Worlds I want to live in: Part V

Across the Universe

Okay, so as you'll maybe have heard it from sticking around this blog, but recently I've been making full use of my quarantine time by diving into the weird world of Kingdom Hearts. This does mean I've pretty much spent the past 3 days try-harding a kids game (Those Superbosses are no joke) so I need something more familiar to soothe back into the rhythm of things. But at the same time, I can't really take myself out of the mindset of spiky hair and oversized swords, so why don't I just strike a balance for this special edition of 'Worlds I want to live in'? As Kingdom Hearts is borne from an unlikely union between Final Fantasy and Disney, perhaps it would behove us to look into one of gaming's largest franchises to find some cool fantasy worlds to postulate over.

Of course, the idea of this blog is to wonder about what it would be like to live in a virtual world, not as a godly hero but as an everyday scrubby nobody. This way I intend to form a fair opinion on the cons of the fictional world in question rather than on the the heroes who inhabit it. Final Fantasy, if you don't know, is a series of anthology stories, with each full integer entry containing an entire new cast and world whilst retaining a few overarching themes, styles and monsters. This means that there's literally 15 games worth of unique worlds to shift through that would work absolute wonders for this list, but I'm going to keep things relatively sedate for this selection by only going through the three games that were part of Fabula Nova Crystallis.

Now for the uniformed, and I'd imagine there's even a few FF fans who have no idea about this, Fabula Nova Crystallis was a sub-series of Final Fantasy games that existed within the main line-up and followed all the traditions of the franchise only with more of a similarity between narratives. Roughly translated as "Tale of the new Crystal" from Latin, these games would tell stories of worlds where mortals are caught up in wars between the gods, or the aftermaths of such, with the divine link between the two planes being through the mystical power of some sort of Crystal. That means that these games are technically completely disconnected, whilst sharing similar story beats, so I'm allowed to count each entry as it's own separate entity and you can't admonish me for it! (Although one could say that by coincidence each game could be argued as having taken place millennia apart from each other on the same world if you squint your eyes and tilt your head a bit.)

The first game in this series just happens to be Final Fantasy XIII, which takes place in the futuristic cyberpunk-esque world of Gran Pulse. This place is a giant and wild planet full to the brim of toothy monsters and giant stomping beasts, with a distinct lack of large chunks of society. That's because the majority of this world live on the artificial moon of  Cocoon, a giant technologically advanced sphere that is ruled by the theocratic Sanctum. What theology is that, you ask? That of the god-like fal'Cie, who are these mechanical primordial beings all based upon the classic summons in the Final Fantasy series. All the major infrastructure of this sky-city is granted unto the people through the mysterious power of these fal'Cie, and the Sanctum are the ones who dole those resources out to the people. (A responsibility they take fullest advantage of.)

Of course, things aren't all sunshine and rainbows on Cocoon (Or Gran Pulse, for that matter) and the slight tyrannical leanings of the government has the tendency to evoke the odd cry of unrest from more unruly elements of the populace. The NORA paramilitary company are known to strike against the Sanctum through flashy terrorist strikes, and if this sounds a lot like FF7 that's because it pretty much is. The Sanctum are so afraid of losing power, in fact, that they will send the entire city into lockdown upon the appearance of a l'Cie, (A human branded as a servant of a fal'Cie) upturning everyone's lives in order to hunt down these beings and ensure that the careful balance of their world is not upset by a change of heart from their godly hosts.

Now if we are take a positive look at this world than we would have to be honest, is living in freedom really that alluring? I mean sure, everyone wants freedom until they get it and realise that they have nothing to do and now their life lacks structure and they'd be better off growing the balls to finally hang themselves instead of wasting their time writing stupid blogs everyda- (Huh, got a little of track there.) The arrangement that the Sanctum have with the fal'Cie ensures that literally every need of the city is met without any real requirement for maintenance jobs. (that being said, you do spend a lot of the game running through maintenance tunnels for some unexplained reason) That essentially means we're looking at a society wherein there are no service jobs because our robot gods handle everything; doesn't that just sound like a seedbed for creative thought? Maybe that's why much of the architecture around Cocoon looks like something dreamt up in an enlightened seraphic haze. Imagine the life you could live in such a world!

Of course, the toss-up would be living in a hyper vigilant world where everybody's life is dictated by the whim of the Sanctum, to the point where everyone pretty much works for them. Everywhere in the city is patrolled by heavily armed guards and at any point the paranoia of the Sanctum can reach such a point that they are willing to 'Purge' huge chunks of the city for 'being touched by Gran Pulse' (Basically for receiving influence from any fal'Cie that aren't on the same page as Cocoon's fal'Cie) Also, you'll be living your entire life in synthetic sunlight, as the Sanctum go above and beyond themselves to weave grand lies about the savagery of Gran Pulse (Okay, half-lies; the wildlife will really kill you.) and you cannot even go for so much as a visit without being permanently exiled from your home. So if you're cool with hanging around in a basically fascist society (and who isn't?) than Cocoon is the vacation paradise for you.

Although perhaps you're looking for something a little more 'rustic' and 'down to earth'. Rather than giant architectural marvels and marvellous feats of engineering, maybe you prefer the surrounding of quaint terraced roofs with the odd touch of history to it. if that's the case, then maybe Final Fantasy Type-0's 'Orinence' is the right destination for you. Divided between the four crystal states of Rubrum, Milites, Concordia and Lorican; Orinence mirrors a feudal Japan style to the world albeit with strangely modern technologies for the world. Rubrum specialises in teaching it's students magic whilst Milites works on rustic automatons and automatic weaponry. Concordia is the home of the beast masters who control the skies and Lorican is the home of... I dunno; Shields? (It's never really made clear.) Each of these nation's society revolves around their respective Peristylium: a research academy dedicated to the study of their godly crystal which grants each country it's prosperity. (Albeit in a more abstract way than for XIII's robot gods)

So this is a land of quite stark diversity and variance to it, right? Well unfortunately that also means it's a land of great strife with the four nations locked in a conflict that has, at this point, transcended generations. Each country has scarified a lot of their own society towards forcing an army to war, to the point where practically everyone is born into the worn effort and will eventually die there. Lorican was even unfortunate enough to lose their entire home as their's was the first to taste the power of Milites' superweapons. These wars are all in the hope of gaining control of the other nation's crystals under the vague hope that doing so will grant the nation who unites them the power to change the world. This is fuelled by the frustratingly vague prophecy; "When Nine and Nine meet Nine, a voice like thunder will sound, the depths of reason shall stir and thou shalt know: I have arrived" (No there's no secret meaning behind that. The writers just thought it sounded cool)

In the realms of the positive, sure it's likely that you'll be born into the war machine of whichever country you're unlucky enough to be sired in, but that doesn't mean you have to live a terrible life. (Although perhaps a short one is inevitable.) Those of Rubrum have an academy dedicated to training the next generation of magical soldiers, you could get a job as a janitor there in order to avoid the frontlines. Or you could just go and live in one of the quaint vaguely-Germanic villages which dot the landscape in the knowledge that the war likely won't touch you too badly. As this is a world of so many disparate societies, that means there will be much to see and learn for those that are willing, too. This world boasts masters of technology and magic, alongside those who have learnt to live side and side with powerful wyverns; imagine the sorts of people you could meet in such a landscape, the things you could learn only there and nowhere else!

But, of course, there will be wars going on twenty-four-seven, and that'll be a little bit of a downer for folk I'd imagine. In fact in the land of Rubrum, which for my money is the most well-rounded society, you'll find yourself 'blessed' with the boon of 'forgetfulness'; to the tune of you literally forgetting the faces and names of the deceased the second that they die. This is meant to make it so that folk aren't crippled by mourning and can continue the war effort, but that is a pretty depressing world to live in, don't you think? Your life is dedicated to fighting a war which you won't even be remembered for once you die. What makes everything worse, and yes this is a huge spoiler; the powerful godlike crystals which rule the land have used their servants, the l'Cie (Yeah, that's another lore crossover) to lock the land in a literal time loop until the war ends in the outcome that they want. Yup, that means being locked in a literal hell of being bought back to life and dying over and over forever. But if that's worth the cute little houses, than by all means; enjoy your time in Orinence!

Finally there is the world that is the most similar to our own; that of Eos in Final Fantasy XV. This is a world that is almost identical to ours in terms of modern convenience with the obvious exception of there being magic and monsters. (As far as I'm aware, we don't have those.) Just like in Orinence, the world is split between nations, however only the holy kingdom of Lucis boasts their own Crystal. Theirs was given by the gods (or Astrals) and supposedly contains the soul of the world. Eos itself is made up of two huge continents, with only one really being all that habitable, ensuring that the nations that do exist have to do so in extreme proximity to one another. (A situation which always seems to breed contempt, somehow.)

Recent years haven't exactly been kind to the land of Eos as tensions between the two biggest nations, Lucis and Niflheim have steadily soured after the arrangement of a forced political marriage between the crown prince of Lucis and the Princess of Tenebrae. (The kids seem to love each other well enough but no one really wants this political move to take place.) As a result things suddenly broke out into open hostilities between the nations as  Niflheim assassinated the king of Lucis and started hunting down the crown prince, apparently wilfully forgetting the widely accepted fact that the royal line of Lucis is meant to birth the King of Light who's job it is to save the world from eternal night. So, yup; this means we have another world fraught with warfare and chaos. (I'm starting to see a pattern in these Square Enix worlds)

On the upside, Eos is home to many modern conveniences that most will find familiar and comforting. You have cars, skyscrapers, heated beds, everything your little heart could need for a comfortable vacation. Also, there are no seas between any of the nations, so you can go and visit a new country will minimal travel stress and engulf yourself in a brand new culture. You can also rest assured that this time the war in the world is unique to the nations of Lucis and Nilfheim, so you pretty much just hop off to the Venice-inspired town of Altissia and enjoy the stunning sights and friendly locales. You also live in a world where healthcare is completely replaced with much more efficient healing magic, all the world's currency is unified under Gil and despite the known and accepted existence of godly presences in the world, no theocratic superstate has yet to form and force everyone to bow to their ways. (Isn't that nice?)

However there is the downside that living as a nobody is this world is going to make you unfortunate collateral no matter where you go. Sure, Altissia is not 'technically' part of the war, but you can bet the army will subjugate it the second they think the Crown Prince has gone there, robbing Eos of it's number one holiday spot. Yeah, you live out in the small town Lestallum, away from all the action and chaos, until that place falls under the thumb of the military for the same fears. Basically no matter where you go you'll find freedoms being revoked because of someone else's war, and that's not really fun for anyone, now is it? All that's not even taking to account that the second the True King starts to realise his power, everyone in the world becomes subject to frankly apocalyptic events which makes living as a bystander literally impossible. (Because you'll be dead.) Hell, he summons an Astral to Altissia and literally floods the entire city; what a bastard! And even if you're lucky enough to dodge catastrophe for the majority of your life, you'll only be greeted by the unavoidable 10 year night once the True King goes into his slumber. That's ten whole years where the entire world is besieged by constant hoards of demons and monsters whilst waiting for pretty boy to come back and save everyone. But if you're use to staying indoors for decades at a time, then maybe Eos' natural beauty and magical conveniences will win you over.

There's three more fictional worlds that seem fun to live in until they don't, and I found myself wondering exactly which one catches my fancy most, as if I had to choose from the three. Out of these on offer, personally I would find a small bed and breakfast to live out of in Eos, as that's the only world which really has a happily ever after. (Provided I survive the long night.) Plus, as cool as it sounds to live in the futuristic Cocoon, I'd imagine that living under a dictatorship might clash a little with the benefits of being in an artistically freeing society. (And Orinence's 'Time loop' nonsense can take a hike) But that's just my opinion, which may be slightly tainted by the fact that Final Fantasy 15 was my most liked game out of the three, and I'm sure you have your own leanings. Maybe next time I'll pick three more distinct worlds. (I don't know, I haven't planned it yet.)

Should we celebrate the death of Stadia, or prepare to mourn it?

Get your free Stadia! Right here.

So Stadia went free the other day. Did you notice? Did anyone? This was just the latest attempt by Google to pimp out their brand new 'solution' to the expensive hardware issue, and to be fair it should have been rather a decent proposition. The ability for rando's to have a go at Stadia and see the systems for themselves is sure to renew some traction in the flagging service's life, and the inclusion of 2 free game (how generous) ensures that people can make use of this quarantine time to keep themselves busy. The only problem comes from the service itself, which is still as temperamental and jittery to play as always. I would have given it a shot myself but my Internet's not even in the ballpark for 'recommended speed' so it probably wouldn't even function. As it is, I haven't seen a great many people rave about this deal and I'm starting to wonder if this will make the splash Google want it to, or just be seen as the frantic failing of a drowning service.

It's a shame because let us be absolutely frank with one another: If this doesn't work to put Stadia on the map than literally nothing will. The service will be even more dead than it already is. Think about it: people have nothing else to do except for sit inside and try to take their mind off of the turmoil outside, Stadia couldn't have prayed for a more ripe opportunity; and yet they seem incapable of capitalising off it; so how could they possible cope in the normal everyday? Heck, for me this lockdown has managed to do the impossible and drag me into the Kingdom Hearts series, (I'm 37 hours in the first game and just beat the Kurt Zisa secret superboss. I think it's safe to say I'm hooked) and yet by simple lack of means I'm incapable of taking advantage of this Stadia offer. How many others are in that exact same conundrum? (Okay, maybe not exact same. Kingdom Hearts is pretty tough.)

At this point I find myself confronted with a peculiar conundrum, as it should be seeing as how I invented it for myself: Should the impending demise of Stadia be applauded or mourned? Now the only reason this struck me was because I recently became aware of how negative I've been towards Stadia ever since it's inception. I've acted like a professional heckler towards this product, laughing when it stumbles and poking it when it's down, but do I actually want to see it go away and die a painful death? (I'm exaggerating, obviously.) I guess what I'm really asking is whether Google Stadia is shaping up to be a failed venture of a promising concept, or a foolhardy proposition that was doomed from day one.

Firstly, of course I never wish for anyone to lose their jobs, and that will most certainly be the case once Stadia goes under. Many big tech companies are looking to get their mitts into gaming now that it's officially been crowned the most profitable entertainment medium in the world, and this serves as a great opportunity for a slew of promising future tech and game developers looking to make their first step into the industry in a big way. These are kinds of people that we need in gaming, and I just hope that this stumble won't end their careers prematurely. (The same goes for Amazon's 'New World', which I just have this really bad feeling about.)

On the otherhand, Stadia was an insanely stupid salespitch from the getgo, and supremely shortsighted for something that it's creators were selling as 'The future of gaming'. I mean sure, if you cast an uniformed preliminary eye over the gaming landscape then it would be easy to deduce that tech restrictions are the biggest issue facing the everyday gamer and if that were eliminated then all 'internal storage' will become redundant, but there's a little bit more to it then that, isn't there? When it comes down to the preservation of older games, modding, playing whilst offline or literally any other of the standard gaming aspects that clashes with Google's vision, the team were silent. Their ads already said it all; ' The big box in your room is ugly, toss it out and get a Stadia subscription so all will be right with the world.'

That isn't to take into account the whole idea of buying every single game you want to play on Stadia exclusively on their malnourished and under developed storefront. (Seriously, these guys make Epic Games look like overachievers) All on top of paying a monthly subscription for the right to use that purchased software. (And then there's the way that they 'magnanimously' gave their premium subscribers free access to Destiny 2, neglecting to mention the fact that Destiny 2 would be going F2P just a month prior.) Honestly, Stadia just seems like a poor financial investment no matter what you look at it, with Google swindling their consumers at ever step under the guise of "This is such a new concept! That means we get to establish the value of everything and the consumer has no say!" To that end there are so many controversies and broken promises from Stadia (Many of which would have been soften if they just admitted this was a 'Beta' service, rather than going around marketing it as a full release) that it's really no surprise why I, and so many others, are actively hostile to this platform.

But with all that said, I still think this concept is a rather cool one that actually has some legs to travel on, at least when handled by folk who aren't trying to supplant all traditional media and establish their own monarchical monopoly. Microsoft and GeForce have active beta projects delving into streaming games directly to people's devices and both of those seem like pretty cool additions to the world of gaming, rather than their new future. It does help bridge the gap between envy and tangibility, and I can imagine the future possibilities of a world perfectly synced to such tech. And some of those ideas and dreams were sparked by Google's own posturing for Stadia, so I cannot discount that they've had some good ideas along the way. (I'm still in love with the idea of streamers literally beaming their game for the audience to try their hand at, talk about interactive!)

So I guess it's time for me to dust off my old 'fence-sitting' crown as I declare that in my opinion: Google Stadia should be both praised and admonished. On one hand it was a naive adventure that you can tell spent more time in the 'creative conception' stage then in the actual tangible development stage; whilst on the otherhand it has been the most high-profile example of game streaming ever hoisted upon the public and has practically singlehandedly catapulted this concept right to the public's attention. So credit where it's due, Stadia's grave may become the bonemeal for a new chapter for gaming technology. (So, thanks Google?)

X-Com: Chimera Squad

What a surprise!

Here I was thinking it wouldn't be my birthday for a couple of weeks yet there pops up Firaxis, out of the blue and with a brand new X-Com game to get me all excited. I can honestly say this is one that caught me completely by surprise and saved me from another potential downer blog (you know how much I hate to write those) because now I get to gush about another franchise I'm head-over-heels for. (And for once I won't be kowtowing for Capcom. Good thing too, my knees were starting to chafe.) On the eve of Gears of War's newest attempt to diversify with their 'Tactics' (A game which hopes to copy much of the 'turn based tactical' framework that X-Com built), they'll have to contend with the surprise drop of this X-Com universe title which seeks to undermine them in all the major ways.

Now of course this isn't a straight up sequel to X-Com 2 but a side story, but unlike the canonically dubious events of 'The Bureau', I think that 'Chimera Squad' is set to detail the next steps of the franchise and that does have me quite excited. For those who haven't had the pleasure I'm about to lightly spoil the ending of X-Com 2. (The games aren't really about the developer made-story anyway, but I feel it's best to share that upfront.) Basically, at the end of X-Com 2 the commander uses their avatar link to confront the ADVENT Elders, whom at this point have been revealed to be tyrannical alien overlords who have enslaved countless alien races over the cosmos to serve in their army. The Commander manages to sever their neural network, essentially breaking the psychic control those Elders had over their forces, allowing the human resistance to force a surrender out of them. The closing shot of the game features the aliens in retreat, the humans taking back earth and a final eerie shot on a glowing crevice at the bottom of the ocean, lightly hinting at a new threat closer than we think...

Obviously that's a cliff hanger that'll have to wait (It's probably just teasing a remake of 'Terror from the Deep' anyway) as this title actually takes place in a post ADVENT controlled world wherein the pieces of society are being picked up and put back together. This time, however, there are entire menagerie worth of stranded alien species with no more psychic link to their overmasters looking for a place to call home. Obviously, with humans being as dumb as we are, we've accepted them into our home although that does not come without caveats; which in this case means making a lot of concerted efforts to bridge cultural gaps, join the right hands together and help the populace get over the fact that we're now supposed to be 'buddy buddy' with the same aliens who nuked all of our cities and enslaved us for years. (So there's going to be a few growing pains, clearly.)

In this effort there has been the founding of City 31; a model city which is created in the hopes of showcasing how humans and aliens can live together side-by-side without being at each others throats. This means that this is a politically pivotal city, and that it's under everyone's best interests that this city works flawlessly and doesn't descend into chaos within the first week. In comes Chimera Squad, a sort of future police force comprised of officers both human and alien who are trying their best to keep the city safe for the good of it's citizens and broader human-alien relations. (How very wholesome.) As players, we'll be tasked with guiding this force and picking their fights for a comparatively lower stakes campaign that still promises to be just as fun to shift through.

One of the aspects about the X-Com franchise that I truly love is the way how each game has a different approach to the metagame, (as well as the moment-to-moment) that ensures that even as each game vastly improves, it never invalidates one's desire to play the older entries. 'Enemy Unknown' had a greater focus on reacting to the aliens, making for a balancing game wherein the players could hold off the collapse of the world government practically indefinitely with the right tactical forethought and RNG. 'X-Com 2' changed that up with a complete switch to the power dynamic so that players would have to be the ones on the offensive. Suddenly the game was about racing a clock and pushing for ground before you ran out of time, making for an entirely fresh gameplay experience. Chimera Squad looks like it's going to lean more toward the initial game's model but with some changes; players will have to manage the city districts from descending into chaos whilst, I assume, unravelling the guiding hands behind this developing crime wave.

All that being said, at it's heart it would seem that 'X-Com: Chimera Squad' is the exact same game that we know and love with it's tactical planning and RNG based shooting, only with some new additions. One such addition is this new 'SWAT-Style' breech mode which allows players to set up their squad around the different entry points into a location for a surprise hit. It adds that extra layer of planning into the equation and allows for games to kick off in that flanking formation which makes X-Com so fun. There also appears to be quite a slew of new weaponry to discover and research and I'd imagine such development projects are going to take a vastly different approach to how we last saw them realised in previous X-Coms. (Something tells me that performing autopsies on the City 31 citizens might not be on the table anymore.)

There are some decisions which are bound to be somewhat contentious, however, and for me I think that'll be the idea of making ever single character in the campaign (As far as we know) a fixed character. This allows for some more story and character-based development, as well as permitting for unique powers for each ally, but it takes away some of that classic X-Com individuality. No longer will you find yourself naming soldiers after friends before watching them perish before your very eyes, as they'll all have their names and personality pre-set, effectively cutting off one of the franchise's most endearing qualities. However, given the community that's sprung up around X-Com, I wouldn't be surprised if some enterprising individuals aren't already cooking up a quick mod to patch that particular feature back in.

But what's that last cherry on top of the cake? The one thing that'll knock my socks off and let me know that I have to pick this game up? How about the fact that it's coming out on April 24th and is debuting for $10 at launch! On May it's going back up to 20, but even then that seems like an absolute steal for what is being promised to be a 20 hour game. (And that's not even taking into account the huge-replayablity value inherent with this genre of game.) So if you've never pulled the trigger on the excellent X-Com franchise before there is literally nothing stopping you from doing so this time around. 10 bucks for an X-Com game? That really can't be beat and I just cannot wait to get a glimpse into this brand new world that Firaxis are building. (And heck, I only have to wait a few days to do so!)

What the heck is Valorant?

Where'd this guy come from?

Am I the only one who was completely blindsided by a game that everybody seems to be talking about? I mean, one day it was all just "Hey, Resident Evil 3's coming out soon" and "Final Fantasy 7's gonna be great! But only if you have a Playstation cause if you don't then you can wait until April next year. Hah hah, screw you."; and then before I know it this Valorant is getting shoved in my face and people are just like "Yeah. What are you, a Boomer?" Now I feel like I can't turn around without hearing about this game and I still have no idea where it came from. I mean, this isn't an 'Apex Legends' situation wherein the game dropped by surprise and caught everyone off guard, this is the kind of title that you get actively shamed for not knowing about, as though everyone's embarrassed to admit that the title is new for them too. And that isn't just me projecting, (it is me projecting, but it's not just that) this game broke the Twitch most streamed games listing pretty much the day the closed beta launched. All this and I still don't even know what this game is, so what gives?

Well, let me be the most unoriginal scum in the world and parrot the initial reaction that practically everyone and their blind elderly Nan has already deduced; it's Counter Strike but Overwatch. I know, I know, description through comparison is like the absolute soul of laziness, but there is no better description. Aesthetically this game is built upon a cartoonish design this is intentionally crafted to make the visual timeless (It works for Kingdom Hearts afterall) whilst also putting enough individuality behind each hero so that they can be told apart from each other from their silhouettes alone. (I mean, they still don't look even nearly as unique as the Overwatch cast, but it's baby steps.) Whilst from a gameplay perspective it simply exudes 'Counter Strike: Global Offensive' with tactical gunplay, fiddly aiming, and a default POV so wide it's designed for the pros.

And that's probably the biggest take away from Valorant; it's a game designed for Pros. More specifically for ESports. It's apparent from the menu-to-gameplay time, the design of the lobby, the construction of the HUD and the light graphical load designed to be able to run on almost anything. Now personally I never really like it when games go out of their way to aim themselves to an Esports crowd without growing that naturally, although that might just be because, as a crappy amateur writer, I'm allergic to contrivance; but this title's picking up quite the crowd already so I may be in the minority. Perhaps this is exactly the sort of hero shooter tactical hybrid that people are looking for right now in this age of heroes. (That's probably the title of a crappy mobile game, isn't it?) Whereas other titles that have tried the same thing ended up pushing too hard, like Evolve, maybe Valorant has slid into just the right number of palms (or maybe just the right palms) to launch strong.

I say that because already we can hear the rumblings of big streamers jumping aboard the bandwagon. Summit, Shroud even Dr Disrespect have either played or spoken about the game on their platforms. (Dr Disrespect was being critical, but just getting the name out there is enough to build audience recognition. Plus it's sort of his brand.) This is the sort of rise that actually somewhat mirrors the dawn of Apex Legends, or even Fortnite (albeit, in a much more streamlined fashion) to the point where certain questions might arise, such as; is any of this forced? Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt the game itself is serviceable and has earned fans from that right, it is made by Riot Games afterall; I just have reason to believe that some sneaky tactics might have been deployed to make this game's debut splash as wide as it currently feels.

On the launch of it's beta, Valorant peaked at an knee-wobbling 1.7 million concurrent viewers on Twitch and on the first day it accumulated 34 million hours watched. (Which is frankly just ludicrous) So you may be wondering how exactly such a huge global gaming event occurred? Bribery, to put it bluntly. Knowing that the allure of a brand new big budget game was going to drum up excitement, Riot partnered with Twitch in order to come up with something to keep people watching, and this ended up materialising as a Twitch drop set-up. Basically, as viewers tuned in to watch Valorant, they would be given the chance to earn a free closed beta key, provided that their Twitch and Riot accounts were linked. This alone drove a great many folk to try and game the system, with unconfirmed claims that some people would set-up 50 Twitch tabs to improve their chances.

Now there isn't anything inherently wrong with what Riot was doing, besides the way that it blatantly inflates the viewership numbers on the promise of access to a unfinished title with one-in-several-million odds. But this is just the way the game is played on any marketing machine. The problem really comes in the amount of success it has warranted the game, because now this title has come from being an relative unknown to a household game practically overnight and that's a lot of pressure to be under. Remember that this is a game that's riding the 'this is a beta, please ignore bugs' stage of it's life-cycle and yet they're playing for marketing points that are equivalent to a AAA multimillon dollar blockbuster. Needless to say, all eyes are on Riot Games right now and if this game launches to the wider audiences with anything less than a flawless landing, that's going to cause quite the early ripple. Already there are some folk, myself included, who are approaching Riot with a raised eyebrow over this 'coerced viewership' situation, and that's not the sort of mistrust you want to cultivate, really ever, let alone before the title's out the door.

But there's another dimension to this whole issue, although it's a little out of my technical wheelhouse so forgive me if I'm not being as concise as I could be. Online PC games all require their very own form of anti-cheat system in order for a healthy ecosystem to be formed, and that's just a universal given due to how easy it is to inject code on a PC. Valorant, however, takes that a step further than is perhaps necessary with their implementation of Vanguard, a system which installs a 24-hour checker that boots with one's computer and runs with Kernel privileges (the highest level of privileges affordable on a traditional computer) Now this could be nothing of any consequence, Riot's head of Anti-cheat seems to insist so, but seeing as how Riot is owned by Tencent who are themselves a corporate stooge for the Chinese Government, that gets some questions being asked. Riot insist that this is a necessary step to stop cheats designed to boot before the Anti-cheat boots, but clearly that's proven ineffectual as cheaters were being banned off of the closed Beta by day four, so why are we still entertaining this system if not for more nefarious purposes. Okay, so maybe neither Riot nor Tencent have anything overtly predatory planned with root access to people's computer (despite Tencent being known meddlers) but what about third party hackers who just happen to notice a root-kit leading into your computer's core systems? Basically, right now the installation of Valorant is the technological equivalent of making oneself immunodeficient, and if this title takes off in the way that Riot is pushing for so desperately, this could be the start of a very worrying precedent for how games are permitted to treat the devices we install them on.

So what is Valorant? A new competitive title with designs of internet immortality through merit of becoming an Esports title, but perhaps also something a little darker. I hear that the game itself is fine and hardcore FPS stans seem to enjoy it, so perhaps it's inevitable for this to be the new Overwatch, but is this perhaps not the future for Esports that gaming deserves? At the end of the day, I don't even really care about Esports and thus Valorant will never land on my radar in a substantial way, but I think it's important to wonder about regardless. But by all means, if keeping ahead of the times is worth all that I've discussed so far than don't let me stop you, just never say that you weren't ever warned.

Resident NO!

Say it ain't so!

I know, I know... "Another Resident Evil blog? Are you addled?" Yes, yes I very much am. And that is due to some incredibly troubling 'news' that I heard today. (See those quotations? I hope they mean this is just a rumour) I'm being serious when I say this is 'pace around the room biting my nails' news for me, 'stare at the wall and get no sleep' sort of dread is building right now. What could have me so rattled, you ask? Well according to 'video game chronicle', various independent sources of theirs have confirmed that Capcom have built up a team and dedicated them to penning a brand new remake of Resident Evil 4 due in 2022. (Good god, please tell me I'm dreaming.)

This actually all started not too long after the release of Resident Evil 3, at which point Capcom wasted no time surveying their Resident Evil Ambassadors about whether or not they'd be willing to play another remake. (Seriously Capcom? You're going to start upsetting all of your creative writing staff at this rate.) Now us plebs could merely speculate at what this could mean, with folk like me hazarding a guess at that rumoured Dino Crisis remake that was whispered once upon a moon. No, apparently this has to be a RE game; okay then 'Code Veronica: X' makes the most sense, right? It's the last game that really leaned on the horror routes of the franchise, it featured Claire and Chris finally reuniting, and it featured actually honest-to-god zombies, so the RE Engine will be right at home. There's no way it could ever be Resident Evil 4. Right? Right!?

Of course nothing has been confirmed as of yet. We could be on the verge of an actual zombie pandemic that threatens to end all civilised life as we know it, and Capcom would still hold out to December 2021 to tease us about this game. Unless something changes in their philosophy and Capcom management themselves come out to unequivocally denounce these rumours, we're going to be spending the next 2 years with this nagging worry gnawing at the sinews on the back of our grey matter, prodding itself into our very subconscious. As for me, I cannot say that I completely believe it, but then I have no basis on which to refute these claims beyond common freakin' sense, and that's clearly gone out of the window if this is a discussion that's even being held. I mean, what's next? Are we looking at an entire reboot of the Resident Evil franchise? Is every mainline entry going to get the RE engine glow-up in order to bring things in order? Is this all just an elaborate attempt for Capcom to actually rewrite how stupid the story of RE6 was? (If so, I'd like to recommend that they also make heavy revisions to 5's plotline; practically everything in that third act needs to be scrapped in a volcano whilst being shot in the head by two rocket launchers at the same time.)

But here I am, giving into the rumours. No, I will not accept that this is being done, that anyone would ever approve of this decision. It makes absolutely no sense on every single level; and let me try to convey why remaking RE 4 is such a poor idea. After 'Code Veronica: X', the Resident Evil franchise was on something on a hiatus for the next half decade. This was all in an effort to reinvent what had steadily become a stale formula. Whilst the tank controls and stiff camera angles had worked in the beginning, (and I think still have a place in the franchise, just look at my 'in depth' series to get my full thoughts on that) modern games were starting to look very different from that and Resident Evil was under threat of becoming 'bland' and 'pastiche'. Resident Evil 4 would be their chance to change the trajectory of the entire franchise for better or for worse, and that's exactly what they did. (Mostly for the worse, but there was a little better there to begin with.)

You've likely heard it before and you'll likely as not hear it again, but Resident Evil 4 is a very special game. It's no masterpiece but it is charming and unique in a manner that makes it distinct from just about every other horror game around it. It has a lot of silly moments, melodramatic scenes and scenery chewing out the wazoo. It completely abandoned the traditional sprawling interconnected level structure in favour of a much more streamlined level-by-level system. (Which, in fairness, is the same idea that RE3 used, so you could say that Capcom are getting in their practice.) It also had arguably the single most useless companion character in the entire franchise with Ashley Graham, and let me remind you that Resident Evil 2 starred an eight year old girl! And then Resident Evil 4 shows it's sillyness in it's enemies, it's setting, it dialog, it's cartoonishly over-the-top villains, and just about everything else that Resident Evil has since become renowned for.

But all those positives worked because of one thing; it was a game of it's time. I'm not saying that Resident Evil 4 couldn't work in today's day, I'm just wondering whether or not it even should, or if Capcom are even playing to their advantages by pursing it. I mean, what's the biggest new advancement that all these remakes have in common? The use of the modern RE engine that allows for the creation of realistic zombies who decay as they take damage in a way unmatched by any other zombie game today. (Sorry, Dead Island 2. Whenever that vaporware ever comes out.) So if that's your secret weapon, Capcom, why use it on a game with no zombies in it? That's right. Least you all forget, Resident Evil 4 has no zombies, only eastern European villagers who all get shot dead by an American secret service officer for no discernible reason. Even by the late game, when you figure out that weird insectile virus behind everything and your companion gets impregnated with one, (Why does that happen in so many Resident Evils?) all the enemies suddenly morph into mercenaries toting machine guns; there's not a single honest-to-goodness zombie in the entire game! (No, the Regenerators don't count. I don't know what the hell they are...)

At the end of the day I just don't think that Resident Evil 4 either needs to be remade or fits Capcom's apparent vision for the new direction of Resident Evil. From here it looks like Capcom have gone above and beyond to ensure the quality of each title and the cohesiveness of the storylines, sacrificing weird plotthreads where necessary to accommodate that. So if that's the idea you want to pursue then that's great Capcom, but why then focus on a game that's just one giant weird plotthread? Even more then just that, it's the one game that sent the entire franchise spiralling out of control into a slump that many folk, myself included, assumed it would never get out of. At this point I'm tempted to say that Capcom would be better served making Resident Evil 4 but completely changing every thing about it until it's a different, more spooky, game; but at that point why not just call it 'Resident Evil: Revelations 3' and be done with it?

Admittedly, I'm being a little alarmist right now but I am on edge. I've ignited quite a passion for modern Resident Evil and I don't want to see it all go down the drain so quickly before we've had the chance to see new things come out of it. (That and I just found out that FF7 is going to be an exclusive until April 10 2021, so I'm really reeling over here.) Perhaps Capcom have one of their transformative visions in mind that'll put all of us doubters to shame, or perhaps all these rumours are complete nonsense and Capcom are putting their team behind a Hello Kitty game universe. (stranger things have happened) Whatever the case, it won't be until the December after next where we hear official word on that, and by that time I'll have FF7 so I probably won't care as much.

My first few hours with Fallout 76: Wastelanders

Once more with feeling

I'm running through the Appalachian woods, dodging around tree trunks hopelessly trying to avoid some new gross bloated monster spitting flaming bile at my dust cloud. (Sure, If I turned around I could probably stomp it, I am a veteran wastelander, but I'm playing along for the moment.) Finally I manage to stumble up an embankment and over the horizon I can see it, the populated settlement of Foundation, gleaming in the distance. Just a short sprint and I'll be able to be rid of strange mutant on my tail and get enjoy some hard-won R&R. But along the way the ground gives, I suddenly slip and barrel into a swamp just below my eyeline. Suddenly I'm greeted by a threat I'm much more familiar with; A diseased Mireluck Queen, and her brood, looking very perturbed that I just jumped into their home and right on top of their eggs. (Needless to say I roadrunner-ed out there)

Even with this new 'Wastelanders' overhaul for the Fallout 76 base game, the best moments of this game still lies in it's moment-to-moment surprises, but I'm happy for an excuse to talk about something positive regarding this game so I'll treat that as a plus. (Oh, and no Resident Evil this week. It's due to a heavy blog I have incoming so don't get on me too hard.) For the unaware; last week Bethesda dropped their official renaming of Fallout 76 alongside a change to the very fabric of the game itself: A litany of NPCs, human enemies, and questlines in order to make the great West Virginian wasteland feel just that little bit less empty. (Maybe you could even say that the game is almost at the quality for a 1.0 release now, but I'm not sure I'd go that far.)

This is Bethesda's big rallying call to their community to get back into the game, and they even took the time to visit the Reddit and state an official thank-you to the board for their support. (A little 'Fair weather fan' of you, Bethesda, but I appreciate the gesture.) Now is the time that Bethesda want to extend that olive branch to the public and show them that Fallout 76 is finally a game to be proud of, more than that, it's a game worth spending money on. (Although £100 a year for Fallout 1st will probably never be worth it, no matter how much overhauling they do.) So With so much riding on it, does Wastelanders live upto the promise? Is it the birth of a brand new age for Fallout 76, one where people can admit to being players of this title without fear of public ridicule? Can Bethesda ride this high into a new age of prosperity for the much-beleaguered Bethesda fanbase? Well it's certainly a start, but I still think there's a long way to go. (And I'm honestly not even sure if Bethesda can feasibly take it that far)

Coming back to Fallout 76 after so long was certainly a trip, doubly so since my last time with the game was spent almost exclusively in the Nuclear Winter 'Battle Royale mode' and not in the base game, so I had to get back into the swing of things. I was initially greeted by a hoard of angry (and I can only assume cannibalistic) mothman raiders looking to tear me limb-from-limb, so I can safety say that my interactions with the new folk could only go up from there. Then my biggest worry was getting back to my quaint mountain hideaway whilst praying that the new settlements hadn't unceremoniously ousted me from the home I'd held for about a year. (Luckily they hadn't, which is good. I'd hate having to introduce myself to the new neighbours by gutting them one by one.)

Next I had to meet the woman of the hour, the one person that I've actually been eager to meet ever since the game first launched; The Overseer. You see, this is the lady who set up that initial fetch-quest which drove the entire original plot line. This is the ass who sent me on a deadly journey around the Appalachia battling scorched and finding a way to quell their spread before something happened which could only be described as an extinction level event. All without so much as sticking her head around the corner once to see how I was doing. No, instead she just left a cookie crumb trail of holotapes with instructions whilst she went sightseeing through her childhood home. Online Speculation even went so far as to presume she had died, for if you follow her personal tapes in chronological order then the last one would be made just after her having been shot and wondering if she'll live to make another. But the old girl is tough, apparently, because now she's back and actually ready to meet me in person. (How very gracious of her highness.)

Right away I was struck by the dialogue system. Not because it was unfamiliar to me as a 76 player (again, it's been almost half a year) but because it was even vastly different to Fallout 4's dialogue system. (In a very good way.) Rather than being locked into 4 choices per dialogue, each mapped to a face button, players can actually have in-depth conversations where classic Fallout traits appear such as inquisitive questions and even speech checks. That's right! Finally it feels like the stats I've given my player are worth more than just simply enabling the best perk cards, they are actually important to my character in defining his personality, and somehow that made my character incredibility smart yet antisocial. (Unfortunately that only half reflects me.)

The rest of my time has been split between enjoying the new systems whilst refamiliarising myself with the things I use to love. Like hearing the voice of the maniacal raider-robot Rose over the intercom (Who was my favourite character from the base game) and building up my lovely little base in the woods where no one dares to travel. Although there are still some problems with the game which get in the way of my potential for fun and make me sort of want to put Kingdom Hearts back on. Some key characters get stick in T-poses, bouts of lag strike every once and a while and the lighting seems to have gotten worse to the point where almost every texture looks desaturated during the day. (Maybe they were always like that and I just don't remember.) Worst of all, however, is the AI which is unforgivably bad now that it's being shown on human enemies. Whereas before you could maybe rationalise things as "Well these scorched have had their brains rotted" or "These Mole people probably wouldn't understand human tactics anyway"; seeing human Raiders stand in the open and wait to be gunned down is pretty silly and makes me wonder if there'll ever be a world where Bethesda can make challenging content for this game that isn't just "Turn up the health slider and call it a day."

So far the story seems to place us in the position of the fun ruiner, who's job it is to rock up to these new factions rolling into Appalachia, kick down their doors and tell them to get a damn inoculation. (The filthy savages.) You see, none of them were here for the hell of the Scorched beasts and their reign over the first year of Fallout 76, so they don't know how easily they could be infected and turned into burn zombies, so we've got to break the bad news. (Which is mixed with good news if you completed the original campaign, because you've already made the vaccine through hours of sweat, blood and audio logs. Oh, the audio logs!) However, there are whispers of some greater mcguffin as folk trade rumours about a great unopened vault that is sure to be full of treasures. (Not sure how none of us saw it. Unless it's that vault in the north west which never opened and didn't have a texture on it's number, but I just thought we didn't talk about that door.) So yeah, this isn't exactly the citizen kane of story set-ups and it showcases the 76 team's weakness of falling back to "Let's do another Vault thing! That's a Fallout staple, right?" But hey, we've been playing this damn game for months with only the vague snippets of a storyline, so beggars can't exactly be choosers right now.

Aside from that there is a new dimension added to the CAMP system for now we have the Ally system to deal with. As we were promised, Allies are 76's versions of typical Bethesda Companions, only with much less versatility. Yeah, you won't be hiring a whole party of badasses to defend you from the horrors of the wasteland, but you will be getting buddies to help make your camp feel a little less abandoned every now and then. You can build certain ally items to draw these people to your camp and once they're there you can earn little quests off them to help their narrative along. Even when it's something stupid like helping Commander Daguerre scan for any survivors from her space program despite, you know, there obviously being none. (Can't we just break the news to her lightly?) However, this is this odd little stipulation that you can only have one ally at your camp at a time, meaning you can't make a little town of folk yet. (Maybe in the future.)

With the new folk coming to the world, naturally this means that some new settlements now exist and they are always fun places to explore in these games. Although these locations more mirror the 'survivor' style of Bethesda's Fallout rather than the 'societal' style of Obsidian's Fallout. (Which severely limits the storytelling potential in my eyes) So far I've seen the builder fort of Foundation, which places it's routes in the former workshop in the southern mountains which was one of my favourite locations in the old game, so it makes sense that Bethesda wanted to do something with it. As Foundation, the place seems pretty dry with a smattering of folk who seem very 'salt of the earth' and 'milk bread', but I've been missing that sort of interaction so it feels special to me. (Also, I've surprised to see that the 'Top of the World' mezzanine still hasn't got a makeover with NPCs despite being literally the perfect place for that. Maybe that's due for a later update, I dunno.)

Finally I had another go at 'Nuclear Winter' so I can confirm that's still as tight as it always is. Some changes have occurred since I last played, and I have no idea what any of them actually do, but nothing has happened to ruin the core experience so I'm happy. A new map has been added to the lineup and weaponry now spawns in with a coloured tint to their item name which I think is supposed to mimic other Battle Royales like Fortnite. (So that folk know which item is superior at a glance.) It's a small change but it make make things just that little bit more accessible to the inevitable influx of players that the mode will be seeing in the coming days.

In conclusion, I haven't a complete reversal of my feelings towards Fallout 76, nor the insulting way in which Bethesda treated and responded to the community in the months since, but I am enjoying the game once again and that isn't something I ever thought I'd do. If there's one thing I will say about everything this update has provided, it's that it all shows potential, and that may seem like a back handed compliment "Oh, it'll get there eventually but it's not there yet", but I'm being serious when I say that I don't think the prospects for this game's future have ever looked so rosy. If you haven't picked up Fallout 76 yet, I cannot in good conscience recommend you amend that for any reasonable amount of money, but if it's discounted to heck and you've literally nothing left to do then why not? It's better than bashing your head into a wall. (Put that on the box.)

Kingdom Hearts is a weird game. But in a good way?

"There's a light and it never goes out" Actual Kingdom Hearts line shamelessly stolen from The Smiths

Yeah, I've mentioned it a few times but seeing as how I managed to sink 55 hours into the first title (Good god) I feel it's only fair that I bring up the time I've had with Kingdom Hearts recently. See, just as Fallout 76 Wastelanders dropped (I've downloaded it, I just cannot summon the F's to care yet) I've found myself completely engrossed in a brand new series. (Well, brand new to me.) I ended picking up the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise (Sans 3's DLC) for a steal at about £4.50 a game, (There are ten games, you can do the math) and now I'm struggling a bit to understand everything I'm experiencing, but I'm enjoying it. I think. As I sit down to write this little update, I've currently 100% the first game and am 1 hour into the weirdly different sequel/spin-off 'Re: Chain of Memories', so it's safe to say I've got a good feel for the start of the franchise but still have much ahead of me. Still, let me rap for a minute.

So first of all, can I just complain to the aether about how freakin' confusing the naming of these games are for someone trying to get into the franchise. As someone who wanted to start from the absolute beginning, imagine how utterly confused I was to be directed towards 'Kingdom hearts- HD 1.5 + 2.5'; like, what the heck does that mean? 1.5? So is that the game after the first title and before the second? No, apparently that just means it's the 'Remix' of the first game which mixes the western release's content with the Japanese version of the game, because it had some extra bosses. (Plus a healthily uneven coat of HD paint.) Then there is the fact that this pack comes with 4 extra games (which are mercifully put into order) but each one of these game's titles are positively bonkers! Re: Chain of Memories. 358/2 Days. Re:Coded. Are these even games? I suppose I'm going to find out!

Next I wanna talk about the gameplay itself, which I will say is one of this titles best strengths. Coming out in the early 2000's, there was a stigma surrounding RPGs out of Japan, especially the Final Fantasy series. All of these games were turn based fantasy titles that were dripping with exotic names, convoluted plot-lines and dense stat sheets, something which turned a lot of people off as they immediately assumed it was all too confusing. (And to be fair, a lot of these games kinda are super confusing.) However, the action adventure genre was booming around this time with popular titles like Banjo-Kazooie, Metroid Prime and Conker's Bad Fur Day all receiving some popular renown for being easy to pick up and fun. Seeing as how Kingdom Hearts would be aimed at a younger audience than Final Fantasy, it made sense to follow their lead and make an action adventure game, although one that married the stats of RPGs with the physical fun of action games. Not that I'm saying that Kingdom Hearts birthed the action RPG genre, (Morrowind did come out that same year afterall) but it did pave the way for the direction that the Final Fantasy series now takes today.

That all being said, I've never seen a action RPG hybrid that is so devoted to it's premise like Kingdom Hearts is. When you start the game you literally know how to do nothing else than whack your enemies, and this seems like it'll be all you need like it is in most action adventure games. However, as you progress things will readily become apparent that simply mashing A isn't going to cut it, enemies grow bigger and stronger, attacking takes second fiddle to avoiding and you need to start learning new moves. Therefore as the player levels they'll actually learn abilities just like in any RPG, although these aren't super impressive techniques like Cloud Strife's Omnislash, but basic moves like dodging and even blocking! This puts you in the surreal position where, as you go later into the game, you'll be juggling your 'ability slot points' wondering whether or not you should remove Sora's ability to perform a dodge roll in return for an extra swing on his ground combo. (You absolutely should not by-the-way. Get rid of that 'Block', it's super situational anyway)

It creates this environment where you really feel like you're starting out as a complete novice that is being haphazardly turned into a hero. And when you think about it, why wouldn't Sora be a complete novice from the beginning? He starts out as just a kid living on a desert island who's only point of note is that he just happens to be- the childhood friends of Tidus, Selphie and Wakka. (Wait what? Does Final Fantasy X's Tidus ever mention living on an island with Sora, Riku and Kairi or is this non-canonical?) My point is that this kid is just that, a nobody kid who gets picked to be the wielder of the Key Blade for no discernible reason other than he appears to be a super stubborn guy. (If stubbornness is the only qualifier than my Key Blade should be in the mail.) It makes sense for his heroes journey to literally take him from being a flailing child to a skilled- (well, he's still a child...) So in that way the weird approach to RPG skills really fits the tone!

Something which did take a bit more getting used to, as I mentioned, is the haphazard way in which this game throws together Final Fantasy and Disney. (Heck, even the interplay between the FF games and the Disney movies make no sense) I remember when I first heard about this crossover and was vaguely interested in the nuance involved with marrying these genres together. Let me save you that particular mystery, there is no nuance. Squall, Yuffie and and Aerith are seen hanging out with one another talking about how their world was swallowed up (Besides those characters being from different FF games) and Sora is expected to travel to various Disney worlds alongside Donald and Goofy without 'meddling' with these worlds, despite the fact that they make the most attention grabbing trio in the universe. We're talking about a party consisting of a spiky haired boy, a talking duck and a anthropomorphic dog (who also talks) how are they supposed to blend in? There's one moment in which you travel to Alantica and meet Ariel, who comments at how she doesn't recognise them. To this all Sora can say it that they are from different oceans, which our Little Mermaid actually buys! Yes, I understand that part of Ariel's character is being naive and curious, but girl; you are looking a dog/sea-turtle hybrid and a duck with tentacle legs, even a four year old could tell these abominations aren't fish.

Despite all of that, however, there is something undeniably magical about Kingdom Hearts, and I think it comes from the innocence of the protagonist. All that Sora wants to do throughout the entire game is find his friends, and maybe he's driven a little by his crush for Kairi, but he fights just as hard for anyone in danger simply because that's the kind of person he is. Sora will literally try to help anyone that he comes across in his journey and is determined to make friends with practically everyone he meets, and that's pretty adorable. In a more adult story and setting this could probably be looked as a weakness in character, a naivety that is detrimental to character growth, but around the worlds of various Disney properties like Tarzan, Peter Pan and The Nightmare before Christmas it just fits so nicely.

These past few days I've spent mining resources, crafting the Ultima Keyblade and squaring up to Superbosses, and I can truly say that I'm loving every moment of it. (Even the frustrating ones) There's something so satisfying about nailing that perfect combo on Sephiroth (Yeah, even he shows up in this game) or decoding the right combination of actions to successfully counter the Clocktower Phantom, and it's making me rethink my initial disinterest to the action/RPG genre. Admittedly, jumping into this series was my own way of making up for the disappoint of having to wait a full year to play Final Fantasy 7, (Kingdom Hearts is the series that FF7's game director, Tetsuya Nomura, worked on beforehand) but I'm feeling like this series may have evolved from just being a rebound to becoming my fresh new obsession. (And I'm totally okay with that.) Maybe sometime later I'll get to writing a full review on this game, but this month is particularly chaotic so it'll have to wait for now. Besides, before then I have to figure out exactly what the 'Kingdom Hearts' is. So it's like this place that exists within the primordial darkness that births each world, or is it the place you need to get to in order to reach that darkness? Or is it the light that we know exists within that darkness? Is it even a place? Maybe it actually refers to the doors which...

The Best Companion in: Dragon Age: Origins

Beneath the sacred Mountain

Yes, I'm back once again for this 'best of' series that I seem to like so much, only this time I'm focusing on developers who, once upon a time, prided themselves on storytelling and character development, so needless to say the decision will be more multifaceted. Yes, today I'm talking about a Bioware RPG, more specifically one of their most celebrated ever, the prematurely named: Dragon Age: Origins. Now whenever people lament the shadow of a company Bioware is today, it is with the fond memories of their glory days back in 2009 when this title launched, therefore you could look on this title as the gold standard for what to expect from a Bioware game. That being said, I personally don't believe that Origin's boasts Bioware's strongest overall character line-up (Or even Dragon Age's if I being honest.) So it'll be interesting to see what conclusions I'm drawn to with this title. (Alas: Spoilers. Some mild, others not so.)

That being said, I'm obliged to start with the usual barrage of 'disclaimers' such as the fact that this list is entirely subjective and there's no wrong answers in questions like these. Also, I'm only covering the companions present in 'Dragon Age: Origins' and not those from 'Dragon Age: Awakening', although that's not because of personal preference but more because I literally don't remember any of the people for that DLC aside from Anders, and that's only because he shows up in Dragon's Age 2. Maybe I'll get around to replaying that DLC and figuring out exactly why I found it so utterly forgettable. (In the companion department, that is, everything else about 'Awakening' is actually pretty stellar.)

There is actually one more thing I want to address before getting into this particular blog and that is what some folk refer to as the 'standard Bioware archetype'. This is a criticism that some people stoke in the way that Bioware is so lacking in creativity that they recycle their companions from game to game instead of coming up with new folk, and it's a theory that seems to hold some water to those that pay but a precursory glance. I.E. The loner type character in Morrigan and Jack or the sage-like character in Wynne and Kreia. Whilst it is true that wide personality traits can be seen as common across these characters, anyone familiar with these characters can tell how distinct they are. (The Wynne/ Kreia comparison is honestly too dumb to comment on.) So whilst I mostly respect folks right to have their opinion on the quality of character writing, I'm going to have to just say people miss the mark quite widely there.

Now let's completely undermine everything I just said by talking by the archetypal 'stoic strong man' character: Sten. What can I say about Sten? Well I can't start by saying that as an actual functioning party member he's broken. I'm not sure what it is, but the guy is designed to work as a tank despite his stats being completely unable to accommodate for that. (Not really any use for a tank who's as tough as a box of tissues.) Even if the player does decide to invest points into turning Sten into an actual feasible tank (for whatever reason) he'll just naturally be outclassed by Alistair whom you receive earlier and who is just much more naturally talented in that particular field. What I'm basically trying to say here is that Sten is practically useless in any tough gameplay encounter and that already throws up a huge barrier when I'm trying to like someone. His personality did the rest. Speaking of...

Sten is your prototypical strong man with little to no emotion beyond being occasionally sternly judgemental. Initially this works as an introduction to his race; Sten is a Qunari who has been sent by his leader, the Arishok, to study and observe the Blight which is sweeping the land. This sets this character up for a classic man-out-of-place dynamic as he comes fact to face with a culture incompatible to his own and struggles to come to terms with whilst the player whittles through his tough exterior to reveal the commonalities inherent to all beings, Qunari or man. (You see, Bioware, that's how you handle this sort of character.) Instead Sten is presented as a humorless, uncharasmatic, murderer who does his best to poke and prod the main character with inane observations and comments about nothing to the point where you just want to kick him out your camp. Yes, there should be moments where you explain parts of your culture to him, No, those shouldn't all consist of him blabbering on about Qunari culture for 5 minutes at a time. I appreciate the effort but you guys seem to have forgotten; as a player I don't care about the 'Qunari' because they aren't important to the current story being told, so why would I want their people's freakin' spokesperson as my personal companion? Why not send me an exposition machine from the Dalish tribes if you wanna start this terrible of a precedent. (although even that would make a little bit more sense as, again, the Dalish actually show up in the story!)

So Sten basically has no personality throughout the entire game and yet the player is expected to have cultural standoffs with him as though we give a crap what he thinks about us. (How can we do that when we don't even care who he is? It's like arguing with a sentient exposition dumb, why even bother?) Only by the end does he seem to show some begrudging respect towards you, but by that point it feels a little out of nowhere and a lot too-little-too-late. And you wanna know what makes this all worse? The knowledge that we'll never get to see Bioware take another crack at Sten to evolve him into a better character due to the strange revelation in the next Dragon Age that Sten was actually his title, he never had a name. So there's a thousand identical mountain men going around with the name Sten, making this one utterly unremarkable in every conceivable way. (Yes, I get that's sort of the point of his entire culture, but it doesn't make for interesting character moments.) In conclusion, Sten is easily the worst companion in DA:O, maybe even in the entire franchise.

My next pick might be a little controversial for how low he is, but that's a surprise to me because I found Oghren utterly insufferable during my time with Dragon Age. It's only once I loaded up 'Dragon's Age: Awakening' with the promise of a returning 'fan favourite' that I realised there were people who were actual fans of this obnoxious Dwarf, and I cannot fathom why. Don't get me wrong, in terms of usefulness he is a damn sight more sensible to keep around than Sten; Oghren is presented as a two-handed damage dealer and he's actually built to be able to live up to that promise, with an extra character class to back it up. Functionally, I'd actually argue that Oghren is in the upper echelon in the teiring list and I wouldn't be surprised to hear it if some folk actually bought him to the final fight with them. (Maker knows you'd need all the advantages you can get for that absolute bloody onslaught of enemies. That finale is not one of Bioware's best designed.)

My gripes with Oghren actually come purely from his character, although I will admit that this isn't to say that this is a badly done character like Sten was. Oghren is intend to be a brash, crude, sometimes violent and occasionally purile Dwarf who specialises in embarrassing himself and driving away everyone until you come along to deal with his crap. Bioware execute this beautifully and as a result I cannot stand to be around this arse for longer than the game intends, and can you blame me? He's annoying, a braggart and his height of humour is belching. (Because that's just one step above fart jokes, huh Bioware?) I mean don't just take my word for it, look at the mission in which he's introduced! He's just been dumped by his wife for being awful and she's mounted an expedition through the incredibly dangerous Deep Roads in a bid to get away from him. (Okay, there are other reasons for this expedition too, but I'll bet money the distancing was a huge bonus!) The second she's gone she immediately picks up a new lover, goes absolutely nutty, and even in her insanity refuses to listen when you drag her husband through hell to get her to calm down. (That's what you expect the results to be from sharing a household with Oghren for extended periods of time)

Although seriously, all that is absolutely fine in my book. Honestly. Sure, Oghren repulses me on a base level but I do absolutely love it when any writer can provoke such an emotional response out of me. I like having characters that I disagree with in stories as it makes everything a lot more enjoyable and varied from the point of view of the watcher. My real problem with Oghren is the fact that he doesn't really appear to grow throughout your time together, or at least not enough. Through your journey's Oghren appears to be on a journey to become more of an actual adult and start actually pulling himself together, although this just amounts in you wing manning him to score an old flame. (Literally. That's his entire companion quest. Like a crappy romcom.) Of course, this apparently does 'change' him according to the main game's epilogue, but I actually remember enough about 'Awakening' to know that account doesn't match with reality. In that DLC, Oghren is still the same POS, ungrateful drunkard as always and you have to work overtime just to keep his new relationship together. (He drops their baby twice. I just can't with this man.) So in conclusion; I understand why Oghren is beloved by some, he's a really well written character, I just fundamentally hate him for who he is. That's all there is to it.

If that last one was going to ruffle feathers, then this one will too if I don't get something out right away; I actually do like the little rogue elf Zevran. As a party member he's the only dedicated rogue with a specialisation in close range combat, meaning that he can really take advantage of Dragon Age's 'Backstab' system which makes one-on-one bossfights easier. (Or 'feasible' in the highest difficulty. Which, again, is the only difficulty I play on.) He's actually a great addition for specialised party configurations, but he's not the kind of companion that I'd bring along for just any bout. (Rogue's aren't always at their best when surrounded. Take it from the idiot who insists on playing 'Dragon Age: Inquisition' as one.)

I think his story is actually pretty cool too, with him trying to assassinate you to begin with before becoming your friend in a weird 'life debt'/'I don't really have a choice because I'm know as marked for death as you are'-type situation. Additionally, unlike Sten much of Zevran's world-building is actually pretty cool to hear about, probably because he actually shows up in some his stories. I enjoy the England-inspired Fereldan well enough, it's well-executed typical fantasy fodder, but hearing about Antiva (Which I'd imagine is meant to be Spain) through Zevran's voice makes for a very cool exotic sounding place. Unfortunately, this works against Zevran because I remember his stories about his home world more than I remember him. I can't even recall how his post-game epilogue goes, which doesn't really bode well for the character's staying power. Ultimately, Zevran is cool enough, he just lacks any real depth for me.

Okay, maybe it's a little cheaty to include a DLC character but I don't care, I like Shale. As a party member she is delightfully unique as a stone golem construct imbued with the soul of a particularly sassy Dwarf. In gameplay she makes for a pretty useful crowd control unit (You'd think she'd be a tank...) which doesn't exactly make her a party staple but does give her a space in certain pouts. (I've literally had fights that I've ducked out of just to bring her aboard because her unique move set is that cool) As a non-humanoid companion she's certainly a lot more robust and useful than the dog of this game. (Oh yeah, there's also a dog. He's not interesting enough to get a paragraph.)

In terms of personality Shale radiates that delight sardonic wit of HK-47 (crap, now I'm comparing games!) which ensures she always has a great quip about the situation. Her personal backstory is pretty funny too, with her being forced to be a scarecrow in a small town for several decades, explaining her disdain for simple human life. As a smartly comic relief character, it's actually rather surprising when her story touches the pensive once you dig into her past, although she doesn't exactly have a grand interesting narrative for players to dive into and so I have to mark her down for that.

Wait, have I marked up the French girl because of the accent again? (Am I a Francophile?) No, in truth every single character from this point forward all pretty much count as legendary Bioware characters, the like of which each Western RPG companion gets understandably compared to. Thus Leliana earns her spot so high because she is easily one of the best companions in DA:O. In terms of gameplay she's a particularly competent ranged Rogue who isn't too shabby close up either, making her pretty much a must for most regular party configurations. Whenever I play she pretty much gets the bulk of all my light armour because she makes better use of that stuff then I ever would. (Pretty much the only task you can rely on Bioware AI for is ranged combat.)

In terms of character, Leliana is an absolute classic, as I've mentioned. She starts off seeming to be a stereotypical 'Chantry bashing' religious type who you'll think get on your nerves within the hour, however soon you'll learn there's a lot more to this Orlesian 'bard'. As it turns out, Leliana turned to religion in order to come to terms with her dark past, also, turns out in Orlais 'Bard' means 'Spy/assassin'. (Funny how the rest of the world don't know what must be a terribly kept secret.) As you progress through the story she turns out to be one of the characters who inserts themselves rather adamantly into the main plot to the point where she can even briefly become the party leader if you play your cards right. (Or, given the situation which allows for this, very wrong) By the end of the tale you've helped Leliana either overcome her guilt and devote herself to her new creed or hardened her out of her guilt by convincing her that the spy-life ain't so bad. (I guess that canonically the latter happens, given her appearance in DA:O) To conclude; Leliana is a great companion and no Dragon Age playthrough would quite feel right without her.

Here, however, goes a character whom I respect for wholly personal reasons. Whilst Wynne might not be the kind of character who most default to when thinking of 'classic Bioware companions' I feel her presence in this particular title is too important to forget about. Wynne is a mage of The Circle, which immediately makes her part of the very intriguing 'Mage vs human rights' dynamic that every game in this series has addressed at least once. Her magic also makes her an invaluable party ally as she is the only dedicated healer who even gains the powerful ability to revive other party members mid fight. Literally, I have no idea if this game is completeable on the hardest difficulty without Wynne in the party, she's that essential.

But it's her character and story that I find really intriguing. Wynne is an elderly teacher when you meet her, although every thing changes for her when she is killed protecting her students only to then have her body possessed by some sort of benevolent demon. (Something which is abhorrent by the laws of the land.) Therefore Wynne is struck with the chance to do more good with her life and the dichotomy that her means to achieve this second chance is at odds with everything she believes in. However where Wynne really shines for me is the way in which she acts as a teacher for the player. Although her role in that regard is less official than, say, Kreia from KOTOR 2, she is still a learned individual who is eager to provide a sage word of guidance when the player needs it. In terms of roleplaying, this is a very handy tool for establishing an arc for the main character, gently guiding them into becoming the hero, or villain, that the player wants. Therefore, I like her for being that bedrock upon which a character arc can actually occur for the player character, which is something RPGs often neglect to account for.

Okay now we're firmly set in the world of personal preference, it only makes sense that I put my personal second best companion as Morrigan. Doesn't it just make sense? A pessimistic, snarky witch who delights in insults and light sadism; she's brilliant. As a witch of the wilds Morrigan is an incredibly useful attack mage with the power to practically evaporate a target if you give her enough room. As magic is a little overpowered in this franchise, a double team with her and Wynne is my personal go-to for all the big fights. She also has a shapeshifting personal skill which makes her a decent physical damage dealer for those with magic resistances. (I just wish I was smart enough to remember about that whenever those situations arise.)

As for her character, you can probably already tell that Morrigan is my actual spirit animal. She's always there to insert a bit of snide realism to deflate your heroic posturing and ensure that your feet are firmly set on the ground; but in a way that isn't so imperious or intrusive. (Like Kreia from KOTOR would.) Her personal story is also very interesting as it starts from a very innoculous request before ballooning into one of the most curious plotpoints of the franchise; one that very much still has a hanging question mark over it. (Will Flemeth let Morrigan enjoy her freedom, or has she already snatched it away without any of us knowing?) And Morrigan will forever have extra 'best companion' points in my eyes for being the only non-doe eyed bystander in that incredibly cringe-worthy scene in which Leliana decides to serenade you. (I could, and maybe even will, go into an entire blog of reasons why that scene is the single most skincrawling moment in the entire game. But I need to wrap this up.)

Those in the know will likely know my pick for top. Not just because there's a giant picture of his handsome mug above, but because there's only one real person who could be considered the best Companion in a game full of great companions. The one man who Bioware never give us more of no matter how much we beg, Alistair, the Bastard Prince. Now in gameplay Alistair takes up that most noble of party roles, the humble tank, and he's a damn sight better at it then Sten is. Although I usually play a tank myself, that in no way dissuades me from double teaming with Alistair against the harder to manage bosses like the high dragons. (Always helps to be able to switch aggro when health is waning.) But needless to say unless your player is a Tank, Alistair is an absolute necessity to your party at practically all times.

Good thing, then, that he has charisma and snark dripping out of his skin pores. He's funny, instantly likeable, sassy and- I'm starting to see a commonality in the types of personalities that I like... His story is also classically engrossing, with him being a Bastard Prince who never wanted his royal lineage, meaning that you can honour his reticence or mold him into becoming the type of king that Ferelden needs, making his presence essential to the games central plot. He's also the only surviving Ferelden Grey Warden aside from you (despite his relatively junior position) meaning that his council is the only one that gives you any idea what the Warden's are or how they would act. (And he hardly has any idea himself.) It's a really clever way to introduce a exposition font that you come to rely on without making him feel too arbitrary or cliche. (Something they completely messed up doing in the same game with Sten. How do you even do that?) There's something different about learning about the shortened life-span of the Grey Wardens from the same guy who talks about licking lampposts in winter like a badge of honour. Ultimately, Alistair serves as both the funny and straight man, bringing a very human perspective to an inherently whimsical fantasy world. His commentary is incisive, his musings relatable, and his pedigree that of a genuine friend, making Alistair my pick for the best companion in 'Dragon Age: Origins'.

That's that for Dragon Age for now, but not for Bioware as I intend to travel into space next. Yes, I know that logic would dictate that I move onto Dragon Age 2 now, but I actually haven't beat that game more than once so cannot judge the different paths available in the story. (Also, I technically still haven't beaten 'Dragon Age: Inquisition' but don't tell anyone.) Whatever I move onto next, I hope I drummed up some fond memories with this blog and maybe got you thinking about your favourite companions from back in the day. Until the next blog, I'll be sulking about FF7 Remake being an Playstation exclusive right up until they announce otherwise. (Which may never happen, so I might just be sulking for life.)