JRPG Deconstruction with Drakengard

As I progress through Drakengard, it's clear that there is a lot going on beyond riding on a dragon and raining fire on the Empire.  One of the first things that really stood out to me was the deconstruction of certain JRPG tropes, the mute hero and the starcrossed lovers.

Caim is deconstructing the trope of the mute hero, seen most prominently in games like Chrono Trigger and Legend of Zelda.  These mute heroes still radiate nobility and honor.  Caim radiates no such feelings.  Other characters are clearly afraid of him, and are grateful that he appears to be on their side.  It's hard to know what side Caim is actually on, but everyone is grateful when his interests align with theirs.

More interesting, to me at any rate, is the love story between Inuart and his image of Furiae.  Notice that Inuart is not actually in love with Furiae, and Furiae appears to not be in love with him.  However, neither of these fact stop Inuart from becoming obesessed with Furiae and will stop at nothing to obtain enough power to win her heart.  He refuses to back down, and believes that he can win the prize of Furiae's love, even if it means the destruction of everything else he holds dear.

There's more going on with his game that I'll touch on as more videos are released.

This sums up my feelings on Assassin's Creed III

I found this on Reddit, so I can't take credit for it, but it's another angle on Assassin's Creed III, and why I'm torn about going back to it a third time (for Assassin's Creed Rogue).  It's spoiler-rific, so click to see it

Drakengard Starts Today. It's Gonna Get Weird.

Now that I am a (debateable) master of Blasters, I needed a new challenge.  I chose that my second featured game would be another piece from my backlog that I had a challenging history with.  Something that I had tried, somewhat enjoyed, and then promptly gave up on at the slightest challenge.  That game was Drakengard, for the Playstation 2. 

I had tried it, and enjoyed some of the bits where you're flying on a dragon.  It spoke to the D&D geek inside of me.  However, the slightest bit of challenge, and I sent the game packing.  I forget my logic back in 2005, but it probably boiled down to some variation of "Ain't nobody got time for this", and I probably started re-playing God of War. 

When Square Enix couldn't be bothered to publish Drakengard 2 in the US, and that task fell onto Ubi Soft, I felt my decision was validated. 

Then Drakengard 3 was announced, and by god, it looked bizarre.  I remembered my brief time with the original, and I decided that this series (along with its side story Nier) would be worth exploring on this channel.  After a brief bit of deal hunting, I found reasonably priced copies of both Drakengard and Drakengard 2 to bring into my collection for future play.

Follow my journey by subscribing to my Youtube channel.  I've included the first episode below.  Thanks for watching.

Let's Play Drakengard, Episode 1:

Let's Play Drakengard, Episode 2:

The Broken Creed

If its one series that I am conflicted about, its the Assassin's Creed series.  It hits a lot of my buttons because it has great action, a strong story, and looks pretty.  Despite coming out each and every year, it seems that Ubi Soft doesn't take the series for granted, and puts a lot into it, and it shows.

I've said it before to an empty room, but I'll say it on the record here, but Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time is IMO, probably the best game ever made.  As a series reboot, it contained brilliant action, awesome graphics (for its time), intriguing mechanics, and a perfectly tuned difficulty curve.  The story that was laid out was perfect for the medium, and its two sequels were pretty good as well, although I can understand why they weren't as well received.  I even enjoyed the Forgotten Sands for as different it was from the Sands of Time.

This is to set the stage for my excitement for the first entry of the Assassin's Creed series.  Maybe the time manipulation of the Sands of Time would be gone, but the parkour style action would remain, just in a setting that was more historical and real world.  The historical war between the Assassins and the Templars was a very fertile ground for fascinating stories that would unfold over generations, allowing new characters to come into the story and old characters to leave.  On paper, this series has everything that I want, and then some.

I can't explain why I'm down on this series without delving into spoilers, so click the jump to keep reading. 

One down, Infinity to go...

A few days back, I finally posted the conclusion to Blaster Master.  Watch it here:

Subscribe to the channel to find when I start playing Drakengard for the Playstation 2. 

Come watch me play Blaster Master!

We're up to Part 28 of my Playthrough of Blaster Master. You can watch it above.

If you'd like, you can watch from the beginning.

Why Did I start with Blaster Master?

Once I defined the purpose of my channel, it became easier to choose what would make the lineup.  For my debut, I thought back to possibly my oldest piece of unfinished business in my gaming history.  I eventually settled on the classic, and classically hard Blaster Master. 

I remember renting this one day back in 1991, and tearing my way through the first two stages.  The difficulty spiked quite a bit, and I vaguely remembered getting to the Area 3 boss, and that he kicked my ass badly then.  I didn't have a chance for a rematch before I had to return the game, but I could hear him laughing at me. 

I obtained my own copy eventually, and went back to it periodically, but something happened to my patience.  It was gone.  Once the challenge that lay before me sunk in, I turned the game off, and played Syphon Filter instead.  It seemed like a better use of my time. 

I would dust the game off every now and again, but the same thing always happened.  Once the challenge sunk in, consisting of the raw difficulty, the lack of a password or save feature, and the limited continues, I turned the game off and played something else, probably God of War the last time that I attempted this. 

This time, I had technology on my side.  Through the magic of save states, I could even the odds, and possibly see the ending.  I could settle this oldest bit of unfinished business, and finally close the book on Blaster Master.  At least until I start with Blaster Master: Blasting Again. 

Why bother with a Let's Play? Why not just play the game?

The phenomenon goes by many names, such as "pile of shame", "pile of pride", the "black hole","accumulation", "embarrassment of riches", or simply "backlog", but many folks who have been gaming for as long as I have will have one.  What I'm talking about is a particular set of games that for one reason or another, have never been finished.  Sometimes life gets in the way, sometimes your mood changes, and sometimes Ken Levine releases new Bioshock DLC and nothing else matters.  At the end of the day, you discover that you have this huge pile of games that attracted your interest and your dollars, but the thought of taking something off of it makes you nervous. 

Maybe you just had such a good time with Devil May Cry that you never want it to end, and you can simulate this experience by never-ever playing it again.  It will always be waiting for you just the way that you left it, even if you don't remember how to play when that day finally comes. 

I discovered "Let's Plays" on Youtube about this time last year, and I scoffed at the notion at first.  Once I sat down to watch one to see what it was actually about, I became intrigued.  I watched a few more, and I was hooked, especially once I found players whose taste matched my own.  (More on that another day).  I realized that I had sarcastic comments that I wanted to share,  and I had a pile of old games that I wanted to play for the first time or simply revisit for whatever reason. 

I decided to start my own Let's Play channel to share my experiences clearing out my backlog.  I do my best to be entertaining, enlightening, and even funny.  I hope that you find something to stick around for.  I play mostly action and RPG type games, but my interests are varied, and I'm not afraid to be the only one to like a game that most don't, such as Bioshock 2.  I hope to show you something that you've never seen before, or help to see something in a new way.  Welcome to Backlog Theater.