The Nerd's Agenda

Howdy folks. Haven't had too much to write about, so haven't written!

My comic book backlog is fairly long right now. I've only bothered to keep current with Saga and Hawkeye, everything else is in a "to read" pile. I've been focusing more on my gaming than comics, however.

I have been reading The Erevis Cale Trilogy, which is a very decent Forgotten Realms set of novels about an interesting group of characters (the title character is interesting for the number of changes he goes through, which is reflective of how often players change their characters over the course of a campaign, by either adding templates or changing classes, etc..). I also picked up Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett, and a collection of short stories known as Wild Cards, edited by George R. R. Martin. I'm pretty excited to start reading those, especially the Pratchett novel -- my experience with Discworld has been focused on Going Postal and Making Money, the former being on of my all-time favorite novels.

On the gaming front, I've still been trying to beat Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, but have gotten side tracked with Dragon Age: Origins, which I've played before but never on PC and never with all the DLC. I picked it up during the Steam Summer Sale, along with Mount and Blade: Warband (never played but am very excited to), Endless Space (a decent 4x, but I've not played enough to know how I'd rate it), and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (because I'm almost done with the first).

Just taking over the universe, don't mind me...

Beyond that, I've been working on a new project that will hopefully be unveiled soon. You can actually watch us streaming it Mondays at 8:00pm here, but I'm hoping to also eventually turn it into an edited podcast... More on that soon.

For movies and TV, I've been watching Bones with the wife and really enjoying it, and I'm rewatching Season 1 of Arrow, hoping season 2 will magically be on there when I'm done (it won't be, I've only got two episodes left). I'm eagerly anticipating Guardians of the Galaxy, but may have to put that on hold because I'm expected a daughter two days before it comes out! Gah!

Keep busy without getting much done, that's my motto!

What is dead my never die...

Not sure why, exactly, I went with a Game of Thrones title on this one, but I like it. Feels very Lovecraftian, and I do love my Elder Gods. Which is a bit of an odd statement for an atheist, but I'm sticking to it!

I've been a bit slow with the normal updates. I've been to the movies a lot this past month (which has been a rarity), but that'll stop now -- the next one on my list is Guardians of the Galaxy, I believe, and that's if The Oncoming Storm doesn't prevent me -- both a Doctor Who reference and what I'm calling my daughter before she arrives (due date is 7/28!).

For comics, I've been reading a bit here and there:

Love this cover, going on my wall!

Amazing Spider-Man - It's back. I'm not loving it, though I'm glad Peter's back with it. I probably won't enjoy it until they get through with Peter having to deal with all the things Otto did in his name. I've always disliked those kind of stories. In this instance, I feel they've changed Black Cat's character for the worse, and, in the end, it feels like wasted time. Let's do something new! Ah well. The Spider-Event coming up sounds good. And I'll cross my fingers for yet-another-chance at a Ben Reilly revival...

Saga - Started up again. Current issue is a time jump ahead, and Hazel is a toddler instead of an infant. The last page makes me very, very sad and I'm really, really hoping it's a trick. But Saga has been happy to go Game of Thrones style on my heart lately, so I'm not holding out too much hope...

The Wake - I've only read the first two issues, but I'm really loving the split current and post-apocalyptic future settings, and both sides of the story are very interesting (even if the future isn't very fleshed out by issue 2). Some more Lovecraftian themes here.

Thunderbolts - I managed to finally complete my collection of every "Thunderbolts" issue, and I've been busy reading that. I still need the "Dark Avengers" issues, when the title actually changed, and then the Marvel NOW! stuff, but I'm not too excited by that due to the deplorable art.


For gaming, I've really not done too much on the video game front. I'm playing through Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and am really enjoying it. I've never beaten the original, but I seem to be in the mood lately... I'm really looking forward to FINALLY finishing and then importing a character into the second game, which is universally considered superior, yet I've never played -- as always, I HATE starting things anywhere but at the beginning. Thanks George Lucas for really screwing that one up, huh?

It's a bit dated, but I'm still loving it. D&D 2nd edition, too...

Possibly because I've been playing a lot of D&D (Dungeons and Dragons, for the odd folks who read this blog but don't know what D&D is...) lately. I started one campaign as DM (Dungeon Master. Seriously, just good these things, you're a terrible nerd) playing with 3.5 Edition rules, and am planning on starting another one using either Pathfinder or 4th Edition rules. I'm also considering doing that one remotely and trying to record it as a podcast, though we'll see how that goes. For now, I'm happy creating stories for the campaigns and am itching to play more so the Players can experience all the awesome events I'm planning and they're going to ruin in some way...

Now accepting donations of all unwanted D&D materials! Please?

But yeah. That's what I'm up to now, and I've not been particularly motivated to do an entire write up about any of it. I'm considering posting something from our next D&D session this weekend, but we'll see how that goes.

Characters in Video Games

You though I forgot, didn't ya! ... oh, crap. It's after midnight.

Ok, fine, I forgot.

Same style as Monday, only this time we're talking about my favorite characters in video games. I realize this is probably going to be more difficult, simply because I normally play games for their stories, which does NOT always mean they have good characters -- for example, Bioshock's character is a silent protagonist who literally makes maybe one choice for himself the entire time (and even that's debatable). So... Well, here we go.

And remember, these are five of my favorites in no specific order other than the fifth slot is the best of the best.

---

Cole MacGrath

inFamous 2 Cole. I've already got the bag...

(inFamous series)
Cole is a bit of a gruff hero, even when following the canonical light side path in the two games. He's on this list for three reasons:

Lightning powers are awesome, and the way he gets them is beyond interesting.

His reactions to events in the world around him are interesting, if not always unique. And he gets put through a lot of crap that would make many characters get all emotional. He just keeps zapping away, but it doesn't feel as if the game lacks emotion; it's simply fueling something more. And his drive to become stronger is a multi-faceted one that I respect, which isn't something I can say about a lot of characters.

If I ever do make it out to San Diego Comic Con, this is who I will most likely cosplay as. Word.

Yu Narukami

(Persona 4)
Ok, technically this character is only awesome because he's a composite of his relationships with the other wonderful characters in this game but, since I can't pick all of them (it's the [arbitrary] rule), I'm sticking with Yu.

He's forced to live with his uncle and cousin during the school year while his parents are away, and he is thrown into a new school, a new social climate, and a new mystery at every turn. Even though the player chooses Yu's responses, any number of them make for a slick, cool character that is in control and a focal point for the lovely supporting cast.

Maybe not my favorite looking character, but that's ok.

His family, Dojima and Nanako, is a strong bond in particular that really helps to articulate an otherwise silent character. Special note: most of his cast, while falling into an anime-style harem, is made up of some pretty badass female characters, which this list is severely lacking.

Link

Silent(ish) but deadly.

(Zelda series)
Link is the only silent protagonist I think fits on this list for me. Yes, he's quiet, but in this case it feels like he's
a man on a mission more than a stand vessel for the player's reaction. Link gets shit done like a dutiful soldier in his perpetual battle to defeat the darkness and save Zelda. Or Hyrule. Or Midna. Or...

His iconic tools also add to this character, and he was a personal favorite in the Smash Bros. games.

As a deep character, Link comes up a bit short, but not every character needs to have a psych profile hundreds of pages long. The strong silent type works for the man in green.

Minsc & Boo

Crazy made corporeal.

(Baldur's Gate series)
This is a duet because they wouldn't have it any other way. Having recently played some Baldur's Gate for the first time, I was immediately thrilled to meet Minsc & Boo. Minsc is an insane tank-style warrior. Boo is his "miniature giant space hamster" and is a plug for the craziness that can only arise in a pen and paper format.

Minsc... is another character that lacks depth. That being said, he's the most batshit insane character you never want to leave your side, which really does reflect on any good D&D group.

This is also the only example of a non-player character on this list, which is intentional -- if I was to dig
through supporting casts, you'd find a lot of Bioware characters up here, me thinks.

Darth Revan

(Knights of the Old Republic series)
If you haven't played the first KotOR game, there are MAJOR SPOILERS in the section below. You've been warned.

Darth Revan is awesome on many levels. When you first learn about him, he's a badass looking Sith master who, along with his apprentice Malak, almost took over the entire galaxy. Of course, he apparently went down in a blaze of glory when Malak betrayed him, but that's not important because, before that, Revan was able to discover dark side secrets and mysteries of the galaxy that gave him incredible power.

That you later learn that the player character IS a mind-wiped Revan, the awesome factor is kicked up to a scale of eleven. And what does the newly reminded Revan get to do? Bring some lightsaber-to-the-face revenge against his Mr. Clean looking former apprentice.

As a plus here, Revan has decently flushed out Light and Dark choices (even if the darker ones are NOT Bioware's best work), meaning the character can grow into two distinct personalities, both of which are awesome in their own right (though only the Light side is canon).

Revan as seen in The Old Republic MMO.

The Revan mythos has been expanded in comics, novels, and The Old Republic MMO. These additions generally detract a bit from the badassery of Revan, but not enough to dethrone him from the spot as my favorite video game character to date.

---

So, I found an even bigger problem than I thought in doing this list! Most of the games I play are strategy games, which don't always have to have interesting characters! And the RPGs I've played, unfortunately, didn't have any standouts for me. I have a strong feeling I'll love Cloud and Sephiroth from FF7, but I haven't gotten far enough in the game yet!

I'll have to do another round of these with supporting cast, or possibly play some of the many suggestions I have for games with great characters (looking at you, Metal Gear Solid!), but for now, I'm happy with this list for the first (to-be-annual) Character Week!

First Impressions: Sleeping Dogs and Baldur's Gate

Welcome to this Wednesday's Hunting Game(s) post! I'm going to create banners for my weeklies soon so I can stop including them in the title (which I'm trying to do now...), so look forward to that!

Obviously I still have power and wasn't swept to Oz by Sandy, so that's a plus. And that means I get to right my double feature of first impressions!

First: Sleeping Dogs! I had wanted to pick this game up at release but chose to save my money. Fortunately, GreenManGaming.com had a sale and I had credit (due to buying XCOM from them), meaning I got Sleeping Dogs for $5.00 (I think. If not, it was close!).

I honestly expected it to be a Grand Theft Auto knockoff set in Hong Kong. While I got the setting correct, I was otherwise wrong. This IS a free roam game, but it is set up much differently than GTA. First, I've been playing for a couple of hours and have YET to see/use a gun. Instead, the fights I'm being thrown into are Batman: Arkham Asylum style fights where I have one attack button, one block/counter button, and a ton of enemies that glow when they're about to attack.

Seeing as how I loved combat in Batman, I'm loving it here. It helps that the fighting feels more fluid than any combat I've ever seen, moving seamlessly from a roundhouse kick to catching the attacker behind me's foot and dropping him to the ground, hard. It's not particularly difficult, but it is enjoyable. And, so far, I've met three kinds of enemies - basic thugs, brawlers that can't have their attacks interrupted, and grapplers whom you want to avoid... well, grappling.

Grappling is a key element in the fighting, as it allows you to get through blocking opponents and use the environment against them (my favorite so far has been throwing people into phone booths and then kicking them in the chest, hard.

Combat looks and feels awesome.

There are weapons here and there, but your character is more lethal without them, at least in the beginning.

The story is decent -- under cover cop having to balance personal issues while gaining the trust of the gangs and remaining on the good side of the police. This is visually represented by two experience bars, one for the triads and one for the police -- the more missions/actions you take that reflect each side nets you experience for one or the other (and sometimes both). This isn't a good OR evil setup, you can level both at the same time -- triad exp allows you to unlock more combat effectiveness, while the police exp gives you extra tools/abilities for the job.

That's just a quick rundown, because there is more I could talk about. Maybe I'll do a full review once I complete the game. For now, know that I'm really enjoying the game, even the driving aspects (which I normally hate). I'm really looking forward to see what else can come from these developers.

Pros: story, driving, combat, city feels alive, collectibles, mission variety, movement fluidity
Cons: I've got nothing at the moment...

I've also finally started Baldur's Gate. I'm using the Trilogy mod, which combines both the games and expansions as a seamless game (all done in BG2's interface). It is awesome, but I do have a warning for new players -- DON'T use a mega-mod/mod-pack! I used BiG World, which made the setup easier, but it also installed a ton of things that I just don't know about and it's hard to tell what's been included. I ran into an issue where a high level encounter was added in the middle of an important town, preventing me from accessing the area that I should have been able to use from the get go.

That being said, I'm really enjoying the game. I love the D&D aspects and I think the difficulty is just about right (I'm playing it on Core and it's hard. I MIGHT drop the difficulty down in the future, but for now it works). Anyone who's started a D&D character at level 1 knows it's difficult, more so when there isn't a DM (Dungeon Master) to spoon feed you the first few levels.

I made my main a Beserker (fighter specialization), and I'm really wishing I went mage. You find plently of NPCs to join your group throughout the game, but so far I have found any good-aligned or decent mages (that fit with the story -- currently I'm using a mage from a mod, and she's pretty terrible). My next character will definitely be an evil sorcerer.

The Sword Coast

I'll do a full review once I finish the game (the first time), AND I'll do an updated guide to modding it appropriately -- after this, I better damn well be an expert.

Alright, that's all for now. Just some first impressions as I promised, and both good so far. I also picked up Pokemon Black 2, but I don't intend to play it much until this weekend.

Friday's post will be featured around the big news we got yesterday in regards to Disney buying LucasArts (you know, in case you didn't hear). I'm going to do a write up on the Star Wars story/stories  I'd like to see make it into the next trilogy (looks like Monday's post was just in time).




See you then!

Hunting Game(s): Dishonored Review

First, stop by my post last week which, among other things, contains my initial reaction to Dishonored. Read on if you want to see a slightly more in detail review!

I say slightly because I have yet to finish the game. This is due to being busy and the setup of the levels -- each mission can be quite lengthy (especially if you're trying to be at all stealthy), so I do either a mission or half a mission in one sitting.

WARNING! For you achievement hunters, I STRONGLY suggest you check out the achievement list and plan how you want to play from the get go! It will take at least two complete play-throughs to 100% the game, and it uses a strange system for keeping track of your stats. If you plan on going through the game without killing anyone  or alerting anyone, you MUST do so from the get go -- if fail to do one of them on level 2 and figure you'll just do it after you finish the game, it doesn't work like that, you'd have to play level 2 over AND the rest of the game in the same manner to unlock the achievements.

Sometimes it's just more fun to use the pistol...

I'm personally playing stealthily with a goal to keep a "low chaos" ending, which is the "less dark" for the endings provided. This means that I try to kill as few people as possible, though I'm not afraid to cut folks who stumble upon me. Also, I'm killing all the assassination targets by indirect means. Also, I'm getting all the collectibles referenced in achievements, though they are honestly easy to come by just by being thorough.

It makes for a fun play-through, but I think I'd almost rather blast through the game and just deal with the "high chaos" difficulty spikes.

The story... is nothing special, and I say this because it lacks a coherent logic:

You (Corvo) are framed for killing the Empress and kidnapping her daughter. Then you are imprisoned. A group of "loyalists" free you so you can save the daughter and kill off the usurpers. On a completely unrelated note, a mystical being of some sort, known as The Outsider, gives you magical powers. Basically, he wants to see what you'll do with them on your missions. Back to the Loyalists, they send you on a bunch of missions to kill or capture VERY high profile enemies. But don't worry, they give you a mask and a cool sword with which to do it.

My problem is that, without the Outsider (and, unless there's an upcoming plot twist, the Loyalists know nothing about him), there is no reason Corvo should be able to complete ANY of these missions or, at the very least, not any better than the next guy. And the next guy wouldn't require an elaborate prison rescue, either.

I'm assuming there will be a plot twist where the Loyalists stab you in the back, it tends to go with this kind of thing, but there really is no reason to choose Corvo for the job -- we don't see ANY of his past actions that might qualify him, and, to be honest, most of these missions would be especially difficult without powers -- conceptually impossible, I'd argue, though maybe I'm wrong.

Ignoring that (not that I personally can), the characters are interesting enough. And you have an item (a heart...) that you can use to learn secrets about them. The story is well crafted around all of them, though the art style does sometimes make it difficult to remember who is who...

What did I tell you? Creepy.

Note: about the art style -- it's bleak. There are bleak images, locales, and the overall design is dingy and dark. I enjoy it, actually, but can see people not enjoying the almost lifeless design of some of the areas and the lack of any real bright spots (there is a party, but it's more creepy than anything).

On to the good stuff, however: the powers!

The main powers are:
Dark Vision - allows you to see through walls and see where characters' line of sight is. This ability is needed, in my opinion, and should be on pretty much all the time... Except it makes everything an annoying shade of yellow.

Blink - a short range teleport. Another one to get an upgrade ASAP, though it can make the game FAR too easy. I kind of wish it was more limited (my high chaos play-through will skip it altogether)

Possession - first you can possess larger animals (dogs), then you can possess humans for a short time. Seems awesome and useful, but I've yet to upgrade it.

Bend Time - useless until the upgrade, which is VERY expensive. I did upgrade it and it is another over-powered ability. I can literally stop time (for a short span of time). No one can see me when I do this, so it allows me to run through heavily populated areas. My favorite use for it, however, is to line up shots with my sleep darts on multiple guards that refuse to split up and be taken down with a choke hold.

Yeah, I'm NOT doing that...

Devouring Swarm - I really don't get this one. You can summon rats to kill people. Which I could do with a gun, a crossbow, grenades, a sword, etc... without costing me precious runes. I assume that enemies devoured by rats can't be discovered, but there's a passive skill that automatically makes this happen, without costing mana... Needless to say, I haven't taken it -- it would be especially useless for my stealthier character.

Windblast - this is Dishonored's version of Force Push. I don't have it on this character (not really stealthy if I'm blasting everyone away), but I REALLY look forward to this ability next time.

There are an equal amount of passive abilities you can spend runes on... But I have found no reason to do so.

The powers make the game that much more fun, but they are more tools than weapons (for the most part), which is where comparisons to Bioshock fall through. I'd still suggest this game is closer to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, though I'm enjoying Dishonored more. I'd give the game an 8/10, though I must repeat I have yet to beat the game. I'll edit this post when I do with a revised rating (and any addendum that seems pertinent . For now, even with my lack of completion, I'd say the game is worth picking up. If that's rental vs buying, that's up to you, but I honestly think this could be finished successfully with a rent.

Finally!

For next week, I will be writing about... wait for it... Baldur's Gate! I've dusted off the old discs in an attempt to FINALLY install and play the damn game. As soon as I pick up the expansion "Throne of Bhaal," I'll be able to play all the way from the beginning of the first to the end of the second (and expansions) in one game, which I'm really looking forward to. I'll post some thoughts on the game, the mods I'm using, and if I think it actually scratches the itch I'm having for some tabletop gaming...