Steins; Gate Visual Novel

I sometimes wonder why it is that western games don’t have any real input in the visual novel genre of games.

Sure, the west created and pioneered the point-and-click adventure game as well as being home to the interactive movie genre, spawning such games as Night Trap on the Mega CD, but there aren’t any purely narrative driven experiences such as the visual novel over here.

Perhaps having been created in Japan, and the resultant overwhelming animé stigma attached to it, in these parts, simply mentioning the term ‘visual novel’ and there will be raised eyebrows all round. Most gamers have no clue what you are on about.

Better known for its animé counterpart, Steins; Gate started life as one of these visual novels back in 20XX and was finally released in the west earlier this year. The plot revolves around Rintarō Okabe an unemployed young man and self proclaimed ‘Mad Scientist’ (a phrase made more amusing when interspersed in broken English throughout Japanese dialogue, with emphasis on the syllables) who effects semi-delusional rantings and refers to himself as Hououin Kyouma. Most of Okabe’s exploits are half-jest, talking about the Organisation which he believes is following him, pretend conversations with allies, whispering ridiculous passwords at people ‘El Psy Congroo’.

Along with Itaru, a ‘Super-Hacka’ and Mayuri who makes the costumes and makes shopping trips, the 3 are the self-styled lab members of a cramped flat upstairs from a CRT TV store in gadget and tech-centric Akihabara in Tokyo.

When starting the game you almost forget there is a story supposedly about to happen, and are quite content with the meandering conversations of the lab members and the whimsical back and forths when Okabe resentingly gets called Okarin by the affectionate Mayuri. I was initially exposed to the game through the series so I knew what to expect ultimately, but for a new person experiencing Steins; Gate for the first time, the game was much better, the characters are instantly engaging and memorable and the long wait until something happens isn’t dull and paceless like the animé series.

Well it really begins as Okabe and Mayuri attend a small conference by a well known young scientist, it sets into motion a series of events which introduce the basic concept of the story, Time Travel. So as to give a rough idea of where the game is headed while being spoiler-free, I’ll be vague and say that there are conspiracies, friendships formed and lost and split timelines.

What I love about Steins; Gate is that unlike other narrative heavy games of this genre, the main character is very much his own character, not in anyway presented as if you are to play the role, choices play a part in the pathway but not much on his character.

The gameplay element is rather small but is all managed on a phone in game, people will call and text and you can decide whether or not to answer, but mostly the game just rolls out and most calls serve only for light-hearted humour.

There are two major pathways altering vastly the end of the game, however all others are just branches and can be achieved in a single playthrough, albeit with small use of multiple save datas.

Being an extremely linear game, it isn’t for everyone and the overwhelming nature of the characters can get on people’s nerves after such a long time, the game clocks in at nearly 30 hours, but it is significantly better than its animé and so fans of that will probably really enjoy it.

Less gameplay than other Visual Novels of this type, overt animé tropes and characters and the colour filter can be blindingly migraine inducing, but its clever plot and pervading humour manage to win over this cynical git so it could stand to do a whole lot worse. El Psy Congroo.

Steins; Gate Visual Novel

I like experiments

“Sure, I don’t mind needles…”

It’s how every story of a downward spiral starts,and it is also how the story of Vince began one day 2 years ago.

“Don’t talk or we’ll feed you to the Karkians…” Yuen Kong said, leader of the Red Arrow triad, controlling family of Hong Kong and shrewd owner of the Lucky Money club in the downtown Market.

Somehow a rather average, leather-clad punk had wound his way into the underworld, standing like a stiffened mannequin in the presence of the most powerful man in Hong Kong, but unlike any other sad, destitute junkie, the discovery of a malignant tumour forced his hand. But Vince was different, he had a deal with Kong. Become his guinea pig and be set for life and he was, for a little while.

“Tumor shmoomer” – Vince

Multiple Nano augmented transcriptions tore into his body, yet somehow he looked completely fine, creating an artificial respite to the impending death – but with a cost. With each treatment the drugs and genetic imprints rewrote his brain, leaving him a husk, a worn-out shadow of a man found drinking or scrounging at the Lucky Money bar. He was even there that fateful day in Hong Kong Market.

Vince in happier times at the Lucky Money bar.[/caption]

Isaac was tending the bar as usual when a guy he’d never seen before walked up to him, later Isaac recalled that throughout his time there he didn’t ask for a drink at the bar, “He started talking to a few of the regulars, but it was kinda late, they were all pretty pissed by then, he didn’t even ask for a drink at the bar”. After disturbing some of the patrons and rearranging some of the furniture he approached the bar, “I’m not sure what he wanted but he was talking about how UNATCO runs the joint over in New York City, started dissing Hong Kong, I asked him if he would like anything, he just went right around back and took off without even asking for a drink at the bar”.

“Experiments… I like experiments.” – Vince

Eyewitness accounts described what happened next as “somewhat shocking” and “the most scared I have been awake” or even “I didn’t even notice”, not long after the unusual man entered the staff area a number of mechanised cyborgs burst in and began to open fire without discrimination at the patrons. The chaos consumed the club and gave way to what has become known as the greatest disaster since the 2044 Olympic massacre, dozens injured and many more left traumatised from the sound of weak stomached people screaming at the sight of blood.

In the ensuing bedlam no-one had time to see Vince as he finished up the dregs of his beer, perhaps it was because he always kept to himself or maybe because they were running for their very lives, he was entirely unaware of the mania metres away and never thought that in mere seconds his life would be snuffed out.

He wasn’t found until the violence and dust had come to a stop, a bullet embedded in his torso, no longer able to fight the disease festering inside. Dead.

He was a gift to science, a gift to us all. And now he is gone. No longer will we be graced with his insightful observations of the cruel world that he inhabited, or sudden inimitable declarations of love for the simpler things in life.

God rest your soul buddy, I hope “that’ll do the trick” for you in heaven.

I like experiments

American Gods

Usually when a graphic novel or comic book writer takes to the pen with the aim of writing a novel, the result is usually an action-packed sweepf of comic style narrative, with the only difference being the addition of a few adjectives, but when Gaiman does it, he can’t help but beguile you into reading a ornately woven and multi-layered story that seems to unreal to believe came from such humble foundations.

America has always been a country that has struggled with its identity, whether its trying to find out what the Great American Novel is or what the American Dream ought to be, there’s never a moment when America isn’t trying to forge its own path on a world wrought with disillusioned historical sentiment.

To try to write a novel that tackles the American outlook on these themes is not so unusual, but to represent an entire world’s worth of culture that America has collected and represent it in an effectively ‘American’ way, well…

For a British novelist to even attempt the feat is nothing short of ballsy, if not, entirely arrogant, but as a plot must march forth so must a writer and their muse. American Gods is a work of more than just observation, it’s a repetoire of the lore and theology that has contributed to the nation, it is a fly-on-the-wall of their society and a fly-in-your-face of American culture.

Neil Gaiman is revealed as more than fit for the immense task as he writes without a trace of Anglicism. There isn’t a sardonic viewpoint, atypical of the English writer, the writing is self-reflective to the point of being downright deceptively American.

From the moment that the novel begins, “Shadow had done three years in prison.”, you can tell this isn’t like any other fantasy book you have ever read, high or urban. You are told little about why he was incarcerated and lots about how he managed to get through it, as he is released he discovers his wife has just died and is soon approached by a mysterious man who offers him a job.

Alongside the main narrative are shorter tales about various deities and folklore creatures which have made their way to America, offering insight into the background and setting of American Gods. Old gods are brought to the continent by immigrants and colonists, creating a different version of the god for America, where in the modern day, they are struggling to be recognised and subsequently, survive with such dwindling beliefs.

The tone is rather melancholic, the characters and the environment are bleak and manage to sport a black comedy which is more at home in a less fantastical book. Some of the elements of the plot are rather twisted, enjoyably so, and others are almost romantic in content, although neither would be enough to sell the novel to someone on.

The wealth of knowledge and lore that is in the book is really what makes it stand out, where others make some half-arsed attempt at mythological elements, none are as successful or convincingly expressed as can be found in American Gods, whose own adventures make for a fitting addition to the current respective canons.

Slow-paced, there are times when the story decelerates to a crawl, allowing a little bit too much time to pore over niggling details, despite the novel wrapping up well, this pacing can still be a little dull at times.

American Gods is a beautifully presented fantasy novel which surpasses the ordinary expectations of its genre to become a modern fantasy epic for a more mature and discerning readership. The depth and scope are immense and has a gritty finish that leaves the patient reader wanting to see a little more of the astounding world of gods new and old in the land of the free.

American Gods

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

This long awaited crossover game, pits Level 5′s deferential archaeologist, Professor Layton and his apprentice Luke, against Capcom’s graceless attorney-at-law, Phoenix Wright and his assistant in a story that sees them attempting to solve the mysterious case of Labyrinthia. This game  has been out in Japan for well over a year, where it received some good reviews but lacklustre sales. After dipping their toe in the water, Capcom made the brave and best choice to dive in and release this in the west with a full retail release, unlike the previous Ace Attorney game which suffered ‘download-only’ status.

Contrary to Japan, Professor Layton is the more popular series in the west, enjoying high sales amongst gamers both casual and core and from a variety of backgrounds, making this title ideal for getting the west in the lesser known Ace Attorney series.

When a strange young girl arrives at Professor Layton’s office, claiming she is being chased by someone, Layton and Luke are soon wandering around London looking for clues, going straight into the action the mechanics are briefly and simply explained giving even the most clueless players no room for confusion or error.

Striding the line between a traditional point and click, with Ace Attorney style courtroom battles goes hand in hand, much like the Ace Attorney series does conventionally, the chapters are divided between the characters and the time spent on each case or section of the game is paced well, all being directly involved with the main plot of the game. The visuals are beautiful, both series look faithful, with Ace Attorney being a more old-school looking in its 3D incarnation than in Ace Attorney 5. The soundtrack contains some mixed up versions of both games backlog, with the most standout pieces being part of the original score, which feels grand and memorable.

The experience is great until the approach of the third act, where it turns into a bit of a slog. Gameplay goes out of the window and turns into a visual novel, complete with huge, lengthy dialogues which attempt to tie up plotpoints in order for the convoluted twist to make a little more sense; which in trying to be both Ace Attorney and Prof Layton-esque ends up as a semblance of neither, resulting in dull confusion.

Most of the time, I enjoyed what I was playing, simply seeing better attention to the plot (which was also handled by Shu Takumi who created Ace Attorney) was important after having played a somewhat lacklustre one in the Phoenix Wright series not too long ago,  but the attempt at making the story too epic seems to have undermined the core enjoyment one usually gets out of these games. It’s almost as though trying too hard to make the game good was its own condemnation, the story reaches a standstill, going on too long and too oddly for the bell to really chime at the end.

Unlike other tie-in style games, this is one which feels almost more lavish than main series entries for both franchises, and fans of either series will enjoy seeing the respective protagonists showing down in this fantastical setting,  but as a game by itself, it’s a bit of a mess, we’re unlikely to see more, which is a shame.

This is a game series which with more installments, had a high chance of getting the formula down, but as it is, I guess we can just marvel at young Phoenix and Layton having their spotlights nicked by one another.

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

All You Need is Kill

After announcing a film was being made with Tom Cruise as the main character, I became interested in finding out a little more about this ‘Light Novel’ which apparently was able to interest the doe-eyed folk in Hollywood, but not the pouncing directors of the animé world, for you see, All You Need is Kill is a Japanese novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, making the moving fairly unprecedented.

Concerning a future where starfish-type aliens are invading the planet, Keiji Kiriya is forced to relive the same day, the day of attack, again and again, each time with the slaughter of soldiers around him. In the same base camp, American soldier Rita is famed for her legendary prowess on the battlefield, dubbed the ‘Full metal Bitch’, she is a frequent in the relived days as a power-suit wearing hunter taking out swathes of enemy, or a discerning soldier back on base.

The novel mostly follows the main character as he tries to make sense of the re-occurences and endeavours to get better at fighting using the deaths as a way to learn. I suppose the best example without giving away lots of plot would be to liken it to Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers, with a bit of Source Code thrown in.

There was also a manga made, they made the starfish aliens look like this.[/caption]

There is little to speak of in terms of language, Japanese is a pretty butchered language once translated and holds little literary value afterwards, unlike Russian. There aren’t many themes in the book, unless you include the most obvious, loss, discovery, love even. The biggest and most laudable part is Rita, who doesn’t suck and isn’t a complete counter-stereotype.

Rita is terrific at fighting, she hasn’t got a ‘Fuck-You’ attitude, nor is she meant to be some kind of astounding beauty, that’s pretty cool right? Well on top of that she’s all broken and stuff just like a battle hardened soldier ought to be, she even follows the Mako Mori test, meaning she has her own story arc. The film comes out today in the United Kingdom which I will be watching soon, I highly doubt that in a film with Cruise, any exec is going to be willing to shaft him for an awesome female character like Rita.

As the novel progresses, the parameter of expectations for the novel widens, eventually turning into a full-fledged Sci-Fi novel instead of a themed action novel, the characters are stylistically 2 dimensional, almost pulpily so and the main character is interesting, even if he lacks depth. At times it can be difficult to distinguish character’s aims, but the writing style; procedural, opinionated, id-driven, is addictive and enjoyable.

Straight after reading, I had my doubts, I was a little put-off by a few facets of the book. In one sense I like how animal the book is, in another, it confirmed awkward  suspicions about the books motives in having such a prominent female character. I read this a couple of months ago, opportunism inspiring me to write this review, but since then, it has become more fondly remembered.

The plot, characters and writing style of the book surpass all expectations, transcending traditional Japanese animé roots and cementing itself as its own thing, overall, it is a good book, even if it plays out like lengthy Philip K. Dick short story. 

I hope it’s good?[/caption]

All You Need is Kill

Child of Light

It seems like this past year, developers are beginning to branch out and make different kinds of games, starting with the release of Demon’s Souls a few years ago, the western-inspired Dark Souls 2 and the Final Fantasy-esque South Park came out last month are signalling a change in the industry.

It is these changes that allowed the existence of Child of Light, a turn-based RPG from the creators of Farcry 3, inspired by Japanese RPGs and Studio Ghibli animation. A digital-only title, the game was released this month on all current consoles at a lower retail price of £15.00 and is only about 13 hours long offering an authentic gaming experience unlike most digital-only games which are over-priced in comparison.

In 19th C Austria, a duke’s young daughter dies from an illness, but is immediately reborn in the magical world of Lemuria, where she meets a small glowing light, a sprite named Igniculus who aids her, and discovers that in order to return home, she must defeat an evil witch who has been plaguing the land.

During the game, all dialogue is spoken in verse: mostly in the form of closed rhyming couplets, with slight deviations to the formula.

The battles are active time-based (ATB) and attacks are selected after the waiting time and executed during the charge time. If a character is attacked after they have selected their move, but before they have executed it, they are interrupted – the move is cancelled and they are pushed further back on the waiting bar, this can be done to both the enemies and your characters, so it makes for very dynamic gameplay.

Igniculus can also be used during battle, when hovering over a player character he heals their health or over an enemy he slows their ATB bar.

The level-up system shares characteristics with Ubisoft Montreal’s Farcry 3, a branching set of attributes and stat upgrades which are un-lockable using points gained through levelling. There are a number of paths so that there is some choice in what skills to pursue.

There are 3 equippable slots; Head, Armour & Accessory, crystals are used as the equipment and are gained as loot from battles. There is a crafting system with 3 slots which you can insert crystals and make higher ranking crystals from, either by mixing colours or by putting 3 of the same colour together. Depending on the colour and the slot that you equip it in, they have a range of effects including chance hits of paralysis on the enemy or a percentage reduction in elemental damage.

The presentation is of high quality and belies its presumed budgetary costs, the sprites are hand-drawn looking with smooth animations, and are styled in 2D, similar to paper cut-outs, except for some elements like Aurora’s hair, which swishes around 3-dimensionally.

The backgrounds are layered and moves when the camera pans and both inside and out of battle are side-scrolling screens, so that the battle system initially looks like an old Final Fantasy game.

The music is beautiful, with thematic melodies that echo in essence throughout and some orchestral sounds that give it a rich and solid sound. Choral sequences enter during boss battles making them feel grand and heroic, with quieter, violin pieces accompanying the world adventuring.

Although simplistic and easy to learn, the game offers a hidden depth when it comes to the battle system, the interferences one inflicts can allow lots of different tactics and methods for taking down an opponent. The range of spells and characters changes the pace of battles and suit all kinds of players. Enemies mix it up with counterattacks, activating on certain conditions, magic attacks, physical attacks, or even retaliating only when interrupted, these combinations of move-sets mean the player is often required to change techniques in order to defeat opponents.

I have heard the battle system is similar to Grandia, but a bit simpler, an indication of its JRPG roots.

Boss battles are fun and challenging, however sometimes spring up at unforeseen intervals meaning that lack of preparation can often be a cause for demise. Sporadic quests offer new characters, however I found the first addition to be the most effective. At times I found that I had gotten myself lost in the game, not knowing where to go or simply not being able to map segments in my head, however, continual exploration got me to grip with it, especially when doing a couple of the sidequests, which have you backtracking and fast-travelling in order to find oddities.The difficulty of the game ranges, at the beginning through to the middle, it is really easy and then gets to a more normal difficulty onwards, I turned up the difficulty throughout this time until around the middle, where I changed it to normal on the fly, which is a great choice to allow the player.

I never found that I had to try to level or round up loot, with tactics being the major factors in winning battles against bosses and enemies.

Although not  evoking that quintessential Japanese RPG experience that the game was hyped to, Child of Light breeds its own kind of adventure which is visually stunning and emotionally satisfying outside of the entertaining battle system.

The characters are charming, the poetic style of text and is fitting and untiring (despite the few comments I have seen mentioning otherwise) and the atmosphere is visionary and nostalgic in a way that isn’t replicating 8 or 16 bit art.

If there were any issues with this game, then it’d would be the sad knowledge that we’ll unlikely see anything else quite like this, from anyone else like this, any time soon. 

 

 

Child of Light

Waiting for Godalming

I’ve never spent so much time wondering if a writer is mad or not. Nor for that matter, the protagonist.

The fact that Psychological thrillers are one of my favourite genres of book, film, TV and videogames is what makes the former statement so frighteningly ironic. That a comedy fantasy novel could aspire to create such an enduring and perplexing doubt for the duration of it is somewhat of a mystery, when so many Fight Clubs fail to hit the desired mark.

Waiting for Godalming is a comedy fantasy novel about a seemingly bumbling, yet apparently the world’s best detective, Lazlo Woodbine, who, after God’s disappearance is tasked with finding him, by God’s wife, also active, is Icarus Smith, a lowly thief who justifies his activities in the belief that he is only ‘replacing’ items as according to a divine purpose which only he knows. After a rather unfortunate theft, Smith is hounded by an organisation known as the ‘Ministry of Serendipity’.

Written by Robert Rankin, Waiting for Godalming was published in 2000, and presumably due to his being British and having a sense of humour, appears to have been mostly marketed as appealing to Terry Pratchett fans, despite Rankin having been in the authoring business since before even the Discworld series was begun.

Unlike Pratchett however, Rankin’s humour is much more absurdist, surreal and metafictional, Lazlo Woodbine is depicted as a very unreliable narrator and often partakes in ridiculous rituals in order to adhere to being a ‘traditional 1950′s detective’, such as: only being present in 4 locations, (his detective office taking cases, in a bar talking toot, in an alleyway having a shootout or being on a rooftop showdown) using a Smith & Wesson and drinking only a certain brand of scotch.

The plot exists mostly as a means to deliver the humour as there are a lot of moments where the prose diverts attention quite wildly away from the situation or moving the story forward, in order to digress and speak of some witty whimsy. A novel such as this uses irony as a kind of badge of honour, where satire looks in and silliness looks back in a never-ending mirror of reflection, so you’re never quite sure if an event was meant to be taken seriously or not, yet the plot moves on.

I enjoyed the humour in the book, looking at other reviews, I have noticed that different readers, have not, after all the humour is rather unusual, so it might be said that the comedy is of a particular taste, not perhaps a refined or Wilde-ian, nor are laughs created of the belly-aching sort but instead induce a warm chuckley kind that one might outwardly describe as ‘hearty’.

There’s always a difficulty I find in reviewing books like this, to approach it in a serious tone sounds mocking and prudish, and to attempt to be humourous or light-hearted often results in catastrophic failure and one worries that any readers might confuse my poor sense of humour with the novel that I am banging on about. Please don’t.

Outside of comical elements, Waiting does a good show of de-constructing the detective fiction genre as well as other archetypes and cinematic tropes used in adventure/mystery films. There are some brilliant and attentive literary techniques used also, such as the end of a chapter or section following a character using a similar action or word as the beginning of the next chapter.

I have read a few fantasy comedy novels now, and I can easily say this is one of my favourites so far, gloriously told and a pleasure to read, I look forward to reading more by Rankin, or so my guardian Sprout, Barry, tells me.

PS – The banner image is from Alice on Mars, which has an Indiegogo going on for a film at the moment.

Waiting for Godalming