Sometimes, Overthinking Isn’t Good For Gaming. On The Other Hand…

Hmmm….

So, Xenoblade Chronicles’ main character can see into the future AND the game allows players to advance or dial back the game clock at will (well, outside of combat) in order to make some quest solving easier and battle different monsters at different times of the day.

That’s fantastic, but there’s a problem here. Somehow, Monolith Soft didn’t blend these two points together so that the time winding actually affected the story at all (even though it should). This bugs me quite a bit, as the game is indeed excellent. However, by not using the time element in a better fashion, it just makes for a clumsy gimmick that’s only used to save time in finding wandering NPC’s or monsters. Oops.

Slow Day? Not Really.

Yeah, yeah – I’m behind in posting, but I’ve been running about tackling a few projects, seeing some great games (put Bethesda’s amazing Dishonored on your radar NOW. Arkane Studios is going to surprise the hell out of a lot of people is all I’ll say).

It’s ALSO hot as hell outside and it’s only April. Methinks summer will be a total roaster, but the folks who think climate change is a hoax are still going along with their own versions of things. Let them burn up first, I say. I’m staying inside with a bucket of ice, a lot of water and too many games…

Steel Battalion Captivate 2012 Footage: Time To Get Kinected, I Suppose.

 

Hmmm. Not only does it look as if I’ll be hopping on the Kinect bandwagon for this game (OK, and the new Fable and maybe some other stuff that doesn’t involve dancing around in front of the TV), I’ll also have to do a Game Appreciation 101 class on artistic stylization choices made by game developers, as way too many people don’t “get” that the game is SUPPOSED to look a bit rustic and aged and not all Unreal-y and shiny up the wazoo. It’s amazing to me that those who don’t get this, but hey… I guess here to educate and it’s a long, hard process for sure. Don’t worry, Capcom and From – I got your back.