Friday, May 31, 2013

At risk of getting caught in history's mire

Well. It's happened.

It's taken most of the game, but I'm stuck. Radiant Historia has stumped me - sort of.

I'm at the point in the game where I need to beat the leader of the tournament in Cygnus. The fight itself will probably be a breeze. But mixing it up a little bit - the guy paralyzes Stocke with his chi before the fight.

Unsurprisingly, this leads to a loss. It seems to be a necessary loss, though, since the fighter boasts that there is only one other person who knows how to use chi in the same way, the person who taught him the technique. This fighter describes his teacher as a Gutral who was exiled for fighting him. At this point in the game, we only know one Gutral: Gafka.

In the Alternate History timeline, Stocke and co. are stalled again in Celestia. And who has them stalled, but Gafka, who refuses to bring Stocke and co. to his homeland of Forgia because he was exiled.

Currently in the midst of sidequests, I'm working my way to the point where Stocke meets Raul in Alistel and brings him back to Celestia. Gafka is a travelling companion at this point, and hopefully his teaching Stocke his chi technique will be like Kiel teaching him his sword dance: It will just happen as an extra event.

If such isn't the case, then I truly will be stuck. An experience not had in an RPG for some time.

Dragons took the next dance

Because it's topical (the show does still have two more episodes for this season), and because it's a light dish alongside the whole leg of cow that is Infinite Jest, I've jumped my Reading List and started on A Dance with Dragons.

Before even getting to the book, I've got to say that it's grand to see an author give the context for his work. But along with his dedication, Martin also gets some points for acknowledging the obvious but unpopular fact that his process leaves a large gap of time between completing books. The Winds of Winter will hopefully not be much longer in creation.

All of the time between books melts away at the first page of the prologue, though. Although Martin's use of adjectives jarred me. It's not that he uses a lot, but their being present really stood out to me as I began reading. No doubt, this is the influence of Infinite Jest, where adjectives are largely taken out and replaced with the narrator's tone and diction. The contrast between a piece of genre fiction and a piece of literature, however jarring, stands as a good reminder of why a more literary tone in fantasy could be a curious experiment.

Matters of style aside, the Prologue's following the warg Haggon (aka Varamyr Sixskins) as a re-introduction to the events in the North is gripping. I couldn't help but gape as I read through his attempt to jump into the skin of Thistle, his spear-wife.

Then there's the first proper chapter of the book. A Tyrion affair, we find out that he's still well and good, if maybe a bit roughed up by his sea voyage. As with any Tyrion chapter before it, most of the dialogue involves verbal fencing of one sort or other.

By chapter's end it gets a bit dull, probably because there isn't a third party present to throw their thoughts into the mix. Having such a character would help to ground those sections that run the risk of getting too woolly with their wit.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Dungeon Disappointments and Cinematic Critiques

Though it would risk being hair-tearing infuriating, the co-op sections in The Wind Waker should involve some AI. It's bad enough if you have your companion fall into the hands of monsters, effectively sending them back to the dungeon's entrance, but having to corral them would have been a welcome challenge.

Just dropping Medli at the door, clearing out the baddies and whatever elements of the puzzle Link can handle alone, returning for her, and then solving the room isn't rewarding after a dungeon's worth of tandem trekking.

The dungeon's boss was ultimately disappointing, too. Fun, sure - how could fighting a giant poe you have to stun and then throw into brambles not be fun - but still disappointing. The Hurricane Spin sword technique may have made clearing away the poes that constituted this giga poe named Jalhalla far easier than chasing them down individually, but there should have been a second section.

Don't just give us a cinematic of the haunted mask getting trapped in a shaft of light, let us corral him into a shaft of light. Or, have the player open each eye with a light beam and then fire an arrow into them, thereby keeping with the idea of the dungeon's sun-and-moon light-activated doors.

Having a bit more of Medli in her farewell would also have been better. The long shot that's used for the whole scene is reminiscent of the opening shot during the scene where Link talks with Saria before leaving the Kokiri Forest in Ocarina of Time, but the mood isn't quite the same.

In Ocarina of Time, you get a strong sense that if Link could talk he would say "I'll come back," even if he didn't believe it. In the scene where Medli leaves to continue to pray at the temple there's much more finality and I don't think a long shot does that justice.

Pemulis' plans spill over pages

Is it ironic to have people who are, as it's put in the book, "damaged" in athletic settings? Perhaps it is, but what it really brings to mind is the work of David Lynch rather than the films of Wes Anderson. In particular, I'm reminded of the squirrel-cheeked dancing girl from Eraserhead.

Maybe that's what Hal and Pemulis and Axford will see when they drop the DMZ that was the last section's focus. Other details about the academy's tournaments and the students' ranks were given, but it was all in the service of Pemulis' figuring out when the three could conceivably try this allegedly super potent substance.

So it goes with Infinite Jest, as the slog continues and things relevant to the plot shrink to a trickle.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Mano-a-mano en tu manos

The world in which Radiant Historia takes place has three major areas. You start in Alistel, which is at war with Granorg, and then there's Cygnus just hanging around. There are also places where the Satyros and Gutrals live, but they're still a mystifying minority of the world's inhabitants.

Having already gone through Alistel, and worked my way around Granorg, Cygnus has finally been reached. And what's become immediately obvious is that gold isn't used so much in arguments Cygnus, nor diplomacy, but rather one-on-one combat. Yes, Stocke's had to take on a gladiator, a king, and (with the help of Aht) a drunken bodyguard. I can't say if Stocke, currently at level 39, is overpowered for this part of the game, but the game's battle system makes these fights far too easy.

Stringing turns together when you have to fight a big group and have a party of two or more is great. It opens things up and really lets you customize your combinations of moves. But in a solo fight against a solo opponent, all it takes is a few well placed Turn Breaks, or a successful poison attack, and your opponent's as good as gone.

What's still got me reeling about this part of the game, though, is that these fights come with no restrictions. You can still use special skills and items, and there's enough game between fights to make sure that you're fully restored before entering the fray each time.

Nonetheless, I am pretty interested to see how you re-assemble your party after everyone's separated. Being sold by a slaver is a curious way to work in the old "break-up-the-party" RPG trope.

Far - but not Far Enough

Too Far's ending brings everything back to the world of the mundane. Robbie's dad and Fristeen's mom are the Dream Man and Dawn, and though the children try to reach some sort of salvation through a shivering winter storm their parents just bring them back home. The book then ends with a short epilogue about the ever-presence of the location Too Far, a seasonless place of ever returning warmth and love.

What needs to be understood before all else with regard to this book is main focus is its characters. Robbie and Fristeen are seen to grow throughout the book as they grow together. But, much of what they say is decidedly not child-like. Creating a new geography and mythology for a place that they had discovered themselves is definitely what six year olds would do. But more often than not their dialogue is too advanced. They sound more like teens than kids.

Their mismatched dialogue may just be the result of the narrator's tone. It's quite clear that these kids are being taken seriously, which is a great thing. Taking them so seriously, though, really brings out a lot of assumptions. It's a way to build suspense, but more often than not the promise of that suspense is not fulfilled.

Until the book's final scene, I was sure that the kids were going to jump from a mountain, or actually be immolated - that they would die one way or another. Ending the book with a return to their mundane lives undercut the suspense it had generated in that it the actual outcome was far less than anything expected. Shapero lifts us up on flights of fancy and leaves us crashing to the ground at the end.

Yet, such a grisly end would greatly undermine the book's central theme of growth. The epilogue reinforces this theme, and does a decent job of it, in spite of being a shortcut to such reinforcement.

Ultimately, if you can suspend your disbelief about the maturity of six year olds, and a blurry line between the mundane world and the fabulous things kids can dream up, Too Far is your book. Its writing is strong enough to carry you through, but not quite enough to make this an absolute must read for everyone.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

In the Earth Temple's Depths

I didn't remember just how co-operative the Earth Temple is. Perhaps it was a matter of running up against the Gamecube's limitations, but the game would be much more interesting if more than the final two dungeons were one-player co-op experiences.

Having two separate inputs in a 3D adventure-type environment can't be easy to keep track of, after all. Plus, some sort of system for door opening would be needed. An alternative could be to make the game split screen and give each dungeon player their own third person view, but stuff could be easily missed then.

Aesthetically, the Earth temple is this game's Shadow Temple. Being an Earth temple, what's safe to assume would have been a place worshipping the fertility of the earth and whatnot, its creepy, old ruin look and atmosphere at first seem out of place. But, kick in the fact that a giant stone head and an impassable magic door were blocking it off for centuries, it's not too surprising to find it populated with floor masters, purple chuchus, and redeads.

Oh boy, this game's redeads. They aren't the lurching creepy polygonal mask-wearing bodies of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but they have a jibblies-inspiring look all their own. And rather than just moaning and latching onto you they screech and their faces become clown-ish before they launch their teal skeletal forms at you. Indeed, their's is a kind of scare that only the Happy Mask Salesman could conjure.

In the House...House

The latest section about the Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House saw a curious flip. It went from a multi-page list of things a person can learn through observation of the House's residences, to Tiny Ewell's asking all the tattooed residents about their tattoos. This causes thoughts that the information contained within Infinite Jest is as much a character as the actual characters. There's definitely enough of it to go around.

As the book moves forward, the information on offer is also building more of a web. Just as a character's history and personality will be filled in as you read about them, so too is the information becoming filled out. Filled out in the sense that the connections between people are starting to emerge, and their motivations as well.

Before the Ennet House portion, there was a short clip of the ETA crew in the weight room. It's standard teen macho fare, really. But it's definitely going to have some repercussions down the line, hopefully sooner rather than later because the ETA bits are generally my favourites.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Historia in Flux

Grinding until Rosch reached level 30 and collecting the best equipment for him at this point in the game brought balance to the fight with the thaumachine. As expected, Rosch's move that launches the enemy and lowers their defense was indispensable, along with his ridiculous defense and high HP.

What happened after the fight makes it certain that there's still a healthy portion of the game left. While Stocke and co. seal the victory in Lazvill Hills, Cygnus' forces at Judgement Cliff are routed by a new weapon. It's definitely something powered by the Black Chronicle as it draws mana out of people's bodies until they're reduced to piles of sand (possibly referred to as "the power of Flux"). Earlier in the game this happened to a couple of characters, and was directly linked to the power of the Black Chronicle.

Considering who has the Chronicles, it seems almost like the prophet Noah could be the father of the two children of the Chronicles. So far, it seems like they could be an Alistellian affair since Hugo and Stocke bear them. If it comes up that Noah was a thaumatech engineer as well as a charismatic spiritual leader, then there's one mystery solved.

Right now, though the most pressing of mysteries is how Stocke will undoubtedly need to travel back in time to keep Alistel from routing Cygnus.

All Downhill From Here

Too Far continues to chronicle the contrasting worlds of two six year-old Alaskans. Both of their home lives are shown to be in tatters, while their travels into the woods take them further and further into the world of Dawn and the Dream Man. Chapter 10 also sees the book's climax come about, Robbie's dad finally leaves.

Within their realm of fantasy, the Dream Man offers similar strife. He offers to take Fristeen and Robbie into the realm of dreams as pure thoughts, but gives Robbie a preview of the pain involved in shedding their bodies by sending a dream about his house and his body being engulfed in falling fire.

Shapero's style remains subdued throughout this nightmare, but it's his wont not to overwhelm with vivid description. Instead, he uses single images or metaphors to describe just about everything that is dream-like or found in the forest depths. It's a style that's easy to appreciate, though as the book's worn on more words are being used twice in the same sentence.

This repetition is distracting when it comes up, but only mildly so. Luckily, I'm still wondering about what Robbie and Fristeen will do with the offer of freedom in the forest enough not to mind such distractions.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Hookshot Hopes and a Timeline Nerd-out

Hopefully the Earth Temple yields the hookshot. I forget what's on the ghost ship, but I know that the hookshot is necessary to actually get on it. Not to mention it's needed to get the ghost ship sea chart, which, if memory serves, keeps the thing from disappearing when you approach.

There's good reason to believe that the Earth Temple will have the hookshot, too. The original sage who played in the temple to keep the power of evil's bane strong in the master sword is a Zora, and the hookshot's been the treasure found in several water dungeons. Plus, the mirror shield, the other possible item to be found while wandering with Medli, is usually the last thing to be found in a dungeon. It has been, with only some exceptions, since A Link to the Past.

Actually, going back to the sage of the Earth Temple being a Zora, there's something strangely prescient here. Medli, a member of the bird-like Rito tribe, is a direct descendant of Laruto, and therefore the Rito evolved from the Zora.

Pull out the focus a little and take that transformation more generally. A species which flourishes in the becomes one that flourishes in the air. The Wind Waker is a game based on the water, and then, in terms of real world chronology, Skyward Sword comes later and is based in the sky.

Could this transformation of the Zora into the Rito be some sort of sign from Nintendo that there would be a Zelda game based in the sky just as there'd been one based in the sea?

Not to mention the possible connection between the distinct Native American atmosphere of the Rito tribe and Renado and his daughter Luda in Twilight Princess. Perhaps, they're just two timelines' different expressions of the some inevitability?

But what, then, would be the expression of that inevitability in the "Defeated Hero" timeline?

Fatty Information Baked in a Triple Glaze

So, I'm not the first to see some connections between Infinite Jest and the work of Wes Anderson. Putting these two things into one Google search brings up scads of articles about the former being some sort of influence on The Royal Tenenbaums. I don't see the connections ending there, though, all of Wes Anderson's movies share their tone with Infinite Jest.

Both are often packed with information presented so that its shiny with irony in one way or another. Both involve giving a lot of information in a somewhat frantic manner. Both often involve the quirky or misunderstood.

In particular, however, the sections of Infinite Jest that concentrate on extra detail really bring to mind the films of Wes Anderson. The most recent of these, another about Ennet House, and the other rehab and care facilities around it, reads just like a scene from one of his movies. So much information is presented in the chapter - information that you can be sure has no real bearing on the book's plot (which remains unclear) - that it seems simply ridiculous.

It's as if the author himself is hamming up the act of writing a book, while the characters themselves take this tone as the norm and deliver the author's hammy-ness completely deadpan.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Grinding through the Lazvill Hills

Grinding's proven necessary to get past the thaumachine Stocke and co. have to face in the Lazvill Hills. Radiant Historia's giving experience points to everyone in your party is great for this grind, but it halves points for characters who aren't actively battling.

Therefore, putting Rosch into the active party spring-boarded him to level 24 in a handful of fights. Though, fights against Alistel's soldiers are genuinely difficult. All the same, the neat thing about Rosch's special moves is that they all affect the target's stats. Since this will make the thaumachine fight much much easier, Rosch will definitely be coming into that battle.

But this need to grind brings something to my attention. The fact that a difficult boss has been what's forced me to change up my party isn't a great thing.

Earlier in the game, various story conceits forced a change of party, and so my general strategy of pushing enemies together with Stocke and Marco and then following up with one of Raynie's spells had to be revised. However, swapping Marco out for Rosch means that this strategy hardly needs to change. Rosch's moves still move enemies around the field, along with lowering their defense, or speed, or magic.

What's less than great about this is that, though my party has changed my strategy generally hasn't. RPGs are generally about freedom of choice, but it would be better if a party change was more often necessary - not forced, but necessary to explore more of the characters' relationships and how their moves meld together. Doing so would help expand the game's characters in a way separate from the exploration of the two timelines. Putting more character development into battles would thereby free you from having to play the game's events in a loosely ordained order - giving more freedom by taking a little bit away.

Alaska in Summertime

Chapters seven through nine see Too Far remain heavy. Robbie and Fristeen explore more of the woods, and come across the burned out remains of a cabin where they believe the Dream Man and Dawn live. The Dream Man being the entity that Robbie has ushering him into dreams, and Dawn being a spirit of every new day's joy that Fristeen first encounters in her dreams.

As they make further discoveries in the woods, though, both of their homes become increasingly frail. Fissures begin to open up between Robbie's parents. In the simplest terms, his dad dreams of seclusion in a hand-built cabin in the wilderness, while his mother misses the intelligent company she'd found in California. Living in Alaska begins to take its toll on them both, it seems, and, of course, this indirectly gets pushed onto Robbie.

Meanwhile, Fristeen's mother (?), Grace, falls in love again. However, as Fristeen points out, whenever she falls in love (which Fristeen believes she never truly does), she forgets about everyone but herself. This causes Fristeen to become deeply frustrated.

But all is well when the two go deep enough into the woods. It may well be a matter of time before they go so deep that there will be no coming back for either of them.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Adding Anticipation into Exploration

Sailing the Great Sea is as much a part of The Wind Waker as going through dungeons or using a bevy of items to solve puzzles. Obviously, this goes without saying, the Great Sea is, after all, the game's overworld. But what gets missed amidst complaints about the travel time between island being too long, or the Sea simply being too empty is that it's a genius way to control pace.

As in most forms of storytelling and entertainment good pace is essential to a good game. Just what a good pace is, though, depends on the kind of game. Filling a fighting game with dialogue makes no sense since the core of most fighters is frenzied button combinations, likewise, a speedy pace in a game that emphasizes (or at the least) rewards exploration won't be a good fit.

Zelda's never been a fighting franchise, but every game has seen exploration be rewarded in varied ways. The popularity of discovering things like the remnants of the Beta Quest within retail releases of Ocarina of Time is a testament to just how far fans of the franchise will go to discover new things about entries in the series.

Being an ocean based Zelda game, The Wind Waker is no exception to the series' long relationship with exploration. What better way to take the time worn tradition of discovering an area, finding out you need bombs to break down a wall, and then having to wait to get said bombs by forcing players to spend time sailing between the bomb shop and that wall?

Admittedly, the Great Sea is a kind of artificial way to build anticipation in this way, but it is nonetheless effective. There's just something about extra appealing to hearing vague whispers about some piece of treasure on some island or other, and then figuring out where that is and sailing there.

Don't Touch that Dial

As if things weren't dense enough, a recent section of Infinite Jest proved that it can be much more so.

It's a section concentrating on Mario and Madame Psychosis' radio hour. What makes the chapter stand out from those seen thus far is that it is entirely centered around the radio. Three characters are followed in this section: the sound engineer, Madam Psychosis, and Mario. But the only thing connecting them is their relationship to the radio during the time of Madam Psychosis' broadcast.

For such an ethereal layout, the most grounding of the three characters is Madam Psychosis. Her parts are so grounding in part because of the chant-like list of diseases and disabilities that she reads from. The engineer, being nothing more than a student and given very little in the way of dialogue, is the most ephemeral. Mario isn't somewhere in between these two, but is instead made to be a deeper mystery than he's ever been before. He's definitely deeply intelligent, though he's socially witless in the extreme.

On top of following three characters connected by radio waves, this sections' endnotes are all just above another very long entry. As such, every flip to the back of the book filled me with dread.

Reading Too Far in tandem with Infinite Jest has made the former feel like a quick read. But now it seems that doing so has also made the latter even more daunting.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Just Coming up to the Chronicle's Centerfold

Radiant Historia is finally starting to feel like a coherent experience.

Along with Stocke's actions in the past now beginning to visibly ripple into the future, the two timelines draw closer than ever. The person that Raul refers to as his contact in Cygnus is definitely Princess Eruca, and Cygnus is where She and Stocke were going in the Standard Timeline. Before sitting down to play for today, my thought was that the game was just about finished. That there may be a short section in Cygnus, but that the next set of events would be the last.

However, like any RPG worth its salt, the deeper you go more of the true plot is revealed. After meeting with Celestia's ruling powers Aht mentions something before Stocke and co. run off to Lazvill Hills. She mentions the swordsman Samra, and how he went off to complete the Historica. Maybe this is a third tome, but as of right now it seems likely that it is indeed the Black Chronicle masquerading under another name.

At least, from a design perspective, this is my conclusion. Handheld RPGs aren't that long (grinding aside), and the game's could easily end within another few hours. Cygnus is contacted and in both timelines the selfish plots of those who don't understand the danger that the world faces are foiled. It could be a very tidy end, indeed.

The difficulty of the thaumachine boss in Lazvill Hills also suggests that the game's nearing its end. For the first time, I may have to grind to progress, though part of that might be an overuse of Stocke's vanish ability. Just tapping R, disappearing, and running by enemies has helped to make up for all of my meandering earlier in the game.

Of course, one difficult boss enemy does not an RPG's ending make. The thaumachines have been presented as powerful mecha-type weapons throughout the game, so it makes sense that fighting one is rough. Combined with the reveal of another tome, or the name of the user of the Black Chronicle, such a difficult boss encounter suggests not an ending, but only a half-way point.

The Woods Darken


Although it starts out full of whimsy, Too Far becomes something more fairly quickly. Within chapters 3 to 5, the tone changes from one of childhood adventurousness looking to be curbed by adult experience, to one of keen dread and insecurity.

Shapero shows that Robbie's parents feel that he's almost too much to handle between them. His father's studying for a doctorate while his mother works four days of the week leaves them feeling as if they aren't quite responsible enough for a child. And it's made known that at least Robbie's mother thinks that the parents of the girl he's playing in the woods with (Fristeen) are definitely too irresponsible. The second set of parents' drug use is made pretty obvious in these chapters, and both of their moral codes are called into question.

Certainly not the least of these incidents comes when Fristeen becomes uncomfortable with the fact that they've just shown each other their genitals, fearing that she's become like her mother (?) Grace. Although it has yet to come up, there's some foreshadowing of Fristeen's feeling this way further when she notices that the woman in the couple they stumble upon in the woods wanted to "be killed."

Shapero keeps the book's whimsy alive through these chapters, but it is put into stark contrast with the harder, more difficult to understand adult world that also occupies the book. That both worlds are seen through the eyes of children makes them both all the bolder.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

So Much More than Button Mashing

Skyward Sword was lauded for its 1:1 motion controls. For the first time in a Zelda game, you had direct control over Link's sword. Quite obviously, this lent itself to some new combat mechanics, ultimately leading to enemies blocking certain angles of attack, forcing players to change their combat strategy.

The Wind Waker's combat isn't as complex as Skyward Sword's, but it would be hasty to dismiss button-driven combat. Hitting the "B" button to slash, the "A" button to execute a special attack, or the "R" button to bring up your shield does make for some simple combat. Enemies don't block certain angles, or only expose their vulnerabilities on certain planes. But your timing can still be off.

Training against Orca on Windfall, this became crystal clear. Striking him 100, or 300, or 1000 times before he strike you thrice is always a matter of patience. But, if your timing is off then you'll miss a moment to counter, or the animation for Link's flurry of blows will keep you from blocking an incoming blow. Judging distance is also important for Link's counter attacks, since leaving too little room leads to Link getting caught by the very attack you pressed buttons to counter.

I will admit that coming back to a traditional controller after having spent years playing the Wii, it took some getting used to. Especially since my last significant Zelda experience was with Skyward Sword. Nonetheless, there's still challenge to button-driven combat. Hopefully we see a blending of the two in Zelda Wii U that plays up button-driven, and motion controlled combat.

Hacking through the Undergrowth

A lot of Infinite Jest is scruffy undergrowth. In fact, any chapter that doesn't focus on Orin, Hal, or Mario Incandenza can be considered as such. But not just any sort of undergrowth, no. It's the sort that a 1920s comic book explorer encounters when trying to find some lost rainforest civilization. It needs to be slashed away to clear a path.

Along that path, though, are caverns or artifacts or temple entryways. All of these things point to the mysterious "The Entertainment" that has apparently killed several people. And "The Entertainment" is one of James O. Incandenza's films, so his three sons definitely have something to do with it. What leads to such a conclusion?

The fact that James filmed and released a conversation between himself and Hal, and that he released a video detailing the relationship between himself and his father. A lot of James' filmography is inspired by things going on around him, and one of those things was definitely his family. His wife's political promiscuity no doubt leading him to pay a little more attention to his sons. Their respective development as football, tennis, and physics stars definitely standing as things of great import and pride for James.

With all that said, there's only one transcript from the Ennet House collection that really matters: The one  pointing back to the trailer dwelling pot dealer who is the nexus of many of this book's subplots. The rest are fun and add layers to the book's world, but those layers are stifling.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

A Side-Quest that Ends the World

I know well that Radiant Historia is a game that involves time travel, but I never expected a side-quest to have world-ending implications.

Giving the botanist in Alistel the information about conut cultivation leads to the mass production of thaumachines. With Alistel's ranks swollen by these mechanical soldiers, they handily win the war, but the world desertification speeds up. What's stranger than this happening because of a side-quest is the item that the two children of the White Chronicle give you after you turn the botanist onto fighting the desertification. For your troubles you'll get the "Pandur," a pistol for Eruca that boosts stats significantly.

But why does the completion of this side quest get you something for Eruca?

The children note that their father was a thaumatech engineer, which suggests they're from Alistel. Yet, their dress is much more elaborate and in the style of Granorg. That they have a powerful pistol to give away also suggests that they're from Granorg, since that's where pistols first appear in the game.

Undoubtedly, the identity of the children of the White Chronicle will remain a mystery until the end of the game, but as long as its remainder is peppered with clues, I'm fine with that.

Are Free Books Going Too Far?

When you get a book for free and out of the blue you expect certain things. Things like gratuitous spelling mistakes, grammar that limps along, and a plot that lumbers down cliche lane.

I had Rich Shapero's Too Far dropped onto my table while I was studying in the University of Victoria's Student Union Building. It was dropped by my request, since I couldn't say no to a free book, however questionable its contents might be. But, those contents are off to a good start.

In what I can only imagine is a story inspired by Bridge to Terabithia, the plot follows six-year-old Robbie and his adventures in the woods near his house. It sounds rather dull, but the first chapter introduces the conflict his free spirit brings him into with his parents, a girl his age whom his mother forbids him from being friends with, and some sort of forest entity made of trees that eats children and commands the mists and winds.

10 chapters remain, so we'll see how Shapero hopefully takes these elements and does something strange and wonderful with them.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Memory and Time on the Great Sea


The penultimate section of The Wind Waker is so freeing.

The overworld can be explored in its entirety. Since you've got nearly every item in the game, most hidden treasures can be found. And, back in town, you have the resources to finish just about every sidequest. As vast as the Great Sea is, and as long as the sailing time between islands can run, the game continues to be fun through this section.

For whatever reason, the last two dungeons strike my memory as being pretty short. Maybe it's a result of them being co-op experiences with AI controlled characters. Or perhaps it's just another example of how fun, vividly designed dungeons just appear to be shorter. This is the one Zelda game, where none of the dungeons really drag on and on.

But memory is a funny thing, especially when it comes to Zelda games. Recall is strangely important for them, though they don't usually have you matching things from memory or even memorizing the songs that were characteristic of the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube era games in the series.

Recall in Zelda games is important for the sake of exploration. It's about remembering the places that you could previously get to, but where you couldn't do anything. Or remembering exactly where an NPC was so that you could bring back whatever wild item they had requested. Ultimately, this is one reason to play such games with as few lengthy (week-long, month-long) breaks as possible.

Though playing with such breaks does bring an element of reality to the experience. It often takes a couple of in-game days to sail from island to island. Translated to real time, that means that some errands could well take weeks or even months to complete. This is a common aspect of many games, though.

Still, wouldn't that be a wild Nintendo peripheral - something that makes in-game time feel, for all intents and purposes, like real time?

Scaling Another Wall


Every now and then, reading through Infinite Jest, you'll come across chapters of similar make.

Specifically, you'll come across chapters that are made up of walls of text with minimal punctuation and virtually no paragraphing. These are a rattling take on the dramatic monologue form, wherein one character alone is focused on and everything in the chapter is from their perspective. There are no other speakers, no other actors, no other thinkers.

Most recently, I came across the dramatic monologue of James Incandenza's father (Hal's grandfather). It takes place on a Tucson morning, where James' father is trying to tell him about the zen of bodily respect as a way of introducing him to tennis. It's long and it's winding, but because it's only got two characters (one of whom we've never seen before, and one whom we've never seen as a child before) it's quick enough to follow.

The story that James' father weaves is one of great interest, too. To sum it up, his hurried delivery and air of importance comes from his fear of dying and winding up with a tombstone that reads "Here lies a promising old man." The importance of being noticed, of having his potential actuated and recognized is really underscored by the duality between body and potential he very obviously believes in. He spends quite a few words expounding upon it via a diatribe about 1950s Marlon Brando's practiced slobbishness, after all.

Plus, from the way that he describes James, it sounds like Mario didn't fall quite so far from the tree as it's seemed up to this point in the book.

James Incandenza had a big head, long skinny hands, and was 5'11'' when he was 10. Mario's not physically different in the same way, but the love of optical physics and other physical weirdnesses are well within the ken of James Incandenza's potential children.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

At the End of Historia

Eiji Aonuma's conclusion in the Hyrule Historia is one of the book's better features. It's a very straightforward document, but it contains a fact that is very important. Zelda games are built around mechanics (often those presented by a particular console's strength), not story.

This fact is a quick way to dismiss inconsistencies in the Zelda timeline. But, more importantly, it emphasizes the accomplishment of creating so many games that are rather intimately linked together. It also makes the stories of future games in the series as unpredictable as they'd be without the conceit of a millennia-spanning video game series.

As was pointed out in an episode of Extra Credits, that Zelda games are designed around mechanics rather than story also means that they'll always have great potential to be great games. It's one of the things that sets story-heavy games apart from novels, in a way: Concentrating on the way that story is interacted with, rather than what the story is all about. Maybe that's why video games can become graphic novels fairly readily (sequential art requires visual work similar to that which video games demand to fully enjoy it), while books don't often adapt quite so well to the panelled medium.

Fully understanding and enjoying words alone is a quite different quiver of arrows after all.

As per the Hyrule Historia as a whole? It's a great artifact for Zelda fans, and a decent introduction for those curious about the story of the princess and the hero clad in green.

Overwhelmed by the Great Sea's Vastness

The Wind Waker has a strange way for instilling a feeling of insignificant smallness. Its world is incredibly colourful in its environments and characters. The challenges that it presents are fresh and, at times, tax the mind given the items you have to work with.

But the Great Sea is just so great. Every square on your sea chart has something on it, some island or village, or enemy ship-riddled reef, but the Great Sea is so empty. Empty in a way that the skies around Skyloft could never hope to be.

In its own quiet way, the size of the overworld in The Wind Waker, and the vastness of the waters upon it are a testament to the power of the gods of Hyrule. Those floods they sent were truly torrential, and those mountain top havens were truly lofty. Also, the mountains must have been quite neatly spaced apart, but that's more a matter of design necessity than anything real.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

A Crucial Point in Radiant Time

I know there's a warning in the site's banner, but there are serious spoilers ahead.

Things just got crazy in Radiant Historia. Having betrayed Alistel, and gone against his mission to assassinate Princess Eruca, Stocke became a target for Rosch.

In a most unexpected twist, Stocke thus ends up fighting Rosch. A game over in this fight may well be a different event in itself, but beating Rosch leads to his death. That such an important character die by Stocke's own hand is a shocking tragedy, indeed. But, it also means that Stocke finds a working gauntlet for Rosch in the Alternate History (Soldier) timeline.

What's really incredible about this point in the game though, is that you're finally railroaded.

There's no way to progress further down the Standard History timeline, since you can't just leave Rosch's body out to be discovered, and Stocke refuses to go on having just killed his best friend. No doubt, you can get a little further in the Alternate History, but just how far? It's clear that you need to convince Rosch that there's more at stake than just a country, but will restoring his gauntlet and his will in the Alternate History lead to a favourable time for such a message?

Concepts Found in Concept Art

Although there are just a few pages dedicated to each game (and then not even every game is represented), Zelda concept art can speak volumes. For example, the spirits of light in Twilight Princess could've been humans with animal heads.

Plus, based on their body shapes, it looked like most of them could have been women. Not to mention the Hero's Spirit had a female version in one concept sketch. Each thing that didn't make it into the final version of its game definitely has a story all its own, but each one is but a fragment of said story.

It's revealed in a note, but Purlo (the caller in front of the STAR game) in Twilight Princess was supposed to be a more realistic version of Tingle. Then there are other things like the fairy symbol on concept version of Ilia's head. Actually, given the large back catalogue of games in the franchise, much of the first half of the concept art section is stuff for Twilight Princess. That the second most recent console game be prominent isn't surprising, but it is disappointing.

Where's the concept art for A Link to the Past (beyond the two pages included?)?

Or the art for The Adventure of Link?

Has it all been lost because at the time the Zelda series seemed like a flash in the pan?

The most pressing question borne from this lack, though: Aside from the Hyrule Historia, has there ever been a book written about the history of the Zelda games?

Friday, May 17, 2013

Of Fairy Queens and Game Symmetry

Why is it played up as so strange that the Queen of Fairies in The Wind Waker is a child? I suppose it comes from the qualities of that child, really. If it wasn't for the marionette version of the other great fairies that you encounter in the game, she might look like just a regular child. The music that plays while you meet with her definitely plays up the strangeness. Actually, the light percussion is reminiscent of the sounds of the wooden soldiers the Skull Kid sends after you in Twilight Princess.

In any case, a neat piece of continuity was  brought about when the designers for Skyward Sword decided to take The Wind Waker's Queen of Fairies-esque look for Fi. The way that the great fairy you meet on the sea zaps up into the sky definitely brings to mind some sort of long-forgotten advanced society mistaken for something fantastical. Just the sort of advanced society that created Fi.

In the concept art for The Wind Waker, the mysterious GameCube island is mentioned, and it seems to me that it became the "Angular Isles" in the final game. Perhaps there would have been a way (probably with the hammer) to press the open button or the power button to create some sort of hole. It makes it sound like The Wind Waker could have been a very different game, but the concept art of a fisherman who would warp you between the ocean floor and the surface cement this impression.

It's curious how the ice and fire arrows have such a complementary relationship in The Wind Waker. The ice arrows open up the Earth Temple by letting you through Fire Mountain, and the fire arrows open up the Wind Temple by letting you through Ice Ring Isle. There's a cool symmetry there that really sums up the game's tidy whimsy as a whole.

Hyperlinked Hilarity

Were Infinite Jest released 15 years later than it was, it would be the perfect web-ready e-book. That is, instead of endnotes, hyperlinks could be used. Not only would this make it a much more free-flowing book, but it would make the extra detail and elaborations found in the endnotes feel more organic. As it is now, I can't help but feel like I'm carrying around two books. One of these books is the novel proper, while the other is a collection of addenda.

Can such a feeling be good to have for a novel, though? The endnotes' quality of separateness from the novel itself makes it feel like it takes place in a more real place and involves more real people than those found in other well-constructed works of fiction. Could that be why David Foster Wallace included them?

Not just to annoy those who would rather have a smooth experience of fiction, but to make his setting and characters appear much rounder than they might've otherwise?

Or was it to force his readers to interrupt their own reading so that thing could be digested?

We'll never know, but the way that endnotes, by their very nature, interrupt the flow of prose suggests that his reason for them is slowly leaving the understanding of our digital age's velvety flow.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

A Balanced Man(a)?


20 hours into the game, Radiant Historia's major plot points are starting to come together. The game's princess has even joined my party! That's always a sure sign of progress. I had my suspicions though, since weapon shops were starting to carry dresses and guns.

As per the plot, the end of chapter two of the Standard History (Spec Ops) timeline, is pretty environmentally heavy. It's revealed that the world faces complete desertification in a decade at least, if the balance of mana is not restored.

And who are the only ones who can restore the balance?

The descendants of the ancient empire that toyed with the balance in the first place, who just so happen to be the royal family of Granorg. Princess Eruca being the last this line, she's now instrumental in Stocke's ultimate quest to use the White Chronicle to save the world.

Though, there's also some sort of ritual involved. Only Eruca can perform it, and Stocke has some sort of role in it, but that's been left a mystery. So too has why the people of Cornet Village recognize Stocke. Given that his past is entirely a mystery, maybe we're in for a Final Fantasy VII-esque main character here.

It'll be a little disappointing if that's the case, since Stocke's bucked his name's implications by not being a silent protagonist or one whose inured to always doing what's "right" or "just." He's complex, and reducing that to some sort of identity theft would be throwing his character away.

Found, of course, in the Historia

As predicted, the Koroks were the Kokiri. The Hyrule Historia confirms this, in one of the notes lining the detailed timeline.

Although it's a bit cheesy, I have to admit that the bold text at the current end point of each timeline (or alternate dimension) announcing the possibility of a sequel excites me. With a new Zelda game guaranteed for the Wii U, it's incredibly difficult not to wonder where Aonuma and Miyamoto will take us next. So long as it's not just further back.

Curiously, however, the arc that's been dedicated to Nintendo's handheld consoles is the one with the most potential to get into steampunk or something futuristic.

Though maybe some sort of 3DS/Wii U connectivity will be important for the next home console Zelda game, at the least it'll definitely make serious use of the Wii U's GamePad. Convenience aside, I'd be terribly disappointed if it was just used as an inventory screen.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The Interplay of Times

Thankfully, the sewer's switch puzzle is timeless.

For kicks, I chose the "rush-in" option at the fork in Granorg Castle and wound up getting the "FIN" screen. Initially, I figured that I'd be returned to the save point I saw in the same room where the fatal choice had been made, but I was instead returned to the point where Stocke and co. learn about the assassination mission. But, breezing through the sewer a second time was easy, and it looked like Claire is also now permanently saved.

Back in the castle, I opted for the stealth route, and Stocke showed off his ability to vanish. At this point, it might as well be written along the top of the screen: alternate between the timelines at major nodes to progress in the game. This  suggests that what's needed to fix Rosch's broken arm will be coming up soon, and so over all progress will soon be had.

Since Stocke's group is targeted by some malevolent entity in both timelines, I think it's safe to assume two things. That malevolent entity is General Hugo, and he is using the Black Chronicle to try to destroy Stocke and those with whom he's close. Of course, why Stocke is being targeted remains a mystery. Hopefully the answer's not far off.

Reading at the Speed of Molasses

Infinite Jest is a dense book. Put most simply, it has a lot of words, and, thanks to the endnotes, some gangs of them can take you by surprise. It's kind of frustrating, really.

I mean, as someone trying to get through a bunch of books, Infinite Jest is like being trapped in a molasses spill. It comes on slowly plot-wise, but at the speed of realizations character-wise. And by the time you realize that you're knee-deep into it, it's already too late - a second wave comes and crashes over you.

But I do like molasses.

The introduction of the Enfield Tennis Academy's buddy system adds some layers to Hal's character, and gives the other upperclassmen we've already met (Troeltsch, Struck, etc.) actual characterization. It's incredible to read so much going on in only 11 pages, but it's also disheartening knowing that there are another 900 (plus endnotes) to go.

Maybe I just need some toutons for all of this molasses.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Once More through the Forsaken Fortress

The Wind Waker is a masterful work of fun. The entire second run-through of the Forsaken Fortress is invigorating. It's so simply because it goes from being a stealth dungeon on the first run-through to a regular dungeon on the second. This change makes every moblin encounter and bokoblin thwarting supremely satisfying. The animations (especially the moblins' slack-jawed expression when you steal the skull necklaces from around their necks) definitely help.

Really, what more is there to say? The fight with the Helmaroc King is an excellent 3-D adaptation of the fight with the Helmassaur King from A Link to the Past. Actually, despite their similar names, having a bit of a different challenge would have made the dungeon stronger in itself. At the same time, The Wind Waker has always seemed like A Link to the Past's spiritual successor, or, at the very least, the GameCube generation's A Link to the Past.

Regarding mixing it up for the battle with the Helmaroc King, perhaps he could've hidden his beak in his wing. You'd then have to use the grappling hook to pull it away, or force him to move it by hitting it with three arrows. Since he sometimes smacks into the lone wall when he dives at you, that may have been a bigger part of earlier version of the battle. This should have been kept in, it would have added some variety. Besides, after you fight the Helmaroc King, you continue on to Ganon, so his guard bird should be a bit tougher.

The Zelda Timeline's Consistency

The detailed Zelda timeline isn't terribly interesting. A lot of its written blurbs are full of material that can be gleaned from playing the games, and the whole thing is written from an "in-world" rather than "real-world" perspective.

However, not to sound like a broken record, but the real use of the detailed Zelda timeline is seeing how it all jives together. Like anything that's gone on for 25 years, looking at it as a whole yields much more than just looking at it in pieces. In particular, having just read the section dealing with A Link to the Past, this picture came up:


It's a picture of the Wise Men from the game's introduction. Things get intriguing when you remember that what happens in A Link to the Past's introduction is a sort of retelling of what happens around the time of Ocarina of Time. Why would such an esoteric detail matter? 

Because one of the Wise Men is quite a bit shorter than the others. Also, A Link to the Past was released in Japan in 1991, while Ocarina of Time was released there in 1998.

Now, Zelda games are notorious for their long development cycles. It's also usual for the actual stories of Zelda games to be built after the core mechanics have been set up. But, to have a story detail from A Link to the Past, a game made seven years earlier, match one from Ocarina of Time goes beyond suspicious. It's the sort of thing that could practically convince you that Hyrule Historia's timeline is the real deal.

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Future's Un-Claire

In the middle of Granorg's sewer, Stocke and co. found something quite unexpected: A little girl. But not some lost and helpless little girl, a little girl who went on an 'underground adventure.' Well played, Atlus, I'm glad to see that this game bucks norms every now and then.

Though, since Stocke mentions it when you pick her up and when you return her to the surface, I wonder if helping her out of the sewer will actually change what happens after the sewer. In a game all about time travel, could the misadventures of a little girl affect the outcome of events yet to be?

So far it's very clear that the game's running on standard causation rather than any sort of internal clock or timer mechanism, so it's entirely possible that this little sidequest, as opposed to grinding or just aimless wandering, might actually have some effect.

Perhaps Claire, the little girl in question, will turn out to be a castle insider, and, having helped her out, she'll open some door or distract some guard for Stocke and co.?

Or, maybe they'll miss their window of opportunity to assassinate the smart and wilful Princess Eruca?

Even though the sewer's a big switch puzzle, I find my curiosity roused.

Whose Finite Perspective?

Having not read any of David Foster Wallace's other works I can't write too definitively about Infinite Jest. My theory as of right now, though, is that it would work better, in the present day, as a short story collection.

This theory comes, partially, from the different ways in which people consume media, and the simple fact that Infinite Jest is not in any way linear. It definitely has a plot threaded through it, but that thread is covered from end to end in character and characterization and background information about said characters and the world of the book.

More importantly, perhaps, there's no clear "I" behind the book or within it. It's coming from one creative person, in the same way that multiple perspective series and novels often are the work of a single author, but the singularity of the narrator seems to be just a conceit. The book's tone is consistent, but to whom does that tone belong?

It doesn't appear to be Hal, as might be expected. The book's tone has all of the hallmarks of his characteristic nervous shy repetition, redundancy, and verbal hesitancy, sure. But, there are sections (such as the first chapter) where the narration is clearly well outside of Hal's head.

Because the book's narrator is not one of the book's characters, it's entirely possible that Wallace is using an unreliable narrator. But, to what end, and what effect that has on the book has yet to be seen.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Pre-Sewer Spelunking in Granorg

There comes a time in every J-RPG (really, any RPG), when you just have to get your knee-high boots wet with sewer water. In Radiant Historia that time is now. What better way could there be into Granorg's castle?

Especially when there's a public beating/execution happening in front of the main entrance. But that seems to be another story entirely at this point in the game.

Along with the inevitable sewer-spelunking that's the next step in the game, the loose page Aht gave Stocke has fulfilled its purpose. When Stocke was taken into the White Chronicle for the move into the second chapter of the Spec Ops timeline, the two mysterious elf-children taught him a new technique. The name "Mana Burst" suggests a powerful, field-wiping attack, but it sounds like it's just another battle command.

Down the line, there's definitely got to be such a technique, but for now it just enables a turn-stealing technique. Not quite the destructive power that would make all of the game's repeat battles worlds easier, but definitely a start.

With sneaking into Granorg's castle and a new group of techniques coming up, it really feels like the game's starting to pick up some serious momentum. Alternating timelines really should've been more strongly suggested earlier in the game. Focusing on one until you need to back track really slows the game's pace to a crawl.

Finite Time and Attention, Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest feels like a dungeon crawler of a book. New characters are new items, plot points (being as scarce as they are) are upgrades to equipment, and each new scene is just like entering a new area. At the least, new areas are beginning to feel fewer an fewer. Also, the importance of the plot points is starting to pick up.

But then, there are the endnotes. Oh, the endnotes. Endnote #45 directs you to another note further in, and it's one of the chapters that Wallace hid at the back of the book. Reading books in regular chunks is usually only difficult if you feel compelled to read more and more, not because you might come to an endnote that leads to another chunk.

In this way, Infinite Jest, for all of its reliance on chemical names for drugs and such that may now be irrelevant or outmoded seems locked into its original publication year of 1996. The characters are as compelling as ever 100 pages in (and new ones continue to trickle in), and the world is a fascinating thing seen only in glimpses between characters and smatterings of plot, like a scene viewed through parted Venetian blinds.

But, the structure of the book itself is one that demands a lot of attention. It's one thing to read a 1000 page novel (like any of the later books in A Song of Ice and Fire). But those books are only time consuming because of the density of the relationships and interactions found within. Infinite Jest offers a density that can only be penetrated if you have time to sit down and drill into it.

Like a dungeon crawler without a save feature, Infinite Jest is ill-suited to quick jaunts.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Forks and Uneven Tine-lines

It seems that for a game that offers so much freedom, Radiant Historia still could be played in a "right" way.

Based on a scene you see involving Aht in her role as a shaman in the Spec Ops timeline, it seems that the game should be played alternating between timelines as nodes are created. This has to be the case since down the Soldier timelines, Aht's being a shaman is mentioned and no one bats an eyelash or tosses about a question. Meanwhile, in the scene from the Spec Ops timelines, everyone (Stocke included) acts as if they've never seen Aht send someone to heaven before.

As the game gets more complex, and more characters and events are added to the plot (so far I've discovered about 1/5 of the nodes and events the game has to offer), how important will it be to play the game in its "proper" order?

Will jumping several nodes ahead into one of the two timelines unbalance the story?

If so, then why aren't there certain item quests or conditions that need be met before you can progress further more often?

On top of all of this, who knows what Aht's giving Stocke a "White Page" will mean later on. It's definitely got to be a page from the White Chronicle, but what could its purpose be?

A Cast of Burrs, and I'm a Velcro Reader

Infinite Jest rolls on and I'm a glad passenger.

It's a daunting book to see, and it's hard to believe that it could be read in less than a year, but Wallace just keeps bringing out more and more characters. His cast might not be as coherent as George R.R. Martin's, but it's definitely composed of characters as large as those in A Song of Ice and Fire.

What makes his characters so captivating has definitely got to be their flaws. And each of his characters is deeply so. There are rough patches on all of them on which it's easy to catch your attention. Kate Gompert, for example, is definitely flawed. Her depression is enough to bring any reader down, but at the same time the clinical presence of the doctor who is trying to figure out what to do with her creates a contrast of perspectives that draws out Kate and that draws in the reader.

Friday, May 10, 2013

From Sea to Sky: Zelda Hub Areas

The Wind Waker's sidequests are, mostly kept to Windfall Island. This is much appreciated, since having too many involving sailing (even with the cyclones to warp around in) would just be too much. It's also handy having so many of the island's citizens interested in items that monsters drop.

But this use of a central trading/social/quest center is curious in the wider context of the Zelda games. All of those before Ocarina of Time had no such location. The quests were spread out amidst the various places where you found people, either holed up in caves, or under bridges, or in huts off the beaten path.

Even in Ocarina of Time, there really isn't a central hub. Sure, it has the Castle Town, but there are enough shops in Kakariko Village and Kokiri Forest, and enough things to do in and around the Gerudo Fortress to keep your interests spread out. But in The Wind Waker (and in Majora's Mask) most of the shops and quests can be found in one location. Though these games hold their central places in balance with the rest of the game's map.

Although there are story-related reasons for it, Skyward Sword takes having one central location way too far. Outside of Skyloft there are really no shops, no quests, no mini-games. At least, there aren't nearly as many outside of the game's hub as there are in earlier Zelda titles.

But there are still helpful creatures living on the surface - why don't the Gorons have a shop? Or the Mogma? Why doesn't one of the Kikwi collect Ornamental Skulls as part of her punk rock rebellion? Or why doesn't a Parella want something you need to trade with characters from all over the world to get? How can a game set largely in the sky be so empty when one set in the sea is so lush?

Who's the "I" in Infinite Jest?

David Foster Wallace's use of endnotes has my opinion split.

Using endnotes is a great way to build up the peripheral details of a fictional world. This fact goes double for endnotes about something like a character's filmography (complete with archival holes and sticky, uncertain parts).

At the same time, though endnotes work as essential blocks of a world's apocrypha using them for such a purpose is kind of lazy. At the very least, they could be overused. Yet, for the most part, Wallace avoids this problem. Maybe it's the variation in their length, from single sentences to whole scenes, that makes their presence seem almost ridiculous. Though, that raises a very interesting question about the book.

Hal is more or less the main character. But there's been a short section of the book where the central figure wasn't Hal or any other character introduced as yet. In this section (running from pages 61 to 63) the main figure is simply "I." Of whom is this first person perspective? Hal's? The ill Troeltsch? Wallace himself?

Whomever the I actually identifies, must be the one writing (or providing) the endnotes, since they're not written with any objectivity of tone (like those Michael Creighton used). So far, each endnote reads like the book's main narrative, though they have been quite a bit more focused and use far fewer long and lumbering sentences.

I've yet to crack page 100, and yet Infinite Jest just keeps piling on the mysteries. I may be a while in getting back to Hyrule Historia.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Away Game Special: Spinning Yarns Together

It quickly earned a reputation for being incredibly childish, but Kirby's Epic Yarn offers some worthy challenges. 

First off, it's true that you can't die or wind up with a "Game Over" in Kirby's Epic Yarn. However, when you're trying to get everything unlocked as you go, losing a bunch of beads because you've been rescued from a pit or fallen into spikes is as bad as being kicked out of the level. And that goes double for the game's co-operative play mode. 

That is the mode where the game's challenge truly shines through. The screen barely zooms out if two players are on either side of it. As a result, the players are tethered together, and will be brought back on screen if they stray too far away or get trapped in a scrolling area. What's worse is that once the game puts more and more emphasis on precise platforming two players will quickly run out of room between jumps. They'll be grabbing each other with their yarn whips and otherwise falling all over each other. 

Nonetheless, this hysterical sort of gameplay really adds to the game's fun. Playing it solo would definitely be far too easy (especially since there aren't really any places where the boost a second player can offer is necessary to find hidden items/areas). But, working with another player in the game's tight spaces turns it from a cutely stylish platformer into a frantically challenging, fun experience. 

If you can play it regularly with another person and love a good platformer, I highly recommend Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Seeing Movies in the Big Book

The description of the Enfield Tennis Academy (E.T.A.) in Infinite Jest reminds me of explanatory scenes in Wes Anderson movies. Something perfectly mundane is being described in detail by someone who seems to be anything but mundane. What makes such scenes unique is the contrast between the thing being explained and the explainer, but also what this contrast draws out about the explainer's character.

In the scene explaining E.T.A.'s layout we learn a lot about Hal's character. Certainly most importantly we learn that he gets as high on the secrecy involved in his dope smoking as the dope smoking itself.

What the scene boils down to is a confirmation that Hal is a complex character both because of the nature of the scene and because he admits to a lack of self knowledge. His lack of such knowledge gives him room to change, but more so, that he even wonders about things about himself that he isn't fully aware of makes his complexity clear.

Aside from the character building in the last 10 pages, the book's plot is starting to build momentum. It's doing so with all the gumption and speed of an octogenarian dog in a pool of molasses, but it is building its plot all the same.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Away Game Special: Cryamore's Demo


Cryamore's playable demo is something that the developers put together under extreme pressure. I'd like to say that this shows, but what the demo offers in terms of gameplay, though lacking the polish of no doubt to-be-added-features (like a levelling system), is quite good.

Not being used to the WASD format of PC gaming, I was frustratingly frequently overwhelmed by the demo's dim rooms full of laser-shooting enemies, but that's got to be part of the game's Mega Man inspiration shining through.

What the demo showed of the game's puzzles was decent, if a little bit of an artificial extension. Though, to the developers' credit, once you adjust to the game and have a feel for where things are, the backtracking that the demo demands can be easily breezed through.

Ending the demo with the opening scene of what will undoubtedly be a super cool boss battle is also a good move on their part. The game's quick cut to a piece of concept art of a soot smeared Esmy and Brax returning home to an aghast Bliss just before the beast shows itself is especially effective. The demo's able to generate such an effect in so short a time because the heavily dragon-themed landmarks of its its only area make it clear that said area's boss will be a dragon.

Leaving the boss unplayable, but making its identity pretty obvious establishes expectations, and along with showcasing core mechanics setting expectations is essential for a decent demo.

On First Meeting Those of Infinite Jest

At the behest of a close friend, I've started reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. At over 1200 word-packed pages, this is a novel worthy of the word "tome." As such, I'll reflect on it in this blog whenever I've read enough of it to comment. So, for the next two months (give or take a few days), there will be some Infinite Jest entries peppered among those about the books from my Book List.

The first fifty pages of Infinite Jest (and, probably the rest of it) read like the frantic thoughts roiling through the minds of people in distress. People who are distressed by how they believe people perceive them, by waiting for a dope supplier, by being torn from routine, by a death in the family, by the brutality of broken homes. There's very little plot in these first fifty pages. But the characters that Wallace conjures up are incredible. 

Only a handful of pages in (let's be honest, once I had a grasp on what was even going on), I felt I could empathize with Hal. Although the book has a number of characters so far, Hal's more or less the protagonist, and he is definitely one whom I'd follow into the strange social-scape in which the book is set. 

However, because the book's so light on plot so far, Wallace's corporate-sponsored calendar and world (with notes of the post-apocalyptic) has only bled through the edges of the story so far. The book's setting has jumped from the American Northwest, to Arizona, to England, to Quebec, but in each there are hints that it's our world save for some occurrence that altered the way things turned out. 

It's daunting to know that so much of the book is left (plus, some 200 of the book's 1200+ pages are full of endnotes), but I feel like I need to find out how it all unfolds. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Away Game Special: Trying to Make Better Triforce Matches


Getting the Triforce in Skyward Sword is every bit as challenging as was expected. The battles involved are all pitched and appropriately difficult, the puzzles as drawn out as they ought to be, the added challenge of shuffling rooms deftly used.

But.

The challenges set for each piece weren't entirely well matched. Having a puzzle put in the way to the Triforce of Wisdom makes perfect sense. This is the best match by far.

Setting a series of fights before the Triforce of Courage (including, technically, the battle with Dreadfuse) also makes sense.

However, with the exception of the large room filled with Bokoblin archers and footmen and Stalfos, the battles involved would have been better suited to the Triforce of Power. Especially the battle with the four armed Stalfos in which cursed Bokoblins constantly swarm you.

If Skyward Sword was a virtual reality game, this battle would suit the Triforce of Courage quite nicely. But, given that the game's core mechanic is 1:1 motion control over a sword, such an involved battle can easily be reduced to what is essentially button mashing. This intense quality of the battle would have made it a better fit for the challenge blocking the way to the Triforce of Power.

Moving on to that piece of the Triforce, the puzzle room set before it is quite a mismatch. Sure, the symbol of Din suggests the Death Mountain areas of games later in the timeline (and the fire temple found in Skyward Sword's own mountains), but what you need to do to navigate through the room has more to do with timing and problem solving - actions more readily associated with Wisdom than with Power.

Instead of this fire-based puzzle room, a better fit for the challenge before the Triforce of Power would be a battle with an incredibly powerful, highly intelligent enemy (such as a Darknut from Twilight Princess). In such a battle it would have to be necessary to overpower the Darknut-like enemy to create an opening. Perhaps to overpower this enemy you would have to perform well-timed shield bashes or make well-placed Skyward Strikes.

Actually, it's disappointing that there wasn't any need at all for Skyward Strikes in the Sky Keep, since that's this game's signature move. Not to mention, the supposed importance of that technique to Skyward Sword given its similarity to the game's title.

Nonetheless, the Sky Keep holds up as a solid dungeon, and something that I hope to see more of in future Zelda titles.

If we once more collect the Triforce in a future title, though, hopefully the method of doing so is better matched to game-specific mechanics and the meaning of those sacred triangles.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Away Game Special: Full-on Melodia


HarmoKnight's demo definitely does its job. After having played a bit of the full version of the game, the demo lays out everything you need to know about it. It also gives a clear feel of how the full game plays while showcasing most of the full game's modes and mechanics.

The two major differences between the demo and the full version are the bonus stages (an obvious difference) and the appearance of other playable characters.

What makes the bonus stages relevant to the demo of the game is that they are the Pokemon related stages, of which "Bike" is playable in the demo. Having been made by Game Freak, it's no surprise that there are five Pokemon-inspired stages. Though it's a wonder that there aren't more. Perhaps, though, Game Freak intended for HarmoKnight to be a mostly fresh new IP, the references to its megahit franchise being nothing more than Easter eggs.

Along with the full game's having more stages, different characters appear as you progress. These characters join you on your travels and each brings a different weapon to the adventure. For example, in Marching Hills, you meet the warrior of the realm, Lyra. She, of course, uses a lyre. However, rather than using it to produce sound waves or some such, she uses it as a bow and opens up areas that resemble sidescrolling shooting galleries.

On the whole, it looks like a great game. Plus, HarmoKnight, though still tricky for those with two left thumbs (myself included), is fun enough that replaying stages hardly ever becomes a chore.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Lay Away Book Special: The Acheron Moves Quickly

Well, Jasper Fforde definitely does not disappoint. After introducing Acheron Hades and his mysterious powers, he jumps full on into the weird and wild. Though, it looks like it may be a chapter or two more before Thursday Next, the main character, catches on to just what the weirdness around her and around Acheron is.

Fforde also continues to use Victorian lit as a touchstone for the sort of writing people would form serious political factions around (as well as Shakespeare). Such use of Victorian literature is a pet peeve of mine, but given that this is the first book in the Thursday Next series, it would be perhaps too bold of Fforde to jump right into a Chaucer or Beowulf manuscript. I'm sure one or the other comes up in a later book - or at least that is my hope.

The Victorians may have written a few good things, but too many people admire the flower while forgetting the stem and the root. Neither may be as pretty as the blossom, but of all the parts of the edible flowering plant that is literature, the root and the stem are much more complex and nutritious.

Lay Away Book Special: Ffording the Mundane

Just as the "Away Game Special" entries cover games outside of my Game List, "Lay Away Book Special" entries will cover things not on my Book List. Today's topic is Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair.

I think the premise for the Thursday Next series of books is indeed fascinating. On the one hand, the barrier between fiction and reality getting a little soft and people exploiting that isn't anything new, but on the other having an agency form around it is refreshing. However, the book is quite slow to start.

The first three chapters paint the world for us readers. The setting is England in an alternate 1985 where the Crimean War wages on and time travel has been discovered and harnessed. Obviously there are other things going on as well, but the tone of all of these strange things seems overly contrived. It's an opening heavy on fantasy that, at every turn, refuses to acknowledge this. Until we're introduced to Acheron Hades.

The book's villain (at least as of chapter four) is a man who faked his own death and has since reappeared as a mass criminal. However, he also appears to have some superhuman abilities, not the least of which is the ability to hear his name (even whispered) at a radius of a thousand yards. I'm heartened to see that Fforde embraces the fantastic elements of his world in this character, and hope that he continues to do so.

Otherwise, this is going to be a lot like reading Clive Cussler (where the villains were more interesting than the heroes) all over again.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Away Game Special: In the Hidden Temple in the Sky

The final (I know I've said that in this blog of a few dungeons, now) dungeon of Skyward Sword is excellent. The mechanic of shifting the placement of rooms via a sliding block puzzle is a great way to add challenge to what otherwise might have been a very quick affair.

Because, writing honestly, there's little that can stand in your way at this point in the game. You've got all the sword upgrades, all the items, all the knowledge and experience gleaned from a game's worth of play. In fact, the greatest challenge so far (aside from figuring out the best room from which to slide around the other rooms) was the fight with Dreadfuse.

Timing shield hits to knock this miniboss off balance and avoiding his electrified sword and hook proved downright trying after having re-adjusted to The Wind Waker's controls. Still, there are probably tougher monsters guarding the pieces of the Triforce. Or, perhaps they'll all be three hit K.O. pushovers.

Away Game Special: Demos of the Day

After hearing about them for weeks on Radio Free Nintendo and the Famicast, I finally tried my hand at Mutant Mudds and HarmoKnight. Both experiences were just demos, but they both showed what each game is all about.

HarmoKnight might be the first rhythm game that I can actually play somewhat well. Some attacks missed their mark, and the trickier jump sequences consistently tripped me up, but it's definitely a game I would play more of. Part of the reason for this is that the game's visual style and comic-book-like cutscenes are very endearing.

Mutant Mudds was also a great demo, and it's got me interested in more of the game. But, I find myself interested in it in the same way I'm interested in the old sidescrolling Mega Man games. It looks and plays like it would be a decent challenge, but ultimately there wasn't much that set it apart from other sidescrolling shooters. The jet pack is cool, and probably has several upgrades (as does your water cannon), but, without any of these things in the demo, it seems more generic than HarmoKnight.

I also played through the demo of the Art of Balance TOUCH!. Unfortunately, its demo is just too short. You can play through several balancing puzzles, but, as with Mutant Mudds, I don't think enough of the game's unique mechanics are really showcased. As you play through each puzzle, they get more and more difficult, but nothing really spectacular is shown.

So, of the three demos I tried, HarmoKnight came out on top. This game is, in and of itself, a spectacle. However, whether or not it's spectacular is another question, one that can only be answered by buying it and playing through more.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Pokemon as a Virtual Reality Pioneer

The online component of Pokemon Black/White (1 and 2) is emblematic of the brand extensions technology makes possible. That such an extension be attached to Pokemon is no surprise, since even the first gen games required you to either buy more than one version or link up with a friend to complete the game. It's a technique that's seen the Pokemon name spread far and wide.

As far as marketing goes this overrunning of everything with Pokemon is great for the brand. People are hungry for Pokemon and anything legitimately released with the name is bound to sell in bulk just about anywhere and everywhere video games are sold. As far as gaming goes, these extensions could mean something else.

The story of the Pokemon games has never been particularly deep, and for the most part its characters are archetypes. But the mechanic of catching 'em all creates a desire - almost a frenzy - in Pokemon fans to play each game to completion. This need to catch 'em all has seen the game spread into AR (Augmented Reality) territory, and to the purely online space of the Global Link (where the Dream World aspect of Black/White is accessed).

Since Pokemon's already spread so far, and catching Pokemon is a lot like catching bugs or collecting plants, Pokemon is in a position to be among the first virtual reality games out there. It's technology that's still years away, perhaps, but after that gap of time is closed, I think a Pokemon game (or maybe just an app) will be quick to follow.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Using the Wind God's Wind - Again!


The first thing I always do after coming back from Hyrule for the first time in the Wind Waker, or just from the Tower of the Gods, is get the game's warp ability. I sail into the first cyclone I see and then open fire on Cyclos until he goes down.

For such a powerful ability - especially in a game where travelling between islands can take a lot of empty time - you'd expect it to be more of a challenge. But, because arrows pierce, I suppose, once you get three hits Cyclos comes down to you and grants you control over the sea's cyclones.

Speaking of easy, but perhaps more worthily so, there's nothing to getting the magical armour in The Wind Waker. Once you've got all of the primary trading goods, you can just return to Windfall, and the shopkeeper hands it over. The magical armour puts a drain on your magic meter, but unless I'm mistaken there's a potion somewhere that boosts it, or at the least makes it temporarily limitless. If I'm right and I'm lucky, it does so for in-game days on end.

Completely unrelated to The Wind Waker, but I'm in the middle of a move to a new place right now. I'm also going to be busy with Greek Easter related events for the next four days. Because of these commitments, I won't be able to update this blog at six and six.

With that said, I'll still update this blog at least once a day for the next four days. After that, it will be back to its updated twice daily self!

A Short on Unity

Along with the official timeline, the Hyrule Historia walks you through said timeline. This more in-depth timeline is all right. The art dotting it is neat, and the trivia that can be found within it is sort of interesting. But, the information provided is practically the same as reading the "Story" portion of all of the Zelda games' manuals.

Off to the side of each page there are some terms that get a little bit of in-depth treatment, but for the most part these terms are well known to players of the Zelda games. They're also written with an "in-world" perspective, which maintains the illusion of the timeline being a kind of chronicle. On the other hand, though, the development history of the terms defined would have made their definitions much more interesting reads.

However, the true value of the in depth timeline is that it weaves all of the major Zelda games together into one story. This unity of story is much appreciated, and no doubt there are hints or nods towards premises for future games in the series. Unfortunately, I've not come across any such hints yet.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Moving Day Special: Anodyne Again!

Since today was a little chaotic, I didn't get any time with The Wind Waker. Instead, I took some minutes out of my move to play a little further into the computer game Anodyne. As a quick refresher, it's a Legend of Zelda-esque game in which you wander through the main character's subconscious. It's good, retro-gaming fun.

And its platforming is really difficult.

Your jump, first off, is pretty shallow, and the edges of platforms are slippery. Unless you land squarely on solid ground, you'll fall into whatever chasm you were trying to cross. And when trying to avoid rolling spiked bars and enemies, square landings can't always be struck.

At least in Link's Awakening you could walk/run onto a platform from the edge. But Anodyne shows no such mercy on this front.

Extending Timelines

Say what you will about the timeline found in the Hyrule Historia, it's still an interesting piece of work. In particular, it's kind of cute how the writers of the Historia decided it was necessary to clearly state, to paraphrase, that their timeline could change. The story of Hyrule changes with the teller, and so when there's a different teller, there will be a different story. Maybe we'll see a Zelda first-person game someday after all - maybe even before Miyamoto retires, since that's been an interest of his from the days of Ocarina of Time.

What's really intriguing about the timeline, though, is the sense of permanence it lends the story of (most) of the Zelda games released to date. Rather than letting them be a loose conglomeration of games with similar stories, but always varying gameplay mechanics, the timeline gets them in line and lets them tell a story larger than any of them could on their own.

There are also places on the timeline that are described with only a dash. Along with building things further along any of the forks, it's fair to say that the blank spaces are just waiting for games that may already have some concepts kicking around.

With the next Zelda being a direct sequel to A Link to the Past, the timeline becomes even more solid. A new Zelda game might interrupt the flow, but a sequel to A Link to the Past would fit nicely in between the original and Link's Awakening. Maybe we'll even get some more explanation of why Link decided to go on the excursion he was on at the beginning of Link's Awakening.

With all the framework in place, we can only hope that Nintendo builds the structure sounder than it was before.