Greetings! Welcome to the eleventh edition of the Monthly Gradebook. I’ll be giving my thoughts and grades on all the games I managed to play to competition in this past month. I decided to start doing this feature as a way to share my thoughts on the games that I’m playing without writing full reviews and to better organize my thoughts, so that way, when the end of the year rolls around, I’ll be in a better position to decide my Top Ten Games of 2016 and my Top Non-2016 Games without having to rely solely on my memory.
I started this blog series up back in January and have continued with it every month (except for April) despite self-induced fears that I would get lazy and quit it on. For the final month of the year, I did my best to knock-out two late big-game releases and one game that has been on my list since its release earlier in the year. In the end, I was successful and played all three games to completion – a mark that I only accomplished once in 2016, back in February. So, without delay, here are my final grades and thoughts of 2016, which are centered on Dishonored 2, Zero Time Dilemma, and Final Fantasy XV.
Dishonored 2 (PS4)
For the second straight year, the backend of the gaming calendar was headlined for me by Bethesda’s newest release, and despite having not played the original Dishonored (my copy of Dishonored 2 did come with a download code for Dishonored, so I will probably get on that sometime next year) I was eager to jump into the game.
Dishonored 2 is a difficult game for me to discuss. While physically playing the game, I was so enthralled by it that I was ready to call it my game of year, but when the console is off and I just sit back and think about the game, I realize there a lot of things I take exception to with the game.
Dishonored 2 was built with replayability in mind, that means however that the game is relatively short. The game’s campaign only features nine missions, but with two different characters to experience it through and a plenitude of different playstyles to try out I can see myself playing the game again in the not too distant future. There seems to be a large gap separating the playstyles in terms of difficulty, though, and not much of an in-between. When you’re attempting to ghost your way through a level it requires an absurd amount of patience and skill, however, when you going all out and attack everyone head-0n the game becomes a cakewalk.
The way I chose to play the game is unorthodox to say the least. At times, I ran around the map like a man possessed, but my kill count remained nearly nonexistent – preferring to incapacitate my enemies (sometimes by sneaking up onto them or by filling them with sleep darts, but usually by stunning them first via heaving a projectile in their face like a fish, bottle, or unconscious body). Some might see racking up kills as the funner method of play, but to me filling out the dormitory beds with unconscious guards and wondering how they would react when they woke - if they were real, of course - is immensely more satisfying. I didn’t find much use for most of the supernatural abilities available to you, apart for Blink, which has to be one of my favorite skills in all of video games; being able to teleport yourself across gaps, onto ledges, and over enemies’ heads is an awesome experience that isn’t replicated often. In the end, I had a blast playing Dishonored 2 the way I wanted, even if it was a bit too easy on the standard difficulty setting.
The general uniqueness of the level designs is another factor that helps me overlook the game’s length. From a clockwork mansion with rooms that shift at the pull of a lever to a mission where you obtain a time travel device that allows you to seamlessly shift between the past and present. Each mission’s setting is different and memorable, and a whole lot of fun to find your own way to tackle. For example, my brother and me usually play games the same way and we both went for the low chaos routes, however, are experiences with the missions were completely different. The creativity displayed in this aspect of the game is just phenomenal.
The variation in enemies is consistent, with the game throwing new, deadlier foes at you, like robotic soldiers and witches, that are not as easily deterred as the run-of-the-mill guards you encounter throughout the game. The AI, however, is still not clever enough to come anywhere close to blurring the lines of AI intelligence. When a masked assassin comes sprinting a through dinning party, the guards are way too quick to give up the chase and resume their normal patrols as if nothing had happened. I also encountered a few instances where after watching a fellow guard collapse from a sleeping dart, the nearby guards would fail to react.
The story is without a doubt the weakest part of the game. Kicking off with abrupt opening, the plot (at least from the Corvo side of things) feels a lot like Taken the video game. Stephen Russell’s portrayal of Corvo is very Liam Neeson-esque, and the plot basically boils down to his daughter being kidnapped, and everything that follows is just an excuse for him to use his very particular set of skills to accomplice cool and entertaining stuff. The story wraps itself up in a very anticlimactic fashion that is not befitting such a great game. I didn’t play as Emily, but I have a feeling the story isn’t any more interesting from her point-of-view either.
That’s not say there aren’t are a lot of interesting ideas at work with the plot, at one point you can choose to assisting one of two groups in their war against each other, but not enough time is focused on either group or the fallout of the choice itself to make the decision matter. None of the characters have time to develop either, with one revelation feeling abrupt and unnecessary rather than organic. The villains are for the most part one-note with the exceptions being the central antagonist and Emily’s aunt, Delilah Copperspoon, and inventor Kirin Jindosh, but neither is given enough time onscreen. And despite attempts by the game to tell the decisions you make on who to kill and who to spare will have major ramifications, the only thing you get is a brief endgame voice-over that touches on a few of your choices.
GRADE: A-
Zero Time Dilemma (3DS)
I haven’t played either of the first two entries into the Zero Escape series, and despite several recommendations that I don’t play Zero Time Dilemma until I do, I went and played the game anyway. But apart from learning of the events that transpired in the first two games that will probably dampen the impact of their twists if I went back and played them, I didn’t feel like my experience with Zero Time Dilemma was hampered by my naivety in any way.
The concept of Zero Time Dilemma’s plot is simple in principle - nine people, separated into three teams of three, are trapped inside an underground base and forced to play twisted and gruesome games until at least six people have died, but everything that follows is not. The game’s utilization of a non-linear storytelling confused me at first. I felt like playing the game in chronological order would have made for a more enjoyable experience. But about halfway through, as the haze around the plot becomes clearer and you realize that everything you’ve experienced isn’t just a random series of events, I began to appreciate the narrative structure, even if it basically undermines every choice you make. The story does bog itself down with characters giving repeated lectures on scientific jargon and rehashing story beats, and comes off as if the game is trying too hard to hold your hand through the story so you don’t get lost. And there is one long and drawn out story sequence involving a character wielding a shotgun that is eye-rolling and an insult to the intelligence of everyone involved.
Zero Time Dilemma’s gameplay probably takes a backseat in most discussions about the game because of how significant the story is, but I’d like to start off with some praise for the game’s escape the room segments. Each of the rooms are different enough in design and implantation that I never thought one was too much like another. I became addicted to solving the puzzles laid out in front of me, and there is nothing more empowering then when your brain make the first connection and then everything seemingly begins to fall into place. I’ll admit there were a few times where I had to cheat and consult a walkthrough; when the answer was something obvious that I overlooked, I just felt frustrated at myself, but when it was something that the game was obstructing from me, like a tiny item or device that is difficult to interact with due to finicky controls, the game was the one I had frustrations with.
The Decisions Games that follow-up each escape the room segments, started out as my favorite part of the game. Unloading one nerve-racking decision after another onto the player where the wrong choice could lead to the death of one or more characters – heck, sometimes every choice can do that. A few times I set the game aside to give myself more time to deliberate. These “games” are creative, clever, and awesomely, horrifying – that is until the game makes it painfully clear that they are all meaningless. At the same time as I began to appreciative the game’s unorthodox method of storytelling, the less I began to care about these decisions. I mean, why should I care about the ramifications of my choices when I’m going to be forced to replay the segment and choose the opposite choice anyway? I’ll give the developers credit that this feeling is aligned with the game’s themes, but this doesn’t make it any less annoying and denies the game any sense of replability.
The cast of Zero Time Dilemma start off as a likeable enough group and the light-hearted banter between them during the escape the room segments offer up some funny moments, but the further along into the story I got, the more and more I began to despise them. Some say you can tell a lot about someone’s character by how they react under pressure – if that’s true then there isn’t much good you can say about this cast. The characters are prone to jumping to rash decisions and putting the blame onto each other, while widely ignoring the thought that Zero, the person who kidnapped them and is forcing them to play these games, could be involved. Several characters slip way too quickly into psychopath territory; some having better reasons then others. All the characters are apparently mathematical geniuses who are smart enough to calculate their odds of surviving each situation in seconds – except for Eric – yet are unable to comprehend concepts like time travel and alternate realties without it being explained to them in a dumbed down, overly simplified manner. By the end, the members of D Team and Carlos were the only characters that I could stomach.
Zero Time Dilemma’s ending seems to a source of a lot of controversy, but I’m not really sure what side I’m on - I can’t decide whether it’s unbelievably brilliant or just plain stupid. There a lot of small stuff that is fun to look back at and say “Oh, that makes sense now” but there are other things that require some heavy suspension of disbelief to buy into it.
GRADE: B
Final Fantasy XV (PS4)
After watching the credits roll on Final Fantasy XV - a game that some have been waiting over ten years for - the first word that came to mind for me was passable. If you google the word passable, one of the definitions you get is: “(of a route or road) clear of obstacles and able to be traveled along or on” and since Final Fantasy XV’s story can be summed up as one big road trip, it is an accurate description. And much like driving down a clear, open road, playing Final Fantasy XV is an adequate experience, but there’s nothing special about it that I’m going to gush over or classify as amazing or spectacular.
The only place that seems suitable to me to start a discussion about Final Fantasy XV is with its four main characters, as the entire story hinges on the bond between these characters. Prince Noctis’s three bodyguards each fit into a typical architype; the smart guy, the funny guy, and the strong guy. They play these roles well, no doubt, but nothing about them inspired much originality in my mind. Prince Noctis himself, though, is the worst offender. He comes off cold, disinterested, and a shell of a character, and, apart from a few select story moments, his only form of emote is being angsty. Other games have pulled off such a protagonist by having him act as conduit for the player to funnel their own emotion and reactions into, but it is made clear that it is not supposed to be the case here. It is nice to watch characters with an already established friendship hang out together and they have some entertaining interactions and fun banter. Unfortunately, the game is unable to convey this connection to me, the player, and I never shared in this genuine affection the cast clearly harbor for each. When it comes down to it, there is nothing memorable about this cast that will have me looking back on them with fond memories, if even at all.
Meanwhile, almost every other member of rest of the supporting cast leave little to no impression on the plot and are denied any meaningful character devolvement. With the lone exception being main heroine, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, a by the book Mary Sue who also happens to be in possession of a McGuffin. The game tries it’s best to sell you on a love story between her and Noctis, but it is more interested in telling you they care deeply for each other rather producing any meaningful interaction that would make me believe it. The voice acting is solid in the cases of the main cast - some of those quest-givers, though, they can make your ears bleed.
Using a road trip for the setting of an RPG is a unique angle, but I feel like the story overextends itself. As the chaotic events around the characters begin to unfold, they, for most part, remain care-free and are content wasting time camping under the stars and having fun, which leads to some very jarring transitions – for example: “Oh, no, everyone we know might be dead…Let’s go ride some chocobos!” The game could have really benefitted from a smaller-scale plot, because it comes off like the developers wanted to have their cake and eat it too – they tried to tell a coming-of-age, buddy road trip comedy, while also spinning a dark, depressing yarn featuring a big-bad – who is charismatic enough in his own right but lacks depth - with a high-stakes scheme, without giving enough time to setup the key pieces and players needed to pull something like that off. As a result, main story beats are rushed through, the tone is wildly incoherent, and despite possessing an ending that on paper should have been an emotional, it ends up coming off quite underwhelming. What is most disappointing is that the story does have a lot of potential, it’s just never capitalized on.
I’d also like to express my displeasure in how the game completely ignores almost all the characters of the companion film Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. It is quite strange how much the game leans on the film to lay the foundation of the story, but then barely references the actual events. Antagonist, General Glauca, is an enigmatic character, but despite playing a massive role in triggering the events that unfold in game, is reduced to a brief cameo and never referenced by name. One of your own party member’s father appears in the film, but his fate glossed in-game. Another character, who if included could have been a cool Easter egg is instead is made completely irrelevant by not appearing. And I must say, compared to Noctis, the film’s protagonist, Nyx Ulric, is a much cooler character and actually has more chemistry with Luna than her own “beloved” does.
Moving on, I can say without a doubt that Final Fantasy XV is the only game where I full heartedly sucked at the combat but never once saw a game over screen. Throughout my 35+ hour journey, I never managed to completely wrap my head around the combat system, yet with a healthy dose of health potions I successfully fought my way through every battle I encountered, resulting in me never acquiring a need to attempt to understand the mechanics better. Noctis’ phasing abilities adds a unique aspect of versatility to the battles, and while I can see why a lot of people weren’t fond the magic crafting system, I liked it because it was something different. Your allies’ AI in combat was good for the most, except for their tendency to run into your magic attacks and begin spouting off snarky remarks, blaming you. And the summons, while vastly limited in their usages, are awesome cinematic moments. The boss fights, however, weren’t all that great; a few of them probably sound like fun in principal but the execution wasn’t there. All in all, the gameplay really can’t match up with the likes of other established action-based JRPG’s like Kingdom Hearts and Dark Souls.
I’m probably going against the grain by saying this, but I didn’t care for the open world aspects of the game. I feel like when the game pushes the open world shenanigans aside and locks you into the linear aspects of the story is when I enjoyed the gameplay the most, as it mixes things up and offers more variety, including one amazing train sequence. The environments you encounter are drastically different then what you encounter in the open world and the transition between in-game and cinematic cutscenes is almost seamless.
Don’t get me wrong, the open world is a true sight to behold, but it’s no Wasteland (Fallout 4) or Mira (Xenoblade Chronicles X), and all starts to blend together. The areas are scarcely populated and, for the most part, all the hub areas are identical rest stops. I can’t say there was nothing to do, rather there wasn’t much that I enjoyed doing. Driving around in the Regalia was something I was looking forward coming in, but it turned out to be the most disappointing thing I’ve experienced in gaming this year. The car controls like it is on rails, preventing you from going off-road or having any meaningful control over the vehicle. The chocobo riding, however, was a surprisingly fun method of travel, and much more entertaining than the dull car rides or loading screen you must endure when traveling long distances. There are plenty of side-quests to undertake, but none of the questlines are interesting and fundamentally the same, making them feel likes choirs that I’m obligated to accomplice then something I want to do.
I may not have been waiting for this game as long as others have, but I’ve had my eye on the game since it was rebranded from its original title of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and I just can’t honestly say the game was worth the wait. While the production values are top-notch, featuring a decent soundtrack - with Florence and the Machine’s cover of the Ben E. King’s classic, Stand by Me, being used to great effect – I found everything else about this game fall decisively below expectations. Final Fantasy XV isn’t a bad game, just good. But I was personally hoping for a little better than just good.
GRADE: B
And... Done! I have succeeded in my year-long goal of keeping up this blog the entire year and grading and critiquing every game I played to completion. My next goal? Do it all again in 2017. And with the season of gift giving in the rear-view mirror, I’m now stocked up on enough games and gift cards to hopefully tide me over until Person 5’s release in April. The Technomancer, The Last Guardian, Skyrim, and Valkyria Chronicles are among the games I have to look forward to playing in the months to come and the ones you will be able to read my nonsensical ramblings on.
If you have any thoughts on my opinions and/or grades let me know in the comments, even if you completely disagree and think I’m an idiot.
Have a Happy New Year and thanks for reading. I'll see you in whatever comes next.
