My Favorite Game Genre

            I have not been posting nearly enough this year and I want to steer back from that.  To that end I have found a 30-day blog challenge and will be writing out entries, hopefully I can get all thirty days without any breaks, and if I manage to do that (since August has 31 days) I will think of an additional entry to write about.  I have done a 30-day challenge before, it for movies, but that was a while back, feel free to read those too if you like.

            Today is day 2, “My Favorite Genre”.

            Genre to me has a lot of different connotations.  It can evoke a style (Found Footage), a place of origin (Foreign Language), subject matter (Historical), setting (Western), or mood (Horror) that the work in question is.  This varies with Books and Movies but one thing neither of those mediums have is the element of Gameplay.

            Video Games can have Strategy, both Turn Based and Real Time; they can have Platforming, which can include a means to move from platform to platform in space via jumping, swinging, or teleporting; they can be Action games, with action based around a third person perspective, first person perspective, or even a far distant camera hooked up to some unseen ceiling.  Games can have guns, magic, or tools to build.

            When I was thinking about this I realized that there are two genres that battle for my affection here, the first is Turn Based Strategy, TBS and the other is Role Playing Game, RPG.  Each have their own strengths and weakness, but often start from a similar point, you are dropped into the world with very little skill and few abilities and gradually grow in power to win the game thru the acquiring of new abilities… I realize that is try of lots of games power ups are kind of important in lots of games that would not be described as RPG or TBS… Batman and Samus both get various flavors of mobility and offensive powers as they go along.  So what are the things about each that I really like apart from that slow gaining of power?  Choice.

            Let’s look at TBS with “X-Com: Enemy Within” a game I played about 130 hours of (and have talked about before).  In that game I am given a small team for each mission, I choose the members.  Each of those team members gains new abilities as they gain levels, I chose the abilities.  Everybody gets new gear, new weapons, and carries new equipment, all of which I chose to research and prioritize at some point in the game.  When I get the laser weapons is not pre-set by the game, what abilities my snipers’ choices are not preset by the game (though there are certain abilities that are so much better than others that there isn’t a “real” choice in some cases, I mean come on, who doesn’t pick squad sight?)  These things all happen because I chose those things to happen.  And sometimes those choices kneecap me like a mob enforcer.

I chose to have a soldier cut their limbs off so as to better fight aliens as a cyborg mecha.

            Let’s look at RPG with “Fallout 3”.  What does my character look like?  I get to choose.  Am I smart?  My choice.  Am I strong?  My choice.  Am I lucky, charismatic, or perceptive?  My choice.  What weapons do I like to use, be they bombs, knives, guns or lasers that can turn a gunman to dust.  Where do I go?  Wherever I want.  There is a story but it can simmer on the back burner till I get around to it.  (What is funny, is that while I am using it as an example of what I like here, I do not like Fallout 3 nearly as much as many people do, and precisely because it lacks a lot of the more nuanced choices I want in a story of this setting.  Many of the choices are too binary and often done with too little motivation.)  What I make of the world is shaped by my decisions and who I chose to work with.

I chose to let a lot of narrative problems go in order to enjoy the setting.

            I will talk about one last game while I am here that kind of strides the two of these categories that is fine but never really grabbed me deeply (so I won’t mention it too often for the rest of these blogs), “Pokemon”.  Pokemon has both an RPG element, in that you can choose what monsters you catch and train, what items you use on them, what moves you choose to teach them (which I find painfully thin on the ground), and contains a multitude of color and variety and drips with personality and consistent tone (even when it steps outside of those elements it doesn’t do so in a way that is not immediately reversible, so yeah there is a graveyard and a group of terrorists, but they are silly ghosts and goofy terrorists, just don’t think too hard about any of it).

            Pokemon has turn based combat, and this is where it differs from my tastes in a small but important way.  Where as in “X-Com” you would deploy a team of soldiers to the field, explore the area and engage the enemies, making placement and group tactics a much needed element to deepen and enrich the experience, Pokemon doesn’t.  Pokemon is a turn based combat game, which has very little strategy beyond picking the monster whose type trumps the enemy’s type, and they stand at the opposite end of an empty screen and shoot energy blasts at one another.  I am not a fan of that.

I think we can all agree that they have some of the best theme tunes of all time right?

            Here is where this blog will take a strange digression to talk about some broader things.  There are lots of fandoms that I have never got into, “Harry Potter” is perhaps the biggest pop culture thing that left me by, and Pokemon is close to that.  While I did enjoy two and a half of the games released over the last 20+ years it is not something that cuts deep (never played the card game, only saw one of the movies, never collected any toys, posters, or clothes) even though it has things I do like.

            It is important to know, that not all things are for all people.  That many things exist outside of one’s own tastes and experiences and that is okay.  In fact, it is great.  Having lots of different ideas contributes greatly to the strange mutations in fiction and games that allow them to grow and change to serve the needs of new people.  I see a lot of vile things online about certain movies, shows, and books, and while I do not like many of them, and see others as containing questionable messages, they are not harmful, and they serve a point.

If you find yourself looking at a game that doesn’t fit in with your world view, maybe instead of saying that you hate it, you just shrug and move on.  And the same goes for movies and TV you do not like.  Because you spewing hate at something might ruin the fun of someone who did like it and would like more of it.  Instead, maybe pay attention to things that are a lot more real and hurtful that you can do something about, and focus your energy there.

So yeah, after that long sidetrack because I have felt kind of sickened by the nerd culture’s treatment of certain things lately (and for a while).  I will just go ahead and repeat that I like RPG’s and TBS games the most as far as mechanics are concerned.  I would say that my tastes vary wildly in other areas though, and I will talk about those this month too.

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Top 5: Things Lacking in "X-COM: Enemy Unknown"

            I love the video game, "X-COM: Enemy Unknown".  it is a turn based strategy game in which you lead an elite multi-national military strike force against alien invasion.  The game gets pretty hard and pretty much requires you to use the save game function to keep from making criminally stupid mistakes.  I find that alien enemies to be varied, colorful, distinct, and really fun to play against.  For the most part the game is hard to complain about.  Here are some of my complaints that I think they should fix with an expansion pack that I would gladly buy.

            1) Bigger Squads.  When the game starts out the strike team you lead is made up of four people.  As you play your squad members level up becoming ranks of Lieutenant, Major, and ultimately Colonel.  As they level up you unlock squad benefits which you can purchase.  All of these benefits are useful, and them most useful one of all is the ability to expand your strike team to five and then six members.  So the number of squad members caps at 6.  To fight alien invaders.  What?

            I can understand starting small but the cap should be a lot higher.  I know "The Avengers" only had 6 team members during an alien invasion... But they have a HULK.  I have guys in Kevlar with rifles (which I guess is a step up from Black Widow and Hawkeye but that is neither here nor there).  Maybe there are graphics issues and the enemy AI can't figure out how to prioritize targets if there are too many, but I want at least 8 guys, so I can have two of each class (Assault, Heavy, Support, and Sniper).

"Think maybe we should send more than just a half dozen guys."
"Think we should wah-wah-wah, I'm a little bitch.  That is what you sound like, Carl.  A little bitch."
"Fine, whatever.  Not like the world is riding on this."

            2) Class Assignment.  When you manage to kill a few alien monsters your characters advance in rank and gain different specialties.  Snipers get to use sniper rifles, have the best aim, best damage, and can see really far; Support can heal, move really fast, and can use performance enhancing smoke clouds; the Heavy can use a rocket launcher to damage a lot of opponents and terrain at a time, and a heavy gun to better pin down opponents and provide cover fire; and Assault can use the shotgun, shoot after doing a double move, and can generally blow through opponents in close combat.

            Here is the problem: you don't get to choose a units class, they are randomly assigned, and not in regards to the weapons they used (grenades for Heavy), the range at which they attacked (Sniper vs Assault), or whether they provided a bonus to an ally through effective tactics (Support or Heavy).  So you could have a unit kill all of the aliens in an encounter and then get assigned Support... "Thanks for the effective fighting kid, here is a med kit and smoke bombs."  Why not just have the player pick the class and show a chart that compiles how many of each class you already have so you don't end up with nothing but Snipers.

            3) More Locals.  There are several levels that call on your team to extract a VIP, or to stop a bunch of giant cockroaches from turning people into zombies (this game is awesome) but aside from people you have to rescue you do not get to interact with any non-X-COM personnel in the game.  No National Guard, No Cops, No First Responders of any kind.

            I think it would be cool to occasionally have to extract a VIP from an area that is under assault.  You have a ticking clock to work against (a clock that is not literal, but is dynamic) you can show how the alien fire power does overwhelm conventional military that don't have lasers and plasma weaponry at their disposal, and you could even take control of a small group of regular military to compliment your strike team.  They would be shitty and practically dead weight there to draw some alien fire away from your important long term squad units, but they would be there.

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SHALL BEGIN WITH GIANT PURPLE BUG MONSTERS!

            4) Bigger Backpacks.  In the game your squad can carry, one suit of armor, one primary weapon (rifle, heavy machine gun, shotgun, or sniper rifle), one side arm (a pistol, though the types get upgraded, and this slot is a rocket launcher if you are a heavy), and one miscellaneous slot.  The miscellaneous slot can store a grenade (1 grenade), a super stun gun (which for some reason does not replace the pistol), a med kit (one time use), or a protective item (like an alien undershirt that gives extra hit points... Why is this alien undershirt not just a blanket upgrade to the armor of all your units, I have no idea).  Support characters get one extra slot.  This is stupid.

            Some of these things are just in the wrong slot, like with the stun gun not being a pistol replacement.  Some of these should be standard equipment for everyone; like the grenade, everyone should have one grenade.  Some should not be items at all, like the alien undershirt, that should just be a generic armor upgrade, increasing everyone's health.  Med kits should just be for Support units and should be multi-use from the start (a special ability for the Support unit later in the game is multiple uses of the med-kit, and it heals more per use).

            Maybe they could just give me more stuff.  Like mines, you set a mine and when an alien goes by it the thing goes off; Cameras that players can put down remotely and see through to cover their back; Thermal Imager allowing a character to see through walls; jet packs or grappling hooks (though those are types of armor later in the game, which I kind of get, I just like the idea that a character wears armor, and wears a jetpack, not just that they are wearing jetpack-armor).  There are things that can be done is all I'm getting at.

Don't even really know why I am complaining.  I never really used these things, they seem monumentally stupid in concept you are the single most visible target on the battlefield and have ZERO COVER.

            5) Branching Skill Trees.  Currently when a unit gains a rank they can chose one of two abilities (some levels only have one ability to chose... so you don't really chose it, you are given it).  These abilities are often of dubious use, but many are awesome.  I like the Holo-Targeting of the Heavy, he uses his machine gun to paint a target with holographic markers making it an easier target for everyone else.

            Why can't I just get multiple ranks of Holo-Targeting?  Why can't I have my heavy just not use his rocket launcher and instead is just the best guy to pin down enemies with a machine gun, and draw giant "THIS IS THE GUY TO SHOOT" signs over his opponents' heads?  If each class had a skill tree, that is to say each decision I made in regards to their abilities unlocked more advanced skills and shut out others, then two squad members of the same class could end up playing very differently from one another.  This is probably hard to balance, and it is probably very hard to imagine.  even with just 4 classes and 7 levels with two choices a level... that would be 512 different abilities to think up.  As is there are probably 60 and that is a lot.

This is a skill list for a very advanced and well armed sniper.  It is attached to a very well written full review of the game.

            And that is the bulk of my complaints, I have other nit-picky stuff that isn't with the game play, so much as it is with the bugs of the game.  Graphics, the ability for aliens to see through things and fire at things they shouldn't be able to, or how clunky moving from floor to floor is because the game freaks out about the concept of height.  Maybe this stuff will happen in the inevitable sequel, but I have no idea.  Still, you should play this game, it is totally worth purchasing.