Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Diary of a Returning Gamer #9

Apparently, gaming is serious business. How serious? Serious enough for people to be dicks about it.
So my friend randomly posted her status, asking friends if they want to help her beat "The Lion King" game from Super Nintendo this upcoming weekend.



I have so many good memories with this game. My siblings and I grew up with the NES (aka Family Computer in Japan or Famicom for short). It was our one and only video game in our house. We were aware of the Super Nintendo from gaming displays/cardboard boxes at the mall. These were freaking expensive as heck. As a kid, I knew we could never buy something like that just for fun. It didn't really matter to me as much. I had many cousins to play with outside the house or to visit. Video games were a last resort when it comes to play time. And I made the most out of what we had.

I'm not sure about here in the US, but many stores in Asia offer renting of videogames at the store location by the hour. Basically, you pay a certain amount per hour for whichever videogame system you want to play inside the store. Whenever we would go shopping with my mom, she would allow us to play games in these store. I get bored very easily as a child. So I play these games when we have a chance.

I was 11 at the time. My two favorite games for the Super Nintendo (Super Famicom) were Aladdin and The Lion King. These were my go-to games. I had no strategy guide. I had no help from anybody. I just played. That's how I beat Aladdin after several visits to this game store. The next game I started playing was the Lion King. It took several tries to beat it, but it was worth it.

I was telling my friend about the Lion King and how I always found it hard to beat this one level where young Simba would be riding on top of an ostrich. The obstacles in this level were really hard for me back then and I would only get lucky to beat it. I told her that my proudest moment was accidentally throwing Scar off the cliff. I'm aware this is how it happened in the movie. In the game, to my 11 year old self, this wasn't very clear. The only way to beat Scar in the game is to actually throw him off the cliff... which I accidentally button-mashed into doing. That's pretty much what my comment was, until one of her friends commented.


It's like the equivalent of a grammar Nazi, trying to correct something that doesn't need correcting, except vanilla... you know... nothing special. I wasn't even going to mention the fact that I didn't have a strategy guide. That I didn't even own the system. That I was 10-11 years old. That I was on borrowed time, renting the system. Figuring out how to beat the last level for myself was a proud achievement. But I did. He hasn't responded.

Here's a "MOTHERFUCKING" PROTIP: Don't be a dickhole.


REVIEW



I just finished the Walking Dead: The Game. I've mentioned it in one of my posts before. Usually, I would have done a review of the game, but I'm too lazy. So I'll just do it here.

Synopsis: Originally released as five episodes starting in April and ending in November 2012, The Walking Dead: The Game casts us as Lee Everett, a convicted murderer on his way to the big house. However, before Mr. Everett can trade his denim shirt for an orange jumpsuit, the zombie apocalypse breaks out and gives Lee new goals in life: namely, surviving at all costs and protecting a little girl named Clementine.

It's a fairly straightforward game. If you've played Heavy Rain, you'll know the deal. For those who haven't played any of these types of games, this type of game is called "Interactive Movie" or film, drama... what have you. You control the movements of the characters during interactive scenes. For this particular game, the story is straighforward, but the choices you make affect how the story unfolds. At it's core, this is a story-driven game. The choices you make will also challenge you as a person:

Given a choice of saving a stranger's kid who is much closer to you from a walker versus saving the teenage son of a stranger who brought you in to your home, what's your decision? Your choice affects the story from here on out. It doesn't get any easier. They have retroactively referred to this game as Season 1. Season 2 is now in the works.

FIRST-LOOK



I've already reviewed the entire Assassin's Creed series. Currently, I'm playing the DLC for Assassin's Creed III called "The Tyranny of King Washington." It explores an alternate timeline wherein George Washington was tempted by power and did not step down as president, proclaiming himself as King. There are three episodes. I'll probably write about it once I completed all three episodes.

I'm done.

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