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Red Dead Redemption: Completed!

Posted on 26/11/2013 Written by Xexyz

While looking for beaver furs in the Northern regions, I noticed a new stranger mission open in Blackwater.  I met a government man who told me that Edgar Ross was living in a shack overlooking a lake.  Suddenly the lack of a previous ending made sense.  Don't read if you've not played ...
On reflection, I think the original 'ending' of Red dead Redemption is one of the best I've seen in a game.  The game makes you care about the character, giving you hope for him in the future, before having it all taken away.  It's brutal, made more so by the last few missions in the game giving you the opportunity to remove yourself from killing.

What's more brutal though is the way in which you feel once you're given control of Jack.  Despite his keenness for Jack to accompany him on hunts and protecting the farm, you get the feeling that John wants Jack to grow up sheltered from the world he once knew.  Jack's keen on reading, learning about the world.  However, once you've been given control of Jack three years on, standing over the graves of his father and mother, what you really want is to go and find the government to have revenge.  John's assassination turns Jack into what John was trying to avoid.

So I rode to the shack and saw his wife.  I rode to Mexico and met his brother.  I rode up the river and found Edgar, who killed me in the first duel because I was trying to shoot his weapon and arm, like I had in most other duels.  When I restarted I shot him four times in the head, because that's what Jack had become.  Then the credits rolled, and the game was properly over.


Well, apart from collecting a few herbs and helping someone kill himself by jumping over a cliff with a flimsy glider.

Great game.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, Playstation 3

Red Dead Redemption: completed?

Posted on 23/11/2013 Written by Xexyz

I'm up to around 70% of the game completed, and it feels like I've reached the end of the main storyline.  A pretty major character's death is a big sign of that.  If you don't know what I mean, and plan on playing the game at some point, don't read on ...

The major character is, of course, John.  The end of the game sees John being executed by the government, evidently to cover up his deeds.  I'm in two minds about this - it's a valid story mechanic of course, and the death of the hero is common in books and film.  It helps to draw things to a close and makes you realise just how emotionally involved with your character you've become.  My John was a good guy to the extent possible, helping people who were being attacked by wolves, capturing fleeing prisoners rather than killing them, not shooting deer or wild horses or rabbits.  The game needs to fit a story in, and to that extent John has killed many people, small animals, and stolen treasure and even a train.  Despite that, he's done everything that the government asked of him, and he was looking forward to settling down with his wife and son.  He didn't deserve that ending.

The game's endings have all been a little anti-climatic.  I wasn't given the choice of capturing Bill Williamson, but I didn't shoot him when I had the chance to - Reyes did.  I was expecting during that carriage chase that he'd have escaped somehow, but I quickly stopped the carriage and he was still there.  I'd realised that there was part of the map which I'd not been to, so I thought that my quest to kill Bill would continue there.  Instead, the government sent me after Dutch instead, with lots of little bitty missions that made me feel used and insignificant.  After Dutch died, again not at my hand, I went home, and the music that played while I rode to the farm at Beecher's Hope (that I'm sure I'd been around a number of times previously) was superb - it felt like a fitting end to the game.

I really appreciated the missions after this, for people around the farm, almost returning to the first few missions of the game where Bonnie wanted help with running her farm.  Going back to see Bonnie, and Abigail's jealousy, made it feel that John was settling back to a life he aspired to.  There were still some elements of the rough gang member, ready to kill those who stole horses or cattle rustlers, but he was ready to settle.  And then came the last mission; an assault by the army and the government.  Really affecting.

And now I'm back in the game, playing as Jack, given the opportunity to go and finish off all the bits and pieces I didn't achieve before.  I can go and try to win some more money at poker, gather the beaver furs and red sage needed for the flying machine (the last stranger mission I found but didn't complete), level up the challenges.  I don't think that I'll be doing everything in the game, but I'll certainly go and help the man with the flying machine because I want to see if he actually manages to fly.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: Playstation 3

Trine 2: so pretty

Posted on 22/11/2013 Written by Xexyz

Trine 2 is a platform puzzle game, which feels quite traditional in terms of how it plays and controls. Combat is a bit hit and miss, jumping isn't overly precise, the controls just feel a bit awkward.

But my, it's pretty.


It made me feel a little disappointed to start with, because the backstory references the first game a lot - which I've not played.  I don't even know which platforms it's for, but I shall investigate.  You're initially given control of a wizard, who controls with a bit too much momentum until you get used to anticipating needing to stop in advance.  He meets up with a knight and a thief, and from that point on you have to choose which character to control in order to get past obstacles.

The enemies are a bit generic, but provide a suitable challenge, and there have been many a time when I've had to run back to a checkpoint to revive a fallen team member.  Given this, the temple entrance was just a bit ominous.


A great boss fight inside, though.  I couldn't damage the snake directly, so had to jump onto the roof supports and then dodge his attacks, so that he brought the building crashing down on top of himself.

Simply progressing is easy enough, but there's an additional game hidden within, where you can try to get as many green orb things as possible.  Getting to some of them is very tricky, requiring good timing with the right character.  In the middle of the swamp, I found some pieces of pipe which could be put together to direct hot air into the water, which then formed bubbles I could stand on.  Doing so was tricky in itself, but the timing needed to jump from these to platforms was just overly fiddly.


I believe this is a pretty short game, so hopefully I'll get around to completing it at some point ...

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: wii u

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies: spacemen and robots

Posted on 22/11/2013 Written by Xexyz

I must admit I've been a little confused as to the timing of the cases.  Case 1 was after the courtroom explosion.  Case 2 was when Athena first arrived.  Case 3 was Athena's first case lead.  Case 4 is back to around the explosion - the first part was before and leading up to the explosion, the second part is after (and given some of the internal monologue, it's after case 1 as well).  I think that's right.

Anyway, well into case 4 now, and I've managed to avoid any penalties for showing the wrong evidence.  I'm impressed with the way that game's taken the previous games' gimmicks - Apollo's bracelet, Phoenix's magatama - and added these to Athena's widget.  It makes it feel like a Mario game in some ways - new gameplay elements being used for very short periods then thrown away.  It does, however, mean that the game is much more linear - meaning that I'm likely to finish this much quicker than previous games in the series.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: 3ds

Red Dead Redemption: helping an old-timer

Posted on 15/11/2013 Written by Xexyz

Concentrating on the story missions actually really helps to give the game focus, although I've not entirely stopped looking out for strangers and helping them out.  Indeed, I spent most of my last play session ferrying opium across Mexico, though I didn't know it at the time.  I was given $1000 to give to the seller; against my better judgement I did so, not wanting to get involved in the drugs trade in the first place.  I also cleared out another gang hideout that I chanced upon, although I died once doing so.

Dying seems to be a hindrance but nothing more - I'm not sure that I've lost any money from doing so.  I much prefer it this way, it mean that I'm much more willing to experiment in the world, and will stop to help people at the side of the road rather than just spurring my horse on past them.  It means that the game progresses more slowly, but that's not a problem here given the storyline that's being followed.  Yes, John Marsden wants to kill or capture Bill Williamson, but he wants to do it properly and there's no point rushing into a gunfight unprepared.

The story missions are really nicely varied in this, with decent checkpoints throughout and generally good reasons for existing within the story.  I've just helped to rescue Luisa with the help of Landon Ricketts, and then helped Luisa's sister to escape by taking her in a stagecoach to a waiting boat.   I also completed a long missions where i had to fight with the Mexican army up to a fort which had been overrun by bandits. I have now completed 46.4% of the game; hopefully I can continue to get through it at the same sort of pace.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: Playstation 3

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93: A Playdate In The Back Room of Ann Summers
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Blood is the unintentional theme of this episode, not just in the titles and contents of the games but also in that it’ll make your ears bleed. Maybe? Frankly, I wouldn’t risk it. All that mess for no real benefit, and we wouldn’t want a lawsuit on our hands anyway.

However, should you decide to listen against our strong advice not to, you will find that deKay, Toby, Kendrick and (Fresh Blood) Harry have prepared some tasty meats to sate you. Discussion about the coming Season 2 of Playdate games, rumours about the new PlayStation handheld console (and, relatedly, the PS6), Ys/Trails in the Sky crossover remake shenanigans, and the death of PS+ Stars, the rewards scheme you’ve never heard of until just now. Plus, additional snacks in the form of these games.

93: A Playdate In The Back Room of Ann Summers
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