tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post7939414515050201062..comments2024-03-28T15:25:30.216-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Darkside of Xeen: Won!CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-31669014629714972152022-10-15T11:21:13.649-04:002022-10-15T11:21:13.649-04:00"I still don't understand exactly what th..."I still don't understand exactly what these guys are made of."<br /><br />They're made of Might & Magic.<br /><br />I-I'll see myself out...Alejonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-61441171024027571982021-06-26T08:40:46.469-04:002021-06-26T08:40:46.469-04:00You're reading too much into my words. I'v...You're reading too much into my words. I've stated what I've stated - I don't know any other blogs that do the same thing this one does, so I will continue to read it. That was in response to "Fortunately for you, there are other gaming blogs on the Internet."infidelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04498952152952258656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-71727081186431949632021-06-26T08:34:56.401-04:002021-06-26T08:34:56.401-04:00> In the context of this blog, what does 'c...> In the context of this blog, what does 'cutting some slack' even accomplish?<br /><br />Plainly acknowledging we're dealing with amateur productions here won't undermine any criticism that follows. And that's what I mean by "cutting some slack" in this context. Same thing, IMO, praising retro for being retro is as bad as not noting that it's not exactly Shakespeare material we're dealing with here in any aspect.infidelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04498952152952258656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-65196741322377511242021-06-25T18:20:38.914-04:002021-06-25T18:20:38.914-04:00"On the contrary, how many of those blogs pla..."On the contrary, how many of those blogs play old RPGs, do it consistently and write well about it? You've taken a niche and there ain't much competition as far as I know. So I'm staying *smug*." <br /><br />So Chet is the only person writing about the games you like, therefore he has an obligation to agree with your opinions? Not sure I'm following.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08236674968994362673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-72638851042790038132021-06-25T17:09:25.551-04:002021-06-25T17:09:25.551-04:00I prefer Addict's honesty. A lesser reviewer w...I prefer Addict's honesty. A lesser reviewer would have just given it a bunch of praise for being retro and moved on without elaborating. It's refreshing to see somebody that will admit that they dislike something about a "classic."Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14025511634630902101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-80935833356636665062021-06-25T13:00:04.747-04:002021-06-25T13:00:04.747-04:00In the context of this blog, what does 'cuttin...In the context of this blog, what does 'cutting some slack' even accomplish? Somehow I doubt it's Van Caneghem's feelings getting hurt here, so I encourage the Addict to be as frank in his appraisals as he would like to be. A relatively amateur or amateurish development effort shouldn't be any reason to go soft on what is overall fairly constructive criticism meant to establish a sort of baseline measure that encompasses the history of CRPGs. Both what our reviewer enjoyed and what he didn't enjoy are discussed in good measure and dissected. We can certainly disagree with his take (it doesn't invalidate our enjoyment of the games), but we shouldn't expect to hear anything less than his full thoughts on these games, either. Bruce Brenneisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11322005049442981571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-33832250583861442552021-06-25T10:24:25.879-04:002021-06-25T10:24:25.879-04:00On the contrary, how many of those blogs play old ...On the contrary, how many of those blogs play old RPGs, do it consistently and write well about it? You've taken a niche and there ain't much competition as far as I know. So I'm staying *smug*. I was just stating the obvious, no hard feelings on my side. But it would be nice of you to admit that you were wrong about JvC's intent, though he did not yet grace us with his comments here.<br /><br />Another thought that I've formed while thinking about it is how both you and Digital Antiquarian very seriously try to review these games as works of art. I think that their amateur nature should be obvious to anyone so I find it weird how you don't cut them at least some slack. Like the writing, for example. There's only one game with big amounts of good writing from before the late 90s corporate era that I can think of (Betrayal at Krondor). The rest are just that, programmers doing their D&D campaigns. Sure, some Infocom games come to mind as something good in the writing aspect but they're not RPGs.infidelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04498952152952258656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-76591866167335710682021-06-24T22:05:36.023-04:002021-06-24T22:05:36.023-04:00I've given your comment a lot of thought, and ...I've given your comment a lot of thought, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to continue to be "combative about it." Fortunately for you, there are other gaming blogs on the Internet.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-59118709142106025512021-06-24T05:29:12.227-04:002021-06-24T05:29:12.227-04:00> "Your problem," you now want to tel...> "Your problem," you now want to tell me, "is that the Might and Magic series was never meant to be taken that seriously." First off all, sod of with the passive voice. I'll believe that it "was never meant" to be taken seriously when Jon Van Caneghem shows up in the comments and says so. <br /><br />The butthurt is strong, I see. You wouldn't spend this amount of paragraphs if you weren't peeved so stop pretending it's no biggie in the comments. I recommend trying the most recent Von Caneghem's game I know, called Creature Quest (2017). Available exclusively on mobile platforms, this bears almost all of the hallmarks of classic JvC production, including: a) gorgeous creature art (might even be the same artist) b) silly, slapstick humor that you so much despise in your RPGs c) pop culture references galore. The only two things missing are the plot (who needs one in a mobile game?) and intricate RPG system, arguably replaced with a gacha "let's upgrade every number we can see and then some".<br /><br />I've found about the game on Matt Chat 366 which I also recommend viewing where you will see the man and his outlook on game design. And I quote the man himself (23:06): "In the first few games I really enjoyed putting in pop culture items, Star Trek and puns and puzzles that only someone who spoke fluent English would understand..." He proceeds to explain about a different thing, localization, but you get the point. That's obviously just his style and if you don't like it, fine, just stop being so combative about it. Moreover, 80s and early 90s was an era where games were made by amateurs, hence the sometimes amateur art, amateur college jokes and quite often amateur music and coding. Anything different will only happen in the later corporate years.infidelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04498952152952258656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-54144231177020469782021-06-20T14:56:21.666-04:002021-06-20T14:56:21.666-04:00All that Egyptian and "ancients" stuff j...All that Egyptian and "ancients" stuff just screams of good old Erich von Däniken and the ancient astronaut hypothesis. UFOlogists tend to love that shit, too. I'm guessing devs inspired by SF and with the general level of silliness in MM-lore, would not be above going to that well, too.<br /><br />Hell, ancient South American culture gets dragged into stuff in MM6-8, too. Together with Space Egypt, the MM-series could easily be interpreted as a parody of what a lot of UFO-people believe in...Libluinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15524606710871977666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-84070367023343939942021-06-18T19:14:07.996-04:002021-06-18T19:14:07.996-04:00Even if Chet ever plays Dark Messiah of M&M, I...Even if Chet ever plays Dark Messiah of M&M, I doubt he could come up with a better genre title than First Person Kicker - that is perfection, Anonymous. <br /><br />1UP's alternate title for DoMM "The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot Deathboot in the Land of the Conspicuously Placed Spike Racks" is left in a distant second place.<br />gamerindreamsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-72403728838566168952021-06-18T07:03:10.249-04:002021-06-18T07:03:10.249-04:00With my brother we spent a lot time playing HOMaM ...With my brother we spent a lot time playing HOMaM I when it came out. In that time it was a great game for us. After HoMaM II were of course much better, nice graphic and absolutely great soundtrack (orchestra melodies in towns). I enjyoed also HoMaM III, although in that time maybe I liked litte more fairy-tale graphic of HoMaM II than more "realistic" graphic of HoMaM III. HoMaM IV were completely different in many things, but I liked them too, there were interesting branch for me. HoMaM V were little hard for me to get used with them, with that 3D view and all. I needed more time before I was able to play them somehow more. And VI and VII I just tried, I have them on my playlist, but they seem to me somehow quite similar with V.Tygrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22793828194807000392021-06-17T11:59:31.490-04:002021-06-17T11:59:31.490-04:00I mean yeah, its marketing was also bad; but the g...I mean yeah, its marketing was also bad; but the game itself was considered (by Romero, at least) to be the be-all-end-all of FPS'es. It's fun to read about his rockstar approach, but marketing really isn't the only thing that took itself WAY too seriously.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-4031062757823081312021-06-17T04:39:54.669-04:002021-06-17T04:39:54.669-04:00I would say Daikatana itself didn’t fall foul of t...I would say Daikatana itself didn’t fall foul of taking itself too seriously, but rather a mixture of its marketing being really dumb (which Romero totally agrees with) and the game being buggy due to relatively poor project management. The game itself was fine, nothing too special but nothing awful either. Deanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17030651394605861730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-31750679534978657462021-06-17T00:57:58.766-04:002021-06-17T00:57:58.766-04:00I think that process of 3derising a plane gives yo...I think that process of 3derising a plane gives you an octahedron with bulging faces.<br /><br />Gravity would pull it into a spheroid shape over some time period - I think it'd start out pretty tectonically unstable.<br /><br />Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-29868528626714749992021-06-17T00:27:30.876-04:002021-06-17T00:27:30.876-04:00I went into the cinema (for IX) wondering: 'Am...I went into the cinema (for IX) wondering: 'Am I still a Star Wars fan?' and over the course of the next couple hours determined that I wasn't.<br /><br />I found The Mandalorian pretty ordinary. The plots aren't great and the main character is much more a Disney hero than he is a bounty hunter.<br /><br />Didn't help Mando that I was watching The Expanse at the same time. Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-45373786687494136442021-06-16T14:39:58.014-04:002021-06-16T14:39:58.014-04:00Wikipedia reveals TLJ, directed by Rian Johnson ha...Wikipedia reveals TLJ, directed by Rian Johnson has won 9 awards in various award ceremonies. Conversely ROS, directed by JJ Abrams has won only 2. So there's that nugget to chew on.<br /><br />However neither move was good enough to win an Academy award at all, something I already expect from any movie directed by Abrams.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-30825894559607873272021-06-16T13:23:08.325-04:002021-06-16T13:23:08.325-04:00Being a long time unapologetic Star Wars fanboy, i...Being a long time unapologetic Star Wars fanboy, it was hard for me to come out of TLJ and ROS thinking "Wait... did I not enjoy that?"<br /><br />It's too late for me to decide that I don't like Star Wars anymore, so it's good for me that The Mandalorian makes up for every bad Star Wars movie and then some.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14025511634630902101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22252871127059426162021-06-16T12:43:47.416-04:002021-06-16T12:43:47.416-04:00In fact I'd rather compare those movies to two...In fact I'd rather compare those movies to two spoiled children fighting over a toy until they break it in half.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-15915358870830677332021-06-16T12:39:17.685-04:002021-06-16T12:39:17.685-04:00It was definitely a strange choice for Disney to l...It was definitely a strange choice for Disney to let two guys who hate each other alternately direct each movie in their big trillion-dollar tentpole trilogy. Both of them going "Nuh-uh, the last movie was dumb and stupid and dumb! This is what REALLY happened!" and spending the whole film undoing each others' work. Someday a riveting tell-all book will be written about that whole debacle. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-59598116145250494842021-06-16T12:24:00.150-04:002021-06-16T12:24:00.150-04:00Fantasy and Sci-Fi combined can make a compelling ...Fantasy and Sci-Fi combined can make a compelling story that's not goofy or childish. The problem is that American game designers in the 80s hadn't read Moebius, so they were trying to smash together 60s TV shows with Dungeons & Dragons and none of it went together at all. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22271283825182989912021-06-16T03:50:08.595-04:002021-06-16T03:50:08.595-04:00I would say that you can keep the silly but make i...I would say that you can keep the silly but make it consistent. Actually I don't like calling games serious or silly, I mean, they are GAMES, they are done for entertainment and fun. And there is a long tradition of twists like the one a the end of m&m in the scifi classics or even fantasy worlds that turn out to be a science fiction package. I mean, that is the cool side of fantasy and science fiction, letting the imagination go wild. Problem in this one is that there is barely any consistence in the world building and it would not have been that difficult to create a leading arch between the different castles or make the lore go in a particular direction. Or maybe it was difficult, who knows, maybe Xeen was actually many people creating levels and lore at full speed and without time to frankenstein it all.Risingson Carloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08915480026187953569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-57164608427513194102021-06-16T02:47:06.592-04:002021-06-16T02:47:06.592-04:00Watching the last two Star Wars movies is like wat...Watching the last two Star Wars movies is like watching your parents fight. joehbrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03837988222714030857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-58671068034377037112021-06-15T20:15:40.434-04:002021-06-15T20:15:40.434-04:00If you like the Heroes soundtrack, then look on Yo...If you like the Heroes soundtrack, then look on YouTube for the Heroes Orchestra and the Heroes Piano Sonatas. Paul Anthony Romero was a child prodigy, and his music is a treat to hear on nothing but real instruments.<br /><br />Personally, I felt Heroes III was overrated because it just added quantity improvements over the previous games. (Okay, there was a wait button in combat.) It ended up so bloated that you would have multiple support heroes running circuits collecting weekly resources, and giving every unit an upgrade was tiring. Hero chaining to bring your fresh troops to the front was an embarrassing exploit. Heroes IV solved some of these but came with its own.<br /><br />The series has a fond place in my heart but too often it rewarded winning combats bloodlessly to steamroll the maps. Partly the problem is it's a strategy game, so conquering the map will eventually enable you to overcome the opposition, making victories anticlimactic. It's why I prefer Mage Knight, which resembles Kings Bounty and Heroes on the tabletop.<br /><br />Sorry to hear about your cat, Chet.MLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-80107053734662230422021-06-15T19:10:13.000-04:002021-06-15T19:10:13.000-04:00X marks the spot. This is my canon now.X marks the spot. This is my canon now.Alexander Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10100095032496713664noreply@blogger.com