedom offered by the Elder Scrolls, but veterans need not slog through the same game they have been force-fed for years.  For any of my readers on the fence, you can wait and make your decision when I repost this review in two years for the Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim – Anniversary Edition – Pocket Edition.

Arbitrary Statistics:

Scoring Policy

Posted by Solomon Rambling in Review, 0 comments