Top 5 action RPGs

     lately, as I had been racking my head over what kind of article I could write for this blog, since I would very much like to see it not die, I realized something. I know far too much about action RPGs.
     let me clarify, since "action RPG" is an inherently vague term. I don't mean a game similar to diablo or the like, closer to kingdom hearts, with it's third person camera and focus on simple combos as opposed to holding right click. now, what's an easy piece of content to make regarding aRPGs for someone who runs a blog? that's right, a top five. it would be a top ten, except the kind of action rpg I'm looking over is a niche genre, and as such is a little scarce. with the intro out of the way, let's get into the meat of the matter: the list!

#5: Fortune Summoners

     Fortune summoners is a side-scrolling action RPG translated and released to western markets by carpe fulgur and developed by one-man-army lizsoft. being a fan of their previous works, I can understand if some of you say, "why this, but not recettear?!" to which I have but one answer: the combat. whereas recettear was more casual in it's approach to fighting, (as was chantelise, to a degree. the only "combos" were mashing attack) Fortune Summoners is closer in it's approach to a 2D dark souls. 

     while the tone of the two may be drastically different, the goal is the same, and that goal is to engage players through difficult enemies and skilled, rewarding combat. FT features a complex combo system, directional input attacks, blocking, and a wide variety of skills to be learned. it's depths are truly astounding. the only reason it's so low on this list is because of a semi-awkward control scheme and a lack of strong presentation. 

#4: Dust: An Elysian Tail

     While not very similar in tone or content to FT, Dust: An Elysian Tail has very similar origins, what with it being a side scrolling action RPG developed by (mostly) one person. the mad genius who pulled this feat together was none other than Dean Dodrill. 

     While Dust is not as complex a game as FT, nor is it as hard, what places it higher is the impeccable presentation. where most independently developed games lack voice acting all together, Dust has some of the best I've heard in a long time. The art is gorgeous, with the stylized animal characters blending perfectly with the detailed, luscious backgrounds. The story is not shabby either, even if it falls on some familiar tropes such as amnesia. 

     Don't let what I said when comparing it to FT fool you, though. the game's combat system is highly engaging, with visual effects and sounds that give every attack and special a satisfying punch, not to mention the fast pace at which it moves. many of your specials will send you flying across the screen or help you traverse obstacles, adding to variety of both the game overall and the combat engine, and unlike FT, the game controls beautifully. 

#3: Ys The Oath In Felghana

     After Ys  Ark of Naphistim, I'm pretty sure no one thought  developer nihon falcom would top that, and then they did. Ys Oath is a remake of Ys III using naphistim's engine, giving the excellent story and design an amazing combat and graphical upgrade. While I will admit that Ys is lacking in complexity, insofar as there's really only one combo, and all your "specials" are a single button press, it more than makes up for this in pacing, puzzle design, and difficulty. 

     Ys Oath might be one of the hardest games I've ever played. When I first started playing, the first boss alone gave me serious trouble, nearly ending with me bashing my head into my desk, but I perserved, learning the attack patterns and appropriate dodging maneuvers, then memorizing them to a tee. at the end, the feeling I was met with was intense satisfaction, which is definitely the feeling you should get from any harder game. 

     What more than helps with the difficulty curve is the pacing of the game's fights, adol's swift sword strikes are meant to tear an enemy apart in seconds, and the enemies are designed in due kind. the later bosses require some bullet-hell level reaction skills, one boss even going as far as using actual bullet hell tactics! 

     All of this adds up to an immensely satiating experience that is never, under any circumstances, boring or dull. 

#2: Dark Souls

     Oh Dark Souls, what can I say about you that the internet hasn't already said? a fantasy aRPG with a focus on slow, tactical combat, Dark souls was developed by from software with the hardcore in mind. 

     While the game is nowhere near as fast as Ys, it is certainly as hard, replacing high octane action with making every hit count. Even the most basic of enemies can give you a run for your money if you don't have the right equipment. Add to this an intriguing meta-online system, an amazing story told almost solely through item descriptions and the environment, and visual cues telling you not only about the world, but about the traps to come ahead, and you have one hell of a game. 

     "What could possibly top Dark Souls?" you might be asking. the answer is right here: 

     

#1: Kingdom Hearts 2

     The first Kingdom Hearts will always have a place in my heart, as it was one of the first games I remember playing. in that case, why did I pick KH2? the answer there is actually pretty simple: it's a better game. Everything KH1 did, 2 did leagues better. The combat added variety with the drive forms, and the special command prompt attacks. The Gummi ship went from a boring, simple distraction to actually having depth. They even made the magic system more viable for an action setting, by having your MP recharge after you use it all, saving you from having to carry a million ethers. 

     Not to mention the worlds. KH2's story might be more confusing overall (thanks to 358/2 days and chain of memories) the individual worlds were improved tenfold, with the exception of the pirates one. Everything, even sora's outfit, was made more aesthetically pleasing, yet it still managed to visually fit together. Even the finale was more grand. In the first game, you take down a baddy who has not been well developed, with generic intentions of turning everything dark. While the final boss here may be smaller in size, his goals are clear cut, and the fight that ensues actually manages to be more engaging than giant-ship-ansem. at least half of the fight is mashing triangle, and despite that, it still manages to be a fantastic fight all around. This game's at the top of this list because it took one of my favorite games and made it even better, and really, that's all I could ever want. 

   

An Irregular day

in an effort to learn the nature of the beast known as ren'py, I've slapped together an incredibly silly visual novel over the course of a few hours that you can download here
here's a screenshot so you know what kind of half-assed art you're gonna get

there are 4 endings, 3 bad, 1 good. it should only take a few minutes to get them all. 

Why Sci-Fi and Fantasy settings are most popular in games.

(sorry I haven't updated in a while, it's hard to consistently think of worthwhile topics, and I am NOT turning into kotaku)
     Go look at the number of good science fiction shows that have been airing lately. You'll have a hard time finding something other than doctor who, and even then the shows mentioned are dubious, at best. Fantasy doesn't fare much better, with Game of Thrones being the only notable one. Granted, it's Game of Thrones, but still, the market for these is lacking. In the realm of movies, the only recent sci-fi film has been the Star Trek sequel, and the medieval fantasy landscape is nearly barren.  Now, take a good look at the most popular RPGs and shooters of every generation, and take note of the two most popular settings.
     I've been racking my head trying to figure out why this huge discrepancy exists, and until today I hadn't been having much luck. Until, that is, I noticed a certain game I had left laying on my desk. After I saw it, everything clicked. The game in question, you may ask, is Mortal Kombat (9, to be exact, but the series as a whole is important).
     It wouldn't be unfair to say the 1990's were video game's formative years, while the arcade games and home consoles of the 80's set the tech in place, the 90's were when the whole thing began to flourish, with consoles like the Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis coming into play. During the heyday of the arcade, a certain genre began to flourish that encouraged skill and competition directly, rather than through high scores. This genre is still known today as fighting games, and one of the most influential ones to exist is Mortal Kombat.
     How it got to be so influential is through a combination of groundbreaking (one of the first games to use motion capture and have it not suck*), and controversy (with the over the top violence of fatalities). The controversy is what's important here, as it's what really helped form the landscape and target demographic of video games as a whole, even to this day. MK had gained a reputation for gratuitous violence, something very attractive to teenage males (I should know, I am one).
     Now, what was (and still is) lacking in television and movies? violence, and I don't mean action, I mean straight up violence. people looking for over the top, super gory violence didn't have the luxury of the SAW franchise at the time, so MK was really all they had. Mortal Kombat also had the benefit of it's controversy making it a nearly household name. Nowadays it's one of those franchises where you can walk up to someone who's never touched a video game and say it's name and they'd know exactly what you meant.
     To tie it back into the point I was making, what is the most common demographic attracted to science fiction and high fantasy? thankfully it's changed from the 1990's to be more diverse, but at the time it was teen boys. Lord of the rings and Star trek were long enough ago that the main fans would be 20-30 years old now, so take a wild guess what the core demographic for video games is now.
     While games have certainly gotten more inclusive (and thank god for that, stagnation is the enemy of progress), I can't help but think that had MK not catered to the most generic of teenage fantasies (ninjas, cyborgs, blood and gore), sci-fi and high fantasy would never have found such a welcoming home, and since that's my two favorite genres, I appreciate it.

*the first game to ever use motion capture was rise of the robots. I've never played it, and looking at a video of it, I don't think I ever will

New Humble Double Fine Bundle Is One Of The Best

     So a few days ago, a new humble bundle featuring exclusively games from fantastic developer double fine began. Since it's one of the best humble bundles in quite a while, I decided I would highlight it here and give people a quick rundown of every game and why they're all great.
     First up is Costume Quest, a turn based RPG with a story and mechanics based around halloween. you play as a trick-or-treater who's brother or sister (depending on who you play as) is kidnapped by monsters. You get different costumes with different attributes, and each costume has a unique button based mechanic attached to it. The knight, for example, enhances attacks by hitting the right button fast enough, while the robot costume you start with powers up by you hitting the button at the right time. A good amount of variety within the RPG system and sufficient amount of quirky uniqueness make this an excellent experince.
     Second on the list is Psychonauts. Originally developed and released as an Xbox game, it was so good it refused to stay on one platform. It's an action-adventure style game where you play as Raz, an acrobat with psychic powers who escaped from the circus to join the psychonaut army. a surprisingly large amount of collectables, powers, clever dialogue, and platforming goodness, psychonauts is a classic underrated hit, since it didn't sell particularly well in it's first run.
      Next up is Stacking, a puzzle game where you play as a matryoshka doll able to control other characters, each with their own unique special abilities. All the puzzles have multiple solutions, some being insanely obtuse (though the hint system being so lax makes this trivial)  and others being simple. With the cutscenes having film grain, and characters speaking through silent-film style images, Stacking oozes 1920's style, and offers something for casual and hardcore puzzle fans alike.
     Lastly is Brutal legend, the reward you get for going above the average. one of double fine's most polished projects to date, Brutal legend starts as a hack and slash game and ends as a strategy. Filled from beginning to end with an all star cast and a rocking sound track, any fan of rock music is missing out if they don't own this. It has Ozzy Ozbourne and Jack Black in it, what else needs to be said, really? you know, other than the fact that it's also hilarious, and has surprisingly good combat mechanics.
     That wraps it up. if this doesn't convince you to buy this bundle, then go look up as much as you can about these games, because you really should.
it's available here, by the way.

Anti-Breakout v0.4

A new version of anti-breakout approaches

Download

New features:

• A lives system
• An onscreen score counter
• Bars no longer spawn beneath or on player

Things to do:

• Improve art
• Add Music
• Improve score counter and scoreboard

Indies of the month: April edition

     Since it's impossible for me to tell you the best indie games released this month, since it's not over, I'll tell you the best games released LAST month. I'm giving myself the first ten days of the month afterwards to write the article, since that sounds fair to me. No ports allowed, only actual releases here. So, here it is, The best indie games released in april.

Monaco: What's Yours is Mine

     A stealth co-op game made by pocketwatch games, Monaco has a good amount of variety and co-op potential, with several different classes and a unique blend of an overhead camera with limited visibility. Chaos is no stranger to this game, and you shouldn't be either. 

Zenoclash 2

     A sequel to the first person beat-em-up Zenoclash, Zenoclash 2 is a worthy successor. With refined mechanics, added gameplay elements, and improved graphical fidelity, this is one sequel worth buying.

Don't Starve

     A survival focused game with randomly generated terrain and permadeath, Many people already have, and love, this game thanks to it's beta status. It's on this list, however, because it was officially released last month. 

Surgeon Simulator 2013

     Originally a free game, Surgeon Simulator 2013 was released commercially with more than enough added content to keep consumers happy. Difficult, hilarious, and an excellent time killer, it's super popular for a reason. 

Why there are very few indie stealth games

    Originally I was going to compile a list of great indie stealth games, but after an extensive amount of research, there was only three worth playing and four I could find. So instead, I'm going to give you the reason why stealth games are so few and far between in the world of independent development. The simplicity of it may blow your mind, or you saw it coming a mile away. Either way, the reason for it is because of AI.
     AI, short for Artificial Intelligence, is one of the hardest parts of a game to code. Zombies and monsters are more popular than humans because no one has to program them to be like humans. if a zombie doesn't notice the guy with the gun running by, no one bats an eye, but when a human does the same thing, it breaks people's immersion, since no real perfectly functioning human would not notice that. There are full triple A studios that couldn't get AI right, so obviously if four people in a garage get too complicated, they probably won't be able to pull it off.
     Conversely, AI is also the backbone of stealth. Think about it, without good AI, what seperates Thief from a first person adventure game? You could potentially run through everything if nothing was smart enough to stop you. One of the first things people noticed about Metal Gear Solid was that the guards noticed footprints in the snow, which is a testament to how utterly crucial artificial intelligence is to this genre.
     So with the combination of it's difficulty, and it's necessity, it's no wonder why stealth indie games are so few and far between.

Anti-Breakout v0.1

     It's been a dream of mine for a while now to make video games, but I've never really had much motivation. maybe if I put out the super early alphas for scrutinization my ego will push me to do better.
so here, have the very first version of "Anti-Breakout". (made in gamemaker, because it's an easy starting point)
Download (Mediafire)
and here's a screenshot of my fantastic art

features to work on include: 

• Adding Music
• Adding better art assets
• forcing the bars to spawn at the top of the screen
• adding a visible score counter
• improving the score screen

3 reasons roguelikes have gotten more popular

     If you're familiar with the term "roguelike", you'll know that recently it's gotten a huge spike in popularity. the term originated as a way to describe games similar to "Rogue", a game created in 1980 which was famous for it's use of procedural generation. Roguelikes have been coming out for years, even during the video game crash there was one or two released. Now, though, there's more than ever, and I think I have a good idea why. Here are three reasons why roguelikes have gained popularity.

Reason 1: Variety

     Originally, roguelike was a term that only described games incredibly similar to rogue, meaning games with ascii graphics, permadeath, a top down view, randomly generated levels, and it took place in a dungeon going down floors. Now, with the advent of video games like FTL, Spelunky, and Binding of Isaac, only a few of those constants remain. With the advent of this new variety comes new fans, people who are fans of platformers and top down shooters who love the idea of potentially infinite replay value and intense difficulty. Roguelikes are now only defined by random generation and permadeath, with some not even taking place inside a dungeon. 

Reason 2: Computer gaming popularity

     These games are an experience unique to PC gaming, with only a handful of them ever released on console (though certain games like chocobo's dungeon and nightmare of druaga come to mind). Until recently, PC gaming as a whole was not particularly popular, but with the advent of steam and the console generation slowing, it has been steadily rising.With it, so has the popularity of the roguelike. Indie gaming is partly related here, since developing and distributing indie games is a lot easier on PC. Indie games take a lot less funding, and as a result there's less risk, meaning indie developers can try more niche genres, which feeds back into the topic at hand. More are being made because they can be made, and because there are more, people are noticing them more often. 

Reason 3: Youtube and the Let's Play

     With the popularity of the "Let's play",  some video creators look for a game that they like which could potentially be an infinite source of episodes. That means that when they have no other episodes planned, and no other games to play, they fall back on their favorite for a filler episode. Not to mention certain popular youtubers are huge advocates of the genre. All the exposure caused by this has led to a significant rise in popularity, because existence of these games is being spread, and as a result a lot of people who might never have tried it in the first place have found out that it is a genre they love. 

The Five Best Freeware Games

     Some people are cheap. I'm one of them. Some people also like playing games, but cannot afford to buy them often. It's also a fact of life that a lot of people have computers. If all three of these conditions apply to you, this article is something you want to read. 

     After spending quite a few years going through multiple free games, I've decided to compile a list of what I thought were the best ones. The rules for this list are as follows: 

• it cannot require an online connection (so no mmos) 
• it has to be free 
• it has to be able to run on systems that aren't super current. (surprisingly, there are some that can't) 
• it can't be based on an existing property (no streets of rage remakes or D&D games here) 
• it can't be a mod of another game, free or otherwise. (if there's a cool mod available it will be mentioned) 

With all that in mind, let's start the list of the Top Five Freeware Games with number five. 

Number 5: Iji by Daniel Remar

    A level-based platformer with rpg elements, Iji has a surprising amount of content. each level can be beaten in different ways, and allows for exploration while never forcing too much of it on the player. the game can be played as either pacifistic (no kills, stealth focused) or murderous, and it will affect the ending along with several scenes. The only game on this list with animated cutscenes and moral choices, the only thing keeping it on the bottom of the list is the relative lack of content and slow start-up. 

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 Number 4: Cave Story by Studio Pixel

      This game should be plenty familiar. It's gotten a release on wiiware, DSiware, and the 3DS, on top of getting an updated commercial version for the PC. While I will concede that the plus version is better, the original holds up insanely well in comparison, with a lot of people preferring the original art style and music to the enhanced stuff. People love it for it's SNES style atmosphere, intriguing story, and fast paced run and gun gameplay, and the free version has all that in spades. 

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Number 3: Spelunky by Mossmouth

     Another game with a commercial release, but this time only available on the 360, meaning this is still the only version for pc players. an adventure platformer with permadeath and randomly generated levels (don't call it a roguelike, you'll incur the wrath of the genre's fans), spelunky is often called "the best indiana jones game". With things like snake pits of death, giant boulders, and deadly bats, that is an accurate description. it's insanely hard, and has a generous amount of levels. between the excellent aesthetic, good amount of replay value, and insanely tight platforming controls, it's a tough contender to beat. however, there are two...

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Number 2: Dwarf Fortress by Bay12games

(no picture here, it has no title screen)

     One of the most famous free PC games and for a damn good reason. Dwarf fortress might not have much in the way of presentation (the game is ascii without any mods), and it may have a huge learning curve, but if you can get past all that you can do utterly insane things that no other game could ever support. one need not look any further than stories like a dwarf fighting through hell with a pair of underwear to understand why this game is on the list. 

     So, you may be asking yourself, what could possibly top all the excellent games listed here? It would have to be something that looked great, played great, offered an excellent story and offered a good amount of playtime. Wonder no longer, because the answer is...

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Number 1: Barkley, Shut up and Jam: Gaiden by Tales of Games

      This game is amazing. one of the best I've played, free or otherwise. Set in the same universe as Space Jam, this game is infinitely more serious, with a storyline set in a post-basketball dystopian society. You play as famous basketball player Charles Barkley as he tries to clear his name and uncovers a vast conspiracy in the process. The gameplay is like a suped-up paper mario, with turn based mechanics that have special attacks based on timed button presses. The presentation is nothing to sneeze at either, voice acting is limited and graphically you can tell it's an RPGmaker game, and in fights you get mortal kombat style sprites, but when all of it comes together it draws you in and doesn't let go. 

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