Some Of My Favorites

As I said previously, my current gaming habits are mostly dictated by games I used to play when I was younger. Generally I often play sequels of games that I particularly enjoyed, or I'll play remakes of games that I once enjoyed, now remade with better graphics and orchestrated music. Here's a list of my top five favorite games of all time, and how they've influenced the games I currently play.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Although the rest of the games on this list are in no particular order, I felt that I had to put Majora's Mask first, as it is definitely my favorite game of all time. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've replayed this game. The Legend of Zelda games have always been important to me, beginning with A Link to the Past that I used to play on my Super Nintendo, but MM is, in my opinion, by far the best. It changes up from the usual format of the Zelda games, and brings the player into a darker, twisted version of characters and sceneries introduced in Ocarina of Time. Everything about this game is brilliant, from its darker color pallette used throughout, to the dramatic three-day format that forces players to figure out as much as they can before they lose it all, to the mask function that gives players different abilities depending on which mask they have equipped. As for how MM has influenced games I play today, I'm always looking for games that mimic the dark, twisted feel of MM, and games with a similar color pallette. If any of my readers know any games that "feel" like MM, please let me know as I'd love to play it.


2. Halo: Combat Evolved

As I mentioned it in my previous post, Halo is definitely a game that I have to include in this list. Halo has so many great aspects, but my favorite part of  Halo is the story. Halo has a fairly generic storyline, silent hero vs. alien horde, but takes a turn near the end of the game with the introduction of a second, all-consuming enemy: the Flood. Halo's storyline makes the entire game so much more replayable, and adds a factor of enjoyability. I'm all about how the game plays, and how it feels to immerse yourself in the game world, and Halo makes it easy to do just that. The environments are stunning, and the game includes vehicle sequences that were absolutely amazing to me, as I've never played games with vehicles that were that controlable and easy to handle until then. Halo has influenced my current gaming habits by introducing me to the FPS, the first person shooter. I generally never played first-person shooters until Halo, but now I'm totally open to that genre, and seek out FPS games whenever I can.





3. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

Although there were two other ES games that came before, the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was my introduction to the series. My cousin bought me a copy of the game's Game of the Year edition for my birthday, and I popped it into my xbox as soon as I got home. I can honestly say that Morrowind is one of the best games I've ever played. I love games with open environments, immersive stories, engaging characters, and fantastic graphics, and Morrowind had it all. Morrowind's graphics have aged pretty terribly compared to its successors, but the sense of nostalgia I get from replaying it is immense. Morrowind's ability to play as either a vampire or a werewolf also changed the game entirely: choosing either of the two monstrous transformations changed the way the whole rest of the game was played, adding skills, quests, and a multitude of new things to do once you chose a transformation. And the game was already huge as it was. To this day, I've still never beaten the main story of Morrowind, and it holds a sort of legendary status in my mind: unconquerable, mythical, and only achieved by people who don't actually exist. As for how it's influenced my current gaming habits, Morrowind introduced me to Massive Role-playing Games, and I look for games with immersive habitats, and intense story-lines.

4. Pokemon: Emerald Version

Sorry, I'm not sorry. Pokemon has to be on this list. I played Pokemon: Blue, Pokemon: Silver and Crystal, and Pokemon: Ruby before I played Emerald, but I put Emerald on this list because I genuinely enjoyed it the most out of all the Pokemon games. An extended version of Pokemon: Ruby and Sapphire, Emerald improved on the previous two games in the sequence by slightly retouching the graphics, and adding small changes to the storyline and endgame. Emerald was also the first version to introduce the Battle Frontier to the series, which provided a whole new element of competitive battling. To this day Emerald still retains a high amount of replayability, and has aged fairly well, bringing along full-color graphics and detailed sprites. Emerald influenced my gaming habits by introducing me to the turn-by-turn battle sequence, and I currently look for games that hold the same sense of discovery and awe every time you find a new pokemon, or evolve one that you currently have in your party. And yes, I'm totally getting the Hoenn Remakes as they come out this winter.


5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

And the last on this list, of course, is Ocarina of Time. Another installment in the Legend of Zelda, this game actually came out before Majora's Mask, but I recieved it as a gift after I had initially played MM. Ocarina of Time is what I would describe as the Perfect Game: it has a high replayability factor even now, almost two decades later. Ocarina of Time seems to have gotten everything right: it had amazing graphics for its time, the story was seamless, and the ability to go through dungeons and conquer bosses while acquiring new gear was an experience that most other games simply couldn't rival. Ocarina of Time is another game that I've replayed counteless times, because its just that good. I even got the HD remake as soon as it came out, and bought the 3DS mainly to play this game once again. Ocarina of time cemented the Zelda series as one of my most favorite game series of all time, and I constantly look forward to future games in the Zelda series, having been hooked by both this and Majora's Mask.

And those are my top five. If you'd like to share your favorite games with me, or want me to play a particular game that you think is similar to those listed above, please share it with me in the comments below!

Game Review - Destiny

My first game review turns out to be a pretty monumental one, at least for me. I've played quite a few video games throughout my life, beginning with a Super Nintendo that my parents bought my sisters and I for Christmas upon release, moving on to the Nintendo 64, Xbox, and then the Xbox 360. Most of the games I play now are ones that I used to play when I was younger - the blast of nostalgia is more fun to me than playing something fresh and new. So it's pretty rare that I play something entirely new that isn't already a part of a larger series. But Destiny, a game released by Bungie and Activision on September 19 of this year, takes a break from my usual formula, as it is an entirely new stand-alone title.

When I was given my first Xbox as a gift for Christmas, one of the first games I ever played for it was Halo: Combat Evolved, a game created by Bungie. I can't remember exactly how many hours I logged into Halo; since I didn't have other people to play it with, I only had the single-player story to go through. But the story alone was what kept me entranced. Master Chief, the silent protagonist, became such a stoic figure in my mind, that I just couldn't put the game down. Every day after school I would run to the television, turn on the Xbox, and fight my way through hoards of alien Covenant. Even after I had finished the story once, I came back again and again just to replay, going through the awesome environments and re-experiencing the rewarding gameplay. After Halo: CE, Bungie released Halo 2 and Halo 3, games that I enjoyed just as much as the first. But after the Halo trilogy came to an end (and I'm not counting Halo: Reach, Halo: ODST, or Halo Anniversary, as those were spinoff titles that I barely played), Bungie sold the rights of the Halo series to 343 Industries, who created Halo 4 without any development from Bungie. And while Halo 4 still held some of the same entertainment value as 1, 2, and 3, it just didn't feel the same to me. So when Bungie announced Destiny, their first game since the Halo series, I was understandably excited.

Destiny is something I think a lot of gamers have been pretty excited about ever since news of its development. Bungie's first entirely new project since Halo, Destiny was hyped up to be a blend of multiple genres, including first-person shooter, role-playing game, and massively-multiplayer online. I've seen a lot of reviews that have been negative toward Destiny for that reason, dissing it for having an "identity crisis" as it borrows elements from all of these genres and shares aspects with other games of those types, but doesn't really bring anything new to the table. However, from what I've seen, Destiny does more with its borrowed elements than what most other games do with established elements of their own singular genre.

Overall, Destiny is a pretty good game. It probably doesn't live up to the excitement that I know a lot of people had for it: a friend of mine told me he was expecting the multiplayer function to be a lot larger. But to me, the game seems pretty well-rounded, even if it doesn't seem to fit into one particular genre. The multiplayer aspect certainly isn't massive, but I think that adds more to the game than if it were more expansive. For most missions, you can have up to two other players join your party, keeping missions smaller and more connected. I think if the party size were any larger, things would get a little out of hand. The game focuses on killing enemies to gain experience, different weapons and gear, and to level up. With two other players, the game evenly distributes the enemies to defeat, and the gear being dropped. I already had a hard time getting kills that weren't being stolen by my team mates on a smaller team; had the teams been any larger, it would have been easy to sit back and let other people do all the work. But by only having smaller teams, gamers also need to work together  more in order to progress through the level, ensuring that no player is just tagging along with little effort. While kills were being stolen, I also probably wouldn't have been able to survive if they hadn't been there to work together with me. The smaller team creates a better sense of community, and a better sense of satisfaction.

Another common complaint I've heard has been that the story falls a little flat. I haven't completed the story yet myself, so most of what I have to judge it by is things I've heard second-hand. But personally, the game play is strong enough that I know I will want to play again; I've already started a second character to experience a second playable character class, and I want to see the cool gear that Warlocks can obtain instead of Hunters. I am a little disappointed knowing that the story may not be the best, but as long as the game keeps up with enjoyable game play, I'm pretty satisfied. The graphics are amazing, everything from environments to textures to the little decals on weapons looks realistic and detailed in HD. Every time I unlock a new playable map I can't wait to drop into the first mission to see what the new land looks like.

I think my only complaint would be the voice acting. Some of the voices sound a little bored, and the one-liners by Ghost, your flying companion voiced by Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones), just don't seem to fit the almost desperate feel of an environment that is being threatened with elimination by alien forces. It made me feel detached from the game a little, which prevented me from enjoying the game as much as I would have otherwise. But overall, Destiny has more than proven itself as a wonderful new title, and I can not wait to see what the sequels, and extra content have in store.

Welcome!

Hey, this is J's Blog for WRH 205! This blog will cover my interests in both writing and video games, and will be established over the course of this semester.

Through this blog I will keep an up-to-date summary of game reviews/video footage, and explore various forms of media such as vlogs and podcasts.

I hope to update more as the class moves along and I learn to become a better blogger!