What's the deal with menu screens?

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Oh, is he going to write an entire blog just talking about Main menus? Yes, yes I am; because the art of the menu screen goes so often unsung and unloved in the grand tapestry of game creation. I mean, who even stops to think about what the menu that stands between you and the gameplay actually looks and feels like? Despite the fact it is most usually the first thing that you'll see everytime you load the game and it should be the last thing too, but I'm pretty sure there's not a living person on this planet that doesn't skip past the 'exit to menu' option whenever they're playing a game. When I want out, I'm getting out; ain't nobody getting in the way of me and the desktop! Oh, and I'm talking pure visuals here; not about the options provided within those menus. As cool as being able to edit all the graphical options I want is; I don't care that much.

I've actually had this topic bouncing around in my head ever since I played Prototype 2 back in the day. For anyone who has played that game, they'll probably know exactly why that game's menu stood out to me. The menu is actually very simple the first time you log in, just your bare basic options; it in the proceeding visits where the menu gets interesting. Whenever you log into the game the next time around, the background of the menu screen will be a shot of the ambient world going about relative to where you last were when you logged out. Which could mean you'll see citizens going about their day in the non-violent city, or maybe a war between infected monsters and military helicopters firing rockets in the war-torn part of the city, depending on where you quite out last time. The really interesting part, however, comes when you press 'continue'. Then that very same scene in the background pans back a little to reveal the player character, waiting there, and the game immediately starts. That's right, the menu screen loads you into the gameplay before you've even started; how cool is that? That always stuck with me and I think back about it's wizardry all these years later, even if my tastes in cool visuals and presentation have 'matured' in the time since.

On it's face, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has a very straightforward, if intensely atmospheric and cinematic, main menu. It's just Geralt of Rivia meditating in a field during the events directly before the game picks off, about to mount the search for Yennefer. It's direct, it bring you into the moment and world immediately and it allows us to see CDPR's lovingly rendered Geralt model, which deserves showing off. But when you get the DLC, the menu changes accordingly. Hearts of Stone has Geralt meditating just outside the grounds of the Von Everec estate, a location intensely linked to the narrative of that expansion. But my favourite, Blood and Wine, has Geralt meditating on the outskirts of Toussaint outside of a dilapidated farm-house within which a shadow of a woman can be seen fleeting in and out of view, softly singing 'Lullaby of woes'. A reference to the best Witcher 3 advertisement featuring the very same concept; hauntingly marvellous and memorable.

For such an evocative franchise, the various games of FromSoftware's Souls series menus are surprisingly tame and to-the-point. Typically they're formatted exactly the same to one another, with Bloodborne perhaps being the loudest, featuring the visage of 'The Hunter' in it's background. What I think stands out as memorable for the Souls games is actually the use of music employed in their, otherwise stark, menu displays. Any familiarity with the franchise will impart that music has something of an important storytelling role in this franchise, and the creators grew more synergistic with their music as another arm of the narrative as their craft evolved. Still, Dark Souls 1's main menu theme is perhaps my favourite in it's iconic peacefulness. Utilising everything from harmonising choirs to ringing bells and harps, it sounds like the relief-stricken notes you'd expect from Resident Evil's safe zones. It's almost deceptively peaceful given the relentless nature of the game it vanguards, but this is intentionally so as it represents the peace before the storm of enduring the depressive and decomposing world of Dark Souls once again. 

Spec Ops The Line is a famous example from a game that I haven't played myself, but have heard more than enough about over the years. The way that Spec Ops' menu works is simple, you'll overlook a sniper perched over the desert tomb of the game's setting and he'll be your stop-in point throughout the process of the game. As you return the Sniper will change his routine, maybe he'll go back in for the night, or take out his binoculars to go sight-seeing during the day, but you'll remain at the same vantage looking over the same land everytime you log in. Later on in the game you'll see the towers in the background start to catch aflame, matching the progression of the story and then, suddenly, you'll find the sniper's dead body being picked on by crows. The final shot is a washed out scene of the same perch, a fallen and tattered American flag and the desiccated husks of skyscrapers behind that. A mirror to the moral and emotional degradation of the game behind the menu screen.

Going back to something a bit more simple, the Main Menu for Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater is actually very straightforward but oddly featured, in a manner fitting Kojima's design style. On it's face it's just a silhouette of Naked Snake performing one of signature CQC takedown throwns on an enemy solider in slow motion as a camo print rolls like a filter over the scene. But for some utterly inane reason, the analog sticks on your controller can be fiddled around with in order to change the colour of the camo pattern or the type of camo being scrolled. It's an utterly bizarre functionality that absolutely didn't need to be considered and ultimately adds nothing to the core game itself, but that's just the way that the big man makes his games. He and his team pursue any odd fancy they think of and if they can make it, it typically stays in the final product! 

And finally, the game which made me revisit this idea I had so very long ago; there is the Persona 5 menu screen. (Yes, I've finally gotten my hands on the game after falling for it seven years ago. Thank you ATLUS for torturing me.) For a game dripping in style and passion, it only makes sense for the menu screen to be slick and jazzy, and of course it absolutely is. We see the Phantom Thieves dotted around the streets of Tokyo in their three-scale white, red and black colour schemes, all posing like this is a Jojo poster. As you flitter between options, you'll dart around to different perch's across the city square and the Thieves will relocate appropriately. It's dynamic as well, meaning that whichever option you approach a certain option from (above or below) the animation of the Thieves relocating dynamically changes; a simple switch of shoulder will become a full cartwheel. Now that is the definition of putting way too much effort into a aesthetic, but I love the overachieving all the same.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with going the bare basic route for a menu screen that really effects nothing of the game's overall experience; but at the same time, wouldn't you want to go that extra step to put the most amount of effort in everything you can? With all the work that goes into nailing the intricacies of gameplay design and visual flair, what's wrong with doing something a bit more interesting and pretty with your menu designs? Even if it's ultimately insignificant, people do come away thinking about the menus whether they expect to or not; and I consider menu reveals for new games to be their own kind of special. Isn't it that last special mark of a masterpiece to ensure that every last inch of the product sparkles to it's utmost? At least that's the way I look at menus, don't know how you see it...

Persona 5 Royal is coming to PC? Is this real...

This week is going to give me heart attack if all these cool rumours don't stop coming!

Hmm, what's that? Sorry, I'm so used to being completely ignored and forgotten in the things that I beg for so even so much as hearing rumours of this has been enough to strike me blind, dumb and illiterate. There's simply no way that this is finally happening after years of begging from my end and just about every other hardcore JRPG fan out in the world today, as such I can only assume this is a cruel joke and/or misfiling that'll soon be cleared up. But man, the evidence sure is piling up on the positive end. I'm going to cut straight to the point today because I need to- Persona 5 Royal was just rated on Korean ratings Boards for release on Microsoft platforms. That would include Xbox, which would make that platform one step closer to being great, and much more importantly Microsoft Windows, The PC! Finally, are we going to get the game we've been begging for since the birth of Internet fan boying? Is the modern Persona journey finally going to be completed and, most importantly of all, will I stop haranguing ATLUS once this game comes out? Of course not, to that last one, then the begging moves onto a Persona 3 Remaster. Then... Persona Q, I guess? (By 2025 I'm going to be on the Persona 6 train, don't you worry.)

So what does this actually mean then? Well it means that one of the biggest sleeper hit Japanese JPRGs is finally going to be hitting the platform best for RPGs; PC. Now I've said this before but let me clarify what I mean; Role playing games tend to be extremely involved experiences that consume and spit out your free time before you have time to even process it. They don't like you to split your attention most of the time, they want you dedicated for hours at a time, and they'll tax your problem solving in the harshest of cases. Having them be on consoles sort of makes sense to this end, though I feel the PC audience, as a stereotype, are going to be more attuned to sitting down and working out stat values or reading a 50 minute long dialogue where the protagonist contributes to the conversations merely with variations of "But what do you mean?" as the villain reiterates forever. ('Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty' PC port when?) What that description absolutely precludes is handheld gaming, which is typically designed for quick bursts and 'whilst your doing something else moments'. And yet Shin Megami Tensi III (The parent series for Persona) got a Switch release. (huh.)

But I'm breaking things down for the choir, it would seem, because Persona 5: Royal could very well be less than a few days away and I'm honestly hyperventilating at the possibility. I remember when a similar Playstation-only holdout game finally made it's way to a new platform in 'Crash Bandicoot: The 'Nsane Trilogy'. Those games were Playstation exclusives, and classics, back in the day but when they were remastered it seemed almost silly to keep that classic away from the wider gaming world, and yet that's still what they did. Playstation exclusive, even for remasters. No one could have expected that holding pattern to change until, just like today, a leak came out which revealed a rating board's assessment for an Xbox version and before you knew it we were looking at Crash on the Xbox and PC. Of course, the PC version still isn't available on Steam and would have to be bought through the Microsoft store, but that's progress on Sony's part.

If I'm going to complain everytime that Sony hoards an exclusive game for themselves for a ridiculous amount of time, it's only fair that I praise them to for finally relenting. For clarification, I don't mind Sony turning around and publishing or acquiring an exclusive game every now and then, it's the way that things work in this business and they're just playing the game as it was laid out for them before they ever even joined the industry. But I don't think there's any real excuse for keeping a game as a Console exclusive indefinitely. It's asinine. We're in too big of a gaming world now, too many potential hands want to play the game and if it's exclusivity isn't lifted within a year it just makes it feel like you're trying to hold people hostage from the developers they want to support, and at that point you're just leeching off of dev's work. (Okay, first party published games can probably be justified as exclusive for multiple years; but they have to come to everyone else eventually.) Supporters like to bring up parallels with the TV streaming world, but to be clear there lies no real comparison outside of gaming for this set-up; it's a unique problem to us. No other movie or TV show requires you to shell out £500 for hardware.

I'm glad to say that's an argument that doesn't need to be had anymore, because I'm certain Persona 5 is on the way. Even aside from the smoking gun I just mentioned, there's also the fact that Persona 5 was recently spotted on the Xbox game store before being pulled down, which on it's own might have just been a false report lacking a screengrab as evidence, but in tandem with what we know might as well be explicit confirmation. It also lines up with the way that ATLUS handled this with 'Persona 4 Golden', in which they announced the game's PC port and dropped it the very same day, something which took a whole lot of behind-the-scenes shaking hands to line up in order to master. It's lining up again, once more on E3 day, and I couldn't be happier for this 'surprise drop' that everyone is anticipating with bated breath.

Speaking of Persona 4 Golden, there's a game that I haven't spoken all that much about since I first picked it up on this blog, and you might be wondering why that is. Not too long after the initial purchase I posted a blog gushing about how I'd fallen for the game, but I didn't do a follow up review. Well the reason is because even now I'm still not finished with the game, and my love hasn't abated at all, it's just grown personal. It almost feels odd to share my journey through Persona 4 Golden given that so much of it isn't really about big set-piece moments, but more about how the day-to-day shapes us and how our relationships blossom. If I were to write another blog talking about Persona 4, it would literally have been going over everything I'd already covered but reiterating how this doesn't feel repetitive but gloriously natural and finely crafted. I'd be praising writing and pacing, which I've already done, and I think a Persona 4 return blog is only really justified once I'm going for a review; which at this rate is going to be getting penned after 5 is in my hands. (And I have no problem with that whatsoever.)

I'm mentioned it before, but Persona 5's gang of misfit cat burglars stole my heart years ago with that initial reveal trailer. Having never played or even heard of Persona before that day, watching that trailer was like an awakening to me for how fun and exciting it all looked, even when there wasn't any actual gameplay footage. From that point I avariciously devoured everything I could about the game until the heart breaking realisation that this was going to be a Playstation exclusive, after which I grumbled and tried to forget about a game which had swooped me up so effortlessly. Because that's pretty much how such things work on me, I don't rush out to sell a kidney so that I can afford the new console, I swallow the heartache. (Does exclusivity really drive up sales that much?) Coming around to the game is like filling a long-gouged void in my stomach, and I'm relieved to be granted such a reprieve.

Though as I've mentioned this doesn't mean that the struggle is over. There's plenty of titles being unfairly held hostage over on their consoles by the respective platform owner and it's becoming a thorn to have to deal with. At least with the various store exclusivities on the PC there isn't a stupid hardware cost you have to cover, it's merely a bad look, with consoles it's a real problem. What's more, this really does seem to be the direction that Sony is leading the industry and Microsoft seems eager to follow suit. What a stupid clash of dumb titans that us consumers really shouldn't have to pay the price for, but such is the consequence when the money men take the reins. But I refuse to end this on a sour note, rejoice around the land for the liberation of a brilliant RPG and let me know any exclusives you're hoping will soon join the lands of the free. (FF7R- fingers crossed!)

Persona come back

 Patience isn't my strong suit

Okay, so I inherently know that I'm going to sound a little whiney saying this; but when's the next game, ATLUS? I'm dying out here! Recently you may have remembered that long tradition broke when ATLUS, kings upon kings, decided to do the unthinkable and put a JPRG on computer. (What madness it this!) Yes, a game genre that typically demand hours of one's time pouring over incremental stat increases, strategizing over exact move orderings and combos, all whilst juggling packs worth of regenerative items. Why should that experience ever make it the PC? Of course, I'm being an ass; JRPGs were made for the PC audience and it's crazy to think how long it's taken things to actually catch on. When Persona 4 Golden finally made the jump, however, there was none of that early stigma of 'Will this work out', 'ain't this more of a Playstation thing', it was all just "Please god, let me have Persona I've waited for so very long." (Or at least that was me, I imagine others were a bit more muted.)

And it worked out! Heck, I couldn't have made Persona 4's PC launch a success on my lonesome, so that's proof there's an audience on PC that's dying to have more of this world! Just recently it was surmised that Persona 4 was one of the top games of the year to be played on Steam with a controller, which seems a little odd given that it is a turnbased game, but I was actually one of that number so I guess I can't really talk, can I? So we're talking about a game that smashed sales, challenged some records, and had folk literally begging for more. So are we actually getting that more? I feel like this is something that we need to know because... well... I hate this annoying limbo of never knowing enough! Capcom are kind enough to let us know what we can expect out of Yakuza's PC ports, and that's ten times more kind to us than letting fans longue around all year and wither. I remember several times seeing that glimmer of home in a trailer and jerking upright, only to see that it's just Persona Strikers, or an AFK arena crossover. (AFK Arena? Seriously!)

I suppose the reason this really digs at me goes back to the very first moment I heard of Persona, because I can actually pinpoint that. It was during the lead-up to 'Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain', and I had been scouring Youtube for videos in any language that would tell me more about the game. Now I cannot say if watching all those Japanese videos had a hand in influencing my slice of the recommendation algorithm, but that certainly doesn't seem completely out the realms of possibility, does it? Either way, I found myself with the announcement trailer for Persona 5 in my feed and just ended up clicking on it. I kid you not, by the end of that trailer alone I was sold. It looked vibrant, exciting, kinda crazy, brimming with personality and just a hint of these great anime cutscenes; I was hooked. From that moment I've been constantly looking for a way to get my hands on the game, but it's always been just out of my reach. First it was because the game was destined to be a Playstation exclusive, and then because- no wait, every bit of my waiting has been because this game is a Playstation exclusive. Damn it Sony, why won't you share the love?

Now don't get me wrong, I understand why the Xbox hasn't exactly seen it's share of Japanese titles. Sony is a Japanese company with ties to all studios from that side of the world, so when it comes to exclusivity talks you can't really blame these devs for going with what they know. But what's the excuse for PC? Ya'll making these games on personal computers, are you not? Why can't they be for them? Yes, I'm getting to the point where my arguments are as simple as that, because do they really need to be any more complicated? How often is it necessary for a game to be made for consoles and then ported to PC; does that ever make more sense than the inverse? I doubt it. And if Sony are worried about losing market ground, that's fine, but what the heck do PC players have to do with that argument; we don't care about this whole 'company loyalty' nonsense, we just want to buy the games! Let us buy the games, Sony, you avaricious gold-hoarding flying lizards. (Yes, this rant is slightly inflamed by Final Fantasy XVI too, can you blame me?)

So why am I writing this blog? Because now that I've actually had the chance to sit down and play the heck out of Persona 4, I'm hopelessly in love with this franchise. I mean, head over heels, can't live without it, need more in my system, addicted to the thrill, lost in the beat, addicted to the pain, insert analogy here, kind of fascination with these games, and I need more. Seriously, I've played a great many RPGs in my time of all different shapes and sizes, including a recent spat of old school western isometric-style games, and I've never seen one that so frankly nails the juggling of life and combat. Even fully blown open world RPGs like Skyrim and Fallout, that literally make you play ever waking second of your character's life, don't make me feel like I've inhabited the mundanity and humanity of the character in question. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say, I feel less an avatar in a new world and more a person from that world in Persona.

Yes, I know it sounds weird to say; but I adore all of those times when I'm just interacting with the inhabitants of the game world and getting to know the regulars and finding out what makes everyone tick. It's a perfectly natural way of establishing personal attachment to the personalities of the game world and I haven't seen anyone pull it off as neatly as the Persona franchise does. Which isn't to say the combat isn't great, because the very act of getting to know people actually contributes, even in those little ways, to the combat experience, and that's another layer of ingenuity in the formula. I knew from the start that Persona would be a game right up my alley, but I had no idea how much it would end up rubbing off on me and now I need my next fix, gosh darn it! When are ATLUS going to get to it?

Right now I'm at an impasse; I've reached the point where I want to experience the whole series, from the beginning if I have to. (Well, maybe not 1 and 2, I don't know what they're like, but certainly 3 onwards.) And this isn't a case of wanting to see the whole story, like many other Japanese RPG titles each entry is independent of the last one, I just love the premise so much that I want to experience it as much as possible. It's the same sort of addiction that struck the world after Metroidvania became a thing, or Souls-likes, I'm not calling Persona's playstyle it's own genre by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm hooked to them as though it were. I'm sure that a few years down the line I'll be picking two-bit demos on Steam that so much as resemble what these games do. But the more content ATLUS provide me, the longer I can stave off that dark eventuality; so hit a brother up, guys!

Were I to make a wild prediction into the future, I would predict that 'Persona 5 Royal' will hit us in April, as a surprise. (Of course, I can't say whether that's April 2021 or 2025) April, May or June, I say, because that's around about the start date for each Persona game and that would make a nice bookend. ATLUS have, for their part, commented on wanting to port more of their games over after the success of Persona 4 Golden, but I'm slightly worried it's going to end up being Shin Megami Tensei. (I'm sure that series is great too, but it's not what I want, ya know?) So thank you for coming to my TED talk where I whined about wanting to play more Persona; I know, I'm bored too.