Resident Evil

             Even though RE is supposed to be about 10 hours long, I have a feeling it will take me a few weeks to get all of those in. I’m not sure what it is about this game but it is hard to get in a good long session. I know it isn’t the graphics because they are a significant step up from the original. And it is not the controls because I’m not using the tank controls. It just might be the atmosphere of the game. There is a constant dread I feel while playing, and that is not a bad thing. This is a survival horror. It is supposed to keep me at the edge of my seat and it does it really well. The only thing is, being constantly on edge is exhausting. Right now it is manageable for me in small doses, but not a marathon session. Maybe pandemic isn’t a great time to be going all in Resident Evil series. About an hour is the most I can take. And I don’t think I will be playing it during the week, being tired from work.

              While playing today, I went up against a giant snake named Yawn. While fighting it I ran away like a true coward. While I was away, I heard my partner scream. I came back to see both, my partner and Yawn were gone. My partner was supposed to die here anyway, but he was going to leave me his shotgun. When I ran away, Yawn ate him with the shotgun.

               I think I’m a third of the way through Jill’s playthrough. Once I’m done I will have to seriously consider if I have a Chris run in me. I don’t think there is enough difference between the two characters to merit another playthrough.

5/3/20

              After a long hiatus, I return to Resident Evil. At this point I want to quickly get through it so I can start the RE 2 Remake. I had been gone for so long, I can’t remember where I left off. Took me a while to get my bearing . I had forgotten how jarring the sudden changes in the camera angles can get. Even the controls are starting to bother me. Movement gets thrown off completely when the camera angles change. It is pretty clear, the game was designed to have the up button be the move forward button. Even though directional movement is implemented now, game has a hard time keeping it straight once the angle changes. For example, Jill can be heading toward the camera (player is holding the stick down). Once you progress far enough, the angle changes and camera is now behind Jill. If you keep holding the stick down Jill will keep going up. But if you let go and then hold down, she will start going in the opposite direction. This gets frustrating quickly.

              When I turned the game back on Jill had a metal tablet and a red zombie chewing her ass out. After getting rid of the zombie, I went around for a while trying to figure out where to put the tablet. With a little help from YouTube I finally got to the place I was supposed to go. Here Jill got molested by a rabid dog until she could shoot him down and headed into a toolshed. On the way there, she did find a magnum. This will definitely come in handy.

              The atmosphere of this game never ceases to creep me out. The player is always tense about something popping up from somewhere just off the screen. The fixed angles, I had been bitching about few minutes ago, really ratchet the tension up. They take away the control from the player. There is a sense of helplessness that can only come from taking away the control of what the player can or can not look at. I find the journey from one typewriter to the next to be so draining that I need a break each time I reach the save point. As I have said before, this is not detrimental to the game. This is exactly what the intentions of the game makers were. It is quite extraordinary they original intent carried over so well in the remake. This is definitely not a given. You only have to look at Silent Hill series to see how completely a jump to the next gen system can backfire for the horror survival games.

              The immersion Resident Evil creates by forcing the player to be vulnerable has been a remarkable consistent part of the series. When the series went more action in RE 5 and 6 were panned for losing the horror aspect. 7 was hailed as a return to roots. Now the new RE:2 has been universally critically acclaimed. I cannot wait to finish this one and move on to the Remake.

6/4/20

Persona 5 - Here We Go Again!

Started the New Game Plus right after the end credits ended. Overall this is definitely one of the best game I have played this year (which is not saying much since I have only played from games this year). One disappointing discovery I had is that character levels and the items from the previous runs don’t carry over. Even though it makes sense to not start with everything and at high levels, but I did feel a little bummed out I had to grind again for the levels. The good news is the weapons carry over and there is no level requirement for weapons so characters still become over powered to some degree. I think the items that maxed out confidants give are also carried over.

As I start, the end game weapons make my physical attacks really good (pretty much good enough for everything in the first Palace. The Demon compendium also carries over and so does the money. So I summoned so nifty shadows with useful spells. There is really no incentive to be playing at harder difficulties so I’m not going to be doing that anyway. I am really glad Atlus understands there is no point in setting an achievement for high difficulty. Let the people play the way they want to. I usually don’t have enough time to be banging my head against a difficulty spike just to see the rest of the content.

I had forgotten how gross Kamoshida is. He is a sex pest as well as a violent student beater. To keep with the portrayal his persona inside his own cancel is revolting as well. He wears a regal cape and crown, and nothing other than a speedo. Final boss transformation still manages to make him look even more gross. The long slimy tongue and attacks with names like lustful eyes. The palace is full of statues of naked or semi-naked students in sexual poses.

The game is definitely meant to be played more than once. All the content does not open until we get to the NG+ mode. With a hard time limit to finish each run of the game it is also not possible to do everything within one run. So everything that carries over allows the player to do more. For example, if all the social skills were maxed out in the last run, I don’t have to do them again. Which means I don’t have to grind by going to the bathhouse or keep going to my part time jobs. This allows me to focus on Confidants and making coffee. Coffee is important because it allows me to refill my SP while in the dungeon so I can use up the least amount of days to finish each palace.

Having the knowledge of late game story gives more perspective to the player about the conversation snippets too. Sojiro’s character is definitely more sympathetic now that I know more about what is going on in his life at this time. He is cranky because he is worried about Futaba’s future. He is probably talking to Futaba about getting home instead of getting into somebody’s bed.

All the money that carried over helped once I got to Shibuya. I basically bought out all the shops over there and still have half of the money left over. I’ve been buying all the drinks from the vending machines because there is a trophy for that.

The themes in the game and the problem it chooses to highlight are relevant to the current cultural climate. The movement towards fixing the society is not something I see commonly in JRPGs. Off the top of my head, the last game I remember to have done that was Final Fantasy VII and its treatment of climate change. There was also Xenosaga with philosophy heavy story and themes. But the gameplay was not fun and nobody played it. So it never finished telling the story it wanted to. I remember buying the first and never finished it. Then never bough the next one. So far everything looks immensely replayable in Persona 5.

It starts right in the middle of the action. The Hero is running through a casino. This is a tutorial section. Turn based fighting and the stealth actions are taught here. Stylish is going to be the keyword going forward. Everything just pops off the screen and music gets your blood pumping. The Hero makes the jump out of the Casino. Annnnd, there is police all over the place. Beaten and arrested, he is taken in custody for interrogation. The young public prosecutor shows up to ask him what he has been doing. It is time to settle down and listen to the story.

Hero tried to save a woman from being sexually assaulted. As no good deed goes unpunished, he was accused of assault by the actual assaulter. And the victim testified against him. So Hero is now a disgrace with criminal record. This is apparently too much for his parent and the tell him 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air'. Well no, not entirely. He is moving to Tokyo to go to a different school while on probation, and has to live with a stranger who is being paid to keep him there.

04-26-2020

Animal Crossing

            The new Animal Crossing has become one of the highest selling games on Switch. It has overtaken Pokemon and Mario Odyssey. Traditionally Animal Crossing is not one of major seller. It probably benefits from the current world climate. With the pandemic in full swing a whole lot of people are sitting at home and yearning for the time when they were allowed to go outside and socialize.

            The game forces a schedule on the player. You have to log on every day and run through a list of chores. For those who are stuck at home without work, the game brings a welcoming familiarity. Player and also go visit the towns of friends. In this time of social distancing, people are not going to visit friends in real life. These virtual visits will have to do for now. Animal Crossing is providing some semblance of normalcy to all those who are shuttered in.

            With the extra time so many find themselves having, people are also trying out games they may not have tried ordinarily. I wonder what the retention rate for these games be once everyone returns to work. It will also be interesting to see what the rates for similar games such as Stardew Valley.

            I have played the 3DS version, The New Leaf, before but not the original on Gamecube. I remember when the original one was launched. There was a strong hype about the game world continuing on even when you were not logged in. It ended up being a casualty of Gamecube failure. Even though New Leaf was enjoyable in short bursts, there wasn’t much to do in it. There is only so many times you can shake trees for money before it gets tedious. The strongest aspect of the game is visiting other towns, which I could not do because there was no one else around me playing this game.

            I am getting on the AC train at the first stop this time so hopefully this time around I will have a much more fulfilling experience. Already convinced at least one other person to buy it.  

04-25-2020

Resident Evil - Getting Started

            A few days ago (maybe a few month ago) I noticed I have almost all the Resident Evil games. And of all of those I have played only the worst one. That is when I decided to play all the main line ones in order. Having played RE:0 last year and RE 3: Remake (the only one I’m missing) launching this month I decided to get on with it.

            With voluntary isolation in effect due to constant exposure to corona virus, I am virtually limited to my room. This has translated in over 80 hours in a game I had been planning to play for the most part of next two years.

Over the weekend I watched the opening scenes of the game and chose to start Resident Evil with Chris Redfield. Then I promptly turned off the game and checked BeforeIPlay to find out that was the wrong decision. Today I started again with Jill Valentine. I have the remastered version for Xbox. It has widescreen support and alternate control scheme. I’m glad I don’t have to work with the tank controls. The graphics are pretty sharp and impressive. Definitely not the same ones from Playstation.

            I found the typewriter and saved. Within minutes I was running around in the mansion. Took out a few zombies too. Soon it was time for that once iconic scene I have heard so much about. I am sad to report, “Master of unlocking…” is no longer exists in the remake. After running around in the mansion for some more time I realized most of the locks can be unlocked by Jill with the lock pick she has. She is the master of unlocking whether the game admits it or not. Once a moving statue with a fan killed Jill, I called it a day.

04-13-2020

            Having spent a little over an hour in RE, I am impressed with the graphics. The game looks gorgeous and creepy at the same time. Sound design is also on point. The music, creaking, and other random sounds create the atmosphere of dread. It always feels like there is a zombie just around the corner. First few days I played while listening to the podcasts. Today I decided against it. I thin I passed the windows where the dog will jump through in the future. I am looking forward to that jump scare. The more I play this game, the more I get the urge to track down the PS1 version to compare it to. It is the thought of dealing with tank controls that keeps me from looking for a rom.

            Inventory space is limited. After searching through all the menus for the drop option, I gave up. It turns out that was a new feature in the Resident Evil 0, and not a very popular one at that. In this game, the only way to free up the space without using the item is to put them in the special boxes. They are usually located in the same room as the typewriter. I vaguely remember something similar in the N64 version of the RE2. You can put the items in the box and all of them are connected. Can’t wait to find one of these boxes and drop some the items in there.

04-15-2020

Persona 5 -Generalities

              I have logged over one hundred hours in this game and I still don’t know how long I have left in this game. I’m in the depths of Mementos and I think there are at least two more bosses left. A day ago I put in at least two hours without making any headway. Today I switched my strategy  and instead of trying to beat the shadows, I have started asking them for money. Just like real life, everyone of them runs away when asked for monetary help.

              Be that as it may, I still have not seen the ending. There are some thoughts I’ve had while playing. Most of the themes of the game are pretty woke. The villains are almost always people who use their influence and power to further their corrupt goals. The palace bosses include a gym teacher, art teacher, mafia boss, corporate CEO, and a politician. The CEO runs a fast food company, popular among the youth, as ruthlessly as possible to increase his profit margins. In his eyes, the workers aren’t people but robots who are to be used and discarded. He also has political ambitions, and for those he is not above pimping out his daughter.

              The politician is running to take over the country ‘to right the ship’ and set a better course. Ends justify the means for him. He thoroughly corrupts every aspect of the society to climb the political ladder. There is one other boss who is handled differently by the narrative of the game. She is not beaten but does end up joining our heroes. This is the public prosecutor who has lost sight of justice in pursuit of her ambitions. She is not beyond redemption (in fact she is the only boss to be redeemed in the game). As she learns the errors of her ways, he comes around and decides to help bring down the greater evil.

Then there are minor characters such as the parents who look the other way when faced while the coach abuses and molests their children. It reminded me of Sandusky and Jim ‘Gym Shorts” Jordan. There is a principal who coerces a model student into carrying out an investigation which she neither qualified nor comfortable conducting just to secure his position with the politician. There is the lecherous son of influential politician who is a pedophile and a rapist. There is an uncle who only wants custody of her neuro atypical daughter just to make a buck. There’s a doctor who  destroys the career of another doctor and jeopardizes the lives of patients in a fit of jealousy. A newspaper editor who shuts down a journalist to protect criminals.

Common theme with all of these characters is manipulation of youth. All these people are parasites who are sucking the life out of the youth to make themselves more successful. This seems to be a common theme in Japan, and I have long wondered why that is so. It can be seen in anime, movies, like Battle Royale, and also in TV shows such as Great Teacher Onizuka.

Is it from the stress of competition? Is it due to the aging population and the resentment the younger generations feel towards the? Does it come from economic inequality? I’m not really sure.

The one thing I’m sure of is I will be playing through Persona 5 again. There are new themes and more characters to discover here, and I can not wait to get back into it.

04-23-20202

After spending a little over one hundred and six hours I have finally finished Persona 5. There isn’t much I can thin of saying at the moment.

              The final boss was hard as nails. The battle was long, tedious, and a little unfair. The end game had one more subversion to dole out. The god here was the destroyer and demon was the savior. This is in line with the theme of the heroes. They are all outcasts who are out to save the society from those who are supposed to be the paragons protecting the society.

              The Hero gets to say good bye to everyone who maxed out the confidant level, which adds another incentive to max out all the possible confidants.

              If there is any game I would have a chance to get platinum in, Persona 5 would be it.

4-26-2020