From Final Fantasy to Pokemon

A game that takes a decidedly different approach to its franchise and a game that doesn't stray very far at all from the formula. The firestorm of a debate that was created in FFXIII's wake was simply astounding and created a lot of genuinely important discussion when it came to Western and Japanese game design. It really opened my eyes as to just how different us bumbling Americans are from the Japanese forefathers of gaming.

I find it interesting that both games are of established franchises with enormous expectations set upon them and yet the initial response to both is essentially two sides of a coin. FFXIII has divided players on their opinion while Soulsilver and Heartgold has begrudgingly united people. I wanted to run through the differences and similarities between these two rpgs and see if there's anything that can be distinguished from the two.

Two men, one tournament, and a pile driver

The light of fifty arcade screens brings a dim low light setting as the sound of a heavy metal causes my head to pulsate in pain. The noise of one hundred different sounds from gun shots to techno beats to grunting and death throes permeates the stagnant air. Time has no place in this reality as the lights and sounds remain constant even as the sun rises to high noon and sets to dawn.

 Spend an hour or two here and you lose track of what the outside world looks like.

A Tale of Two Sheperds

Mass Effect 2 really is something else. If you look at the story from across the room, it looks fairly linear if not excitingly grand. An old race of sentient machines are bent on repeating an age old cycle of leaving behind advanced technology only to destroy the civilizations who benefit from it. Commander Sheperd is a man of remarkable achievement in his military who finds himself the only one capable of stopping them.

When you take a closer look though, the story can vary greatly depending on who you talk to, offering a very different image of Commander Sheperd and his beliefs.

Just who is your Commander Sheperd?

Brawl, stop diluting my genre

Smash Brothers Brawl, the hundred pound gorilla is just everyone's favorite, isn't it?

The other day, I walk into a classroom to join my friends in some video games. Of course, Smash Brothers Brawl is on the screen right now and I see four excited/dumbfounded/pained expressions looking at a projected screen as four mascot characters from the Nintendo franchise beat the living snot out of each on board a spaceship every which way. I can sense a feeling of controlled chaos as the players know what they're doing yet don't know what will happen next considering it is a four person free for all with no allegiances. Projectiles are thrown, bodies are ringed out, and special attacks are executed. But after a few more games of this, I want to play Tatsunoko vs.Capcom. I'd just gotten off class after all and I wanted to play this new game starring the most obscure characters from the Capcom video game franchise and the Tatsunoko anime production company.

As soon as we start on that, all I can feel is confusion.

A comparison between Jack and Subject Delta [Bioshock]

Anybody who plays Bioshock does so for the narrative. Yes, Bioshock 2 made the combat and controls much better in comparison to the first one. But when they first announced it, the gut reaction was pretty much, "What do you mean? The story ended so well in Bioshock 1." Everyone cared about the story and combat was at least secondary to this.

Compare the protagonists Jack from Bioshock 1 and Subject Delta from Bioshock 2. Both are completely different but their role in the story is integral. People thought Bioshock 2 would be lacking a good story at first and people even contend that there are gaping flaws in it, but I don't think so. Actually, I like Delta much more then Jack, and this can be crucial since we're playing a first-person shooter game. Since you essentially play from their view and can see their hands and legs, how you relate to your medium in the story is just as important as how good the actual story is. So consider why Bioshock 2 is just as good as Bioshock 1, if not better, because of Subject Delta.

Warning: In order to go in depth with this analysis, some amount of spoilers is necessary. Stop reading now if you don't want to spoil the story of either game. Especially considering that I've already established that Bioshock hinges on the story.