Gaming Articles

These are all the writing pieces that fall under “Gaming Convo.”

Gaming Wish List – Tamriel Single Player Game

Gaming Articles

Morrowind. Oblivion. Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls games are pinnacles of modern fantasy gaming. They are massive, intricate, epic, personal, and all things in between. While each of these games is great as a standalone title, one cannot help but wonder what if they were combined? What if instead of exploring just the land of Skyrim, or just Morrowind, or just Cyrodiil, there was the  chance to adventure across the entire continent? What if you got to explore all of Tamriel?

NOT AN MMO

To any Elder Scrolls fans reading this, you might be thinking that this game already exists. The Elder Scrolls Online does allow players to explore most of Tamriel. However, ESO is not the type of game I am proposing. ESO is a massive multiplayer online (MMO) game, similar to World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic. While these games are fun, my idea has more to do with traditional Elder Scrolls gameplay and a focus on a single player experience.

IT CAN BE DONE

At first glance, one might think it would be too difficult to create something so large while keeping the intricacy of the series’ design. But let’s remember that Skyrim, as of 2020, is nine years old. Not only is this old by gaming standards, but gaming technology has advanced significantly since then. And compared to some other, more modern titles, Skyrim, as vast as it may seem, is actually quite small.

In terms of map size, the last two major single player releases in the series, Oblivion and Skyrim, would be about the same as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild if they were combined. For reference, Breath of the Wild was released in 2017. If you want to go back even further, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim combined are about the same size as the entirety of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, a 2015 release.

So, isn’t it about time that we Elder Scrolls fans finally got a traditional Elder Scrolls game that takes place across the entire continent? It wouldn’t even have to be a total open world. It could be like Witcher III in which there are loading screens between different large areas. With the next generation of gaming consoles upon us, I hope that Elder Scrolls 6, whatever it might be, allows its players to really explore all that Tamriel has to offer.

Would you like to see a massive Tamriel game in the near future? Do you think such an undertaking would be too big, or is it now time? Feel free to share your thoughts below!

Video Games ARE Art: Bioshock

Gaming Articles

Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination to be appreciated primarily for beauty or emotional power. Typically, when one thinks of traditional art forms, paintings and sculptures are the first things to come to mind. However, over time, other mediums have been accepted under the art umbrella. Music, literature, and photography have, over time, been lumped into the art category and, most recently, movies and television have joined the ranks. Now, in the 21stcentury, we have a new medium that is just as large and impactful as those previously mentioned: video games.

Compared to the other forms of art mentioned, video games are most like movies and television. They combine elements of other art forms to create a new type of art. The difference between video games and movies and television, though, is how they are consumed. The participatory nature of videogames allows consumers to take a more active role in the way they interact with this particular art form. After all, they are games, but they sometimes are much more. In this piece, I examined a specific game whose artistic qualities reach this higher plain. Today’s game is Bioshock.

WELCOME TO RAPTURE

Set in 1960, Bioshock begins when the main character, Jack, is the sole survivor of a plane crash in the middle of the North Atlantic. It is here when the player takes control of him and guides him to a nearby lighthouse, a lighthouse seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Upon entering the building, Jack finds a bathysphere that takes him to a secret, underwater city that looks like a sunken New York: Rapture.

Rapture is a dangerous place. The majority of its inhabitants have lost their minds, are hostile, and some appear to have magical abilities. As Jack, the player must inherit some of these abilities and gather whatever weapons they can in order to survive. There are many twists and turns as the game’s story unfolds with the biggest being the ‘WYK.’ For those who haven’t played the game, I won’t spoil it in case you decide to play the game or if Bioshock is adapted to television or film.

NO GODS OR KINGS, ONLY MAN

Where Bioshock shines isn’t necessarily its gameplay mechanics or its design, though both are superbly done. Bioshock is at its strongest when it presents the ideas that drive the game. There is so much more to this game than one might assume from a first impression. 

The city of Rapture was founded by former oil tycoon, Andrew Ryan. Ryan was an immigrant from Russia to the United States as a child and it was there that he struck oil. Over time, Ryan developed a loathing for ‘surface world’ society. A businessman through and through, Ryan believed firmly that a man was entitled to what he earned. He did not care for charity or taxation, believing both to be the ideas of what he liked to call “parasites.”
 
Upon descending into Rapture for the first time, the following recording of Ryan plays to all new arrivals: “Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? ‘No!’ says the man in Washington, ‘It belongs to the poor.’ ‘No!’ says the man in the Vatican, ‘It belongs to God.’ ‘No!’ says the man in Moscow, ‘It belongs to everyone.’” After the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Ryan had had enough with the surface world and decided that he no longer wanted to live in a place where “parasites” ruled and where planetary destruction seemed immanent. In secret, he commissioned the construction of his own city at the bottom of the North Atlantic; a city utopia where there were no gods or kings, only man.

As he continues in the recording mentioned above: “I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture, a city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.”

THE SWEAT OF YOUR BROW

The last two lines of Andrew Ryan’s introduction to Rapture encapsulate what makes Bioshock so memorable. Jack and the player soon see what such a society would be like, a society where nearly anything can be done for profit without the boundaries of censorship, morality, or the law. What would happen if that society were taken advantage of, as all societies fall victim to in some way?

What if the artist wasn’t bound by censorship and allowed to be creative however they wish? Well, in Rapture, this gets pushed to the extreme as the artist Sander Cohen starts torturing and killing people to use their corpses as art pieces. A surgeon named Doctor Steinman decides to become a “medical artist” of sorts with his scalpel and against his patients’ wishes. He mutilates their bodies while they are still alive in pursuit of finding the perfect looking person all because, “the goddess Aphrodite told him to do it.”

What happens if scientists aren’t bound by morality? Yes they may achieve amazing feats, but at what cost? Remember that magic I mentioned earlier? In the game, it was developed through scientific practice and gene manipulation. Whether or not this particular science is possible in real life isn’t the point. The point is that scientists in Rapture were able to create superpowers in syringes because they could experiment however they wished. They were able to play God and then go beyond.

But how did they get to that point and what are the side effects? What sort of experiments led them to such a discovery? What happens when these superpowers in syringes become more addictive than most drugs and slowly drive their users insane? And what if the manufacturers don’t make any changes to the product because the addictive quality drives their sales? And what if all of these practices are not only legal, but also encouraged by the ruling body? This is the case in Rapture.

What started off as an ideal utopia at its founding has become a hellish nightmare by the time Jack descends into the city. The citizens of Rapture that remain are mostly crazed, super powered, drug addicts, also known as splicers, that will attack on site. Whatever ideal society Andrew Ryan had in mind has collapsed, and it is all because he was naïve enough to think all of Rapture’s citizens were as like-minded.

There are many other ideas that Bioshock explores along these lines, some of which are even more disturbing than those listed above. As fantastical as the setting may seem, it is surprisingly grounded, anchored by its thought provoking ideas. Even the development of Rapture as a society is organic and makes logical sense for the world. The developers carefully thought out everything in Bioshock and they were not afraid to tackle uncomfortable and complicated topics. It makes the player think and stays with them long after they’ve turned off the game. This is why Bioshock IS Art.

The Arkham Challenge

Gaming Articles

Video games can be challenging. While they are usually meant to be entertainment, some skill is needed to play them. For some gamers, they need more. Though they may enjoy a particular game, they might want it to be more challenging and adjusting the game’s difficulty isn’t enough or even an option. They don’t want the fun to be lost either when they make this change.

One way gamers can impose a greater challenge on themselves is by adding their own rules to how they play a particular video game. In this short piece, I want to talk about my favorite self-imposed video game challenge, one I like to think I came up with on my own: The Arkham Challenge.

BECOMING THE BATMAN

The Batman Arkham franchise is one of the best in modern gaming. Each game presents a compelling story in the Batman universe that takes place over one insane night. It was this aspect that inspired my idea for the Arkham Challenge. It is a challenge that can be taken on in any of the games in the franchise except for Arkham Knight.

The challenge is simple: complete one of the Batman: Arkham games (Ayslum, City, or Origins) in one night, between sunset and sunrise. This includes completing the main story and as many of the side quests as you can before the main story is concluded (some side quests cannot be completed until after the main story). I have attempted this with all the games and found that it is possible to beat each of them in one night.

I do not cheat by breaking the game. I use all the information I can to play the game as it was intended to be played and still beat it before the sun comes up. The only game I could not complete was Arkham Knight. It is simply too large and its story too long for it to be beaten in one night. That said, I would love to be proven wrong.

There are a few things I would recommend if you’re willing to take on the Arkham Challenge. First, plan out your strategy for getting the Riddler trophies. You can surprisingly get a lot of them early on in the games, which is good considering the open worlds get more dangerous and difficult to traverse as the nights progress.

Second, time of year is important. If you try this challenge during the summer, you’ll have far less time than in the winter. Remember, it goes from sunset to sunrise, not a minute before or a minute after. I’ve only managed to beat Arkham Asylum in the summer. City and Origins are games I save for the winter.

Third, make an event out of it! Invite friends to hang out the whole night, have snacks, and pass the controller around so that everyone plays a bit. Maybe even get a smaller, second TV to play Batman movies in the background to add to the overall experience. While the Arkham games are all single player games, you can still get a fun, group experience out of them.

Fourth, practice! Taking your enemies out quickly is probably second in saving time, next to gathering as many Riddler trophies as you can early on. If you’re good with your combat and predator skills, you can easily shave off an hour or more to your play through.

Fifth and most importantly, have fun! While it is a self-imposed challenge, it is meant to be a fun one. Like I suggested above, inviting a few friends over that are Batman fans could really add to the overall experience. You’ll be surprised with how fun it is to be the Batman.

Gaming Wish List – The Ultimate Star Wars Battle Game

Gaming Articles

I’m not a game designer and I’m vaguely familiar with the work that goes into making a quality video game. If you’re looking for technical analysis, I can tell you that I don’t have that knowledge. But what I do have is a vivid imagination, an imagination that I have acquired over an admittedly short career, an imagination that can be a nightmare for game designers. If you ignore this article now, that will be the end of it. I will not bore you. I will not pitch to you. But if you make what I’m asking for, I will look for your game, I will give you my money… and I will play it.

THE ULTIMATE STAR WARS BATTLE GAME

Now that’s one hell of a distinction to live up to, but what does it entail? Simply put, this game idea would combine elements of the FPS (First Person Shooter), RTS (Real Time Strategy), and TBS (Turn Based Strategy) genres to create a hybrid game that not only puts players in the ultimate Star Wars battle experience, but is also inclusive of multiple gaming styles. More specifically, this idea is more or less a combination of two Star Wars games from the past: Battlefront 2 (on the PS2) and Empire at War. The technology is now available for a game of this magnitude and I believe that it could live up to the designation of the ultimate Star Wars battle game.

For players of either Battlefront 2 or Empire at War, this theoretical hybrid game would center around Galactic Conquest mode. For those not familiar with either game, the mode is exactly what it sounds like: you try to conquer the galaxy. Both Battlefront 2 and Empire at War have this gameplay mode and the overall execution is the same, but going about it is very different in each. In Battlefront 2, Galactic Conquest is a mixture of TBS and FPS while in Empire at War its just RTS.

GALACTIC MAP MODE

At the start of the game, the player or players will decide on how they want to proceed in Galactic Map mode, which is the map of the galaxy that shows where everyone’s forces are. The decision players must make is whether or not they wish to play Galactic Map mode as a RTS or as a TBS. Once the type of game is agreed upon, the game begins.

Players then build their fleets and train their armies and garrisons to defend their planets as well as to conquer their enemy’s planets. As for the specifics of each planet’s defenses and the types of units spawned, this is where the Empire at War influence is strongest. Players will have the opportunity to train units, build vehicles, and customize planetary defenses to their specific desire for each planet. It would NOT be like Battlefront where you just have the force the game assigns you for a specific planet. Forces are totally customizable and transferable from planet to planet.

SPACE BATTLE MODE

Once you have your defenses prepared and invasion forces ready (or not if your opponent was quicker), then you can try to win the galaxy. You will have to defend the planets you already occupy from invasion while simultaneously invading and conquering enemy controlled planets. Whenever an invasion begins, the invaders will need to secure the atmosphere before they can launch a ground assault.

A space battle will combine elements from both Empire at Warand Battlefront 2. The Empire at Warinfluence comes, as stated before, from the units you bring into the battle. If your fleet consists of two frigates with X-Wings and Y-Wings, that’s all you’ll have in that particular fight. If you have a larger, more diverse fleet, then you’ll have access to all of those crafts for that particular fight. There is also another Empire at War influence in terms of possible battle tactics.

When a battle starts, it will be as a FPS like in Battlefront 2. However the player will have the option to change the gameplay style for their side and fight a battle like in Empire at War instead of Battlefront 2. If you want to be on the front lines, then you play FPS style. If you’d rather take a general’s position, then the RTS option is better for you. To take overall command, a player would simply go to the command center and assume command.

GROUND BATTLE MODE

If the invading force wins in space, then they can take the fight to land. Firstly, the invading force will need to establish a landing point for the rest of their invading forces. On the initial descent, the defenders will usually have the advantage, however the attackers can level the playing field through the use of fighters, bombers, and cruisers from their fleet above. Once the invaders land and establish a command post, then the battle would proceed like a normal Battlefront 2 fight unless, of course, the invading player stays at the command post and directs the overall assault RTS style.

A planet is captured when the invading force manages to wipe out all the defenders or the defenders elect to retreat and escape to another friendly planet. The defenders win by wiping out all invading forces, securing all landing zones so that the invaders have nowhere to land, or forcing the invaders to retreat to space. If the defenders manage to hold the ground on a planet, they are still trapped because of the occupying fleet. That force does not leave if a ground invasion fails. The only way defenders can be liberated is if another friendly fleet comes to their rescue and wins a space battle over the planet, driving away the invading force. This process repeats itself until one side wins the war and succeeds in Galactic Conquest. As a side note, the game would have a skirmish mode as well, but that would just consist of battle mode with strategy elements only implemented if a player plays it as a RTS.

So that’s basically the game. I had many specific details on how the mechanics would work, but cut them out due to length. Do you think that something like this is possible? Would it be something a lot of players would enjoy? Share your thoughts below!

Video Games ARE Art: Dark Souls

Gaming Articles

Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination to be appreciated primarily for beauty or emotional power. Typically, when one thinks of traditional art forms, paintings and sculptures are the first things to come to mind. However, over time, other mediums have been accepted under the art umbrella. Music, literature, and photography have, over time, been lumped into the art category and, most recently, movies and television have joined the ranks. Now, in the 21stcentury, we have a new medium that is just as large and impactful as those previously mentioned: video games.

Compared to the other forms of art mentioned, video games are most like movies and television. They combine elements of other art forms to create a new type of art. The difference between video games and movies and television, though, is how they are consumed. The participatory nature of videogames allows consumers to take a more active role in the way they interact with this particular art form. After all, they are games, but they sometimes are much more.

In this piece, I examined a specific game whose artistic qualities reach this higher plain. Today’s game, or series rather, is Dark Souls.

EMBRACE THE DARK

The Dark Souls series is challenging. They are not games most would play to relax. While this might make the series seem uninviting, it has had the opposite effect. The difficulty in Dark Souls is its main draw and it is the foundation of the fandom surrounding it.

Like all the games in this “Video Games ARE Art” series, the Dark Souls series has incredible level design, world design, gameplay mechanics, as well as other technical achievements that qualify it as art. However, I would like to do a more introspective and philosophical examination to these games. Though you may roll your eyes at this, Dark Souls seems have a far greater impact on its players than just being a good video game. Why? Dark Souls is a strong allegory for life.

You may be wondering how video games involving undead, dragons, undead dragons, and monsters that only exist in the worst nightmares of disturbed graphic artists could be compared to real life? The answer is not the specific content in the games per say, all though these do play a factor. It is more about the overall experience of the game. While this argument could be made for many other games, Dark Souls seems to set itself apart because of a few simple game design choices.

FATE OF THE UNDEAD

Unlike most modern games, the Dark Souls series does not hold your hand when you start a new play through. There’s no mini map, no difficulty settings, and no exposition heavy cutscene that tells you what to do.  The only “exposition heavy cutscenes” in the series are vague at best and usually require the help of the Wiki or YouTube lore videos to fully understand.

Then the games present you with your character creation. They offer a variety of starting options for many different character types. While these starting stats can help you along the path to a certain character build, they are not binding. If you started off as a knight but in the middle of your play through decided to change to a sorcerer, that’s possible. The catch is that the game doesn’t tell you this, nor does it tell you what stats you should improve for certain builds. Once again, the Wiki and YouTube are valuable resources for this information.

When you finish creating your character and finally take control of them, you are thrown into the world with little to no guidance on what to do or where to go. The original Dark Souls is probably the harshest example as the first enemy you fight is a massive demon boss and all you have to fight it is a broken sword. This version of the fight is optional as you can choose to run away like the sensible, gallant hero that you are and from there you can gather your starting gear. Once you have it, you can go back to the boss, who you must defeat to leave the “tutorial area,” and take part in a significantly fairer battle. This whole encounter teaches the lesson that the world is punishing and that you’ll have to learn how to survive it. Fighting isn’t always the wisest option in Dark Souls.

PREPARE TO DIE

Soon after this introduction, you are presented with your preliminary objective. In most video game, the preliminary objective you receive near the start of the game guides the overall story and is ultimately leads to the endgame. However, in Dark Souls, your character’s goal is not at all defined. On the surface, you are literally told to go here and do this just because and that’s it. They are just vague directions to get your journey underway. From there, the vagueness intensifies.

None of the Dark Souls stories are told in a traditional manner. You are rarely told exactly what is going on and who everyone is. If you want all the information the world has to offer, you have to look for it in the level design and item descriptions. There are very few examples of exposition dumps without the player having to work hard for them first. In short, you are sent out into a punishing world on your own without really knowing what to do.

But you’re not alone. Along the way NPCs and other players can help you and fight by your side. There are also nefarious NPCs and players as well. These will try to trap you, take all that you have, and kill you. This adds another layer of complexity to the game, making the world feel more real and dangerous.

Upon setting out on their journey, the player discovers that the punishing intro was nothing compared to what’s ahead. You’re going to fail, a lot. In Dark Souls, this is done by the harshest punishment of all: death. However, because you are undead, you can try again, and again, and again. You will continue to take punishment and you will die over and over again, losing all your souls, humanity, and sanity in the process. Hopefully players will learn from their mistakes and better their skills. Some will become overwhelmed even with the help of NPCs and other players. These unfortunate players will quit the game. They have lost the will to go on. When this happens in the world of Dark Souls, an undead goes hollow, losing all that’s left of their humanity and becoming a mindless husk that simply acts as it did in life but without purpose.

Those that persist, however, will overcome all the challenges that at one time seemed insurmountable. For those looking for a greater challenge (or more head bashing), players can explore the games’ DLCs, which increases the difficulty and throws new challenges at those willing to face them. Through all the punishment and hardships, players persevere, all the while learning great and terrible secrets about the world and how you might fit into it.

THE FIRE FADES

Another thing Dark Souls games do that many others modern titles don’t is it autosaves your progress without giving you the option to go back to old saves. If you make a mistake by loosing an item or causing the death of a certain NPC, that mistake is permanent and the effects of it linger throughout the world. If a player manages to push through all of this, they can make it to the end of the game.

What’s interesting about the final bosses in Dark Souls games are that they are never the most difficult bosses in their respective games. No matter if you find the final boss difficult or easy however, you will be met by an ending that’s a direct result of your actions. In all the different endings you can get, there is no storybook happy ending, but there are also no sad endings either. It’s just the end, and usually the player has more questions than they did at the start. Whether or not you chose to embrace the dark or keep the world alive, your part in the game world is over.

IF ONLY I COULD BE SO GROSSLY INCANDESCANT

In real life, there are rarely true happy endings. Sure, stories have happy endings, but everyone succumbs to the same fate of death in the end. And while the end itself may not be the spectacular climax many stories have, that’s all right because the journey to get there was worth it. You started in a hostile world, not really knowing what to do. You are given vague hints and a small foundation to work with from the start. Then it’s up to you to acquire new helpful tools, build upon your skills, and learn new information to help you on your journey.

Along the way, you will encounter many faces. Some are willing to help you whilst others will show a friendly face as a mask only to turn on you once you’re no longer useful to them. Some will give up and become hollow while others will persevere, fighting to the end, failing, learning, and overcoming. You will gain much and lose much. You will be high on your successes and frustrated with your failures. If you don’t go hollow, you will push on until you reach the very end. Though the end might not be what you thought or what you hoped for, that’s okay. You went on a journey, filled with friendships, betrayals, laughs, losses, successes, and mistakes. You played a memorable game that is yours and only yours. That is why Dark Souls IS Art.

Why You Should TRY Dungeons & Dragons

Gaming Articles

(Even If You're Not A Nerd)

Most people that have never played Dungeons and Dragons think they have an idea of what it’s like. They probably picture a stereotypical scene of anti-social nerds with nothing better to do dressed in capes with fake swords playing a strange game in one of their mom’s basements. I must shamefully admit that I once thought this was what D&D must be like. Then, through the persistent efforts of a friend, I was finally made to play my first ever session. I soon realized just how wrong and judgmental I had been. I became hooked on D&D.

This article is meant to shed some light on what Dungeons and Dragons is actually like to those who still believe the stereotypes or simply don’t understand the game. While D&D’s image has changed in in recent years thanks to shows like Critical Role and HarmonQuest, there is a particular mindset about the game that remains prevalent. I’d like to change that mindset, for some at the very least.

WHAT IS D&D?

First and foremost, Dungeons and Dragons is a game that doesn’t require many physical pieces to play. All you need is a group of friends, a set of the correct dice from your local game store (which costs around four dollars for a set), and access to the Internet and a printer. If you have all of that, you have everything you need to play. While there are guides and handbooks, all the information in them can be found online for free.

D&D is not all about wizards, magic, and other high fantasy tropes. It can be about those things, but it doesn’t have to be and it normally isn’t. The best description of Dungeons and Dragons I’ve seen is that it’s Lord of the Rings meets “Your Mom” jokes. It can be as serious or as ridiculous as the players wish.

Dungeons and Dragons is a very open game based entirely on creativity and imagination. Players create their own, unique characters that they role-play while the dungeon master (DM), or game master, role-plays the rest of the world the players explore.

A player can create any sort of character they want, though it is recommended that a player should discuss and confirm their character idea with the dungeon master prior to playing. This creates an understanding of how the player wants their character to function and how the DM can have the rest of the world interact with that character. While sticking to the handbook is recommended for character creation, especially for new players, you can essentially make up your character from scratch if you so choose. I was once in a game where a player was a robotic monk for example.

You can still be quite creative by sticking to the handbook as they offer plenty of ideas for character building. Always remember, however, that the handbook (as well as the other manuals) is a guide and not a strict set of rules. How strictly you stick to the parameters in the handbook is entirely up to the DM, particularly in homebrew campaigns.

Speaking of homebrew campaigns, that is where the magic of D&D truly lies. Each game is uniquely different depending on how the group decides the game should be run and on how the players act. You can play seriously, silly, or somewhere in between, which is what most groups do. It all revolves around how the group plays and what the dungeon master allows.

The DM, or game master, is not the stereotypical nerd in a cape (usually), but is instead acting as a storyteller and judge. The quality of a DM can make or break a game and is arguably the most important aspect. I’ve been lucky enough to have only one excellent DM for all the times I’ve played so my experience has been very positive. However, I’ve heard horror stories of bad DMs that ruin games. There is a lot that goes into being a good DM and if you can find someone who is willing and happy to do the work as well as judge fairly, then you’re more than likely going to have a fun experience.

To really make a game of Dungeons and Dragons work, the players and dungeon master need to put in the effort to make the world feel real, no matter how ridiculous the game gets. If a group can mentally transport themselves to another world and get into their characters the way books, movies, and video games do, then they’ve understood how to play the game.

WHAT HAPPENS IN D&D?

Once the players have created their characters and the DM has an idea of the world and the adventure he or she would like the party to embark on, it’s time to play. Firstly, the DM has to introduce the starting scenario, which is the circumstance or circumstances that brought the party together.

Here’s an example: “The various group members have been summoned to a local tavern by a mysterious figure whose looking for someone to take on a dangerous, undisclosed contract for 1000 gold a piece.”

It’s up to the DM to determine just how much he or she wants to reveal at the start. This could include describing what the tavern looks like, the type of town or city the tavern is in, how crowded the tavern is and the type of clientele that are present, and any number of other things. Or the DM can simply leave it at the example above and let the characters go from there.

Once the starting scenario is established, the players can LITERALLY do whatever they want. This is not like a video game where players are bound by the rules of the game world. You can do, or more accurately can TRY to do, whatever interests you. Perhaps one player wants to survey the tavern. Perhaps another wants to talk to the mysterious figure. Perhaps another wants to leave the tavern altogether. Perhaps yet another player wants to punch the largest person in the tavern in the face.

I say try because, depending on what a player wants to do, he or she may have to roll the famed twenty-sided die to see if he or she succeeds or fails at their action. In the examples listed in the last paragraph, a player could leave the tavern or talk to the mysterious figure without having to roll the twenty-sided die. However, if the player wanted to survey the tavern, they would roll a perception check. The higher the number, the more perceptive they are. If the player rolled a 3 for example, they would perceive that they are indeed in a tavern. However, if the player rolled a 16, they might notice some shifty characters besides the mysterious figure watching the party. The same would work if you decided to punch the largest individual in the tavern in the face. The player would make an attack roll with the D20 (twenty-sided die) to see if their punch hit and did damage. If they roll low, then they would miss. If they roll high enough to beat the target’s armor class, then they would hit. It’s an easy system to understand at its core.

Then you simply play on. You can explore, spy, fight, bluff, hunt, or do whatever your mind can think of to further the story or to just faff around. Success and failure are a possibility with every encounter, sometimes yielding awesome moments with successes and other times yielding hilarity with fails. The group builds their own unique adventure.

SO WHAT'S THE APPEAL?

Simply put: the appeal of D&D is the possibilities. The lack of strict rules or a defined end goal might turn off people who like a more traditional game structure. Some people might not be comfortable with the role-playing aspect, which does take a little bit of acting but it doesn’t have to be good acting. And that’s okay! No game is for everyone. However, those are the only reasons I can think of why someone wouldn’t be interested in D&D or tabletop RPGs in general.

Do you feel like you’re not creative enough to play D&D? That’s okay! You can make a simple character to start the game with and find that character’s personality as you play. You can also consult the handbook and literally roll a backstory and traits for your character if you aren’t sure what you want.

Are you not into fantasy? Cool! There are plenty of other tabletop RPGs including science fiction ones and old west ones. But you should still try D&D if you’re interested in RPGs but not into fantasy. Why? Because playing a character that’s completely practical and has no time for the fantasy elements can be a great counterbalance to the players that are more into it. It can add an interesting and amusing dynamic.

Feel like you can’t play because you don’t know how the game works? No problem! If no one in the group has played before, then you can all learn together or, better yet, design your own style. If someone in your group does know how to play, let them get you set up and then you can learn as the game progresses. It’s really easy to pick up. There are also plenty of helpful videos online that teach the basics of the game.

D&D is literally for anyone because it is such an open game. It is a cost effective experience, as you need to spend very little one time for the essentials. It encourages imagination, creativity, social interaction, and cooperation. You’re encouraged to try the difficult and ridiculous without any real world consequences. It is also a great way to hang out with friends. You can make amazing memories from your couch without breaking the bank. You can literally be whomever you want to be, go wherever you want to go, and do whatever you want to do. Your only limit is your imagination.

So are you convinced? Are you at least considering the possibility of picking up the dice? Did this have no impact on you whatsoever and now you feel like you wasted your time? Share your thoughts below!

Video Games ARE Art: Skyrim

Gaming Articles

Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination to be appreciated primarily for beauty or emotional power. Typically, when one thinks of traditional art forms, paintings and sculptures are the first things to come to mind. However, over time, other mediums have been accepted under the art umbrella. Music, literature, and photography have, over time, been lumped into the art category and, most recently, movies and television have joined the ranks. Now, in the 21stcentury, we have a new medium that is just as large and impactful as those previously mentioned: video games.

Compared to the other forms of art mentioned, video games are most like movies and television. They combine elements of other art forms to create a new type of art. The difference between video games and movies and television, though, is how they are consumed. The participatory nature of videogames allows consumers to take a more active role in the way they interact with this particular art form. After all, they are games, but they sometimes are much more.

In this piece, I examined a specific game whose artistic qualities reach this higher plain. Today’s game is Skyrim.

A BEAUTIFUL SNOWY WORLD

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was a hugely successful game when it first launched back in 2011. Since then, it has somehow managed to keep its popularity strong for eight years now at the time of writing. Gamers have demonstrated a strong affinity for Skyrim and it goes deeper than simply enjoying a fun game. There are many elements at play that make Skyrim something more.

One of the first things that is often praised about the game is the masterful design of Skyrim’s landscape. It’s easy for the players to lose themselves in this intricate, beautiful world. Not only is it stunning to look at, but it’s also fascinating to explore, drawing the player in to discover more of its secrets. There are so many of these secrets that even now I may stumble across something I’ve never encountered before, and I’ve owned the game for five years. To have so many secrets in such a vast world is nothing short of masterful design.

There are also many well-written quest lines throughout Skyrim. With the game leaning so heavily on its open world, it is impressive to see how story threads come together when a player can be apart of five or six different narratives at any given time. The fact that these stories can simultaneously stand on their own and feel connected in the same world is truly a feat worth acknowledging.

One slight knock against Skyrim is that the combat can feel relatively basic and stilted at times. Though it may not be up to par in this way, it’s still enjoyable and fits into the world the developers created. What the combat does contribute to, however, is the incredibly well thought out skill tree system. Unlike most other RPGs, players upgrade the skills in Skyrim that they do the most. Simply put, you get better at the things you practice. Not only is this a sensible upgrade system, it is also realistic and forces players to role-play their character if they want to attain certain abilities.

Overall, the base game of Skyrim is incredibly well crafted. However, that alone doesn’t make it more than just a fun video game. What truly sets Skyrim apart is the fan community has done with the game.

BRING ON THE MODS

For those reading who don’t know what mods are, they are simply modifications to video games that fans create to change the gameplay experience. Skyrim has been given many mods over the years with drastically varying effects. There are some that fix gameplay bugs the developers never fixed, some that add entirely new quests, characters, or areas, some that replace dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine or Macho Man Randy Savage (yes, those are real), and many, many others. What’s even more incredible is the fact that the fans are still making mods at time of writing, nearly eight years after the game’s initial release. It’s so popular, in fact, that for the next gen re-release of the game for PS4 and Xbox One, the developers allowed fan mods as a directly supported feature, something that normally doesn’t happen with most games.

So whether you’re like me and want Skyrim to feel more realistic instead of a game or you’d rather cast a spell that rains fiery trains down from the heavens or you want something else entirely, you can simply mod your copy of Skyrim to fit your specific desire. Sure, there are many other games with fan mods, but Skyrim seems special, particularly because it has been sustained for so long. The passion the fans display when creating and sharing these mods show a great love for the game and a love that goes beyond. For this and all the reasons mentioned above, I submit that Skyrim IS art.

Building the Best Batman Game

Gaming Articles

The Batman: Arkham Franchise is renown for its quality. In fact, my personal favorite game of all time is Batman: Arkham City. The narratives in these games are well thought out, the exploration feels loose and free, and the combat system is revolutionary and has become an industry standard. Nearly every aspect of these games is expertly done. You really feel like you are the Batman… for the most part…

No game is perfect and the Arkham franchise, as much as I love it, is no exception. There are some improvements that could be made to the already successful formula to make players feel like Batman no matter what they are doing in game.

POPULATED GOTHAM

As the games got larger in scale, it felt stranger with each title that criminals were seemingly the main population of Gotham City. This made sense in Arkham Asylum given the restricted setting and was still plausible in Arkham City. This concept, however, did not carry over well into Arkham Origin sand Arkham Knight, as Batman was no longer in a prison setting, instead being out on the rooftops and streets of Gotham.

Arkham Originsis the least believable when it comes to a mostly empty Gotham City. The reason the streets are so empty, aside from criminals, is because of a blizzard. If you’ve ever been in the northeastern United States in the winter, you know firsthand how unbelievable that is. Arkham Knight is more plausible (ironically) as the city has been evacuated because of Scarecrow’s threat to release enough fear toxin to cover the whole city. However, it’s difficult to believe that there aren’t many stubborn citizens who stayed behind, especially jaded Gotham City citizens who seem to be dealing with a new citywide catastrophe every week.

Gotham should be a bustling city with nightlife and people. This is definitely possible in current game engines with examples such as Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Witcher III, Skyrim, and Spider-Man. Having a populated city could add new dynamics to the gameplay formula, like a new stealth mechanic that caters to Batman’s desire to remain in the shadows. It could also add things like impromptu hostage situations, a layer of tension to vehicle chases, and even a crime in progress mechanic like in Spider-Man.

A MATTER OF TIME

Another change the developers should consider is the time frame the game’s narrative takes place. Until now, all the Arkham games have been set in one night. For the first three (Asylum, City, and Origins), this is realistic (I know this because I’ve managed to beat all three, Riddler Trophies included, in a one night… that’s one game per night, not all three in one night… I’m not a god). Arkham Knight,on the other hand, is just too large to take place in that timeframe. An engaging Batman story could easily be spread out over multiple nights with Spider-Man once again being a prime example.

THE BAT FAMILY ROAMS

One thing the franchise introduced once but never used again is free roaming as another character besides Batman. In Arkham City, you can explore as either Batman or Catwoman. Even though Robin was in Arkham City’s story, he was only playable in challenge maps. In Arkham Knight, many members of the Batman Family make an appearance and are playable throughout the main narrative, but only in stealth or combat situations. Allowing characters such as Nightwing, Robin, other Robin, other other Robin, Batgirl, and others to be available in free roam could open new possibilities in game design, providing new ways of getting around Gotham and presenting challenges that only certain characters can overcome.

WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE?

Batman is considered the world’s greatest detective. The Arkham games have tried to convey this in a number of ways, with Arkham Origins being the most successful. Unfortunately, in this writer’s opinion, the detective aspects of Batman have yet to be fully realized in video games. The difficult thing about it, however, is that it isn’t an easy topic to offer suggestions on how to improve it. The gameplay mechanics for solving crimes should be simple enough and that has already been accomplished. However, there has always been a certain amount of hand holding with these puzzles, usually for narrative reasons. Perhaps not making it mandatory to find all the evidence at a crime scene and leaning heavier on player choice/player error could make for a more engaging system. Naturally, there would have to be different outcomes to the crimes depending on how thoroughly the player did their job. So Batman may not end up being the world’s greatest detective when I’m in control, but it might make the game more engaging when examining crime scenes.

BATTY SUGGESTIONS

Here are a few smaller ideas:

  • If the game takes place over multiple days, there could be minigames that you play as Bruce Wayne. They would be similar to the Peter Parker minigames in Spider-Man.
  • You could explore the use of a stamina system where Batman isn’t always at his best if he’s tired. This could make you slower or have some other adverse effects, adding to difficulty. Resting would restore this, but it might make you run the risk of falling behind on certain crimes. This idea may be a stretch as it’s coming from a Dark Souls/Skyrim survival mode fan and may not be for everyone.
  • The police could be a threat to Batman instead of his allies. This could make Gotham more hostile without simply filling the map with criminals. You would also, obviously, have to deal with the police in a different way than the common criminals, as Batman wouldn’t just attack those he’s trying to help, even if they are getting in his way.
  • There could be a more in depth upgrade system for Batman’s tech. You could have branching paths to make distinctly different gadgets and make each playthrough different.
  • There could be a training upgrade system like in Skyrim where you level up the things you do more often and get special perks in skill trees designated to those aspects of the game.

IN CONCLUSION

This by no means was intended as a slight against the Arkham franchise, far from it. It was simply meant to be a few suggestions that could potentially improve a gaming franchise I love dearly in an attempt to fully become the Batman.

So, do you have any suggestions for potential improvements to the Arkham formula? Are the games already perfect as is in your opinion? Share your thoughts!

A Game Of Quidditch

Gaming Articles

There are many sports video games on the market with Madden, 2K, and FIFA as some of the better-known titles. One sport, however, has been criminally underrepresented with just one video game to date, a game that came out in 2003. As the title suggests, I’m of course talking about the fictional wizarding sport of Quidditch.

HARRY POTTER: QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup came out in 2003 and, as the title suggests, focused specifically on the popular wizarding sport in J.K. Rowling’s universe. To its credit, the game plays incredibly well even after sixteen years. The developers managed to create a fun and engaging gameplay system that still holds up overall. Simply put, it is a fantastical yet basic type of Madden or FIFA.

YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME

Why has there only been one Quidditch game to date? The Harry Potter fandom is still very strong, rivaling that of Star Wars and superheroes. Now that we are in an era of competitive Internet gaming, there is an opportunity for Quidditch to come back into the spotlight and gain as much popularity as Madden or FIFA.

Here, I’ll address how the base gameplay from Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, along with elements from a few other, less obvious titles, could be built upon for a new Quidditch gaming experience. For simplicity sake, I will be referring to the controller layout of the PS4 and, as a sample team, I will be using the Gryffindor team from Harry Potter’s first year at Hogwarts. Let’s begin.

The strongest element of Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup is the chaser gameplay. It is simple to master yet still manages to keep some level challenge. At its core, this would remain the same in our new, hypothetical Quidditch video game. X would be pass and CIRCLE would be shoot. However, this newer theoretical version would have many more layers added onto this.

The majority of gameplay will see the gamers playing as the chaser that holds the quaffle while on offense and the chaser closest to the quaffle while on defense, like in the 2003 game. However, a feature would be added where you can switch to any other player on your team if you so desire. In this instance, the player that is holding the quaffle would proceed across the field on their own, like players in Maddenwhen they have the ball but the gamer allows the AI to take control.

The function of being able to choose any player on your team would be assigned to L2 and it would bring up a list of your seven players. There, you simply press the button you’ve assigned to the player you want to switch to and then you take control of that player. Hitting L2 again takes you back to the chaser holding the quaffle while on offense or the chaser closest to the quaffle while on defense.

EXAMPLE: Gryffindor Team

  • Hit L2
  • A two columned list appears on the lower left corner of the screen (one column is player names with the first letter of their position next to each name & the other is the button they are assigned to)
  • C Alicia Spinnett – X; C Katie Bell – CIRCLE; C Angelina Johnson – SQUARE; S Harry Potter – TRIANGLE; B Fred Weasley – L1; B – George Weasley – R1; K Oliver Wood – R2
  • Hitting one of these buttons will let the gamer take control of the corresponding player
  • Hitting L2 again will take you back to the chaser holding the quaffle if on offense or nearest to the quaffle if on defense

This will allow gamers to have more control over the game. One could take control of their keeper in order to better defend their hoops or take control of the seeker in order to find the snitch faster. Of course, none of these are guarantees, but that all depends on gamer skill.

That leads me to the most drastic change for the gameplay: how the seekers function. In Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, both teams essentially built up meters that slowly inched towards one another during the match. Gamers would do things during the match to increase the size of their meter and simultaneously lower their opponent’s meter. Once the two meters joined, it was time to catch the snitch and the chaser gameplay was abandoned entirely. Whoever had the larger meter had the ability to speed boost for longer in their pursuit of the snitch. While this can be fun and intense, it divides the game into segments and takes away that free flowing feel portrayed in the books and movies.

In this theoretical reimagining of the Quidditch video game, the seeker is a usable asset from the start of each match. As stated earlier, a gamer could take control of their seeker whenever they wanted and simply fly around the pitch looking for the snitch (unintended rhyme). While you have the chance of finding the snitch faster, you run the risk of letting your opponent take advantage in the chaser gameplay. The longer you don’t find the snitch, the greater that risk becomes.

There would be, however, a way for you to command the seeker to search for the snitch whilst you focus on the chaser gameplay. Hitting R2 would bring up a mini map of the pitch that is broken into grids. It would appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen. On this mini map, there are two different colored circles: one identifying your seeker’s position and the other identifying your opponent’s seeker’s position. Once the mini map is opened, you have the option of hitting X, CIRCLE, SQUARE, or TRIANGLE plus L1 or R1 to send your seeker to search the pitch at the corresponding location. X, CIRCLE, SQUARE, and TRIANGLE would act as a compass (X=South, CIRCLE=East, SQUARE=West, TRIANGLE=North). L1 would send the seeker to search closer to the field while R1 would have them search higher in the air.

EXAMPLE: Gryffindor Team

  • Hit R2 to bring up the mini map
  • Hit X & L1 to have Harry Potter search southern part of the pitch closer to the field
  • Choosing a search area for your seeker instantly takes you back to the main gameplay and closes the seeker mini map until it is opened again with R2

L2 meanwhile would have two different functions whilst the seeker mini map is open. If tapped, the seeker simply searches the middle of the pitch. If held in, however, the player can draw a custom path in the mini map using their right analog stick. So, theoretically, you could have your seeker serpentine across the entire pitch in search of the snitch (intentional rhyme).

Seeker gameplay changes once the snitch is spotted. When one of the two seekers spots the snitch, the whole pitch is made aware of it. The seeker that didn’t spot it must first find the other seeker in order to catch up. Meanwhile, the seeker that did spot the snitch begins to chase it in a similar fashion to Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup. The major difference, however, is that it is more free roam instead of a set path (think of a racing game). You have the potential to lose the path entirely if your gamer reflexes aren’t good enough.

Once spotted, the snitch will create a golden trail behind it like in the 2003 game and the seekers will be able to go faster if they stay in that golden path. They also have speed boost meters like in the original game, but those meters are formed off the field through training and the new stat system.

Chasing after the snitch can be interrupted, however, and the seekers have the potential to lose track of their prize. One way a seeker can be interrupted is simply by losing track of the snitch in the pursuit. This can happen simply by the gamer not following the path well enough. Other methods of interrupting the snitch chase include the seeker being hit with a bludger or two, a timeout being called, or a team successfully using their special move.

In this Quidditch game, bludgers and beaters would function very differently than in Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup. In the 2003 game, teams would every now and then be given the bludger ability, which would give the gamer brief control of a bludger to hit the opposing team’s player that was carrying the quaffle. In our hypothetical game, players would not be able to take control of bludgers.

Instead, the bludgers would fly around and be a hazard all the time. It would act, in a way, like the lightning in the Slave Knight Gael boss fight from Dark Souls 3, random but hazardous. Gamer controlled players would be able to dodge bludgers by doing the following: when a bludgers gets near the gamer controlled player, there will be a flash over the player’s head, similar to the counter signal in the Batman: Arkham games. In the center of this flash, there would be a random button: X, SQUARE, CIRCLE, or TRIANGLE. The gamer must hit that button in the brief moments it is present. If the gamer does this successfully, their controlled player dodges the bludger. If not, they are hit and, if they are holding the quaffle, they drop it.

Another way for gamers to defend their players from bludgers is to command their beaters to guard certain teammates or attack the opposition. One beater is assigned to R1 and the other to L1 in the normal chaser controls. Hitting one of these buttons would prompt a branching choice to appear on the appropriate side of the screen.

EXAMPLE: Gryffindor Team

  • Hit R1 to command George Weasley
  • A small branching menu appears on the right side of the screen with two options: Guard-up on D Pad; Attack-down on D Pad
  • You hit Guard and are presented with the following: C Alicia Spinnett- up on the D Pad; C Katie Bell-right on the D Pad; C Angelina Johnson-left on the D Pad; K Oliver Wood-down on the D Pad; S Harry Potter-L3
  • You select Harry and George goes off to guard Harry from bludgers
  • Next you Hit L1 to command Fred Weasley
  • A small branching menu appears on the left side of the screen with two options: Guard-up on D Pad; Attack-down on D Pad
  • You hit attack and are presented a similar menu to that of Guard, but this one has the names of the other teams’ chasers, keeper, and seeker
  • Upon selecting your target, Fred heads off to find a bludger and send it at the designated target
  • A beater that is set to attack does so until either the bludger finds its target or the beater is commanded to perform another action
  • If an attacking beater successfully hits its target, a picture of a bludger on the teams insignia will briefly appear on the side of the screen (in this case left) and on it are the words “TARGET HIT!”

A bludger will never hit a player that is being guarded by a beater, but the player’s maneuverability and speed drop dramatically. So, in theory, you could have a beater hang around your seeker to protect him or her from bludgers the whole match, but the seeker wouldn’t be able to cover nearly as much sky in search of the snitch and, once the snitch was spotted, would have more difficulty chasing it down than if they weren’t being guarded. You could also have your beater protect your keeper, but you run the risk of making the keeper less responsive to opponent shots. It’s all a balancing act. Oh, and as for players not controlled by the gamer when it comes to bludgers, their ability to dodge is left up to the AI and their individual stats. As for beaters that aren’t being commanded, they simply fly around the pitch and hit bludgers randomly at opponent players.

Stats would be a new, major implementation to the Quidditch gaming formula and it would take a lot of inspiration from Madden and 2K. Like in Madden, all players have the same skills, but are more proficient at some than others. Harry Potter, for example, would be better with speed, maneuverability, and awareness as a seeker. Oliver Wood would be skilled in reflexes and durability as a keeper. The Weasley twins, as beaters, would have proficiency in awareness and arm strength. The chasers would be focused on shooting and passing,

What might be the recommended stats for a certain position, however, may not correspond to how the gamer plays. Perhaps you have a very strong but not so fast seeker, which may work better than a speedy, light seeker in certain weather conditions. You could also have an incredibly fast, light keeper who ‘s prone to going down easily from bludgers because of their low durability. The point is that if you, as a gamer, want Oliver Wood as your seeker and Harry Potter a chaser, you have the option to do so. But always remember that each player’s statistics determines how he or she plays, no matter his or her position.

Another thing worth noting is how the keeper operates when controlled by a gamer. If your opponent is too close to your goal for comfort and you’d rather not leave it in the hands of the AI, you can switch to your keeper, as mentioned before, and try to stop the quaffle shot yourself. Doing so would be quite simple, requiring simply the touch of a button.

Once the shot is launched, you can hit either SQUARE, TRIANGLE, or CIRCLE and the keeper will go to the corresponding hoop to defend it, another similar reaction technique taken from the Batman: Arkham combat system. If your opponent launches a shot at the center hoop and you hit TRIANGLE as the keeper, you will stop the shot. This also goes CIRCLE for right and SQUARE for left. If the shot is launched and you don’t hit the right button, then you missed and the shot is good. If you’d prefer to not be the keeper, then you can let the AI base your keeper’s performance off of their stats.

One hold over from the 2003 game would be Team Special Moves. Like in the old game, they would be performed by pressing a single button, R3 in this case. However, one can only unlock the usage of their team’s special move during a match by doing well in other aspects of the game. On each side of the screen, there will be a meter teams can fill up in order to unlock their special move. When the meter is full, the team can use their move, but it isn’t as simple as in the old game.

Firstly, filling the meter can be done in a variety of ways. Scoring goals would work, but that would be the slow way of doing it. Successful bludger attacks, keeper saves, steals, and trick-passing streaks would be quicker ways to fill up the meter. Steals would be simple, just like in the old game. If the gamer controlled player is near the opponent who poses the quaffle, simply pressing X will initiate a tackle and you will take possession. Trick-passing streaks are also a carry over from the 2003 game and they can be performed through excellent timing. If you throw a pass with one chaser, hitting X and one of the D Pad direction buttons simultaneously as the quaffle reaches the intended target will immediately initiate a trick pass that will send the quaffle to another chaser. You can string a few of these together for a good chunk of meter and simultaneously confuse your opponent temporarily.

Secondly, Team Special Moves have the potential of being interrupted in this game. Why? Well, because in this game, successfully performed Team Special Moves have the potential to make seekers lose track of the snitch and, therefore, could be kept in a team’s back pocket if their opponent spots the snitch before them. To counter this, the player that is going against a Team Special Move has one chance of stopping it once it is initiated.

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, there was an element called rush attacks. If the player pulled them off, they were able to deal massive amounts of damage. The trick to pulling them off, however, was to play a game of chance. When a rush attack was initiated, both combatants would have a few seconds to pick from X, SQUARE, CIRCLE, or TRIANGLE. If different buttons were selected, the attacking fighter would proceed with the rush attack. If, however, both combatants picked the same button, the fighter being attacked would break out of the rush attack. This type of chance mechanic would be implemented during Team Special Moves. The difference to Budokai 3 would be that instead of the chance happening three times with varying odds each time, there would be only one chance and a 25% chance at that.

Team Special Moves aren’t the only special things chasers can do in this theoretical game. They could also perform Flying Formations. There can be up to four Flying Formations assigned to the D Pad, one for each direction. Hitting the corresponding button will have the chasers move into that formation and head down the pitch that way. Perhaps you want all three sweeping level across the field, or perhaps you want them flying in a vertical line. Maybe still, you want to place one chaser behind the opponent’s goal so that, after you score the first time, they can knock the quaffle back in front of the goal and you can score twice in one possession. Flying Formations add a playbook element to Quidditch, which in turn adds another layer of strategy.

The last thing I would like to address about gameplay is timeouts. Admittedly, I’m not sure how the timeout system works in Quidditch and I’m sure there’s an explanation somewhere. However, considering that they could be used to throw a seeker off the snitch’s trail, I would suggest the following: each team starts with one timeout. For every one hundred points a team scores, they are awarded another timeout. In this way, teams have access to more than one timeout but they can’t use them as get-out-of-jail-free cards whenever their opponent is close to catching the snitch.

I’m sure that there are more mechanics that could be thought up when it comes to the gameplay and I’d be happy to hear them. Please comment below! (even though we aren’t done yet…)

THE WORLD STAGE

A massive draw for this game would be the World Cup. While there would of course be a Hogwarts mode, the main competitive focus would be the country versus country matches. According to the United Nations, there are 195 recognized countries in the world and it would be fun to have many of them represented. Each country can have a unique uniform and broom aesthetic. Broom statistics could be tweaked in the World Cup Management Mode.

In this updated theoretical game, there would be a mode that plays a lot like Franchise Mode in Madden. You can train your team and upgrade your brooms to make the best team possible. You can also stock your roster with substitutes, which could be swapped in whenever there is a break in the action like in basketball (EXAMPLE: timeout, injury, or goal score). Players could play Management Mode as a single player campaign against the AI or online against gamers all over the world.

One worry that might come with such a game is having paid to win options like some other popular sports games infamously have. It would be very tempting for the studio behind the project to do this because none of the players are real, meaning they are easier to manipulate. It would be easier to create a set up where they could charge real world currency for the best players. I choose to be optimistic, however, and hope that such a system would not be implemented into a modern Quidditch game.

So what are your thoughts? Would you like to play Quidditch against other players around the world? Would this game gain traction and popularity in the modern gaming market? Feel free to share your thoughts!

Video Games ARE Art: Bloodborne

Gaming Articles

Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination to be appreciated primarily for beauty or emotional power. Typically, when one thinks of traditional art forms, paintings and sculptures are the first things to come to mind. However, over time, other mediums have been accepted under the art umbrella. Music, literature, and photography have, over time, been lumped into the art category and, most recently, movies and television have joined the ranks. Now, in the 21stcentury, we have a new medium that is just as large and impactful as those previously mentioned: video games.

Compared to the other forms of art mentioned, video games are most like movies and television. They combine elements of other art forms to create a new type of art. The difference between video games and movies and television, though, is how they are consumed. The participatory nature of videogames allows consumers to take a more active role in the way they interact with this particular art form. After all, they are games, but they sometimes are much more.

In this piece, I examined a specific game whose artistic qualities reach this higher plain. Today’s game is Bloodborne.

Fear the Old Blood (Spoilers Ahead)

On the surface, Bloodborne is a very violent, dark, disturbing game with a seemingly nonexistent story. The basic plot summary is that you are an outsider in the gothic city of Yharnam and it is the night of the hunt. Monsters prowl the streets and the townsfolk are either hiding in their homes or taking part in purging the city of the beasts. What brings you, the player character, to Yharnam is unclear, but you must assume the role of a hunter to seek something called Paleblood and survive the night. And… that’s about it. As Gehrman, your “mentor” in the Hunter’s Dream puts it: “Don’t think too hard about it. Just go out and kill a few beasts. It’s for your own good.”

From there, that’s exactly what you do. You venture into Yharnam, kill some monsters, and desperately try to put an end to the hunt. If one were to simply follow the “main story” and base all their plot information off of dialogue with NPCs and cut scenes, you would glean little of what is actually happening. To the unfamiliar, Bloodborne appears to be just another violent video game. But there is so much more to the world of Yharnam and one needs insight to be able to see what lies under the surface.

Bloodborne tells its story in an untraditional manner. It is very much like its sister title, Dark Souls, in that regard. Simply put, these games do not tell their stories. Instead, they set up a rather simplistic scenario of “go here and kill so-and-so” while leaving breadcrumbs for the player to piece together the events that happened, are happening, or that will happen.

The breadcrumbs of story in the world of Bloodborne can mainly be found in the environment, item descriptions, item placement, enemy placement, and bosses. While there are NPCs like Gehrman, Eileen the Crow, and Alfred who give some exposition in traditional storytelling fashion, it is usually cryptic and refers to events, places, characters, or objects you haven’t encountered yet, have changed drastically, or won’t encounter at all. This exposition isn’t nearly as direct as it is in other games or stories. Through item descriptions like those of Blood Vials, your healing items, you can learn how Yharnamites treat this special healing blood as most societies treat alcohol as, in Yharnam, the special blood is far more intoxicating. Through locations like Old Yharnam, you can learn about events like the disease that spread through that part of the city, forcing it and its inhabitants to be purged by fire. Through item placement such as the location of the Red Jeweled Brooch, one can piece together the tragic events behind the boss Father Gascoigne and his family. Through enemy placement like the snakes in the Forbidden Woods, you can tell that something is amiss here as these enemies are nowhere else in the game, which is confirmed when the snakes start sprouting from people’s heads. Through bosses, one can glean a fair bit of information about them based off of their names, location,  or appearance. Martyr Logarius is a great example of this.

A more obvious aspect of Bloodborne’s artistic quality is the world design. The gothic setting of Yharnam is both beautiful and terrifying. They layered and interconnected streets and areas make it feel like a real place, despite the fact that coffins and headstones literally line the sidewalks. The architecture of Yharnam fits the horror genre perfectly. No matter where you are, the environment looms around you, making you feel an intense sense of dread that someone or something horrible is lurking around every corner. Yet, at the same time, you are awed by your surroundings as well.

The gameplay itself is also incredibly satisfying and, in some ways, an art  form in and of itself. Bloodborne builds off of the Dark Souls gameplay style and changes just enough of it to make it its own unique style. Compared to its sister franchise, Bloodborne encourages a faster and more aggressive style of the timing based combat that made Dark Souls so popular. It adds to the intensity of the fights and heightens the action. You cannot survive Yharnam if you are passive and the game masterfully drives that mentality home early on. Making an engaging and fun gameplay system based off an already successful system is no small feat and it deserves to be recognized for its ingenuity.

More than anything else talked about, though, what really makes Bloodborne a work of art are the ideas it tackles in its story and how they are presented. It is done so subtly that you may not recognize them until you start having emotional reactions to them or catch yourself thinking about them outside of playing the game. When these ideas really get inside your head, Bloodborne becomes so much more than a typical violent video game.

Grant Us Eyes (More Spoilers Ahead)

You, the player, go out into the streets of Yharnam on the night of the hunt. You are told to seek Paleblood in the Cathedral Ward and you set off through the city to reach the Grand Cathedral. Everything is hostile to you: the mobs hunting the beasts, the beasts themselves, and individuals who are part human and part beast. When you get to the first mandatory boss of the game, Father Gascoigne, you realize that the beasts are really people who have transformed into these monstrosities. There is no saving them, however. Once someone becomes a beast, they cannot turn back unless they are a truly terrible type of beast. You are forced to kill them or they will kill you.

Your ideas of this are challenged further upon descending into Old Yharnam. Djura, a retired hunter, now defends the beasts from hunters such as yourself. If you harm them, you will bring about his wrath. Later in the game, you can actually speak to Djura civilly. There he says “, there’s nothing more horrific than a hunt. In case you failed to realize, the things you hunt, they’re not beasts, they’re people.” But why are people turning into beasts in the first place? It all stems back to the Healing Church of Yharnam.

Long ago, there was a school called Byrgenwerth and, at this school, those who studied and taught there tried to make contact with beings they called the Great Ones, godlike beings who exist beyond the human plane. In the process of attempting to do so, special Healing Blood was discovered in ancient tombs beneath where Yharnam was founded. This special blood was able to cure any illness or disease. Around this, the Healing Church was founded and centered their whole organization on their healing blood. The church became immensely powerful, as they were the sole possessor of the special healing blood.

But there was a terrible side effect to the blood. Those who used the blood would eventually become infatuated with it and then turn into terrible monsters with no recollections of who they once were. The church, unwilling to give up its power, attempted to kill these beasts through agents they called hunters before the populous of Yharnam discovered what was happening. The beasts could not be contained forever though and the church was forced to make the hunt a public event. The hunters were disbanded and the side effect of their blood remained a secret. That is until you discover it. By that point, however, it is far too late.

In your quest to end the hunt, you have instead done the thing the scholars at Byrgenwerth had tried to do. You make contact with the Great Ones and the gothic horror game you’ve been playing has suddenly become one of cosmic horror. In the end, you discover that putting an end to the hunt is tied to these Great Ones and, to do so, you’ll have to do battle with the gods.

The summary just given is a vague one. The story of Bloodborne is much richer and cryptic. During it all, though, the game asks the following: How monstrous do individuals need to become before we can be justified as an executioner? At what point does the pursuit of knowledge become immoral? What lengths will a person or an organization go to in order keep the power they have obtained and to keep their unseemly secrets? What happens when we realize just how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of the universe? What do we define as god or gods? What does it mean to be alive? Bloodborne asks all of these questions and more, but moreover, it does so subtly. The player can only discover these questions and begin to form their answers to them if they are willing to look deeper.

There is no doubt that these questions alone could elicit strong emotional responses and deep thoughts. Combine these with the subtle way of conveying these questions, the beautiful yet terrifying world, and the fast, aggressive gameplay and you get something that I like to call the Soulsborne High. For these reasons, I submit that Bloodborne IS art.