The Walking Dead The Game (2012) + 400 Days Review

Now that I'm back from traveling half way across the country, it's time to get back to reviewing games by actually reviewing a game and not a cheap demo! So right now everyone is getting back into the zombie feel with The Walking Dead The Game since the new DLC came out not too long ago, and because that's the only game I've been able to play while I was gone, let's take a look.

The Walking Dead, first of all, was originally a comic starring Rick Grimes, a police officer who has to survive the apocalypse, while also dealing with the other survivors who in a world without laws, might be more dangerous than the walking corpses trying to eat his face off. The comic was and still is very popular, so much so that is spawned a TV series which is even more popular, though I've never seen it. Despite the popularity, there never was a Walking Dead game, but in 2012 the first ever Walking Dead game was made. Developed by Telltale Games, the developers behind Tales of Monkey Island, Back to the Future the Game, and Jurassic Park The Game, The Walking Dead The Game was incredibly well received, sold a boatload of copies with sales hitting over a million by the end of the year, and won quite a few game of the year awards too. Did I mention it's a point and click adventure game? The success of this game is amazing, but is it really game of the year material?

Well first let's start with the plot. It should be mentioned right away that this game shares no connection the the comics or the show. There's only two characters from the comics that you see that leave very soon and that's about it. This game is connected to The Walking Dead by the name alone. Though this may disappoint fans of the comic or show, this also means that there's an original plot that anyone can enjoy. Speaking of that, you play as Lee Everett, a man on his way to jail for killing a man for sleeping with his wife. The good news is that the car never makes it to the prison. The bad news is that the car crashed and Lee is now in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Lee goes to a nearby house to escape the zombies where he meets Clementine, a young girl who's parents were on vacation when the apocalypse started. Therefore its up to Lee to survive this new world while protecting Clementine and keeping the group he finds himself in together. I don't want to say too much about the plot because this is a story that really needs to be experienced firsthand. Even talking about just the second episode could be considered spoilers. What I can say is that this game continues the theme of human interaction that is used in the other Walking Dead media and it leads to many tense moments in this well written plot.

Onto the game play. The game is a point and click adventure game where you have to solve puzzles and find objects. Movement is done with the left analog while you move the reticle with the right stick with the different actions being mapped to the face buttons. This is used to find the aforementioned objects and solve the aforementioned puzzles. That being said, solving puzzles only takes a small part of the game. A majority of the game play is in conversations with the other survivors. The choices you can make are mapped to the face buttons just like the actions in the adventure sections. You will be told to make many choices, and you'll have to have a say in many of the more difficult ones. You can always just stay silent in conversations, but that will influence what other characters think of you. Throughout all of the episodes, your choices will influence characters thoughts about you and small, subtle things will change. The only problem is that despite the many choices you can make, you're ultimately heading towards the same though slightly different conclusion. Making a lot of your choices pointless, because if the plot demands that a character is to die, then their going to die despite what they think of you. For an early example, in the beginning of Episode 1 your forced to save a grown man or a kid. Of course everybody chooses to save the kid because he has more to live for and by doing that the man dies, and his father kicks you out of his farm, but at the same time, the boys family likes you more for saving their son. On the other hand, you can choose to save the man while the boys father comes and saves him. And the man you try to save still dies. Okay, he tells his dad that you tried to save him just before he dies, but you're kicked out of the farm anyway. And things like this happen throughout the whole series, so the only way to make worthwhile choices is to know which characters will die early on and focus on making the long lasting characters like you more. But this still leads you to the same general conclusion, making almost all of the choices entirely pointless.

On the topic of presentation, the game looks good. Though not the gritty realistic graphics that are expected form games nowadays, the comic book cel-shaded style looks nice, especially when you consider what its based on. The graphics will sometimes glitch out where some clipping will happen and some characters vanishing into thin air when you leave. The music is also done very nicely with intense music when action is going on and atmospheric pieces when sad story segments happen, leading to a great soundtrack. Though not something someone would put on their iPod, the pieces definitely set the mood, and get the job done while you're playing.

The game is split into five episodes, each being purchased individually for five dollars each, with each one lasting about two hours, with the exception  of the final episode, which only lasts about an hour, leading to a nine hour game costing $25. Is it worth it? Yes. The only major problem with the game design wise it the ultimate pointless-ness of your choices, but that's not something a first time player would know unless someone told you. The plot is just so well done overall, regardless of your choices, and by not linking it to the comics or the show leads to an amazing story that you won't see anywhere else. The Walking Dead The Game is not a game you come to for the game play, but rather for the story, and if you come knowing that, you'll find one of the best experiences 2012 had to offer, with a second season on its way.

Since I suck at segways, let's talk about The Walking Dead 400 Days, the new DLC that came out not too long ago, starring 5 unlucky survivors, each with their own story taking place sometime in a 400 day span. Short and to the point, its 5 short Walking Dead stories that each last about 10-20 minutes leading to a short overall story lasting about an hour and a half for the same price as a normal episode. The short segments star one of the five characters requiring you to do what you've been trained to do throughout Season 1, and that's survive and make tough choices. It should be noted that this time around, your choices throughout the stories actually influence the conclusion of the DLC which could change things happening in Season 2, meaning if you didn't care about shelling out another five dollars just for more Walking Dead, you'll want to just to see how your choices here influence Season 2. Despite staring different characters, nothing really changed here. Subtle references to things that happened in Season 1 make this world a little more connected, and anyone who was uses to how things worked in Season 1 will fell right at home. When I say nothing really changed however that also holds true to the glitches as well, as a few well-timed glitches will break your immersion just like Season 1. Overall though, 400 Days just serves as a quick sample to what Season 2 has to offer. For a bit more of The Walking Dead, this will satisfy. But for most, this will just make you more impatient for Season 2.

The Silent Protagonist thinks it's Zombie Time. DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDAHDAHDAH! *Groan* DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDAHDAHDAH! *Groan*

Final Fantasy VII Demo Impressions/Review

Well, with trying to get everything on this site together, prepping to travel halfway across the country for two weeks only to come home for two days before I leave for another week, and having a hard time picking a game, reviewing a full game just wasn't going to happen this week. But I will not stand for writing nothing only to leave for the rest of the month leaving all two people actually reading this thinking I quit before even reviewing an actual game, so here's a review of a Final Fantasy demo disc that I found at a garage sale for fifty cents.

Truth be told, me and FF have had a bit of a complicated history. The first one I played was, well, the first one. Or more accurately the ios remake of it that I think was a port of the PSP remake but that's not the point. Overall I thought the game was OK, but it wasn't something I was going to devote time to in order to complete. Then I played Final Fantasy X which I didn't like at all. Maybe it was because the idea of real time turn based combat didn't appeal to me at the time, or maybe I was upset that I bought that as opposed to Kingdom Hearts, but I ended up trading it in the next day, got my money back, went somewhere else, and bought Kingdom Hearts with no regrets. Months later, I bought Final Fantasy IX, which I instantly fell in love with. I guess sometimes in order to take a step forward you need to take a step back. Then I played Final Fantasy IV on the DS. That was actually the game I wanted to review this week, but here's the thing. I like the game, but I don't think it likes me back. I couldn't get to a comfortable point where I could form a full opinion on it. I have a few thoughts on it though. Here's the short version: This game is HARRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDD that is all. And throughout all of the Final Fantasy games I've played, I never cared to get VII. I've obviously heard of the game and it's larger than life legacy, but I never bothered to play it. Well now I own a demo disc containing the beginning of the game. Will this little disc change my mind about VII?

Well the demo begins and there's stars on the screen for about twenty seconds before Aerith shows up picking flowers. The view zooms out showing that this game goes for a more modern style, something I've been indifferent. X did the same thing, and I was weary about it then too. Then we cut to a train where some guys jump off and start beating the crap out of soldiers. Here's where I take control. The first thing I notice is that I can't move with the dual-shock controller. Great, I'm stuck playing a 3D game with a D-Pad. So I step forward and I get into my first battle. The first thing I notice besides the fact that these guys have guns is that I already have Tifa in my party. Now I've seen some gameplay beforehand, and i didn't see Tifa there, so why is she here? Not that is matters because realistically, her punches and kicks pale in comparison to Clouds giant sword that any normal man wouldn't be able to swing, let alone hold it over his shoulder. Oh yeah, the spiky haired dude we're controlling is Cloud. Say hi.

So I go forward and the guys that were being jerks to those soldier which I can't really say because I was just a jerk to some soldiers tell me that I'm an ex-soldier. Okay but I still have no idea what I'm doing here. Who are you people again? Because the unexplained plot demands it I take a few steps until I have a seizure and I'm ambushed by a solider and a giant dog. The Active Time Battle System gives me some time to look around during these battles, and it's around here when I realize that these enemies are firing machine-guns at me. That's not fair, that's completely one-sided against a guy with a bigger than it needs to be sword and a chick with her fists. But my big problem here is that if there's guns, then this isn't really a fantasy setting. I can believe that it's a fantasy setting if there's only steam-punk, but if the guy with the colossus sized sword is being his by bullets and it's not by the works of time travel, then this isn't really a fantasy, only...final, which I know isn't the case because we're at the point where the numbered squeals are getting sequels. Anyways I go in the building and the previously mentioned jerks say that we're here to blow up this giant furnace. Okay but why?

So soon I'm thrust into another battle with a tentacle monster thing. Or is it a robot? I think it is because it just issued an alarm, but I'm not sure because it never got a chance to send it because it went down faster than the giant dogs. So in the next room the black guy(not racist) who I presume to be the leader says he doesn't trust me and joins the Club Hero Brigade. After scoring an item I push a button and go down to climb some ladders. Barret, who's the aforementioned new CHB member, says that this giant furnace is sucking the life out of the planet. So by us blowing it up does that mean we're the good guys or the bad guys? After that Snake Eater worthy ladder climb I'm treated to another seizure. Getting real sick of those. Now I'm sure these things that I'm fighting are robots, but never fear, because Barret is equipped with a machine-gun, driving the fantasy issue I mentioned home.

Well the game instantly shuts me up because these blue things are defiantly not human nor robot, meaning this is my first monster! And it's here where I stop mashing X and start using some magic, which kills these monsters faster than me playing Super Mario Brothers. Unfortunately one seizure later and I'm back to fighting robots again. *sigh* Well we finally make it to the generator and Cloud starts to question if he should do this, until Barret says in this exact spelling "Jus do it foo!". This could be a long night. So the bomb is set, and boss time. A robot. Well, I think this is the end of the demo so time to go all out. After about four summons and a limit break, the boss is down. More time was spent on the summon animations now that I think about it. And now there's a time limit, the age-old video game nemesis. It's ten minutes though so it's being awfully generous. So a few more seizure and spending more time on battling that actually escaping, I'm out and the demo comes to a close.

So overall, I really liked this demo. The classic Final Fantasy gameplay is still here and I would like to see where the plot goes. Of course I have some problems. Not mentioning the "fantasy" issue that I hammered into you'r mind, VII seems to focus more on spectacle than the gameplay. I know it was 1997 and Square was on this fancy new technology that let them do that, but as mentioned before, most of the time shouldn't be spent on watching an animation. If I have enough time to write note in the middle of a battle in a Final Fantasy game, that's a problem, since waiting in a battle in a Final Fantasy game is a good way to get yourself sent to the hospital with a kicked bum. In short, the demo was good, but still hasn't showed me that this is the best RPG of all time yet. I'll just stick with IX.

The Silent Protagonist takes five seconds for his brain to start working every time he does something.