Nana MarfoA student with a passion for game development and all things Japan. Archives
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Rambling about Feathery Ears 羽耳27/8/2019
Hey all! So today going to be something a little bit different that I've wanted to try out for a while. I'm just going to be talking about a game with no real rhyme or reason to it! Because it's fun.
As most of you know, I'm a big fan of Eager Passion, the one-gal studio run by Artsy Sayuri. She made Wings of Glass, which I would get around to properly playing and reviewing, but I've been busy if you can't tell. I'll try and get around to it soon as I can, it's not like Mayfly is in this game anyways. No, this game, called Feathery Ears 羽耳 or Feather Ears Hane Mimi is very different to Wings of Glass. Just a head up, most of my Wings of Glass experience comes from the Demo, which was known under Glass Wing Capstone.
Sayuri is still working on what she calls "Wingsverse", but is making this game in a month. In the image above with the Logo is the protagonist Misa Ikko, a character in the story drawn by Ashley Dengara, a ninth grader. I am already in love with this idea. Exploring the mindset of teenagers trying to design characters is a great idea, honestly it looks like Misa fits right in with the game. I do hope that we can get some of Ashley's perspective on things though out the story. And despite being about questionable teen character design, the game visually looks great, even though it's re-using some of Wings of Glass assets, mainly the source code, so I don't expect too many differences in art style.
The gameplay it's self seems to be a more combat focused Wings of Glass. For those that don't know, in Wings of Glass, you had the same tools, but they were weaker and used only for puzzles, and you mostly use stealth to get around hazards in the game.
Here weapon seem more powerful, and it seems like you have all the abilities in Wings of Glass, so it should be an solid action-platformer. Misa also seems to be interacting with a lady shark called Coral, an NPC in the game. I hope that we get more NPC's that are unique her.
Overall, I 'm really looking forward to this game, and I really want to see where this game goes! Teenagers are super creative, and I want to see how she interprets the idea. If you want to try out Wings of Glass, you can buy it from the links at the bottom(one is for Steam, one is for Itch.Io), and these link are NOT affiliate links, I just like the game.
THIS WAS VERY FUN TO WRITE! I want to do something like for a while, just spouting bulls**t on something that I love. I will do more of these for sure! In other news, TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!! I'M 18! Thanks to everyone that's I've met over the past 2 years, you all are awesome in your own ways.
But for now, thanks for reading, and to quote Sayuri herself: Be creative and have fun. Hugs and headpats for everyone!
Take care guys.
Written by Nana Marfo Feather Ears and Wings of Glass(C)Eager Passion
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NM Gameworks #23:What I use20/8/2019
Disclamer: This post will have some affiliate links. You can read more about them here.
Hey all! Today I wanted to do something different today, and since it's my Birthday Month, I wanted to give you guys some of the stuff I use! This will cover hardware and software, beside my Laptop, which I need to replace for reasons I can't disclose. I'll also recommend a book that I use for game design.So Let's Begin! Headset - EasySMX A55 HeadSet
This thing is awesome! I use it mostly for talking with friends or just playing games, the sound quality is loud, I've little to no audio peaks during my call sesstion with friends, and I found that the headset itself is both very flexable and sturdy. However, it only comes in one colour, orange.The headset costs £10 so snag it if you fancy one from Amazon.
Controller: IFYOO ZD-V+ Wired GamePad
This controller is also awesome! I have dropped mine on a few occasions, but it works pretty well! The controller feel comfortable in my hands, and even with intensive play, I don't get hand cramps. The controller is also in 1 colour scheme: Blue and Back and has the XBOX Face buttons with a PS4 Styled D-Pad. It's £16, so if you fancy one, grab it from Amazon.
Game Making Software:Unity 3D
Unity has been my Game making software of choice, because it's so easy to use with holding your hand. I believe a good program(at least for me anyways), should have ease of access, but should at least teach you the basics of a generalised workflow. Blueprints is fine, I just don't see the need for it because I'm trying to learn everything that I can. Unity is free, although be warned, they do put out updates VERY frequently, so be warned on that fact if you decide to download it.
3D Software: Blender 3D
If you going to do any sort of free course, get Blender. Maya and 3DS are VERY expensive, and even with the free student edition, after that runs out, you can't use it unless you have an absurd amount of money that you can pay yearly. Blender, on the other hand, is free, open source, adaptable and has just gotten an update that streamslines to make it closer to Maya. I'll talk about that more next week. If you want to get started, download Blender here.
GFX/Photo Editing Software: GIMP
GIMP is admittly a very flawed program, but I honestly still use it when I want to do photo editing, and with a few work arounds, it's not so bad to use.Like Blender, the program is open source, so you can add some add-on if you want to make the experience more like Photoshop. Again, GIMP is free, so download it here.
Book: The Art of Game Design
I'm not sure if this book is need for students studing game design, but I think it's a great book regardless. It gives multiple perspectives on game design for stories, gameplay and characters. I would recommend getting the first edition or looking on Ebay if you are tight on money, but if you can, get the second editionfrom Amazon.
And that's it! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys next time! Written By Nana Marfo
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Life Is Strange:Review13/8/2019
Well this took too long to write. School can do that to you, my friends. Make you forget you have games to play. Well that and making a bunch of other content, but that happens sometimes. Rules:
1.Spoilers are abounding, and depending on the game, can spoil the experience. This one in particular is very story heavy, so be warned going into the review. 2. I will not put aside any bias, but will try to be fair for games I do not like. This is my personal opinion. If you want to send your opinion, please do so in the comments below. 3.I am covering the PC version. Also, this game deals with sensitive topics, and again, while I will talk about it, besides teens smoking, I will not show screen-caps. And be warned, I'm spoiling this game rotten, so if you haven't played it, please do, because regardless of my opinion on the game, I believe this game is something you should experience for yourself. And for those that have played before, I believe that where I made choices are clear with what I chose for certain choices. So, let's jump into the rest of this story. This is my review of Life Is Strange.
Story
*deep breath* OK, let's do this. Episode by Episode. I'm assuming you read my episode 1 review for the details on that one. Out Of Time So after Max and Chloe figure out there is a storm coming to the Bay, we spend some time helping Kate March, who is being bulled and picked on by Victoria among others.. She's someone that ended up that affected thanks to Nathan, a common theme in the story. Nathan drugged her and raped her, and recorded this and put it up on the internet. Kate asks Max if she should go to the police, and in my play-through I advised her that she should. After that, we ,meet up with Chloe who at her mother;s diner called the 2 whales, where she learns more about Max's time rewind power, but after going to the junkyard with Chloe, we learn that her power is limited, as Max begins to suffer headaches. We also meet Frank, a person that Chloe owes money to for drugs, and save Chloe from impending doom via train tracks. However this take a turn for the dark when Kate wants to JUMP OFF THE ROOF OF BLACKWELL. Max ends up saving her in my play-through. Also, note that Kate spoke to her teacher, Mr.Jefferson, before trying to jump off the roof. Overall, I would say the story of this episode was good, as it was still some setup, but gave the feeling that something big is starting to happen.
Chaos Theory
Max and Chloe infiltrate the school after hours, as Max suspects that something was up, where they find more dirt on Nathan, and then go to the pool. More on this in at the end. They then head to Frank's place due to him saying that he had a relationship with Rachel, and they are able to confirm this. This pisses Chloe off, knowing that the person she cared about a lot was with one of the people that they both hated. Seeing all the pain that Chloe has gone through, Max inadvertently goes BACK IN TIME. She ends up going far enough to the point where she able to stop Chloe's father, William, from dying. However, Chloe can't seem to catch a as ends up in a wheelchair for her troubles, as a result of getting into a car crash on with the car she got on her 16th birthday. I personally enjoyed Episode 3 as it feels like the one they want you to bond with Chloe the most. And I really felt that bond between them, but more on that later.
Dark Room
So it turns out that Max ended up in an alternate timeline, where William lived, but Chloe ended up paying the price instead. She's not able to use any of her limbs, and her days are mostly spent in a hospital bed. After talking with Max and going through memories, Chloe then asks you ASSIST HER SUICIDE BY TURNING UP HER IV. The devs like us making hard choices, huh? I chose not to because I couldn't bear to see her die. Max goes back in time again to fix things, letting William die, returning her to the current timeline. After that, Max and Chloe do some investigating, going round gathering clues from David, Chloe's douchebag father, Kate, Nathan and Frank. It leads them to an abandoned warehouse where they find the place called the dark room, where photographs of people have been taken, and they find a folder of Victoria with nothing in it, meaning that she's next. However, they also find a folder with Rachel's name and gruesome photo, and after going back to the Junkyard, they find Rachel's body, leaving Chloe pissed at Nathan. They head to the party to warn Victoria, but when they leave, Nathan implies that he plans to burn Rachel's body, but it turns out the real culprit was... Mr.Jefferson, working with the Prescott's, taking Nathan under his wing, and pretty much becoming his father figure.He sent the text from Nathan's phone, DRUGS MAX AND KILLS CHLOE. But things are not over yet. Episode 4 was pretty heart breaking to watch at points but I didn't expect that plot twist, and kudos to the developers for adding that assisted death choice.
Polarised
Mr.Jefferson takes Max to the dark room, and Jefferson does his creepy photography, toying with Max in the process. However, Max manages to find a photo to take her to the start of the week, making sure she hands in her entry for the Everyday Hero's contest, which changes the timeline to her winning, and the day is saved... for all of 20 minutes, as Chloe is caught out in the storm, so Max goes back to make sure she doesn't hand that photo, but ends up back in the Jefferson torture chamber, and with Chloe still dead. Max puts a fight and with some help from David, Max is able to escape the chamber, and goes to find Warren, her nerdy friend from school, so she can a photo that that they both took the just before the vortex party to save Chloe from going bang. She saves her, but passes out from her efforts, and the game then taunts in a Nightmare, where you apparently fall in love with the deranged photographer, show go through a stealth section that has the other taunting you on what you could have done, be taunted by dead spirits of William and Rachel, and reminisce your memories with Chloe, more on this a bit. When Max wakes up, Chloe realises that she might be the catalyst, and you are forced to make the ultimate choice, save Chloe or save Arcadia Bay?
Before I reveal my choice, I want to say that Life is Strange's story... is good! I really like the writing in particular, the interactions with characters make them feel like they are teenagers, and I like the atmosphere that the game gives you. The big problem that I have is that the game keeps playing up that the choices you make in this game affect the past, present and future. Of course I though that this meant that this affects the ending, but in reality, it doesn't because in the end,you have to choose between Chloe and the Bay no matter how you treat people. Hell when I took the photo back to where it all started in Episode 5, I thought that guaranteed me what I though was a bad ending, but then I realised that even if I did I still had to make that choice. That choice is HARD. VERY HARD. But this leads me into the what I think is the defining feature of Life is Strange's story, the relationship between Max and Chloe.
From the moment these 2 met, it honestly feels like they are grown up childhood friends. Max, while still a character that represents the player for me, feels like her own character because she actually has personality traits that make her feel like her own character. Though I will admit, she does feel a bit like a Mary Sue. Chloe is what I would call a tortured character, where she has had almost everything ripped away from her and when Max comes back, she's found some happiness in her life again.
The bond between these two feels like a romantic bond, no matter what happens they have each other, and you even get the option to kiss Chloe in Episode 3. Which I did do admittedly. The moments that Max and Chloe felt like it deepened their bond, and felt heart warming in most instances. For this reason, I saved Chloe. I thought to myself "F**k me if I let her die, she deserves some happiness in her life." That being said the nightmare also drove this choice because dream Chloe taunts you by being with other people while you are in the Dark Room, and this made me tense. Like I said before, I thought I got the "bad ending". I do like both endings though, the Chloe dies ending for the immense effort the devs put in, and the Chloe lives ending for the starting their Brave New World, just like Chloe and Rachel were going to do, in Life is Strange:Before the Storm. Life is Strange asks you in it's ending, "Is one person worth the world?". And for me, Chloe was.
Gameplay
Life is Strange plays like a point and click adventure. You go around an area and you look at thing, making sure that have the item that you needed to progress. Life is Strange also has you talk to people, and with certain interactions, you can the use the information given to help with other interactions. I like this, although the game is pretty slow because of this, and while I don't mind it because of the setting, I understand why it can be an issue for some. The big feature of this game how Max can rewind time at any given moment. This is mostly used for changing the outcome of choices, and at certain points see different outcomes. I found this helpful during major choices, where it was said that this action would have consequences, you can tell from the butterfly afterwards and the haze before you make the choice. You can also do this at will, but the game is very linear in where you HAVE to use the time travel mechanic, which makes sense, but again,this limits the impact the choices you make really have.
Looks, Sound and Final Thoughts
The game looks great, as the use cel-shaded graphics and quality of the models are on point, but the factual animation is awful to point of where I found it distracting. I understand that I may have more of an eye for this than others, but it still bothers me that a game that is 70% movie has facial animations this bad. Hell, I even got a glitch where Max's mouth DIDN'T MOVE FOR A SCENE. IT'S CREEPY. Thought I can say the voice acting makes up for it. Ashly Burch as Chloe and Hannah Telle as Max put in amazing performances, and the music choices for them are perfect. The vocal music(which, despite what REACT says, I don't think is Royalty Free) in this game is awesome, and the atmospheric music is pretty good too. Overall, I really enjoyed this game, but I feel as if Life is Strange is more of a experience that a game, which makes it hard for me recommend. However, if you are interested in this game at all, I urge you to pick it up, as it is an experience like no other in my opinion.
Huh. I'm surprised this isn't as long as the FF13 review with how much story I needed to cram in. And for those wondering, yes I'm planning to pick up the Comics that take place after the game, and the FF13 prologue book. Money is just hard to get atm. If you want to get them yourselves and help out the blog, you can get them at the affiliate links in the description.
Anyways, this week is A-Level results week so I'll let you know how it goes. And to any A-Level student reading this: Good luck on your journey. But for now, thanks for reading, and I will see you guys next time.
Written By Nana Marfo
Speical Thanks: Gwen AKA HellyonWorks and Omar, for the recommendation of this game. I hope this review did it justice. Life is Strange belongs to Square Enix and Dontnod Entertainment
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In Review:July 20192/8/2019
Summer has always been a turn point for me, and July was the start of that. So let's get into it!
Writing in review July was where I got back into the swing of things, now with a lot of free time, I managed to get 4 blog post done(including the store launch), as well as something experimental. Personal Blog Posts Kamen Rider Bulid: Be The One: Review My Take on ArmChair Devs: Final Fantasy XVI Cutie Honey The Live:First Impressions Update:Store is Open! Game Savvy Posts What to expect from Kingdom Hearts 3: Re:Mind Favourite Art Pieces this month
Awesome Things I saw/did/read
-Ellen of Livid Lightning did a great post on mostly the awesome ladies in media, but mostly Final Fantasy XIII. -The Super Gaming Brothers just started their let's play of Sonic Colours! These are some funny people, so go check them out. -My friend Jennifer is doing custom versions of the My Hero Academia girls! She just did Momo, Jiro and Tsuyu! The Gaming Diaries did a great post on one of the Daily Inkings by Normal Happenings. - I went to both POC in play and BAME in games, and they were great events! New Merch I got some photo prints from an app called FreePhotoPrints! I just choice 3 at random this time, but I will choose some better ones next time!
Final Thoughts
Ok, so besides the last few days of the month, July was AWESOME! I WENT TO SO MANY EVENTS AND I LAUNCHED MY STORE! Thanks so much for the support. Like I said on twitter, I haven't made a sale yet and I don't expect to make a sale from a while, but it's amazing to know people like my that I'm making. August is my birthday month! Yea I turn 18 this month, and my future is also decided this month, because it's A-levels results month. I'm pretty sure got the grades needed to head to my uni of choice(it's pretty low, but I like the vibe I'm getting from it). I don't think this month will be slower in terms of stuff getting done, but if I forget a few things... bare with me. Anyways, I won't be posting this Tuesday, because... I'll be honest, I've just ran of ideas haha. It happens to best of us. As always, thanks for reading, and I will see you guys next time. |