So, following on from Monday's post, I figured I'd point out a few more coming this way.
Death: Deluxe Edition
by Neil Gaiman
Okay, confession time: despite being a big fan of Gaiman, and of comics, I've never actually read Sandman. Which I'm fairly certain is going to be one of those things I end up crucifying myself for when I finally do. I have, however, read Death: The High Cost of Living, after I found it in a local library years back and realised Tori Amos did the foreword. I always was a whore for Tori Amos.
The book rocked. Death is, strangely enough, a completely adorable character and right up there with Pratchett's much-loved personification of the end. This one collects that graphic novel, along with The Time of Your Life. And I rather expect that half will rock too.
Pariah by Dan Abnett
So, Abnett's Pariah is at long last up for pre-order. I've always been a fan of Games Workshop's gothic sci-fi Warhammer 40,000 setting, having played the games as a kid. Hardly ever get to play them any more (despite having had some serious Necromunda cravings of late), but I do pick up the occasional novel.
Frankly, they can vary a bit in quality. But as a rule, Abnett is definitely one of the better writers under the Black Library label, and his Eisenhorn trilogy is my favorite 40k series by a large margin. Granted I wasn't quite so enamoured of its follow up, The Ravenor trilogy, but it was still good fun. And now, at long last, it seems we'll be getting the third trilogy, Eisenhorn and Ravenor going toe to toe as seen through the eyes of Alizebeth Bequin.
So, Howell's back again for another obscure game.
Although I confess, this isn't hugely obscure. That is to say people might recognise the name at least.
But dammit Jim, it's not well-known enough!
So. Shin Megami Tensei.
More specifically, it's spinoff, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.
More specifically again, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.
I'm sticking to the third one, just because it's the main one I've played.
Not to say I've completed it, but, well, I know what happens...And the only other one I've touched is Persona 2, and only briefly.
I don't half ramble at the beginning of my blogs do I?
Anyway, I thought I'd write about this one, as, well, I enjoy it. I even wrote an essay on it, which may get paraphrased in here in tiny bits. But yes. It, along with most RPGs, gets brushed under the carpet by Final Fantasy, and as much as I like the Final Fantasy games, I still think that's a shame.
So, on my fifth paragraph, it's about time I start.
Why yes, he did just shoot himself. Oh, I should mention, the game's themes are a little messed up. This is me, did this surprise you?
So, you're the new kid in school, your parents are nowhere to be seen, and you get put in a mixed-gender dorm. Hmm, this seems more like a dating sim setup. But surely this isn't one of those kinds of games?
Oh, sorry odd angelic girl, I'll just close the door.
Oddly enough, that gameplay does form a large chunk of this game. In fact, to cut this blog a few paragraphs short, this game is a *deep breath* Dating Sim/Monster Breeding/Dungeon Crawling/Japanese RPG, or DSMBDCJRPG, maybe. Do try to keep up.
You see, I'll come back to the dating sim idea. For now, monsters. In this game, you control a party of up to 4 characters at once, but each character has what is known as a Persona (Ahh, the title, it makes sense! Now what about Shin Megami Tensei? Oh, that just means True Goddess Reincarnation, let's ignore that).
A Persona is "another side to a person's character, behind the mask they put up for people in real life. Or simply, it's a summon. It's how you do magic or special skills. You, the main character, have a unique gift however. You can use multiple Personas (not sure what that tells us about his psyche...).
Early on, you meet Igor, the owner of the Violet Room. In there, you can merge Personas into (normally) a better, stronger one. And depending on the related Social Link to the Arcana of Persona you are creating, it can gain bonuses.
Woah, slow down Howell, Social Link? Arcana? Okay.
Every Persona has an Arcana, like those seen in Tarot cards, you know, The Priestess, The Heirophant, The Fool, The Devil, all of them.
Every Social Link you make has their own unique Arcana too.
So if the Persona's Arcana has a high level Social Link, it gets bonuses.
So what's a Social Link? Oh, that's the dating sim-like aspect.
You see, you're a school student. A new one at that. So what's something you might need to get? Friends.
The gameplay is actually split into several segments of the day. Morning, which is usually School Time, with lessons, which, unless relevant, are skipped. Afternoon, which is when you can socialise, or get jobs for money and stat boosts, and Night, where, like any normal student, you venture into the Tower of Tartarus, and go around killing monsters called Shadows. What, you don't do that?
I mean, this isn't weird, right?
So, you might be wondering. I mentioned creepy things. All you've seen is a weird tower, named after the pit of the underworld, and a guy shooting himself. Sorry, I should go into that.
You see, that's not a gun. Well, it is, but...
It's an Evoker. It looks like a gun, goes BANG like a gun, but doesn't kill you. It's explained that it gives the feeling of death to the user, which clears their minds completely, allowing their true persona to shine through, their Persona. That's just how you summon the monsters.
Old video, but relevant. And amusing. Don't try this at home.
So, suggested mental suicide, and the underworld. Still, it's Japan, so not so weird.
The Dark Hour. This is an hour between one day and the next. To the usual person, they either sleep through it, or they don't notice it happen. That'd be because this is what happens to normal people in the Dark Hour.
It's like a depressing Abbey Road isn't it?
Yeah, we get trapped in coffins, and likely blackout. Nothing big and creepy.
For those who are awake however, they have to fight the Shadows. That is, if they have a Persona, or know how to use it. The game suggests the others are killed by Shadows. So hey, you're lucky you can fight.
You might think, "I'd rather be in the coffin". Oh, the plot thought of that. You see, the Shadows have a bad effect on people. They make them all depressed and zombified. They call it Apathy Syndrome. The end results being coma, or suicide. Yup, suicide is apparently all because of monsters we never see.
So, you go around killing them, and then, on every full moon, BOSS BATTLE!
The game has an in-game calendar, which forces the progress in the story.
So, you kill the boss, and people return to normal. Then the next one starts showing up.
The initial stages do seem mildly repetitive, but the rest of the story keeps you from thinking that most of the time. You get to know people, you can even fall in love.
And even get scenes like this. I SWEAR IT'S NOT A HENTAI DATING SIM!
So, I've managed to skirt around the main plot, and avoided big spoilers. I'm impressed.
I could go into how the game's constant progression feels like the days ticking you closer to death, and other factors, but I'll be nice, and just leave you with the intro video to the PSP version I play.
And as an added bonus, a picture of one of the many Persona you can create. Maru.
So, It's been a little while *ducks from all the "boo"s and bottles being thrown*. Unfortunately, life gets in the way sometimes.
Anyway, on with the show.
So, it has come to my attention that my two main areas of expertise in nerd culture, is mildly obscure anime, and very obscure videogames. Particularly RPGs. As that list is very long, and very geeky, I thought I'd show it some love on the blog. So this might become a regular (for me at least) section.
So...Suikoden.
For the purposes of this blog, I'll talk only about the first 2 games, and not mention 3, 4, 5, or any of the spinoffs.
So, Suikoden. Made by Konami for the Playstation (3, 4 and 5 on PS2, and one spinoff, Tierkreis on DS).
So, shocking that it's Konami yet you haven't heard of it? Strangely, it has always been quite a 'cult' game, never becoming as massively popular as Final Fantasy.
So why am I bothering talking about it?
Not just because I'm a hipster gamer (No, I'm not, I just love JRPGs).
It's just that these games have amazing story, great gameplay, (Oldschool JRPG battle with an 'Auto' attack button? Thank you so much!) and amazing characters.
Oh the characters...I should really mention that. Every Suikoden game has one thing in common. Recruitable characters. Not a shocking prospect. However, the sheer amount. 108 is the usual number, with it occasionally going higher with 'bonus' characters. Now I don't just mean there are 108 characters you just befriend. How about a diagram?
There we go. The 108 recruitable characters in the first game. The ones with blue borders are your shopkeeps, mapmakers, etc. that can't fight in your battles. Those in red? Those can be in your party. Up to six at any time (with the top left being your player character, so he has to be in it).
A nice added bonus is that, due to the games taking place in the same world, you begin to see familiar faces if you play multiple games, and occasionally, if save data from previous games exists, you can get their old, awesome equipment, as well as some other bonuses on occasion. But the best part about these characters? They all have their own stories, varying from a ditzy teleporting magician, a family of blacksmiths all working to become better than each other, a former enemy army commander, to a little old gambling lady.
I mentioned army commander. Because that is essentially what you are making. An army. You see, while this is mainly a normal RPG, there are several army segments, different in each game.
These army battle however are rather important, as they are the only time that your recruited characters can die permanently. And that means bye bye to your completion bonus, and your good ending.
Yes, these games also can have multiple endings, or at least added bits, normally simply by getting all 108 characters, though in the second game at least, certain actions, along with whether or not you recruited everyone, can give you many different endings.
So that shows the interesting gameplay and the characters, what of the story? This time, I really won't give spoilers, as I'll talk of the series as a whole. Simply stated, they are all about war, usually caused by runes, like the 27 True Runes, which give people immortality, as well as untold power. So, war inevitably breaks out over them, and so begins several stories of betrayal, friendship, war, death, and glory. Enjoy. Oh, and here's a nice little opening video from the second game and a reminder, it's a rare game, yes, but there is the internet. I'm sure you have your means.
And as an added note, I'm kinda going as the main character from the second game to October's London MCM Comicon expo. Should be fun to see if anyone recognises me. The tonfa will make it quite fun too.
